| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 183.1 | RELECTIONS ON DISNEY | AKOV12::CJACQUES | Everything's coming up roses | Mon Jan 29 1990 09:16 | 104 |
| Ok, I'm going to try to not to be too wordy with my report, as I
believe you've heard it all before.
I was down south last week, Jan 20-27. I have to say we had to have
picked one of the best times. I pretty much followed all the hints
given in the file (had them all printed out and brought them with me).
The weather was great all week, 72-80 degrees every day. The lines
in the parks (MGM/MKC/EPCOT) were minimal. The longest we waited
anywhere was about 20 minutes, and I would say that was only twice.
The remaining attractions were 10 mins or less. But, I believe that
was also due to the order in which we did things. Later in the week,
the places we had already done were a lot busier.
Ok...Sunday we went to Seaworld. One hint: Take the "backstage tour"
here. We found that pretty enjoyable.
Monday: MGM. First thing we did was the Backlot Tour. (Rick waited
in line while I ran over to the Prime Time Cafe and booked lunch
reservations as suggested in these notes). The wait at this attraction
was only ten minutes, AT THAT TIME, later was a lot longer. By the
time we had our lunch (12:30) we had completed all of the park except
the Indiana Jones Stunt show and the Superstar Theatre. The line for
Indiana snaked around most of the park. We went through the Animation
building then went home. (One thing I'd like to mention, the food at
Prime Time was very good, but I didn't think the chicken pie was that
great at all. To each his own...)
Monday night: We spent at Church St. Station. This had to be the best
night we had all week long! We had a discount ticket to get in all the
clubs, and had a ball! We hit all the shows and some twice! Do not
miss this place!!!!
Tuesday: MKC. Did this in one day. As soon as we arrived we made lunch
reservations at Tony's Pizza (or whatever the name is) as suggested in
these notes. This was a great place to eat! Anyways, we crossed the
whole park and went to the Haunted Mansion first, then the Thunder Mountain
Railroad. We had hoped this would help to avoid lines later, but to
tell the truth, there weren't any long lines later!
Tuesday night: Dinner at a really great place called Darryl's (on
International Drive). A "MUST EAT THERE" place. The food was
delicious and prices, atmosphere, great. Then we went miniature
golfing at one of the many Pirates' Cove in the area.
Wednesday: We did the "rides" section of Epcot, Futureland (or
whatever it's called). I was crazy over the Cranium Command, and
didn't like Body Wars for all the previously mentioned reasons. The
Star Wars Tour at MGM just blows this ride away. All the other
attraction were fascinating, and I've been there before!
We were ahead of schedule at this point in time (we had a five day
pass), so we quit Epcot around 1:00 and took the monorail back to MKC
to buy a sweatshirt I had seen the day before.
We had intended on spending the evening at Pleasure Island, so we
decided to go and get our tickets early, go home, and come back later.
We went right to XFR's, as notes had suggested. They no longer have
that deal where you can get a ticket early to get in the rest of the
clubs free. All they have, is if you go there between 5:00 and 7:00,
you get a stamp that will get you into XFR's anytime for the rest of
the night. With the drink prices so high in that area, and considering
how much we enjoyed Church St. Station, we decided not to return to
Pleasure Island that night. Instead we had a real pleasant dinner at
the Olive Garden.
Thursday: The countries at Epcot. We found them all quite lovely and
no lines anywhere. We had opted NOT to eat in Epcot due to the fact
that we both are such "meat and potatoes" people and we wanted to see
the Illuminations that night. We didn't want to be there *all* day and
night, so we quit half way through the day and went back to I-Drive for
lunch and change of clothes. We returned to Epcot around 5:00 evening
and completed what we had missed then stuck around for Illuminations.
Friday: This was our mish-mesh day. We went back to MGM and did the
two attractions we had missed. We went back to Epcot and got some
pictures we had missed. Both parks were mobbed! We were so glad we
had gotten to MGM early and were the first in line for the Indiania
Jones show! Also, were so happy not to be waiting in the lines we saw
at Epcot. Then we did some souvenier shopping.
Friday night: HOOP-DE-DOO! Two thumbs up! Only bad thing to say about
that was the ribs were horrible! 100 percent fat! We were
hard-pressed to find a piece of meat on the bone! Maybe it was an
"off" night, I don't know, but they were horrible. The chicken was
great though. And the show was great. We were surprised to see one
of the characters in the show (Jim Dandy) was the same guy that had
played Harrison Ford at the stunt show in MGM that morning!
Saturday: We had all day free (we weren't supposed to fly out of
Orlando till 11:50 that night, as it was, we didn't flyout till
1:30a.m.) My folks have a mobile home out by the west coast, so we
drove over there and spent the day lounging in the sun and reading our
books. Money and energy were both pretty low by that time, so it was
the perfect way to end our vacation.
THE END
cj *->
p.s.
I welcome any mail with any questions you may like
answered. AKOV12::CJACQUES
|
| 183.2 | Badger's trip report | OVRDRV::BADGER | One Happy camper ;-) | Sun Mar 04 1990 22:08 | 218 |
| Well, I'm not much for words, but here goes at my last trip.
I think I may have reached Disney-burnout. I'm not even thinking
of another trip for at least two years. I answered to myself what
I think is wrong with the rapid expansion - cast members that may
not have made it in the past are hired because they are bodies.
And retained even when they should have been fired.
I did send a post card. But it may not get to Len if the
mail room isn't creative. You see, I put a copy of the address
in my wife's purse/ she cleaned it out prior to our trip.
I addressed it to Len via one iron way in Marlboro. We'll see
if it comes in...
To get the biggest of my beefs off my back, its transportation.
To survive, Disney has got to get creative with its solutions to
getting people from one place to the next. Diesel busses are not
a good solution, but seems to be the only idea in town. The TTC
smells worse than NYC. And a trip from the Village to the TTC can take
an hour! And they are uncoordinated. If three busses are assigned
to a route a nice thing to do is to space them out. Now way, all
three busses follow each other's bumpers.
The report:
2/16 Friday Scheduled to leave a 3pm, but since school was called off,
we we able to get out at 12 noon. Weather not the best but roads were
OK after Nashua. Traveling in a 34' motorhome, 4 kids, wife and I.
We pulled into a Maryland rest area at 10pm for a couple hours rest.
On the road at 3AM arrived in Florida at 10PM. Couple hours rest
and in Daytona at 2AM. In time for the Daytona 500.
Monday- Beach day in Daytona. Water was hot.
Tuesday 2/20 Started to WDW. Made a pit stop at Camper's world in Kissame
Arrived in Fort Wilderness. Extended stay in Fort Wilderness
by one day. for 8 nights. MKC not good during prime time
at Fort Wilderness. Full $46 +$2.5 + $1.5 resort tax.
Fort Wilderness isn't a campground, it's a resort and you
get socked the extra tax now.
The first thing we like to do is to hop on the tram and
cruse the campground. Our first disappointment was to find
they don't run the tram in the campground anymore. Only
stinky,noisy busses. And we found, its faster to walk anywhere
than to wait for a bus.
Wen 2/21 Epcot day. Rooster woke us up at 4AM. We got out of bed at 6:30.
Body wars: our impression is more hype than thrill. It wasn't
bad, but Star Tours is better. I rode on it a second time
that night and it took 1.5 hours in line. Seems like technical
difficulties. Another bad thing..... that pre-load film in between
cleaning rooms. We saw it 6 SIX times. One time cute, twice a
yawn, at six I thought I'd see everyone in line throw stones
at the monitors! Talk about near riot. Problem here that
Disney has to correct. If the line's not moving, don't keep
repeating the pre-load film!!!!
Supper at the German restaurant. Our exchange son is from
West Germany. The food was athenic and good. The waiters/
were from Germany and talked in German to us. The show
was good [but VERY brief]. The cost $140.
We watched illuminations from the globe side. bypassed
the monorail and got immediate loading on the RED flag
buss back to the TTC. Don't even try the monorail after
the show.
Thursday 2/22 a rest day. We rented a golf cart and toured the campground.
found Don Brouillet's campsite at the other end of Fort Wilderness.
Don wasn't there, but we left word. It'll be interesting to
compare Don's trip report to mine.
We noted cable running to each site but not hooked up yet. I
suspect that the whole campground will be wired for cable TV soon.
We were told that MGM opened at 7am. for guests. The campground
needs something like a notesfile for announcements. Stuff like
that only comes word of mouth between campers.
Friday 2/23 RAIN RAIN alert. We were going at 6am, but delayed.
We took the great movie ride twice. Like the mobsters better.
Backstage tour next TIP TIP ALERT HERE: Take the right side
when the ride divides. The right side gets the front tram cars.
We took the left. That gets the rear cars. What happens in the rear?
Only a 3-4 minute delay in between what the host is describing
and what you see. Now if you can remember what he is saying now,
and what he said before........ go right and get a front car.
Now after the tram ride, and for the backstage tour, go LEFT at
the divide. That will allow the younger kids to be able to
SEE what is going on as the left side gets the front rows on the
walk through. You guessed it, we took the right side.
Indaina Jones stunt show was a disappointment. 1.5 hour wait
for a simple 15 minute show. Star tours was great. Better
preshow area than in Disneyland.
Bus ride from the campground to MGM was 20 minutes. The return
trip took 50 minutes.
Comparing it to Universal in L.A., Universal wins no contest.
MGM is toooo small for the crowds.
Saturday 2/24 rest day. Went shopping at the village. Note something
new is that you must buy something for $10 in order to get
the 10% discount. My son tried to buy a hat for $9.95 and
they wouldn't give a discount. pretty small on their part.
It took us an hour to return back to the campground. The
red flag buss stops EVERYWHERE.
Hoop DE DOO night. I picked up the tickets at the window and
the lady said we couldn't have better seats unless we were
on the stage. I didn't realize that I'd be on the stage
before the night was over. But yes, I'm now an official
Pioneer hall player having acted out the final scene.
The food was OK. $150 for the night. We'd definitely
do it again. I got a certificate and a picture. But noone
will ever see the picture.
Sunday 2/25 Magic Kingdom day.
Rivers of America drained. Interesting, it appears that the riverboat
runs on a track around the river. Pirates of the Car.. was closed.
A biggy here--- I rode Big Thunder Railroad. TWICE. Now I'm not
a roller coaster freak. I don't like anything fast. But this
was fun. We ate a picnic lunch in front of city hall. We carried
sandwiches into all parks for lunches. Too expensive to buy
for six. Just put the lunch into the lockers until lunch and then
ate them. I know that they say not to, but.....
back to the RV for supper, then onto EPCOT Extra Promotional
Commercials Occupy Them. You wondered what EPCOT stood for huh?
Monday 2/26 rest day? We had lunch with a family we hadn't seen in
years. Bumped into them the day before at the MK. We also
bumped into another couple from town. Its a small world.....
In our loop at the campground, there were campers from Dover,
Salem, Nashua, and two from Hudson [all N.H.].
Pleasure Island night. We went to Xfers at 5pm. got our hand
stamped on the way in. They had complementary food. Beer was
$3/mug. Zappyhour.
We stayed there until 7pm. bought the 3 adventure experience
[forgot to use the MKC card] Went to Adventure club next.
please note that if you get there BEFORE 7pm, you can get
into there free also[ how many clubs are like this?] This
place is nice with actors mingling with the audience and
at times you really wonder whos who. But too much description
could ruin it for you. It could occupy you a whole night and
could recommend anyone to budget a night to just this one
club.
We went to the Comedy Warehouse next. This is a must place to
go to. Get there early for a good seat. we didn't, but thats
what happens when you club hop. A great takeoff on the Disney
experience. Someone should go with a tape recorder and put a
transcript here[which is probably illegal, but you'd love to
hear it again, so for your own personal pleasure, if you have
a tape recorder, take it there for the 8PM show].
Mannequins next. I must be getting old. I didn't enjoy this one.
Loud music. Every technical trick used. Four engineers/3
computer terminals used to control the electronics. We're
not talking DJ at a night club. We're talking ad nauseam
electronic effects/lighting. Wears on one. beer $4/mug.
Never did see any mannequins dance.
Tuesday 2/27 LAST DAY. Started at MGM, took ferry to Swan, bus
to TTC, bus to Campground ate lunch, took ferry to MK.
The river in Rivers of America was filled.
returned to campground/ Davey Croketts for supper, went
to EPCOT. Ended the night by requesting the front of the
monorail for the trip from EPCOT to the TTC. What a view
from the front. I'm surprised that everyone doesn't take
the front. All you have to do is ask....
got back to the TTC. picked up the Blue flag to the campground.
There's something sad about leaving the TTC for the last time
on your vacation stay. brings tears to your eyes.
Wen 2/28 headed back to Daytona with a side trip to the Kennedy space center.
` at 2:30AM the shuttle took off. We were assured that we could
view the launch from the campground. You can't. We and about
a dozen others were on the beach [at Fort Wilderness]listening
to the launch on
radio and sadly realizing that we weren't going to see anything.
we did have passed to get onto the base for the launch. But with
so many delays we decided to take a chance. Oh well, maybe
next time.
Thursday 3/1 headed north at 7am.
Saturday 3/3 7am HOME.
second most hated words: I an't running for any dam bus.
Most hated words: its our bus, RUN!
most hated sign: This attraction is be refurbished for your future enjoyment.
ARRRRRG!!#$% quit a few signs in use like that.
I did call 'priority service'. To make a complaint about the busses following
on each other's bumper in stead of being spaced out. The operator instead
of taking my complaint said they'd send someone to my campsite. I asked
the person to listen to my complaint herself and record it. Really no point
to a personal visit. She then asked if I wanted to talk to her supervisor.
I again repeated I only wanted the complaint recorded so that some future
action could be considered. dumb person. dumb transportation system.
diesel busses in a campground. boo. bring back the campground train.
Cost: admission 4adults/2 children $550
Campground 8 nights $400
GAS @6 mpg $500
2 diner shows $300
other food $200
gifts $200
misc #200
total $2350
Csot of rv ownership 16 days $1600**
grand total $3950
**registration/taxes/insureance/purchase price/interest divided by days
use in year for use/day does not include gas/campground fee. can be used to
compare against cost of rent.
thats it.
its Sunday 3/4 and the report is done.
regards,
ed
|
| 183.3 | There *were* trams last summer | NITMOI::WITHERS | Another Hallmark Moment. -Al Bundy | Mon Mar 05 1990 10:37 | 7 |
| As of July '89 they still had FW Trams but only on the inner loops,
north of the Meadow Trading Post. The southern routes, and the main
gate were being handled by busses. Also, late at night 12Am+, only
buses were in operation.
George
|
| 183.4 | Feb 12-16, '90: Better Late Than.... | WJOUSM::HIGGINS | The Jungle VIP | Mon Mar 12 1990 15:25 | 304 |
|
Sorry for being late with my report. I for one do not want to experience
the Wrath Of Len. 8^) My girlfriend Debbie, daughter Tiffany age 10, and
myself went to Orlando on Feb 9th through February 17th. Because we were
flying on bonus (free) tickets, we couldn't reserve seats until 24 hrs
before our desired departure. First thing, on the 8th, I called the airline
to find out that I couldn't get three of us on the same flight out on
Friday. One would have to leave earlier in the day on another flight.
This wasn't much of an inconvenience since the tix were free to begin with.
I made the booking, and my travel agent offered to watch Sabre to see if
anything else opened up. Nothing else opened up so Debbie flew out of Logan
early, and my daughter and I flew out at night. It ends up, my United flight
left Logan late due to a gate change, and even though I made my connection
in Wash/Dulles, my luggage did not... This wasn't too big of a deal since we
weren't planning to do anything on Saturday anyway. ( United drove it out
too me the next day, about 7:30 pm)
I rented a car from USA rent a car, off the airport. Their rates weren't
too bad ($114 wk, Chev Barretta) and I only had to leave a dep/cc slip for
$250. Since I was late getting there, about 11:30pm, I was the only one on
their lot. I was able to pick the car I wanted and I wasn't pushed at all
into getting the CDW. Anyway, we stayed at Debbie's Aunt's house in Orange
City which is about 45 mi/45 minutes northeast of WDW. To the Disney days,
shall we ?
Monday 2/12 -
-------------
Not being sure how long it would take to get to WDW from Orange City,
considering traffic on I-4 in Orlando, we left about 8:00 am. We dressed
in long pants for the day because it was a little windy. Debbie was glad
about this decision when night came because it got quite cool. We were making
great time when we came to a dead stop on I-4 about 20 miles from WDW. A
major accident caused the closing of part of I-4 and we had to be re-routed
for a while. With the delays and re-routing it cost us 1:15 minutes !!!!
We decided to go to Epcot first and leave the Studio until the end of the
week to let the anticipation build up. We arrived at Epcot a little before
10 am, parked and made it through the turnstile before 10 am. We had purchased
tickets before we made the trip, and boy was I glad. The lines were unreal for
tickets, mostly because they didn't have many booths open. Had to start the
day with a journey on Spaceship Earth, my Epcot favorite. The line was only
15 - 20 minutes long. One thing I noticed later in the week, was that some
of the speakers in the cars (people transports) were not working or very
distorted. I later noticed this at a few other attractions. Maybe it's time
to replace some speakers ???
On to the Wonders of Life for Body Wars !! When we got there, the line for
BW was quite long. A cast member was making her way along the line saying
it was an hour+ wait. It ended up being about 45 minutes. This was the longest
wait we had all week. Well my opinion of BW. It's OK, but I would take Star
Tours over it any day !!! I actually enjoyed Cranium Command much more ! I
completely forgot about.... oh never mind. I don't want to put spoilers in
here. We didn't do much else in WOL. We're saving some things for our next
visit. From here we finished off this side of FW, going from UOE, to Horizons
and the WOM. Lines were 10 minutes tops. It's about noon time now, so time
to eat. The lo mein at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in China is a personal fav.
Next came Norway and the Maelstrom. The line was about 30 minutes. I had
high hopes for this attraction, seeing it was my first time on it. I was
somewhat disappointed because of the attraction's shortness and lack of
substance. The 3 headed troll was kinda neat, and rushing backward, but it
was shortlived. I watched the film at the end the first time through, but
after our second time later on in the week, we went right through the theater.
A must is the Puffin's Roost shop where you can buy these troll figures. Had to
have one !!!! (Also, the biggest selection of Wishniks I've ever seen.)
We then made our way around World Showcase, hitting most of the attractions.
It got quite cool by nightfall so we ended up buying sweatshirts at the shop
at International Gateway. (Got one of my best Kodachrome shots here).
People were staking claims for Illuminations at 7:00pm ! I couldn't believe
it. We decided we wouldn't (I wouldn't) hang around for 2-3 hours just to get
a good spot (usually in Mexico). Went back over to Mexico about 9:30 to wait
for "I". Got a spot that wasn't too bad (standing mind you) to watch from.
Fought the mob getting out and made it back to Orange City about 12:45 am.
Tuesday 2/13 -
--------------
Time for the MK and my first Monte Cristo !! This was only the second day
and I knew this drive wasn't going to wear well with me by the end of the
week. But I thought, Dole Whip !!, Monte Cristo !!. I was happy again. Half
way to WDW we decided to go to Epcot for a couple hours and take in the Land,
JII, and the Living Seas. Upon finishing this we then hopped aboard the mono-
rail to the MK via the TTC. We stayed on the monorail vs the ferry because the
crowds were small. When we got there we hung around City Hall to wait to see
if some characters would show, and like clockwork they did. Due to the crowds
not being that large, I was able to get some good pictures of my daughter with
them. Generally, you have a small army hovering around but this was not the
case.
After our little photo shoot we headed down Main St to Adventure Land. I
always end up in Adventure Land first. Is this just me or do others find
this happening to them ? I'm not too keen (yawn) for the treehouse and the
line for the Jungle Cruise was a little long so we headed straight for
Pirates. In all, we went on this attraction 4 times that day. I still catch
myself riding to work saying things like, " Kitty, Kitty, Kitty", with
appropriate slur and all. Backtracking, the line at the Jungle Cruise was
a little shorter so we decided to give it a go. About 35 minutes, but it
seemed more like 20.
Now it was time for the Monte Cristo! We make a bee-line back past the
Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room (Serenade), and cut through the bathroom area
that brings you by the hat shop and into Frontier Land. Then I hobble
(famished by now) past the Liberty Tree and off too the Columbia Harbor
House. I really enjoyed this place, except for one of the rude cashiers.
The MC was great, and so was the coconut cream pie I had to go with it !!!
Rivers of America was dry for the whole week we were there, but you could
tell the people working in there were on a mission, to be just in time for Ed.
We then proceeded through attractions in Liberty Square, Frontier Land, and
to the Birthday Land Express. After going to Mickeys Party, we headed over
to Tomorrow Land. In May of '88, Dreamflight wasn't ready so we finally had
a chance to see this attraction. What a dud !!!! Talk about your cheaply
done attraction. I could find better at Whalom Park !! And the thing kept
stopping, 15 times in all. I certainly won't lose any sleep if I miss this
one next time. My daughter was set on going to Space Mountain next so
how could I disappoint. The Wedway was another attraction that had audio
problems. Some of the overhead speakers weren't working and I swear there
was a whole section that was dead. We went and made some reservations for
Tony's on Main St. Tony makes a Chicken Florentine that was great, and Tony's
has free soda refills. Good for that hearty thirst.
After dinner we headed back to Adventure Land and Pirate's. No line at
all. We had the boat practically to ourselves. Closing was at 9 pm so we
decided to head back to Epcot about 8:30. For the crowds being so small, it
sure didn't seem it at the monorail. Luckily we got there early, unlike the
hoards of people behind us. We got back to Epcot about 9:00pm and decided
to go back to the Maelstrom. I liked it better the second time. Maybe it's
because we sat in the front of the boat. Over to France we went to get some
pastry, and some rest for the feet. After this we decided to call it a night.
It was approaching 10:00 and not wanting to fight the crowds after Illumi-
nations, we shoved off. While leaving the parking lot and WDW, we could see
fireworks over WS Lagoon. We left and still got to see some of it ....
Wednesday 2/14 -
----------------
Typhoon Lagoon was on the agenda for today. Kinda like a sandwich with
the two park days on either side. I really enjoyed this place. The weather
was somewhat cooperative even though the sun was in and out all day. We
got there at opening, 10:00am and stayed until 4:00pm. Debbie had a good
book for herself, which I thought she would throw at me after I got her to
go on the Storm Slides. Her first run was ok and gave her the courage to
go a second time. Well, I guess she didn't negotiate a corner too well the
second time and had a wild ride. My daughter on the other hand was in
heaven. She was non stop the whole day. The burgers at the Leaning Palms
were pretty good considering they were fast food.
After changing, we headed to the marketplace and Pleasure Island.
First on the agenda was eats. We decided on Merriweathers Market. We were
undecided on how to rate this so we gave it a fair. We then proceeded to
check out the place (this was the first time I had been). We sauntered in
and out of some of the stores window shopping. Eventually we picked up a
couple of things (using the MKC card) to bring home. The Empress Lilly
had a wedding on board when we got there. Everyone was dressed in the
drobe of the riverboat era, long coat with tails, hat and all. So we stood
there gawking just like everyone else was, while their photographer was
taking wedding pictures. We never went into any of the clubs in PI. It was
after 7:00 and we wanted to get back to Orange City and make it an early
night. This just leaves some stones unturned for the next trip !!!!
Thursday 2/15 -
---------------
This was the day I had been waiting for. The studio !!!!! We were all
anxious to get to the park. We hit the road about the same time as we
had all week. Traffic wasn't to bad and we made it to MGM about 9:00.
Talk about poor planning. If I recall correctly the entrance road had
only 2 lanes, and when you got to the parking toll booths there were
only 4 queues. I've never counted but both the TTC and Epcot have 10
each. I don't figure.
Anyway, once in we hurried to the entrance. The lines to purchase tickets
were long and I had this feeling that we had to run to get in. Even though
before we came I had been reading both Birnbaum and a Disney/MGM guide, I was
a litle disorientated. What to do first ? Should we run ??? Running was out
of the question due to the large behemoth of a crowd on Hollywood Blvd. When
I gained my wits (lost um since) we proceeded to squirm towards the Great
Movie Ride. To our advantage there wasn't a line outside. We were able to
walk right into Mann's with no problem and they wait was about 15 minutes.
We must have lucked out because when we finished the attraction and came
out side, the line had progressed outside of the building and was weaving
serpentine along the outside of the attraction. I liked TGMR but thought
it could have been better. The Alien (upper creature) scene is only effective
to about 1/4 of the tram and the same for the creature on the right. I
enjoyed the gangster(left queue) vs the western (right queue).
This is getting a little lengthy so I'll try and summarize the rest. As
is the consensus, the MGM park is way to small. There are not enough
attractions to disperse the crowd evenly. You get this cramp feel throughout
the park (like you don't in MK or Epcot ???). At least in Epcot & MK, theres
some space to get a break.
SuperStar Television
--------------------
Well Debbie just had to get picked for this, and I guess the trick is
to be about as loud and close to the front as you can get when it's time
for them to cast. She got to play the part of Ethel in the Lucy bit.
Tiffany and myself got to be the acknowledged audience members that got
to stand and wave at the camera. This was some fun stuff. It's to bad
you can't get a copy of this on video tape, but due to them using actual
footage, they only have playback privledges. I think ??
Monster Sound Show
------------------
The film with Chase & Short is not bad. Actually, I liked the Soundworks
area that you exit into. The booths they have where you go in and put the
headphones on and listen to this office conversation is great. I've never
heard imaging like this before. The audio quality coming from those little
headphones was unbelievable !
Indiana Jones
-------------
The line for this attraction was llllooonnnggggg, but once the line started
moving it wasn't too bad. They can fit a ton of people in that stadium. We
go some great photo's of the explosions at the end.
50's Prime Time Cafe
--------------------
We tried to get in here for lunch about noon but were told the next available
lunch seating was 2:45 !!!! To late for our Tum Tum's... We made reservations
for dinner at 5:30. I had the meatloaf that was both good and filling. Tiffany
had the kids macaroni and cheese, that I had to finish because it wasn't Kraft!
The atmosphere is just like the names says, 50's. Your waitress is known as
mom and she is constantly feeding you motherly advise like, "Don't leave you
bike in the driveway", Did you remember to was your hands before dinner ?".
Old 50's style TV's with a "Disney" logo are placed where the majority of
the patrons can view the tape loop of old 50's shows. I would recommend it
for lunch or dinner...
Animation Tour
--------------
The film with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite is good. After this we
then went through the tour. Animators were working on another Roger Rabbit
cartoon for release this summer. I can't remember the name of it. Something
about a roller coaster.
Studio Tour
-----------
We liked the tour but not as much as the one at Universal (Ca.). The queue
was about 40 minutes but we were kept busy watching the overhead monitors.
There was nothing going on in the Soundstages to speak of. Just some set
people working on nothing of interest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall we had fun at the Studio. I'm looking forward to what Disney has
in store for the parks expansion.
Friday 2/16 -
-------------
This was going to be our last day at the parks and even though we didn't
give it a second thought at the time, it became increasingly evident as the
day wore on. Back to Cental Mass. !!!! It couldn't be. Why this week just
started two days ago !!! Kid our selves we tried but to no avail. This would
be our last day. Boo Hoo....
We settled on the Magic Kingdom for our final day so we drove right to
the TTC. Upon entering the MK we headed for the Hospitality House to get
tickets for the Horseshoe Jamboree but it was filled. We could have waited
before the show to see if there were no-shows but decided against it.
After Main St. we headed up to Fantasyland to take in a few attractions
that we didn't hit on Tuesday. In our two previous vacations to WDW and
Disneyland, we hadn't been on 20,000 Leagues. Tiffany and myself both
enjoyed this although dated as it is. I like the idea of the fresh air coming
from the bottom of the porthole. For some reason the Skyway was down so we
didn't get a chance to do that.
Another one timer was the Grand Prix Raceway. Real rack and pinion steering
I'd have to say. I didn't care for this attraction for two reasons. The exaust
fumes were enough to gag a mule. We didn't notice this until your journey was
over and you were waiting to exit. The second and biggest reason were the
teenagers and kids, and I'll use the term JERKS/BRATS, that would ram into you
from behind when you were stopped waiting to exit the vehicle. Am I glad that
none were behind us. Space Mountain loomed so inviting next so Tiffany and
I were off. I had asked Deb to give it a go, but when she started quivering at
just the invite we best let her relax on the bench.
When we finished up with Tomorrow Land, we headed on over to Frontier Land.
I just had to have another run on Big Thunder Mountain. This ride is great !
It was Monte Cristo time again so we headed on over to the Columbia Harbor
House again. I don't think I'll ever get sick of those little deep fried
puppies !!! They take over Dole Whip as my fave ! The rest of the day was spent
walking around and checking out some of the shops and other attractions. We
took in a show at the Castle Stage and watched the theme parade down Main St.
After it got dark I had to go back to Big Thunder Mountain. The effect is even
better at night ! The parked closed at 9:00pm, and as we left it was finally
time to own up to it. It was goodbye Mickey for now. 8^(
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the being a tardy boy, I'm sure I have forgotten a few tidbits but
I hope some other replys jar my memory.
George
|
| 183.5 | | AKOV11::GRADY | | Wed Apr 11 1990 14:11 | 46 |
| I just got back from my Disney vacation. I listed some of the
positives and negatives.
POSITIVES
- Stayed at the Marriot World Center. I would recommend this hotel to
anyone. It had a huge pool with a adjoining sandbox for the little
rascals to play in. The hotel had several resturants and a beautiful
golf coursse. Also, the hotel has several resturants and indoor
waterfalls.
- Shopping at the Disney Village. My wife went shopping while I watched
my son (19 MONTHS AND A HOLY TERROR). He played in the huge sandbox.
The sandbox is located right in the middle of all the stores. Then she
watched my son while I went shopping.
- I would highly recommend the Olive Garden Resturant. There are
several of them located all around the Orlando are. The resturant
serves Italian food and thick hot bread sticks. The bread sticks melt
in your mouth. Also, the bread sticks come with every meal. I could go
on about the menu alone, but there is not enough space.
- Mickey's Resturant in the Disney Village. My son got Mickey's
autograph and several pictures taken with Mickey. The only problem is
my son thought Mickey was there just for him. He could not understand
why Mickey had to go around to all the tables.
- SPACE MOUTAIN!!! If you have never been on space mountain please make
sure you go on this ride. However, if you are afraid of roller coasters
PLEASE DO NOT GO ON THIS RIDE. It is a fast moving ride through total
darkness. You feel like a human bullet.
- I enjoyed everything in Disney. I just wish I had a few weeks to take
my time and go through the whole park in more detail.
NEGATIVES
- Plane ride for my son. He is 19 months and he really suffered. We
took bottles, pacifers, and cookies. The bottom line is nothing could
appease him. He was a screaming MANIC. Once we got off the plane he was
fine.
- I think my son was to young for Disney. Some children slept in their
carriages, but not my little rascal. There was to much for him to
see and he did not enjoy waiting in line. I would like to offer a
helpful suggestion. Please get there when the park opens. Go to rides,
or the things you want to see first. When the children get cranky go
back to the hotel. Then have them take a nap. When they wake up have
the children take a swim in the pool. If they have the energy go back
to Disney in the late afternoon. The crowds won't be so bad.
I hope you enjoy your trip.
a golf
course.
with swans, ducks, and goldfish.
|
| 183.6 | Visit report | WOTVAX::KAYR | | Tue Apr 17 1990 08:04 | 597 |
| FLORIDA VISIT REPORT...Robin Kay...Warrington...England.
(Warning: This note is quite long. Perhaps you should print it off and read
it at home)
Day 1 Friday March 23rd
The party consisted of myself, my wife Linda and son Matthew aged 2. This
was our second trip, the first being exactly 2 years ago when Matthew was 3
months old. On that occasion we also took our two older children then aged
15 and 17. This time we left them home to fend for themselves.
We were on a package deal which included return flight to Orlando, 14
nights at the Famous Host Inn in Orlando and a hire car. Cost per head was
about $700. (No reduction for Matthew)
Having packed everything the night before we arose at 5am and left by car
at 6 for our local airport. We took of on schedule at 9 jammed like
sardines into a 757. The flight took 11 hours including a refuelling stop
at Bangor Maine. The sight of all that snow on the ground there made
Florida seem even more appealing.
My first action after claiming my luggage was to go to the airport Disney
shop and buy my 5 day passports and make reservations for the Chip and Dale
breakfast show. With my MKC card the passports cost $100 including tax.
This was less than I thought.
( Since writing this I have read various notes stating considerably higher
prices. I have just received my VISA account and the price I paid for two 5
day passports was $200.60.)
(As an aside, Orlando must be the only airport in the world where after
claiming your bags from the carousel you have to give them back and repeat
the process)
The next job was to catch the bus to Lindo's car hire and pick up the hire
car. The package stipulated a 2 door Chevette type car. I declined the
proffered upgrade at $3 per day and was then very pleased to be shown to a
4 door Mitshubishi which was very acceptable. I then discovered the tank
was two thirds full.
Everything was going so well it just could not last. Sure enough I missed
the turn off for the hotel, took the next one and found myself heading
north on I4. I travelled 6 miles before I was able to turn around.
By the time we got to the hotel it was midnight UK time (7pm local) and we
had been up for 19 hours. Linda and Matthew went straight to bed. I decided
to do a reconnaissance. I discovered that the nearby Denny's provided a
free dinner on your birthday. Today happened to be my wife's birthday but
she refused to get out of bed for her free dinner. (As my wife's birthday
lasted for 29 hours I said she should take full advantage as it was never
likely to happen again)
Day 2 Saturday
Being unaware that the time zone had moved 5 hours, Matthew decided he
wanted to get up at 3.30am. With hindsight we should have taken the
opportunity to go to MGM for 7am. We had however previously decided to
attend the 9.am briefing from the tour company and spend the rest of the
day getting our bearings and doing a little shopping.
Meeting a fellow holidaymaker in the car park we were asked what we thought
of the previous night's drama. It turned out that there had been a man with
a gun on the hotel roof threatening to shoot at all and sundry. He was
talked down by the police without any shooting.
The briefing was at the Mercado Mall on International Drive. After
breakfast at Denny's we went there. (You can have an excellent breakfast at
Denny's for less than $4) It turned out to be a waste of time. We did
however spend a pleasant morning wandering around the Mercado before
returning to the hotel and spending the afternoon by the pool. After that
we drove around to the nearest Goodings to buy some provisions and then
made the first of many visits to K-Mart. By this time we were very tired
and were in bed by 9.
Day 3 Sunday
This was MGM day. We set the alarm for 6 and were at the parking toll
booths by 7. At this point I discovered that my wallet was in my camera
case in the trunk. As I attempted to leave my seat the attendant waved me
back and give me a complimentary parking ticket.
We started by doing part 1 of the studio tour. Apart from Catastrophe
Canyon I was not over impressed by this ride. I also wished that I had not
been forewarned. Matthew was terrified. The loud noises bothered him more
than the visual effects.
Acting on advice from this notes file we skiped part 2 of the tour and
proceeded to the Great Movie Ride. I thought this was great but Matthew was
not too keen on being shot at and spent the ride hiding his face in his
mother's chest.
After that we walked straight into the days first showing of Indiana Jones.
Matthew lasted 30 seconds. At the first explosion he insisted on leaving so
Linda took him out. I enjoyed it.
After meeting up again we headed for Star Tours. Matthew was not allowed in
and Linda did not mind not seeing it so I went in alone. There was no queue
and I enjoyed the ride. By this time Matthew was ready for some sustenance
so I bought him a Mickey Mouse ice lolly. By UK standards the prices Disney
charge for drinks and ices is extortionate.
By the time Matthew had finished the ice lolly and we had cleaned him up it
was about 10.30 and the park was very crowded. All queues were extensive.
We decided to leave MGM and head for Epcot.
My overall impression of MGM was one of disappointment. The park is far too
small and cannot accommodate the large crowds it attracts. If I had bought
a single park ticket I would have felt cheated.
At Epcot we headed straight for World Showcase. We did the rides in Norway
and Mexico without queing before heading for America for lunch. After lunch
we toured all the other countries. This took us until the early evening. We
then visited the Land as we had missed this ride on our previous visit 2
years ago. By this time we were all again very tired and decided to call it
a day. However the absence of a queue at Spaceship Earth was too good to
miss so we did this before taking the bus back to MGM for our car.
Even though we had seen it before we really enjoyed this visit to Epcot.
Day 4 Monday
On our previous visit we had spent a week at Cocoa Beach. Much of our time
there was spent in Ron Jon's Surf Shop which my kids found irresistible. We
were under instructions to bring back large numbers of Ron Jon T shirts
which can be bought at no other shop on earth. Because of this we decided
to combine a trip to Cocoa Beach with a visit to NASA.
We had done the NASA tour last time and decided not to do it again even
though I would have liked to photograph the shuttle on the launch pad. We
did however watch the IMAX film as we missed it last time. Matthew was not
impressed by the noise of the launch and again insisted on leaving with
cries of "I want out". He did however calm down once we reached orbit.
We then had lunch. After the office canteen NASA is the cheapest place I
have ever dined at and the quality is superb. It appears to be a non profit
making organisation.
I bought some colour slides which would have been difficult for me to take
myself, like pictures of a launch and the earth from 50 miles up.
After a look around the rocket junk yard we set of for Ron Jon's where we
spent $150 dollars on T shirts and then ajourned to the beach for a couple
of hours before returning to Orlando.
Day 5 Tuesday.
At last our day for the Magic Kingdom. We were inside by 8.30 and booked a
lunchtime show at the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon before proceeding to the end
of Main Street. We headed straight for Fantasyland and did Peter Pan,
Cinderella, Toad, Small World and the Carousel without any queing. Our
intention was then to do the Jungle Cruise but the queue was already at the
hour mark so we went to Pirates and walked straight on. Once again Matthew
was not impressed by the loud noises.
After this we made our way to Frontierland for the saloon show. The show
was good but the food was extortionate. The main event of the afternoon was
Mickey's Birthday Party. Entering Birthdayland on foot we joined a queue
which we thought was the Birthday show. After queing for half an hour (the
longest we queued for anything at Disney) we found ourselves in Mickey's
dressing room meeting the star himself. Matthew was rather overawed but
managed to give Mickey a reluctant hug.
We then found the right queue and attended Mickey's party. For Matthew this
was the best thing so far and we promised to do it again later in the week.
The farm petting area was closed for refurbishment.
We watched the parade from Main Street then took in a few more rides.
Matthew enjoyed the Grand Prix Racers and a second look at Small World.
Another attempt at the Jungle Cruise showed no improvement in the queue so
we took in the Tikki Birds. I quite enjoyed watching it once but would have
to be dragged in and tied down to watch it again.
After doing a little more shopping we took the railroad back to Main Street
and headed home about 7.30.
Day 6 Wednesday
After 3 hectic days this was one for taking it easy. After a long lie in
until almost 8 o'clock we had breakfast and then went shopping in the Belz
Factory Outlet. This is an excellent low cost shopping mall located at the
northern extremity of Internationmal Drive only a mile from our hotel. We
spent a lot more money on clothes and toys. We also found some ridiculously
cheap microwave containers and bought about a dozen in assorted sizes. It
was at this point that I started feeling a growing concern over the finite
capacity of our suitcases and the fact that we had already well exceeded
the UK import allowance of �36($59) per person.
We spent the afternoon by the hotel pool and later on went out to do some
more shopping, this time at Wal-Mart. I can't remember what we bought there
but I am sure we would not have left without buying a few more T shirts.
Matthew did however pick this time to start cutting his back teeth. He was
hysterical until the instore pharmacist sold us some gel to rub on his gums
which provided instant relief.
The day was finished off by an evening stroll down International Drive. We
were concerned at the small amount of food that Matthew was consuming. Just
about all he was prepared to eat so far was ice cream, chocolate chip
cookies and chicken nuggets plus unlimited quantities of orange juice and
coke. We took him into Wendy's and introduced him to a 79c burger. He
proceeded to throw away the bread and eat the meat. From then on whenever
he was hungry he called for a burger.
On the way back to the hotel we were accosted by people offering cut price
and even free tickets to all attractions including Disney. All the free
offers relate to timeshares but the cut price tickets are genuine. We
bought tickets to Cypress Gardens at $5 below the standard price. They even
sell Disney tickets at about $20. They are 4 or 5 day passes with a day
left which have been bought from departing tourists who have had their fill
of Disney.
Day 7 Thursday
The whole day was spent at Cypress Gardens. So far the weather had been
exactly as I expected. Temperatures in the 78/82 high range. Lots of
sunshine and a few clouds. I had worked out that this was my lifetime total
38th day in America. I have been to Chicago, Minneapolis and Boston as well
as Orlando. In that time I have never experienced a single drop of rain or
temperatures below 75. This situation continued until about 4.30 when it
started to rain. This was rain like I had never seen before. It came down,
hit the ground then went back up again 6 feet.
Fortunately by this time we had seen all the attractions and were leaving
the gardens. I enjoyed Cypress Gardens and would recommend it as a light
relief from the pressures of Disney. One word of warning. Do not feed the
squirrels. I offered one who looked particularly friendly a potato chip. He
showed his gratitude by ignoring the chip and sinking his teeth into my
finger. My feelings were not improved when a Cypress Gardens employee
advised me to get medical advice as some of the squirrels were rabid. I
ignored the advice and so far I have not noticed any increase in my thirst.
After sheltering in the shop for 30 minutes we took advantage of a brief
lull in the rain to race back to the car. We drove back through torrential
rain and an incredible display of lightning. The rain continued all evening
into the night.
Day 8 Friday
This was to be our third day in Disney and we decided to return to Epcot.
We concentrated on Future World and managed to do every ride (apart from
Spaceship Earth and the Land which we had already done) without queing for
more than a few minutes. We made one brief foray into World Showcase.
Behind the shops at the England exhibit is a garden which I have always
found near deserted. It makes an excellent spot for an illicit picnic.
We decided to leave Epcot at about 7 and experience MGM at night. As we
approached Spaceship Earth it started to rain again. If anything it was
worse than the previous day. We took shelter in the shop under the lee of
Spaceship Earth. The wind was driving the rain horizontally and because a
few people did not have the intelligence to step back from the automatic
doors it came straight into the shop and was wetting goods 6 feet from the
entrance.
The rain abated a little so after buying Matthew a poncho which covered him
and his stroller we raced for the bus shelter. I was annoyed to say the
least to find that although all the bus pick up points for resort hotels
had shelters, that for MGM had none. We retreated for shelter to the
vending machine island until the bus arrived.
By the time we reached MGM the rain had virtually stopped. After a brief
walk round we decided that in our damp state we were not inclined to visit
any of the attractions we had previously missed. We took the bus back to
Epcot and drove home.
Day 9 Saturday
The plan for today was Typhoon Lagoon but a glance out of the window soon
changed that. It was drizzling rain. Now tropical thunderstorms I can
accept, but drizzle I can get at home. The holiday brochure made absolutely
no mention of drizzle.
As the rain looked set to continue for a long time we decided to have
another shopping day. We started by spending the morning in the Florida
Mall. After eating a very reasonably priced breakfast we proceeded on the
serious business of shopping. After spending a small fortune on gifts we
emerged to the find rain had stopped and the sun was shining.
We continued our shopping tour by driving down to Kissimee and looking in
at Old Town. Old Town is a street of small shops built in olde worlde
style. Our principal reason for going there was to have lunch. There is a
restaurant there built around a mock up of a London double decker bus. You
can buy Enlish type food there eg fish and chips and steak and kidney pie,
and drink English beer, at a fraction of the prices charged in the English
pub at Epcot.
After leaving Old Town we took the I4 back to Orlando. Before going back to
the hotel to freshen up we called in at the Mercado again. (You may have
realised by now that we find it impossible to pass a shopping mall.)
After eating we decided to spend the evening at the Disney Village and
perhaps make use of my MKD card. I had read about the Goodings store at X
roads in this notesfile so we decided to go there first for some more
provisions. Upon examining a map to see how to get there I realised that
the signs on the I4 for Disney Village take you on a much longer route than
is necessary. Leaving the I4 at the X roads junction put you almost
immediately in the Disney Village. Following the signs takes you 3 miles
further south and another 3 to get back. I further realised that you can
reach the World from International Drive without touching the I4. A road
runs directly from the East end of Sandlake right into Disney.
After doing some more shopping in the Village we continued onto Pleasure
Island. Although we did not enter any clubs I enjoyed the atmosphere of the
island. I did not spend any money there so did not discover whether or not
the MKD card was valid in the island shops. As it is virtually an extension
of the Disney Village it may be so.
Day 10 Sunday
Sunday had always been earmarked as a Magic Kingdom day owing to it being
reputedly a relatively low attendance day. As we had done most of the
attractions we did not attempt to get there at opening time. As things
turned out later it was just as well. As we intended finishing the day at
Epcot and we had not yet ridden the monorail we decided to park there
rather than at the Magic Kingdom.
Whilst getting some change for a locker I had my first heart attack of the
day. I put the dollar in the tray and then tried to pick up the 4 quarters.
A huge hairy hand beat me to it and grabbed the money. I instinctively
grabbed the hand and found I was wrestling with the King Lion. He is really
just a big pussy cat and give in without a struggle.
We took things easy there, taking in the things we had missed previously
but ignoring anything with a long queue. Linda wanted to get some
uninterrupted views of the Parade so at 1.45 we headed for Mainstreet
Station in order to get a grandstand seat. I was surprised to find that not
only were all the seats taken but that people were already gathering all
along the route. As I had no wish to wait at the roadside for over an hour
I suggested we went away and returned nearer the time. Whilst we were in
Liberty square I was surprised to see the parade go by in the distance.
What I could not understand was why the parade was an hour early and why
everyone except me knew about it.
We took a late lunch in the restaurant in Liberty Square. We agreed that
this was a very good place to eat. For $4.50 Linda got a trio salad. It
consisted of ample portions of tuna, chicken and cottage cheese on a bed of
salad. All of this was presented in a large scallop shaped container. For
about the same price I got a chicken fillet sandwich with fries. There was
more than enough food for the three of us. Linda tucked the salad in its
container under the stroller and finished it later.
Later on as the crowds lessened we managed to get on the Jungle Cruise with
a wait of less than half an hour. Matthew caused 50 hearts to miss a beat
when he made a dash for the river. Linda caught him by his clothes inches
from the edge.
After the cruise walked straight into the Haunted House without queing.
Afterwards when asked if he had enjoyed the ride Matthew replied with an
emphatic no. I personally think the Haunted House is a much overrated ride.
Whilst Linda and Matthew were queing for a repeat of Mickey's Birthday show
I dashed off to see if I could get on to Space Mountain. After riding it I
get back to Birthdayland 45 minutes after leaving it just in time to catch
Mickey blowing out the candles. Good timing.
As it was getting late we decided to make our way back to Epcot. I always
enjoy the monorail approach to Epcot as it passes through the park before
reaching the terminus. The intention was to have a meal before catching the
film at the new 'Life' pavilion and then watch the illuminations.
We ate at the restaurant near Communicore East. I believe this is the best
value restaurant in Disney because the price of a sandwich or burger (about
$4.50) includes a visit to the salad bar. There is a similar restaurant
opposite but it was always closed in the evenings.
After eating we joined a short queue to see the film. Potential viewers
were advised that as this film dealt in a frank way with reproduction and
birth you should use your judgement as to whether you allowed your children
to watch it. This warning probably accounted for the long queues that I had
previously encountered there. By this time my watch read 8.45. Upon
enquiring as to when the next performance started I was told 10.00. As I
was second in the queue I expressed my surprise at this. It was at this
point that the penny dropped. As we had neither watched TV nor bought a
newspaper we had no idea that the clocks had been advanced an hour.
The film itself was a big disappointment. You would not have been
embarrassed watching it in the company of your maiden aunt. Disney should
remove the warning from the brochure and hence cut the queues.
Because of the lost hour we of course missed the illuminations which
started at 10. Although the day had not lasted quite as long as we intended
we had had an hour longer in bed and we still had 1 day left on the
passport.
Day 11 Monday
This was the day we had made reservationsfor the Chip and Dale breakfast at
Pioneer Hall, Fort Wilderness. Breakfast was at 10.15. Although we left the
hotel in good time I had not realised that you cannot park near Pioneer
Hall and have to take a bus from Fort Wilderness entrance. We arrived at
Pioneer Hall about 5 minutes before time. If like us you have reservations
you must convert these to tickets at the hatch on the left before entering.
I was very pleased to be shown to a table about 6 feet from the stage and
in the centre. The table already contained coffee and 4 large cocolate chip
cakes which Matthew at once started to devour. Even the presence of Chip
did not put him off his food. As the breakfast continued Chip, Dale, Goofy,
Pluto and Donald circulated from table to table posing for photographs and
giving hugs and kisses to kids and adults alike. The breakfast consisted of
unlimited quantities of scrambled eggs, bacon and fried potatoes along with
biscuits and gravy. You could also drink as much coffee, tea, milk and
orange juice as you wanted. Breakfast was followed by a show.
We all enjoyed the experience tremendously and thought at $12 it was
reasonable value for money. Hint. Don't eat the chocolate chip cakes. They
are too filling. Put them in a doggy bag for lunch. There is more than
enough to eat without them.
The plan for the afternoon was River Country. I had not realised that River
Country is next to Pioneer Hall so I had to nip back to the parking lot on
the bus to collect our costumes, towels and pic-nic whilst Linda and
Matthew visited the children's farm.
Using my MKD card I obtained tickets at guest rates. I took the opportunity
to buy a combined ticket to Discovery Island for use later in the week.
River Country is great. Although it has not got the thrills of Wet and Wild
it is much more suitable for toddlers and younger children and for people
like Linda who have no desire to go in the water. Matthew especially
appreciated the sandy beach.
I think that this was the evening we eat at Steak and Ale. This was a
disaster. As a main course we both ordered Hawaian style fried chicken.
($8 + tax + Tip) Matthew asked for a burger. The chicken was flavourless,
dry and charred. The burger was also flavourless, dry and even more
charred. As well as being the most expensive meal we bought in Florida it
was also the worst. Matthew refused to eat anything so we took him down to
Wendies for a decent burger and finished the day with a stroll down
International Drive.
Day 12 Tuesday
Tuesday was Sea World day. It was quite cool at the start of the day so we
took sweaters with us. I used my discount card to get 15% of the price. I
had seen Sea World before so there were no surprises for me. I was however
disappointed with the ski show which was not as good as when I saw it 2
years ago and is now no longer as good as Cypress Gardens. Food prices were
similar to Disney)
The highlight of this day was dinner with a friend and his family from our
Edinburgh office. We dined at Denny's and had a very good meal at a very
reasonable price. ( eg Hamburger steak, fried onions,potato any style plus
2 veg.-$6 including salad. Linda had liver for the same price.)
Unfortunately Matthew's behavior was appalling. The bigger the audience the
more he wants to show off. He crowned his performance by throwing a glass
of water on the floor. Luckily it did not break. I was as always in America
impressed by the tolerance shown shown to small children.
Day 13 Wednesday
When the weather forecast said the day would be cold I thought it meant
cold by Florida standards not cold as in goose pimples. We intended
spending all day in Disney with the Epcot illuminations as the grand
finale. So making sure we had our sweaters we drove to Epcot. I could not
understand that even though the sun was beating down from a clear blue sky
it was still a cold day.
From Epcot we took the monorail to the TTC and thence to the Contemporary
Resort to catch a boat to Discovery Island. Whilst at the Resort we took
the opportunity to have a good look round to see how the other half live.
We were very impressed. One of my hobbies is collecting miniature whiskeys.
I believe you call them picnic bottles in the USA. I found a miniature
Scotch in the hotel shop which I had not seen before at a price cheaper
than the cheapest miniature in England.
The boat to Discovery Island is open on all sides. The wind came across the
water and cut like a knife. I was very glad to get off it. The Island
itself was a disappointment. It did not live up to its publicity. After
spending about one and a half hours there we returned to the Contemporary
Resort and thence by monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We could of course have
taken a boat directly to the Magic Kingdom but Linda had her eye on some T
shirts for Matthew in the hotel shop which we had not seen elsewhere.
Our prime purpose in visiting The Kingdom today was to get a place on the
station balcony to take some pictures of the parade. This we managed to do.
The weather by this time was slightly warmer but it was still quite cool
out of the sun. After the parade we had a last leisurely walk around the
park. We managed to take in the Country Bear Jamboree for the first time
and Its a Small World for the third time and have another ride on the
carousel. We also rode on the People Mover. (The Skyway was closed all the
time we were there).
As we left the Magic Kingdom for the last time the only significant rides
we had missed were the submarines and Thunder Mountain. The submarines
because they are far more interesting from the outside than the inside and
Thunder Mountain because I did not have the heart to go on without Matthew
who was too small to ride.
We took the ferry back to the TTC and then the monorail to Epcot. By this
time it was getting very cold again. Before going into Epcot I retrieved my
car from row 19 and reparked it in row 2.
We had dinner in our favourite restaurant by Communicore East. By this time
it was 9pm and very cold. We almost decided to call it a day but decided we
could not go home without ever seeing the illuminations. Matthew's stroller
has a foam backed cover. We removed this and put it over him rather than
under. At least one of us was warm. We found a good spot on the terrace
near the French Pavilion. The show was splendid and well worth waiting in
the cold for. Matthew woke up in time to see the show and seemed to enjoy
it too.
I was very thankful that we could walk straight to the car and not have to
wait in line to board a cold draughty tram.
We give one last glance at Spaceship Earth and said goodbye, probably for a
very long time.
Day 14 Thursday
The weather was back to normal so we decided to spend our last full day at
Typhoon Lagoon.
Typhoon Lagoon is very nice but frankly I was a little disappointed. It is
basically a much larger version of River Country. None of the rides
approach the sheer exitement and terror of those at Wet & Wild. However the
sun shone all day and we did have a very enjoyable time there.
Typhoon Lagoon closes at 5 so after returning to our hotel to change we
decided to spend our last evening at Disney Village and Pleasure Island.
After taking my customary short cut via Buena Vista X Roads I found it
almost impossible to park at the Village. Fortunatley after cruising around
for 15 minutes we were on the spot when someone pulled out and we
eventually parked adjacent to the road at the extreme end of Pleasure
Island.
When we entered Pleasure Island we saw the reason for the lack of space. It
transpired that Disney were making a commercial for Pleasure Island. In the
commercial it was New Years Eve and a big party was taking place. Hundreds
of extras had been hired for the occasion. Anyone else who wandered along
was given a funny hat and invited to join in. Confetti was showered from
the roof tops and everyone had to wave their arms in the air and shout
happy new year. After the third take I got bored and as you could not move
in the Island we walked over to the Disney Village.
(Since writing this I read in the notes that Pleasure Island is going pay
as you enter starting the day after we left and every night is New Years
Eve. It seems I could not have picked a better night to go)
After Pleasure Island the Village seemed rather quiet and subdued so after
buying a few more souvenirs including another T shirt for Matthew we
returned to Pleasure Island to eat.
By the time we had finished eating the filming had moved to the far end of
the Island leaving the shopping area relatively free. They had however left
behind a 6 inch deep layer of confetti. Leaving his stroller Matthew
gathered up huge armfuls of the stuff to throw about. He decided that as
this stuff was too good to waste he would fill his stroller with it and
take it home. He was assisted in this task by a large lobster. A very
elegant lady was dressed in a bright red lobster suite. With her two huge
claws she scoped up large amounts of confetti and deposited them in
Matthew's stroller. After half an hour of this I had had enough. It was not
easy persauding Matthew to leave behind all that lovely confetti.
Day 15 Friday
Our last day in Florida. Our flight was at 4.20pm but we were advised to
return our hire car to Lindo's by 1. After completing our packing we
decided on one last visit to K-Mart before returning the car. I emerged
with 3 more shirts and some more souvenirs. From our previous visit I knew
that Lindo's was on Orange Blossom so I did not bother to look at the map
they had kindly given us. After driving up as far as I4 and then down again
I realised something was wrong. I stopped at a filling station for advice
and a kindly local informed that that Lindo's had moved nearer the airport.
He invited me to follow him in his car and he would show us the way. I
suppose the holiday would not have been complete without getting lost just
one more time.
The flight home was uneventful and was mercifully 2 hours shorter than
coming.
Reflections
A thoroughly enjoyable experience but one that I will not repeat for a very
long time if ever. My first trip to Florida was ill prepared. It was only
after returning home that I realised how much of Disney I had missed. This
time by using this notesfile and both the official and unofficial guides I
was well prepared. I did everything that I had planned to do and more.
However a second trip can never quite repeat that magic feeling as you see
the castle for the first time across the lagoon or the mind blowing effect
of seeing the dinosaurs at Epcot or the enchantment of Peter Pan's flight.
I will return to America in a few years time but that will probably be to
the west coast where I will of course visit Disneyland. I will probably
visit Disney in Paris in 92. If I do you will be the first to hear about
it.
Thanks for all your help.
Robin Kay @OLO (Warrington England)
|
| 183.7 | | FSHQA2::HLEINONEN | | Thu Apr 19 1990 14:17 | 90 |
| EPCOT and MGM Report ...... March 31 - April 8
Having recently returned from Florida I thought I'd add my impressions.
We took the easy way out and left ourselves lots of time to see
everything instead of cramming.
FYI: One Day (Adult) Passes w/Magic Kingdom Club Card were $30.65
Monday, April 2 : Day One at EPCOT
The weather was great (80+ and sunny) and we arived around
9:00. Parking lot was filling in, but Disney was doing their
usual job of "pack'em in quickly and keep it moving". We
decided to just see the front area today and leave the World
Showcase for another day, though we did make lunch reservations
at the Rose & Crown Pub (England). We headed to Journey into
the Imagination first so that I could see my old pal Figment.
Then on to the Living Body which was new for me. The visual
overload when you walk in the door almost made me turn around;
brightly colored signs, mobiles, and the like all great you
as soon as you enter. We discovered the Body Wars line (10 min)
and headed over - there are many warning signs posted and I
admit I was a bit apprehensive; I have a neck injury and
probably shouldn't have gone on. Anyways the ride was great!
The flight simulator slams you around a bit, but the seatbelt
holds you in place real well. I'd go on this ride before a
roller coaster anyday! We proceeded out to the main floor to
play several of the games - all kinds of hands on toys. The
floor area was more crowded with kids than the ride. The movie
"The Making of Me" was very tastefully done for kids viewing.
It was kind of cute with animation mixed in, but I'd pass it
up unless you've got young kids with you. Anyways, from here
we went through Universe of Energy, World of Motion, Horizons,
and the rest - I'm an Epcot addict so I love all of them! We
breezed throught the Living Seas cause I find the New England
Aquarium more exciting. Lunch at the Rose & Crown was superb.
I highly recommend this place, even for meat-and-potato lovers;
you can't beat the beers and ales. Spent the rest of the at
Spaceship Earth tc. and left the park around 8:00 p.m. We've
seen Illuminations several times and recommend it.
Wednesday, April 4th : EPCOT Day Two
We visited the World Showcase, saw every movie, went on every
ride, and got to see most of the performers and shows specific
to each country: Bagpipes in Canada, Street theatre in England
and Italy, International Dancers in America. Also, there was a
Goebel artist in Germany painting Hummels, an artist in Italy
painting Easter eggs, and a Japanese artist making figurines
from some sort of jellied material. Usually I end up missing
so many of these shows due to time constraints, but we saw
everything. It was well worth spending a day just to see
these. We ate lunch in France - absolutely wonderful - and
met some terrific couples in the restuarant. Again we left
around 9:00.
Friday, April 6th : Disney-MGM Studios
Having read the warnings in the notes file, I called WDW info
the night before to verify opening times. The posted time was
9:00 a.m. but the park actually opened at 7:00. We arrived at
7:15 and one row of parking area was already filled in. The
park was considerably smaller than I expected and loaded with
85% shops. I was disappointed in the Great Movie Ride, while
it was fun I guess I expected more - the Western shoot-out
was real hokey. Then on to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Theatre
- the day before a perfomer had fallen from a rope swing and
broken a hip, so anticipation was high. We were not disappointed.
The show is fabulous! The stunt actors deserve high appraise
for a terrific performance. The Star Tours ride was almost
identical to the Body Wars at Epcot - it's a George Lucas
film of travel to Enderon. The ride was still a bit "bumpy"
but I didn't feel quite as tramatized as in Body Wars. The
backstage studio tour is pretty interesting; Catastrophe
Canyon was lots of fun and the Amination Theatre was informative.
After that we gazed at few shops and were basically done. A
word of warning - the vendors and cafes don't open before the
posted time of 9:00 so have breakfast beforehand. We left the
park at 1:00. It can esily be done in 1/2 day.
Overall: Though not a lot of consideration went into it we seemed
to have picked the right week to travel. It was a week before
College Spring Break and two weeks before school vacation.
There were relatively few people there - the longest line
was 20 minutes and having a party of two seemed to be an
advantage. Several times as we approached the lines they
would be asking for parties of two, and we simply moved to
the front of the line. We had a great time and would go back
to Epcot in a moment. MGM was a one time deal and I don't really
care of we return. This is just personal opinion, others may
think it's great.
|
| 183.8 | Better late... report for trip 3/7 - 3/11 | ADTSHR::SUTTON | | Tue May 01 1990 16:15 | 321 |
|
Well, I suppose it's time to enter another report. This one's a few
weeks in coming, but should whet some appetites.
We stayed at the Disney Village Resort Club Suites from March 7-11,
then headed south to stay with my in-laws for a few more days. All
in all, we'd have liked to stay in the WDW area longer (next time
for sure!)
Day 1 -- 07-Mar-90:
Travel day. We flew a Delta non-stop from BOS to MCO, departed about
12:45 and arrived about 3:30. The in-laws met us at the airport, we
picked up our luggage and headed west toward the promised land. Check-in
went smoothly; we picked up our tickets to Chip and Dale's Country
Morning Jamboree (reserved a couple of weeks before) and we were shown
to our room/suite. Laurie and I were pleasantly surprised with the setup
of the room(s). The Club Suite which we had consisted of a living room
with a love seat and pull-out couch (queen size), a TV, a wet bar and a
small fridge, and a table which sat four; the bedroom with two queen-
size beds and the sink area; and the bath/toilet. We were on the
second level, so we were treated to a cathedral ceiling with skylights
and a balcony facing the pond.
After settling in, we headed out to find a place for dinner. The Pompano
Grill was a short drive away, so we decided to try it out. This is listed
as a "family" restaurant, but Deanna and Timothy (4yrs 6mos and 1 yr
10mos, respectively) were fairly restless and squirmy by the time our
entrees arrived. Portions were small, prices were moderate, quality of
the food was mediocre, and service was _s l o w_. Oh, well.
Day 2 -- 08-Mar-90:
We know how our kids can be at meal time, and had decided well in
advance that breakfasts (except with Chip & Dale) would be in our
room. A couple bowls of cereal, and we're off!
We needed to pick up our 4-day 3-park passes, so we took the bus to
the TTC and got in line, then headed back to the buses to ride over
to the MGM Studios. When we got off the bus, Laurie saw the lines
for purchasing passes and shot a look my way...oops. We could have
saved the time waiting for an extra bus and the ride in the wrong
direction (the TTC is the opposite way from the Disney Village.)
Another lesson learned, and a bit of time wasted.
I stopped to take a couple of pictures of the entrance, looking down
the main street to the replica of Mann's Chinese Theater. Turned around
to see the Kodak "picture spot" sign. Can I pick 'em or what?
We sauntered down the main drag after picking up the park guide and
entertainment schedule. The line by this time (remember the wasted
trip to the TTC) for the backstage tour wrapped around the center hub
and was estimated to be a 1.5 hour wait. Ugh. The line for the Great
Movie Ride wasn't much better, and a cast member suggested Star Tours.
On the way by Superstar TV, we saw the line shrinking, so jumped in.
They were pre-admitting some people to the area where they select
participants, so after a short wait, we were allowed to pass through
the turnstiles into the pre-show area. The kids handled the sit-down
show fairly well (Timmy was a bit squirmy, Deanna was great), then we
all stopped for a bit of lunch at Min & Bill's Dockside diner. I
don't know, is it me? I was really disappointed at the size and
quality of the sandwiches here.
After we'd polished off our lunches, we headed over to Star Tours.
On the way by, we stopped for a bit to see some of the pre-show for
the Monster Sound Show. The in-laws told us to go into Star Tours
ourselves, as Timmy had fallen asleep in the stroller. We wound our
way through the twisty little passages and enjoyed the (brief) ride
in the simulator.
Once out of Star Tours, and after a couple of pictures with an Ewok
and Chewbacca (Deanna got a picture with Roger Rabbit while we were
inside), the in-laws took off to see the Great Movie Ride, and the
rest of us took in a little of the atmosphere. The kids were getting
a little hungry, so we snacked on ice cream from Gertie's Ice Cream
of Extinction. The sounds of explosions and whatever else goes on
coming from the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (did I get that
right?) were downright LOUD! We watched the line swell and shrink a
couple times (got there near the start of one show, waited through a
second for the in-laws to come out of the GMR) and we were amazed at
the number of people they get into that attraction.
We headed over to the Mann's replica, and happened to catch a
procession with the star of the week (some kid from a game show --
Fun House?) and a bunch of the Disney characters -- Mickey, Minnie,
Goofy, and Donald were all there. They did up a slab of cement with
the kid's handprints and signature, then whisked away...
After the in-laws _finally_ came out of the GMR, we decided the kids
(all six of us) needed a breather, so we headed back to the room. The
in-laws volunteered to watch the kids while we went back to MGM, so
we took advantage of the offer and were able to get into the Monster
Sound Show and Great Movie Ride. All I can say about the GMR is to
agree with those who say that the animatronics in the Wizard of Oz
scene are FANTASTIC! The Monster Sound Show was a bit of a let-down
-- all in all, MGM was; maybe due to the lines and waiting and lines
and waiting...they've got a LOT of kinks to work on here. The "street-
mosphere" characters were amusing, and there _is_ a little to see on
the way from the main entrance to the attractions, but the LINES...
We bailed out of MGM, went and got the kids & in-laws, and headed to
the Crossroads Plaza for a quick supper (another convenience of
having the in-alws there -- a car to go off Disney property if we so
chose). We ended up at RAX, had some roast beef sandwiches and these
_interesting_ curly fries...they were somewhat spicy, but I enjoyed
them -- _different_. Next, over to the ice cream parlor (aaagh! I
can't remember the name of the place) and then back to the villa. We
got the kids settled into bed, then took advantage of the in-laws'
offer again and took a ride over to Pleasure Island. We sauntered
around here for a while, didn't bother going into any of the clubs,
but enjoyed the people-watching.
It was getting to be about 9:30, and I remembered IllumiNations, so
we grabbed the bus to EPCOT and picked out a spot -- WOW! What a show!
I'm glad we went that night, because the in-laws were headed back to
their place the next day, and there's no way the kids would have
stayed up for the show (they would have woken up, though!)
After IllumiNations, we headed to the TTC so we could take a stroll
through the grounds of the Poly. We'd spent our honeymoon there in
1982, and wanted to see the place again. I was struck by the changes,
the fluorescent lights (I remember mostly gas torches), the foliage
looked like it had been stripped (could this have been from the
severe weather in December?), the new buildings. We still enjoyed
seeing "our" spot, and sat for a while on the dock looking toward the
MK.
Day 3 -- 09-Mar-90:
Again, we had breakfast in our room -- instant oatmeal, thanks to the
coffee maker for the hot water (hmm, next time we should get a _real_
kitchen.)
Next, we grabbed the bus to the Magic Kingdom! Rather than taking
the TTC monorail to the MK, we walked over to the Poly and hopped on
there. _Much_ shorter wait. Got stamped in, then headed over to
rent a stroller, then swung by City Hall to pick up the Guide Book
and schedule of attractions. Pluto was in the picture area, so
Deanna got in line for hugs and all...Timothy would have NONE OF IT!
(Uh-oh, precursor of things to come...by the way, guess who Timothy
constantly talks about _now_ when he sees any Disney stuff???)
Of course, with little ones, the first ride is Small World. OK, line
on the left...what line?? We WALKED onto Small World! Next up,
Peter Pan's flight, and a 10-minute line; then Cinderella's Golden
Carousel, and a wait of less than 5 minutes; then to the Tomorrowland
Theater (?) for a show with the characters (Rap'n'Roll?); then the
Carousel of Progress (mistake! Timmy was in rare form, and the
sit-down shows didn't go over well...); then the WEDway People Mover;
then Dreamflight, then a rest and a drink; then the Grand Prix cars;
then Mickey's Birthdayland. Here we met Winnie the Pooh and Pinnochio
and got some more pictures (of Deanna, Timmy was in cling mode whenever
one of these six-foot stuffed creatures looked his way.) We queued up
for the next show and watched a bunch of old Mickey cartoons, then got
into the theater and slid _all_ the way over to the left. Once the
show was over, we were among the first out the doors, and Deanna was
holding Minnie's hand on the way over to the next part of the party.
After the "grand finale" of the party, we headed over to the movie
house where we could go "backstage" with Mickey (by the way, the
description of how to get from the party to the movie house was a bit
confusing -- you might want to scope this out ahead of time.) When
we got in, we headed over to the extreme right of the line (we curved
around the dressing room), so we were the last in the room from our
group (hint, hint!) Daddy held Timothy, so we did get a picture of
him with one of the characters (-:
It was getting to be early afternoon, so we took a break and headed
back to the room for lunch (PB&J) and a nap for Timmy. We took the
ferry back over to the Poly, as opposed to the monorail. This is the
day we picked up our rental car from National at the Car Care Center.
No more bus waits! (Wanna bet???) We had, up to this point, seemed
to hit the buses just wrong -- ending up with a 15-20 minute wait for
just about every trip we wanted to take. I know, I know...15 minutes
isn't all that long, but when you compare that to the "instant"
departure of your own car, it can seem like an eternity. Once we had
the car, we parked at the Poly and enjoyed the pool and the view
across the lagoon to the MK. More pictures of the kids (all four of
us) having fun in the sun...
Next, we headed back to the room to change and think about dinner.
Bearing in mind the attention spans of the kids, we hunted a bit and
found a Pizza Hut nearby. At least we knew they'd eat!
After dinner, we headed back to the MK to catch a few more rides and
shows that we'd skipped due to the lines. We parked at the Grand
Floridian and caught the monorail to the MK. A bonus to this was
seeing the inside of the GF, as we had to go inside to get to the
upper level to get the 'rail. The bonus was that it got us HUNGRY
for our next trip (is that good or bad? We were starting to plan our
next trip down and hadn't even left yet!)
Once in the MK, We walked in to the pre-show area for the Country
Bear Jamboree, only had to wait because the show was already in
progress. The theater was about 40% full! The cast members (no, not
the bears) even told us we didn't have to slide all the way to the
right! Next, we headed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean (walked
on this one too), then to the Jungle Cruise line. This was a little
longer wait, and the kids were frazzled, so we ditched this one for a
later date. We had to be up early the next day, after all. Lots of
people were headed out, the monorail lines looked looooong, so we
took the launch back to the GF (and saw the Electric Pageant as an
added bonus.)
Day 4 -- 10-Mar-90:
Breakfast this morning was at the Chip & Dale's Country Morning
Jamboree. We Drove into the parking lot fot Fort Wilderness, then
headed over to the bus stop, where we would catch the bus to Pioneer
Hall. This was the most crowded bus I'd seen in the complex. When
the bus arrived at the pickup, it was already nearly full, and we
squeezed another 30 or so on. Standing room only! And we STILL made
stops on the way to Pioneer Hall.
We arrived at our stop, and headed for the line for breakfast.
Looking up, we saw a hot-air balloon pass directly overhead -- it
must have been gorgeous up there; the weather on the entire trip was
about 95% sunshine, temps in the low-mid 80s.
The line started moving in, and we made our way to our seats. The
characters started milling around, and Timmy wasn't too pleased when
Donald Duck came by...or, for that matter, any of the characters.
Deanna, on the other hand, soaked it up! We got a few more photo
opportunities with the characters, and a little video taping. Deanna
got to be part of the show -- the male cast member sang "Alabammy
Bound", and when he sang the verse about being "a lucky hound" who
"finally found somone to put his arms around", she was the one!
I was a little disappointed again here, maybe because I spent more
time settling Timmy down than enjoying the meal and show. After
it was all over, we headed back to get another bus back to the
parking lot, and then we headed to EPCOT.
Again, we picked up the guide book for the park, and an entertainment
schedule, then headed in. The lines for the major attractions on the
way in were already well-formed, so we started sauntering counter-
clockwise to see what struck our fancy. The fountains outside the
Journey into Imagination looked interesting, so we headed that way.
The Captain EO show must have been in full swing, because we were
among about 20 people in the area around the fountains. More
pictures, and the kids could have stayed there all day watching the
jumping water. But mom and dad dragged them away, off to see some of
the World Showcase pavillions.
First stop -- Mexico. Here again, we walked on to the ride (El Rio
del Tiempo?), then wandered around a bit in the shops. When we went
back out into the sun, a band of mariachis was performing, so we
listened for a little while, then continued on our way. Donald Duck
was nearby, in Mexican costume. Sure, we have _lots_ of film! More
pictures! We kept heading around the lake, this time heading
clockwise -- the crowds weren't bad at all, so it seemed to make
little difference. We took pictures in front of each pavillion, by
some unique identifying "landmark". We also rode on Maelstrom, the
kids weren't too enthused about the more exciting aspects of this ride.
When we got the the Japan pavillion, we grabbed a snack of Kaki-Gori
(shaved ice and fruit syrup -- yum!), then walked through the rest of
the pavillions. The canal way to the Dolphin and Swan was open (the
two hotels were clearly visible all the way around the lake), and it
looked as though the canal shuttle boats were operating, moving
people back and forth between EPCOT and the hotels. Now that I think
of it, I remember seeing canals and boats at the entryway to MGM.
We thought of going in to see the Living Seas, but the kids were on
their way to being totally exhausted, so we headed back to the room
for some rest and lunch.
After lunch and naps, a swim at the nearby pool, then it was back to
the MK to watch and videotape the parade! We parked at the Poly,
then took the monorail over to the MK. I got a spot by the ropes
directly across from where all the floats came out from behind City
Hall, so had an excellent shot as they passed by. Laurie and the
kids were on the other side of the hub, and had a similar perspective.
We wanted to head out for a short while, to pick up some things for
our trip south the next day (to see the in-laws), so off we went.
The lines for the 'rail were long again, so we took the launch back
to the Poly, with a quick stop at the GF on the way.
After running our errands and lightening my load (that video camera
can be a bear to carry!), we headed back to the MK for dinner at the
Crystal Palace. Again, I wasn't overly impressed by the food; what was
advertised as roast pork with stuffing had no stuffing, it was greasy
and tough. Laurie, on the other hand, got a children's portion of
chicken and thoroughly enjoyed it. Luck of the draw, I guess.
After dinner, we headed for the line for the jungle cruise. This is
a slow line, I guess, because it looked fairly short but took about
10 minutes for us to get on the boat. Next up was the Tropical
Serenade/Tiki Room. This line was non-existant, again, we had to
wait for the timed show to finish. There were probably 50 people all
told in the room for the performance.
We wandered around a little after the show, thought about another
ride, but it was almost 9:00 -- we thought the park was going to
close, so we headed out. We found out on the way out that the park
was open until 10 that night. Had we stuck around, we probably could
have gotten on just about anything we wanted. The kids, though, were
on their last legs, so we said our last good-byes to Main St. USA and
Cinderella's Castle...We rode the hotel monorail back through the
Contemporary to the Poly, then to the car and back to our room.
Day 5 -- 11-Mar-90:
This was check-out day -- we packed everything up, then headed to the
reception center to settle the bill; got squared away and set off to
Sea World and then the rest of our vacation. But you Disneyholics
don't care about that, do you? (-:
Well, we've got three passports (2 adult, 1 child) with a day left on
them, so we've _got_ to go use them up sometime. We'd dug the books
out last weekend and started drooling...maybe it's time to buy some
Disney stock and watch for the deals. Next time, we go for more time
on site. We're considering driving down to save on airfare (and
spending the savings on accomodations at WDW!!)
|
| 183.9 | Long week-end in Southern California! | OFFPLS::HODGES | | Tue May 08 1990 14:09 | 94 |
| This was a long week-end in Southern California to attend the wedding
of a 4th cousin (we're a close family; what can I tell you?) and to
celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday!
Departure was Thursday 5/3 me from NYC LaGuardia airport. I'm a
FREQUENT FLYER, but this was a first for me. We were loaded and
approaching the runway, when the runway was changed to a different one.
The second one must have been shorter, because our plane was now too
heavy to take off! We had to go back to the gate, where they asked for
12 volunteers to get off and take the 7 PM flight (it's now about
5:15!) This happened fairly quickly as the flight had been over-booked
to begin with so a number of people had volunteered to get off so
already had the idea in their minds that they could afford to go later
in order to get a free ticket! BUT alas, we're still too heavy so they
asked for 10 more volunteers and this time was much slower. The weight
is now fine (about 5:35) but took us another 30 minutes to get away
from the gate; my connection in Chicago to SNA (John Wayne/Orange
County) is looking REAL bad; this is bad because my daughter and her
best friend had flown out of Manchester and were planning to meet me
for the rest of the trip. I missed it; they made it; hotel screwwed up
and wouldn't let them check-in despite MANY phone calls. Finally my
daughter's friends father gave them another credit card and the girls
got to bed. I flew into LAX and took a Super Shuttle to Marriott
Irvine, finally arriving at 1:45 AM (After working ALL day in NYC-LONG
DAY: TIRED LADY!!!!)
Friday is beach day; went to Laguna Beach, ate in Mexican Restaurant on
a hill overlooking the ocean (Las Brisas is the name I think!) Food
was good, view magnificent, roses of all colors lining the walkway up
from the beach, were worth the climb all on their own! My husband flew
in from Boston this evening and now we're all together!
Saturday is the wedding; adults went; teenagers went to Disney Land.
We joined them for the evening. Disney Land is open until midnight on
the week-ends AND has both the Electric Light Parade and fireworks on
the week-ends. Girls took the hotel bus to John Wayne Airport and then
the a big bus to Disney. They took the bus instead of the Super
Shuttle because the bus was $3 cheaper, but it made MANY stops and took
twice as long; they said they'd pay the $3 for EXPRESS SUPER SHUTTLE
next time. Admission was $47 for two with Magic Kingdom Club discount;
$25.50 (one day passport) otherwise.
None of us had ever been to Disney Land before. It is smaller, older,
harder to find your way around in than Magic Kingdom at WDW. There
seemed to be LOTS of attractions either closed for refurbishing or just
not working! Carousel of Progress is being replaced alltogether (sigh,
I like that one!) It's a Small World was closed (another favorite!)
and so was the Tiki Room (NO DOLE WHIP!!!!) The People Mover was not
working the first two times we stopped by; when it finally started it
is VERY different, older technology, VERY JERKY, and had a couple of
points where my fear of heights came to the surface! I would NOT ride
it again! The line for STAR TOURS was VERY long, so we skipped it!
Now what did we do? Haunted Mansion, different appearance on the
out-side but very similiar to MK, Pirates of the Carribbean (this one
seemed more detailed than MK; I'm sure we got wetter because it dropped
twice, the drop was farther and generally more water than WDW version.)
The girls rode Space Mountain and said it was faster but with fewer
drops than in MK. They also did Thunder Mountain after dark and said
it was great! We did Mission to Mars (same as MK) and Delta's Dream
Flight. This one confused me, as I thought it was supposed to be a new
attraction and yet, I'm sure the CircleVision movie is the same one
that I've seen in the MK (maybe in Kodak pavilion. . . I can't remember
where!) The entrance is new, has a cute border around the top of the
waiting room that looks like flat characters from "It's a Small World"
some of them light up and move a bit as the short film plays while
you're waiting. We had a decent hamburger and fries from the area
beside the Plaza Garden. One thing that I really liked about Disney
Land that I don't remember at the MK is that there are at least two
areas where you can dance. The Plaza Garden to big band era and in
Fantasy Land (I think it was) to LOUD rock! We saw the fireworks AFTER
the 9:00 parade, then showed up about 10:15 in front of Carnation ice
cream place on Main Street and had curb-side seats for the 11:00
parade. Left as soon as it was over and had very little traffic
(pedestrian or auto) to deal with even though inside the park was VERY
crowded! More so, than late June at WDW (which is the busiest time
I've ever been there!)
Sunday, we drove to San Diego to the Zoo; this is a wonderful way to
spend a contrasting day. We took 5 rolls of film and could have used
more! Even though the day was HOT and SUNNY, lots of the animals were
still very playful. Great time watching a 'juvenille' bear entertain
his parent. He had an empty beer keg in a pool of water and kept
trying to jump on top of it! It would scoot out from underneath him
and dump him into the water. Reminded me of a child at play. The
parent bear seemed to be enjoying it as well!
Monday AM a final visit with the mother and grandmother of the bride
and it's back to NH. I wouldn't want to do this distance EVERY
week-end, but we had a great time!!! BTW, nobody had ever been to
California before but me.
Maryann
|
| 183.10 | Travers Family Trip Report | FRICK::TRAVERS | | Mon May 21 1990 14:48 | 73 |
| Travers Family FIRST Vacation
Trip Report
May 9 - 15, 1990
at Fort Wilderness Campground
Our trip was intentionally designed not to try to "do Disney", rather
to use the resort to take a very needed vacation with our 21-month old
daughter.
Our decision to go to Disneyworld was based around the fact that even
though it is a "resort", our daughter would be welcome.... no matter
how she acted.
Transportation:
We elected to take the Mears Shuttle Service from the airport to the
Campground. We waited approximately 10 minutes for the shuttle van.
Except for the fact that we were extremely tired (two plane rides) and
we had to drop off two other families on our way to the Campground, the
Shuttle service was very convenient.
Accommodations:
The Fort Wilderness Campground trailers are extremely comfortable and
IMO the only way to travel if you have little ones with you. Our
daughter had her own bedroom (we requested a crib and it was in the
trailer waiting for our arrival). The kitchen was equipped with a
perculator (coffee is a MUST in our family!), stove, frig, microwave,
pots and pans, etc.
I packed two shoe boxes in our luggage containing items that I thought
we might need upon our arrival (and before we could get to the trading
post). One box contained: Can of coffee, sugar packets, crackers,
microwave popcorn, SMALL jars of peanut butter and jelly, two sticks of
butter (which travelled very well). I also tucked in a tupperware
container of Cheerios. One thing that I didn't pack but should have
was salt and pepper.
The other shoebox contained bandaids, anticeptic ointment, suntan
lotion, children's and adult tylenol, cough syrup, epicac, baby
thermometer and cotton swabs.
The Campground.
We were very happy with the campground, as it had all of the activities
we required to keep our daughter happy - swings, slides, pools, beach,
petting farm and horse barn. We could have stayed on the property for
the entire trip and be extremely happy. We appreciated the Buffeteria
- as we have a hard time keeping Kate happy waiting for meals. The
food was very good. Kate loved the petting farm and every night after
supper we would take a daily walk to the farm to say goodnight to the
pig. This is something that she is still talking about.
Magic Kingdom: The only dissappointment was Small World was closed...
but we hadn't hyped it up to Kate, so she didn't know what she was
missing. The park was not crowded. Most of the attractions had 10-15
minute lines. The longest line was after lunch at Jungle Cruise. We
were in line for about 40 minutes. (This was okay though, since Kate
fell asleep on Dad's arm and slept through the entire line (and ride))
River Country: We toyed with the decision to go to River Country or
Typhoon Lagoon. River Country won because it's on the campground
property which meant we had easy access to our trailer for naptime.
River Country was perfect for such a small child as it has a nice
toddler beach and some slides for wee ones. Hubby and I took turns
building sand castles with Kate and going down the body slides
ourselves.
If we can afford it, I think you'll probably see a yearly trip report
from the Travers Family!
|
| 183.11 | How come? | COEM::SCOPA | MAJOR | Thu May 24 1990 14:13 | 21 |
| Hmmm,
Seems that about 36 of the 74 entries made in the "Sign-in 1990 WDW
Visitors" note (158) mentioned trips between January and the end of
May.
This note contains only 7 trip reports from people in that note and 3
trip reports from people who never got into 158.
If my math is correct that means there are 29 reports still to be
filed.
There were about 30 reports filed by this time last year so it seems
that about the same number of noters go each year.
I enjoy reading these reports so whatever you can muster up please
enter as soon as you can. Think of it as returning the favor of finding
info in this conference prior to your trip.
Mike_who_promises_to_file_his_report_or_be_banished_forever_from_WDW
|
| 183.12 | Not too late...trip date 5/10 | CTOAVX::GONSALVES | Serv | Thu May 24 1990 15:04 | 32 |
| Our trip this year was very strange. We were in Fla. mostly for R&R.
But, we COULDN'T go to Fla. without going to WDW (even though it was a 2
1/2 hour drive).
Our goal was to see things that were not there when we went two years
ago (just my wife and I - no kids).
I picked up some four day passes from a friend who had just returned
from WDW and had a day left on each. This gave me the freedom to go
from park to park.
We drove up early in the morning and went directly to MGM. We had
heard that it should only take half a day to do MGM but wanted to
give ourselves enough time in case it took longer. We started with the
back stage tour and thought it was interesting. The Star Tours
attraction was GREAT. Indiana Jones came in a close second. Other
than these two attractions, we felt like everything else was just OK.
Don't get me wrong, it was fun but we felt that the park has a long way
to go to catch up to MK and EPCOT.
We then went to EPCOT and rode Body Tours and visited a few countries.
Body Tours was more intense (physically) than Star Tours.
Dinner was in "Japan" and it was excellent. The strange part about
dinner was that we sat at a table with two other couples and both were
from New England (we are from Conn.)
We left the park at 10:00 and drove back. It was a long drive but
definately worth the trip.
Serv
[EOB]
|
| 183.13 | | VOGON::KCAMPBELL | when you wish upon a star... | Fri May 25 1990 09:09 | 7 |
| I'm in the middle of my trip report at the moment. I would have finished
it sooner, only I've been very busy at work since I got back. Anyway,
suffice to say, it's on its way...
Hope to have it ready soon!
Karen
|
| 183.14 | It's coming.... | ANNIE::LUND | | Fri May 25 1990 10:04 | 3 |
|
Ours is written, just waiting for the other half to review it
before entering it..... Annie
|
| 183.15 | Mine's coming, too | GEMINI::GIBSON | | Fri May 25 1990 13:43 | 3 |
| Mine is half done -- hope to finish it this afternoon.
Linda
|
| 183.16 | It was Great!!! | GEMINI::GIBSON | | Fri May 25 1990 16:58 | 166 |
| Peter and Linda Gibson
WDW Trip Report
May 17-21, 1990
May 17, 1990
------------
Arrived at CBR approximately 11:30AM to pre-register and get bus pass, etc. We
were very pleased with our room. We were in Jamaica, beachfront, in the building
right next to the pool. Knowing how far away from the village pool it is
possible to be even with the best grade room, we really appreciated this
location. It was also just a short walk to the bridge over to Port Royale which
eliminated the need to take a bus every time we needed to go there.
After settling my ticket problem at EPCOT we caught a bus to MGM. I was
surprised how physically small the park was, and amazed how many people managed
to fit into such a limited area! We watched a couple street scenes, then took
the riding portion of the Backstage Tour. The best part of this, of course, was
Catastrophe Canyon. The line for the walking part of the tour was too long, so
we bypassed that and went on Star Tours. What a terrific ride! Even my husband
liked it! I thought I might get motion sickness, so I wore one of those skin
patches for seasickness. It probably wasn't necessary, though. If it hadn't
been for the line, I was ready to ride again immediately. We went to the
Indiana Jones Stunt Show next. This was entertaining with the audience
participation, but I would only consider it worth one viewing per visit to WDW.
At this point it was about 4:00PM, and we'd been up since 4:30AM, so we headed
back to CBR to get our keys and move our luggage, etc. into the room, and take
a rest. About 6:30 we decided to eat in the MK, so caught our bus and headed
over to the TTC. To me this is a nit, but my husband disliked having to change
transportation methods to get to the MK. He classified it in the same category
as having to change planes, something else he hates to do.
We ate at Tony's right in the square, then wandered around until we were asked
to leave (The park closed at 8:00PM). Then early to bed to be able to attack
the MK first thing!
May 18, 1990
------------
Got to the MK about 9:00AM, and ate breakfast at the Crystal Palace. Food was
good, it wasn't crowded, and was on our way to the Jungle Ride, our first
destination. We then rode on Pirates of the Caribbean, saw the Hall of
Presidents, rode the Riverboat, Haunted Mansion, and Flight to Mars. I had been
told that Mickey's Birthdayland (or Starland or whatever) was going to reopen
on May 18. It was still closed when we got there, and the entertainment
schedule didn't list it as reopening until May 25. There were some very
disappointed little people (and big people, too) because of this attraction
being unavailable.
At 3:00, of course, we watched the parade. I thought it was the best part of MK!
We had great seats right in the center of Town Square. There was a little girl
about 3 with her parents right near us, and we had a lot of fun watching her
and the characters. She got really excited when she saw Chip, but when he came
near her she backed right away. She did the same for all the characters. She
liked them, but not too close!
After the parade we went back to the hotel for a rest. We went to MGM after we
thought the crowd had thinned and picked up a bite to eat at a vendor cart.
The Great Movie Ride line was finally relatively short, so we did that. It
was OK -- my favorite scene was Munchkinland. We were kidnapped by the gangster
this time through. Later we took my husband's parents on the ride and were
kidnapped by the cowboy, so we saw both scenarios. I thought it was relatively
short, especially for the length wait in line.
We weren't in the mood for the walking part of the backstage tour, so watched
some more street scenes and did some shopping. My in-laws were arriving early
the next morning, so we left MGM about 9:00 to get to bed early.
May 19, 1990
------------
My in-laws met us at the Custom House at CBR at 8:30 to preregister and get
their bus passes. Then off to EPCOT. They had never been there, so wanted
to see Future World. We had seen most of that in our freezing, rainy few
hours there in December, so we opted to visit some of the countries. After
meeting them at noon and having lunch in the Odyssey Restaurant, we took them
over to MGM. It was packed. The shortest line was for the riding portion of
the backstage tour, so they went on that (we didn't want to go a second time).
We saw the parade (one small band and one car) with Nancy Stafford, the
young blond from Matlock, as the star of the day. My husband was kissed by
Minnie Mouse, the highlight of his trip! I wish I had a picture! There was
some kind of presentation ceremony with all the characters. I couldn't hear
what it was all about, but it was fun to watch.
We went back to the hotel for a rest and a swim before dinner at the
Mexican pavilion. The atmosphere at the restaurant was great and the food
was delicious. Afterward we did a little shopping on the way out, then
back to the hotel to bed to rest for an early attack on MGM.
May 20, 1990
------------
We all met at 7:30 to get an early start at MGM. We had breakfast at the
Hollywood and Vine Diner, then went on the Great Movie Ride. We walked right
in -- there wasn't even a full train of people ahead of us! We figured the
line would finally be short for the walking portion of the backstage tour,
and we were right. I found this to be interesting but somewhat superficial.
My in-laws went into Indiana Jones, and we walked around and people watched.
I couldn't convince my husband to go into any of the audience participation
demonstrations. I took my father-in-law onto Star Tours. I don't think he
liked it, but he wouldn't say anything.
We decided this would be a good afternoon to go to the Disney Village Market-
place shopping. My father-in-law wanted a nap, and my mother-in-law wanted
to go swimming, so we went alone. Found some good Disney stuff.
We had been considering going to Universal on Monday, their opening day, so
drove by to check the place out. It looks nice from what we could see. It's
set far back from the road. The parking lot was full, though, and traffic was
backed up all the way to the street. We were worried about being caught in
traffic and missing our 4:20 flight, so decided to pass on Universal this
trip.
Dinner was at the Italian restaurant in the International Pavilion. The food
was good, but I found the restaurant to be extremely noisy. We couldn't converse
at the table because of the noise level in the room. For this reason alone I
wouldn't go back to eat there.
There were some cute sketches by street actors outside the restaurant, so
we watched them for a while. The line was short for the Imagination ride,
my favorite, so we all rode that. Then home to bed, since my in-laws were
leaving early to drive to New England for the summer.
May 21, 1990
------------
Since we had no definite plans, we slept late, then packed and loaded the car.
I wanted to go to MK but my husband wanted to laze around. We compromised --
he brought a book to MK and sat on benches waiting for me while I went on
Great Thunder Railroad, then joined me for the Bear Show and the Skyway.
After grabbing some lunch (a Monte Cristo sandwich, and they're really good)
we decided to head off to the airport early.
Summary
-------
Although he didn't want to go in the first place, my husband had a good time.
He even said we'd go again! I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do.
If I had tried to squeeze them all in, I would have come home exhausted.
My in-laws would only go off by themselves if we were in the same park and
had a definite meeting place and time. If we wanted to go somewhere else and
they wanted to stay, they would leave with us. This was rather confining.
We couldn't do what we really wanted to do, but rather what we thought they
wanted to do. I think we did too much for them, instead of making them learn
their way around for themselves. I was the teacher, telling them to take out
their tickets, their bus passes, get their hands stamped, etc. If we went
with them again I would insist they be more independent.
I can't stress too much the importance of comfortable shoes. I wore what I
thought were well-broken-in boat shoes instead of sneakers. I had a huge
blister on the bottom of my foot the first day. That made me walk funny,
so I got more blisters. I limped around WDW for 5 days. My in-laws didn't
need the wheelchair, I did!
In total, it was a great trip, and I can't wait to go again!
|
| 183.17 | trip report | JUPITR::STARVASKI | The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty | Tue May 29 1990 11:41 | 60 |
| Day one, May 19 '90
Epcot Center all day. We made resevations for lunch in Mexico and
dinner in Moracco. Both were excellent. Moracco featured a belly
dancer and fantastic food. Mexico was very good but predictable.
This being our second trip down in one year, we concentrated on our
favorite attractions and also the new Metropolitan exhibit.
Metropolitian's exhibt on the wonders of life was excellent. The Body
wars ride was very good. This is a flight simulator that takes a trip
through a persons body. Saw the film "Craninum Commandos". This film
was a very good suprize. Many people overlook this film due to the
large hype of Body Wars. I strongly recomend this film for all age
groups. It is a commical spoof on the workings of the brain.
Day 2: Magic Kingdom/Pleasure Island
Had a very good time at the Magic Kingdom. Mickeys birthday land has
been converted to Mickeys Star land, nothing but the name has been
changed. Not too much to report that has not been mentioned in other
reports.
Pleasure Island was great! Definatly for the over 21 crowd, although I
did see many parents with small children. There is not much for the
young ones to see except the Comedy Warehouse show. not worth paying
addimsion for a child. All clubs were great but I recomend the comedy
warehouse and the Adventures club (of wich I am now a member)
Day 3: MGM
Star tours! a great attraction. (actually the EXACT same ride as
Epcot's Body Wars but with a different film) I would recomend going on
Star Tours rather than Body wars. Not much else is new at MGM. the
lines are getting longer everyday!
Notes:
The super passport plus offer expired May 19. We were able to take
advantage of the savings. (four day passport plus unlimited access to
P.I. D.I. T.L) for $116.00
Stayed off Disney property at the Horizon Inn. Rt 192 Kissemmee. -- not
that great, but for $30.00 a night it was worth it. Drove in to the
parks rather than take a shuttle ($6.00 p/person). we had no problem
driving in. The parks are easy to find and traffic was not bad at all.
I would recommend taking your own car rather than paying for the
shuttle.
Universal Studios was ok. I think it will be better than MGM when
everything is up and running. (only 3 attrations were open)
Gatorland Zoo (kissemee fla) for $5.00 to get in it was a nice break
from the mouse.
Kenedy Space Center: did not go this year, but did go last year. This
is a great day trip (take the bus tour inside the center)
Bush Gardens (tampa bay) another great day trip if you are in the
area (about an hour from orlando)
|
| 183.18 | one more thing... | JUPITR::STARVASKI | The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty | Tue May 29 1990 14:34 | 2 |
| Oh yea, I tried Dole Whip.....sorry guys, I didn't think it was that
great. 8^)
|
| 183.19 | DisneyWorld Trip May 25-28 | SMURF::FLANAGAN | I was a snowball in hell | Wed May 30 1990 11:34 | 184 |
|
Walt Disney World Trip Report - May 25 - 28, 1990
--------------------------------------------------
John Flanagan
DAY 1 - May 25, 1990
--------------------
I met my girlfriend at Orlando Airport (she was flying in from
Washington DC, I from Manchester, NH. Incidentally, both of our flights
were free because we cashed in Frequent Flyer coupons on USAir).
We grabbed a cab and took it to our hotel. We would be staying at
the Orlando Marriott World Center. (Again, 3 free nights here as
we were using my girlfriend's Frequent Stayer points from Marriott).
It was too early to check in, so we checked our bags at the Bell Captain's
Stand and headed to DISNEY/MGM studios. I had purchased 4-day World
Passports previously, so we would be using those to get in.
DISNEY/MGM studios -
Our shuttle bus from Marriott took us to Epcot where we boarded a
Disney bus to the Studios. Our first stop - Lunch at the Hollywood &
Vine Restaurant. Not bad. Our first attraction would be Star Tours.
The line was not too bad at all. Probably about a 10 minute wait.
This was excellent. The motion effects are very realistic and the
audio-animatronics captain is a riot. Excellent Ride. On to the
Great Movie Ride. After about a 20 minute wait, we hopped in our tram
and got kidnaped by the gangster. We were in the first seat, so we
got picked on. Lots of fun. On to the Backstage Studio Tour. No
wait at all for the tram. The highlight of this was Catastrophe Canyon.
Not as good as the Universal Studios effects in Hollywood, but still
fun. I got soaked. After doing the Universal tour in Hollywood, this
ride is a disappointment, but it is still fun. However, the walking
part of the tour was pretty good. There's a neat demonstration of
water effects that was fun, except that for the second part of it, the
tour guide re-started the first part and couldn't stop it. So what
we saw were all kinds of special effects that happened all out of place.
Oh well... A highlight/must see is the Superstar Television Attraction.
EXCELLENT. Members from the audience get to see themselves "spliced" in
to old and new television shows. What they do is film people on sets
that match those sets in the TV clip and them put them together. Lots
of fun. For example, someone got to sit at the bar in cheers , another
was in the opening credits for Gilligan's Island, one was in the I Love
Lucy show, and so on. About 12 scenes in all.
Next onto the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. The opening scene is
by far the best in this one. Plenty of fun. Rounding off the attractions
was the Monster Sound Show (where some poor folks try to keep up with
dubbing the film's sound effects - a great laugh) and The animation
tour. They have some excellent videos in each attraction starring famous
stars that are wonderfully done. (Including - a hilarious short where
Bette Midler chases a winning lottery ticket through New York City
- introductions to animation by Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite
- introductions to sound effects and editing by Pee Wee Herman and
Mel Gibson).
To end the day, we had dinner at the Brown Derby Restaurant. Excellent
food and service. One more ride on Star Tours and a viewing of the
Fireworks ended the night.
We returned to the hotel and checked in. We would be staying on the
Concierge Level overlooking the Pool and Epcot Center. Beautiful
Accommodations. I highly recommend it [though it's a bit pricey, but
we didn't care - we weren't paying anyway].
Day 2 - The Magic Kingdom
-------------------------
After a painfully early start [lots of yawns] we headed to the concierge
lounge for a quick breakfast, then boarded the shuttle to the Kingdom.
We went straight to Space Mountain to avoid the lines (well, at least
it was only about 40 minutes *ouch*. I think that if this ride was
even darker, it would be more fun. But then, I'm a roller coaster fanatic,
and as rollercoasters go, this one is still pretty tame. We then tried to
hit those attractions that we really wanted to see. We had to go back to
the hotel later in the afternoon to get ready for dinner, so we had limited
time. We did manage to hit, in no particular order, the haunted mansion
[which I love], Big Thunder Mountain Railroad [again, for roller coaster
buffs, this one's very ordinary], Pirates of the Caribbean, the Enchanted
Tiki Room [fun fun fun], The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown [formerly the
country bear Jamboree now with all new songs], the penny arcade, lunch at
the mile-long bar, and a stop for Dole-whip [two thumbs up].
We took the shuttle back to our hotel and took a dip in the pool to
cool off before changing into formal clothing for dinner.
We would be having dinner at the Empress Room aboard the Empress Lily
at Pleasure Island. After changing up, we hopped into a Lincoln Continental
taxi [this would be no ordinary dinner] and headed to Pleasure Island.
After meeting all 4 of our waiters [ this place insists on catering to
your EVERY need], we placed our orders and sat down to one of the more
magnificent meals I've had in a while. 1st Course, a half-bottle of
Pouilly-Fuisse wine. Escargo for the lady, Coquilles St. Jacques for
myself. Followed with a Caesar's salad prepared table-side. Now for
a bit of sorbet to clear the palette. [served in a chilled glass
flower]. Ah yes, dinner time. First a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Tournedos of Beef for the lady, Rack of Lamb for myself. We opted to
pass on desert and went straight for the coffee and tea. But wait, the
waiter brought out an extra entree for the lady. A large Silver Platter
with the dome cover and two glasses of champagne served in crystal.
The waiter lifts the dome, revealing a red rose [to pin on], baby's
breath, and...and...and...a diamond engagement ring. And yes, she
said "yes"!!!!!!! Whew!
To complete the night [as if it could have possibly gotten any better]
my new fiancee and myself went to Pleasure Island to celebrate New Year's
Eve [which is celebrated every night here]. What a fun place! Drinking
and dancing in the streets and lots of fun nightclubs. After an after
dinner drink at the Fire-works factory, we headed to Mannequins to
dance the night away on their revolving dance floor. We headed back
outside after that to enjoy the celebrations. Music is playing constantly
all over the island and the DJ continues to count down to Midnight. I
stopped at a stand and bought a "garbage can". This is a *huge* drink
served in a mini garbage pail and is a real knock-you-out. It's sort
of a cross between a Scorpion-bowl and a Long Island Iced Tea. Next
we stumbled to the main square for the midnight countdown. 4-3-2-1-0
and fireworks everywhere and streamers coming out of the sky. Everywhere
in the park, dancers in costumes start heading for the main stage, where
they finally end up and perform for a while and the finally ends with
another blast of fireworks. This is a great place, and if you love to
party, I urge you to check it out. Just follow the dancing spotlights....
Day 3 - Epcot Center
--------------------
Following the advice in Birnbaum's book, we went straight to the World
Showcase. He's right. Everyone and there brother goes straight for
the geosphere where the line was over an hour long. In comparison,
World Showcase was EMPTY. We had breakfast at the French Pavilion at
the Boulangerie, and then on to Canada for a great 360 movie. A walk
through the streets of London and then off to the rest of the pavilion's.
Standouts were Norway [the Maelstrom is a neat ride, thrilling only for
small children], China [with a GREAT 360 movie] and Mexico, whose pavilion
gives you the sense of being outdoors at night. By far, the American
Pavilion is the best attraction in the showcase with excellent audio-
animatronic Ben Franklin and Mark Twain and others; a very moving pavilion
emotionally. Oh yeah, after coming out of Norway, we experienced some
very severe weather which forced us to buy Disney ponchos [$3.50 a pop].
However, we took advantage of the storm and trudged through about 4 inches
of flood water [it really *poured*] to Futureworld where the lines had
pretty much disappeared as the not so brave scrambled for dry ground.
Standouts in Futureworld were:
- Journey into Imagination with Dreamfinder and Figment. A real
catchy tune [Im-mah-gin-nay-shun....]
- Horizons with it TWO omnisphere theatres during the ride
- Body Wars - EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT. Not for those prone
to motion sickness, as it is a real bumpy ride
- the geosphere [about communication] - real neat star field
- The Living Seas - Very large Salt water tank that you can
walk through [via observation "decks"]
We ended the day by having dinner at The Land Grille. This is a
revolving restaurant which at one point takes you over several scenes
in the attraction. Finished dinner just in time to catch Illuminations.
This is not to be missed. Really neat laser show.
Day 4 - our final day
---------------------
We decided to sleep in today and catch the later 11:00 shuttle to
DisneyWorld. We decided to take in some of the rides in the Magic
Kingdom that we didn't get to on Saturday. We managed to go on:
The Jungle Cruise [ba-a-a-a-d jokes], Mister Toad's Wild Ride [not so
wild], The Frontierland Riverboat, the Railroad, and Magic Journeys. This
was the best attraction of the day. Magic Journeys is a 3D movie presented
in Fantasyland by Kodak. It is EXCELLENT. You want to reach out and touch
some of the items presented during the movie. Must see.
We also got the catch the 3:00 character parade which was a bonus. We had
an unobstructed viewing area [at the entrance to Adventureland looking
towards the bridge which goes to Cinderella's Castle] that allowed me
to get some great pictures.
Another shuttle back to the hotel, where we picked up our luggage and
headed to the airport. After take-off, we flew over Cape Canaveral
where you could see the Space Shuttle in the launch tower. Another
nice bonus.
And that was our trip! 3 parks, four days, and a fiancee out of it.
Not too shabby! Now off to Disneyland in June.....
John
|
| 183.20 | May 2-13, 1990, Trip Report! | ANNIE::LUND | | Tue Jun 05 1990 15:22 | 397 |
|
Our WDW trip report, May 2nd - May 13th, 1990
Just two of us, Annie and Stan
Pre-trip stuff : We got our tickets in advance at the Disney Store
in Pheasant Lane Mall (Nashua, NH). The ticket lines were long
at the parks, first thing in the morning, so this saved having
to wait in line when we got to WDW.
Made reservations for Prime Time Cafe for lunch (MGM)
and Rose and Crown Pub for dinner (EPCOT) for 5/3. A benefit
to staying on WDW, otherwise you have to make them that day
at the restaurant (or in EPCOT at WORLDKEY back of Spaceship Earth).
This is really convient, since if you want to eat in EPCOT for
dinner, but you're going to be in MGM in the morning, you don't
have to be in EPCOT to make the dinner reservations.
5/2 The Day! Finished packing stuff up in the morning, and ran errands.
Stan and I took different routes to Logan, since we were coming from
different places. No traffic on way to Logan, flight took off pretty
much on time, and we landed in Orlando at about 7:15pm. It was still
light out. Of course we were going from the 60's to 95 and humid, ugh!
Went to get rental car, took forever, didn't get hassled over CDW, but
AAA had gotten us a period rate of $153.20 for 12 days, unlimited mileage.
Took AVIS about 1/2 hour to figure out how to enter it in the computer
so that it would show up on the rental agreement correctly. Finally
we are off to check into CBR. Got checked in and settled about 9:30,
took a walk over to Port Royale and checked it out. It was till
quite hot out! Port Royale is set up similar to the food courts at
your local mall, but food is much better. IE, several different
order and pickup food places and then a large comfortable seating
area.
We were in Barbados, the beds were very comfortable, the bathroom is
small, toilet/tub, not much moving around room, sinks are outside the
bathroom in an alcove. Info on Disney's info channel is not necessarily
correct, it consistently said MGM was open at 6am, we were there at 5
of 7 and it didn't open till 7am.
5/3 The first day! UP bright and early and ready to go! Took the bus to MGM,
Barbados is the last stop in CBR before heading to the parks, so that
was nice, we always seemed to time it right to arrive at the stop just
as the right bus was arriving. It was also the last stop returning to
CBR, but that was ok, sitting a few extra minutes always felt good!
Arrived at MGM just a couple minutes before it opened, very few
people! Took some pictures of the entrance, and Mickey up on the
globe. Went in, headed for Great Movie Ride, literally walked on,
and was in the second car, it was good!, then over to Star Tours, and
again walked right in, (now this was going to be my fourth time, as
I had done this three times in Disneyland last fall), but Stan's first,
it was still a really good ride, and Stan enjoyed it, especially since
he didn't know what to expect! Went right onto the backstage tour,
walked right on! The cars were maybe half full. Catastrophe Canyon was
great as well as seeing the backstage area. Took a break then went
on the rest of the tour, it was interesting to see the different
soundstages. They were building a standing stage (permanent) for one
of the game shows which is supposed to start filming there in late
June, another opportunity, be on a game show while touring WDW!
Left here, took a break and then headed for Indiana Jones... they
were already seating people, we got in and ended up off on the right side
That was great!
By now it's 10:45 and we have 45 minutes till lunch at the Prime Time
Cafe.... so we browsed through some shops.
Prime Time Cafe.... Didn't really like it, the food was not that good,
I think we had heard so many comments about it, that we set really
high expectations, and so it didn't meet what we were expecting.
1pm, Now it's quite crowded, back to CBR for a break.
Returned to EPCOT, the new things since last visit are NORWAY, WONDERS
of Life, LIVING SEAS and Captain EO. Went into Living Seas and enjoyed
it, it is mostly a large aquarium, but interesting. There were divers
feeding the fish.
Left, still time before dinner, went into Journey into Imagination
(Figment is my favorite!). Then headed out to the Rose and Crown
Pub for dinner (Great Britain), The swan and dalphin hotels are visable
behind France, they stick out like a sore thumb. Dinner at the Rose
and Crown was mediocre, not what we had remembered since our last trip.
Also did Norway and Mexico... Again I think the ride in Norway is really
built up to be more than it really is. Unfortunately you can see the ride
coming to the point where it "looks like it is going over" outside as
you approach the ride so it ruins it, I again was looking for something
more. It was still fun! Went into World of Motion,
and rode through the ride, and also got one of those booklets that
has the coupons to get a free Videotape by visiting a dealer. Now we just
neeed to find tiome to visit a dealer! Hint, if you want their souvenier
booklet but don't want the ride, go around to the right side
where the exit doors are, they had stacks of them near the exit doors,
wait for someone to come out, and then slip in and get one. This offer
expired in Oct, 1990.
OK, we're tired, back to CBR for sleep!
5/4 2nd day, back at MGM, this time for 8am. Crowds very light,
Did great movie ride (1st car) and Star tours again, had brunch
at Hollywood and Vine, relaxed, did the animation Tour! We really
enjoyed that, took some pictures and did some shopping. The
outdoor theater was closed to redo the staging. Opened again by
end of next week. Watched some of the street scenes. Headed back
to CBR to relax.
Back to EPCOT, took car since we were staying for Illuminations,
went into Wonders of Life, this was quite crowded, and waited about
1/2 hour for Body Wars, that was great also, that was also the only
place all week that we waited more than 5-10 mintues to get into
anything. Then went into Cranial Command, that was really good also.
Browsed around. Then headed for the Land for Dinner. That was excellent!
We really like the cheese bread! BTW they have the recipe available
at the host/hostess stand! I have a copy at home, will try it one of
these days.
Having soo much fun almost forgot to call the balloon place to
confirm our Monday morning Hot Air Balloon ride. Illuminations
was great!. Back to CBR. The Cinnamon Buns at the bakery in CBR
are really good!
5/5 Third day, planned on heading for the Kennedy Space Center, but
rain was predicted, so we headed to Magic Kingdom instead, got there
about 10, got a 4:45 reservation to Diamond Horseshoe Review. Still
extremely hot and humid! Still in the 90-95b range, third day of this
is alittle too much. Had Breakfast in Crystal Palace, did some shopping,
did Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of Caribbean, the River boat, very
busy, long lines for Haunted House, didn't want to wait, Wedway, enjoyed
the ability to sit and cool off, it stopped and we had a 5 minute or
so wait, went into dreamflight, it was ok, again nice to be in from
the heat! Caught the parade, had dinner in the Liberty Inn Tavern.
Did some shopping, and then left about 6pm. Magic Kingdom was closing
at 8pm. Weekend Nights were grad nights, for 1990 graduating high school
seniors. Magic Kingdom reopened from 11pm-5am for grads. Caught part
of the Illuminations from CBR.
5/6 A non disney day, headed for Kennedy Space Center, this was an interesting
tour. Columbia was out on the pad (A) and watch the IMAX movie... Again
very hot and humid! Back to CBR for the rest of the evening. Laundry time,
a couple came in the guy said "so this is what it is like in WDW". His
wife said the fantasy would be to have some one else do the laundry, and
my response was, my fantasy would be that the clothes didn't get dirty no
matter what you did while in WDW! No need to do laundry!!!... Oh Well...
Early night, since we are supposed to be at the balloon place at 5:45
the next morning....
5/7 It's too windy so the balloon ride is postponed. What a disappointment
we were really looking forward to it, oh well tomorrow! Time to check
out of CBR and head for our timeshare exchange.
Dropped stuff off, today was reserved for exploring the resort hotels
in WDW.
We started at the Polynesian for a late breakfast, we got the TONGA
(banana stuffed french toast) That was excellent. We browsed through
the shops, went out and used the water sprites and hung around the
pool for awhile!
Now on to the Grand Floridan, we walked around and sat in the lobby.
This is great! They have a grand piano in the lobby, and a band on
the first balcony. Stan was taking some pictures outside, and one of
those little resort carts they used to get around in was approaching,
it stopped while Stan got his picture, the person driving said hello
and hoped we were enjoying our stay and then continued on his way
after Stan was done, Now hows that for service!
Then we were off to the Contemporary. The Concourse Grille has some
fabulous desserts. It was mid afternoon (2:30ish), so we went in to
get something to drink. They have a Chefs Collosal(SP?) Dessert Special,
this one was 4 layers of chocolate cake (light) with a chocolate mousse
type frosting and filling between layers, we were warned it was huge,
so we share it! A nice way to take a break. Then we went went up to
the observation deck and looked around, you can get a really nice
view of the lagoon and the resort hotels, and MK.
From here we went back to the TTC and caught a bus over to the Disney
Village Marketplace, to do some shopping. On the way there we past a
new construction site, which was mostly graded and a sign that said
site of Dixie Landings Resort. Sorry can't tell you where on WDW we
were at that point, besides somewhere between TTC and the Village
Market place. We shopped, we went over to Pleaseure Island and
browsed there, then we headed back to CBR where we had left the car,
on the way off WDW we stopped into the SWAN. The colors on the outside
is what's been used on the inside also! The SWAN has a tram and a
water shuttle over to EPCOT, it stops at a new entrance to EPCOT
between FRANCE and GREAT BRITAIN. The SWAN leaves alot to be desired.
It has a fairly LARGE conference center attached to it, and all the
parking is near the conference center, the entrance to the SWAN is really
way around the side. Furthermore, there were a couple of conventions
taking place there, so there were tons of people with name badges
on. Not the relaxing atmosphere you'd want from a vacation. Also,
the other resort hotels have nice walking paths, waterfronts, water
sports, etc, the Swan doesn't have any of this. The Dolphin is supposed
to be opening in June/July and the Yacht/Beach Clubs looked like they
were coming along, expected to open in October time frame. If anyone
stays here, I'd be interested in finding out what they think of the
atmosphere, etc.
One note here, if you're staying in the Swan, the transportation
from the Swan is not that great, I'd assume it will improve
once the other resorts open. There's the water shuttle and tram
over to EPCOT, and I think (not positive) there is a water shuttle
to MGM. So if you want to go to Magic Kingdom (for now), you'd
have to catch the water shuttle or tram to EPCOT, walk through
EPCOT to the monorail, or take the water shuttle over to MGM
and then catch a bus over to the TTC...
We had a fantastic day, now CULTURE SHOCK time..... it was dark,
and we were heading back onto 192 to the condo, then all of a sudden you
are faced with neon signs and blinking message signs, wall to wall!
There is no sign ordinance and it was worse then Reno Nevada, or
the Casino area on Lake Tahoe! Wow, how tacky...... Well guess the
fanatasy was over....
HINT: If you're spending time on WDW and then some off WDW, be sure
to save the last part of the trip for on WDW!!!!!!
5/8 We are up early, and yup the weather is good enough for the balloon
ride, so we are off and in Orlando for 5:30ish(am). The crew/passengers
met and headed for the launch site. One other balloon was taking off at
this site. We are north of WDW, and the winds are NOT blowing to the
SW, so looks like we will be going just NORTH of WDW, WHAT A MAJOR
DISSAPOINTMENT!!!, The balloon ride was great, but you could see WDW
off to the south! The worst part was another Balloon had launched
south of Orlando and was going right over EPCOT and MAGIC KINGDOM!,
We were in the wrong balloon, next time We'd do it again, but we'd
arrange a private balloon that would vary its launch site to make
sure we go over WDW!
The rest of the day was relaxing and some shopping. Boy were we
having withdrawal symptoms from being on WDW. Most places on
International Drive, and Rt 192 (in Kissimmee) have booths set up
in front of them with people trying to sell you discount tickets
or buy up the unused portions of your WDW passports. Boy this was
obnoxious! You try to ignore them or be polite and say you are all
set and they would say are you sure, and keep going. Then if you
haven't bought anything from them, they follow you to the car and
ask what passprt you have and tell you to come back and see them
and they'll buy the unused portions..... Between that and the
signs everywhere... YUCK! We did go to a miniture golf place, that
was fun....
We stopped somewhere to eat dinner, and in the middle of dinner
someone came up to the table and was doing fundraising for something,
that was the last straw.
5/9 Today we planned to spend the whole day down at Busch Gardens, however,
before heading south to Tampa, we swung into WDW and stopped at the
CBR. We wanted to see if they had any rooms for the rest of our stay,
(Guess who didn't want to be off WDW anymore!), We had to call the
CRO (Central Reservation Office), they had nothing in the CBR, but
they did have something at the Polynesian, a garden view, we said we'd
take it! In the process of taking our information down, yet before she
could confirm it someone got the room out from underneath us. Seems
they need to have some type of locking mechanism... Now thats like
taking a piece of candy away from a child, she put us on hold, and
I was afraid she'd come back and tell us there wasn't anything, luckily
there was a parking lot view, we tooook it!!! For Thurs-Sun. It's
Wednesday and were on our way down to Busch Gardens now! And we were
really looking forward to checking back into WDW (Polynesian) the next
day. We had a great time at Busch Gardens, a great place for photgraphs!
Got back around 7pm, and relaxed. It started to RAIN, the first time
it had rained while we were there. and it rained through the night.
5/10 Got up and packed stuff up for the move back to Poly. Still raining,
but supposed to clear up by mid morning, so we headed for EPCOT,
now it's thundering out.... We decided we'd still go for it. Got into
EPCOT and headed for the LAND for breakfast at the LAND GRILLE. Now
that was excellent! By the time breakfast was over (10am) the sun was out
and it was extremely muggy.... Head for the back to go through the
countries. Went through/browsed through all of them, skipped the films
since we'd seen them several times before. Headed for the monorail
to go check into the Poly. Relaxed and then headed back to EPCOT.Took
pictures, ate at Alfredo's (Italy), excellent.
Rode on Horizons, watched Illuminations and then
headed back to CBR where we had parked the car.
Went back to the condo got our stuff and headed back to the Poly.
5/11 Last day on our 5 day passport.
Back to EPCOT, had breakfast at the Land Grille, again excellent!,
then went into Journey Thru Imagination and saw CAPTAIN EO... That
was pretty good, music was alittle too loud... Went through the
communicores, and Spaceship earth, the ride in spaceship earth has
some updated sections since 1985... The ride stops frequently also!
Finished up at EPCOT, then headed for the Contemporary for a early
dinner. Then headed to MGM for some night pictures and to do some
of the things we'd missed. Rode STAR TOURS again! did the monster
sound show, that was really good, did the Superstar Television, that
was good, did Indiana Jones AGAIN! We were right in the middle this
time, and then shopped and then watched the fireworks.
5/12 This is a day to relax, we hung around the Poly, walked over to
the Grand Floridian and sat in the lobby for awhile, and listened
to their Classical Ensemble..... Had breakfast and dinner at the
Poly. For Breakfast we went to The Character Breakfast Buffet,
and Minnie let us know she was not pleased that we didn't have kids!
And we had Dinner in the Coral Isle Cafe, that was execllent also.....
Caught the Water Pagent in front of the Polynesian, and caught the
fieworks at MGM from our balcony.
5/13 Last day, packed up and checked out, Had Breakfast at The Coral Isle,
then lounged around, went over to the Grand Floridian again, then
headed for Disney Village. When we were all done, we headed for the
airport. We were able to fly standby on an earlier flight (which I
hadn't been able to get seats on when making reservations back in
January), and arrived back in Boston, (about 40 degrees! after leaving
95 degreee weather), We had a limo take us back to the house, and
you know the fantasy is over when...
You get out of the limo and the grass is almost a foot tall
Over all it was a great vacation, time to do what we wanted, but also time
to relax. We would not stay off of Disney property again, there are still
a couple of things we'd like to do off WDW (Sea World, Universal Studios),
There was few new things (except for MGM) so there wasn,t the pressure to
see everything new! We enjoyed having the time to have sit down meals and
go back and relax in the aftrnoons (when it was hottest), and it is really
alot of fun watching the kids (of all ages)...
So when will our next trip be????
Passports or Resort ID's - A warning: You need to have a 4/5/6 day
passport or a resort id to use the transportation system. The problem
is they are not very good at checking to see if you have one when
boarding in many places. Therefore it is possible to get somewhere,
without one, only to try and get back and be asked for one! I assume they
must be more strict with it in the busy seasons, most of the times the
buses were half empty. After going in and out of the Grand Floridian
several times, we were asked for an id the last day we were there to
reboard the monorail!
Photo's - It really depends on what you like to do with photography,
We both have Minolta x700's, and several different lenses. You can
get interesting pictures from the same spots at different times of the
day. High speed film does work well inside the attractions, especially
in EPCOT. We have many nice pictures from inside Journey into Imag.,
World of motion, The land, the different countries, etc. WDW is an
EXCELLENT place to practice technique at. For instance, you can get some
really interesting pictures through the archways in Morocco, and also
you can get an interesting picture of spaceship earth, through the
paddlewheel (which is along the shore infront of Morocco). I have a
nice picture with the sphere framed within the spokes of the paddlewheel!
So we take are cameras all the time and look for different things! The
late afternoon sun shining on buildings gives a very different impression
then a morning or evening shot. Furthermore, catching the monorail
coming (or is it going) around the sphere at early duck is nice!
Subtle Changes
The KODAK picture spots are not necessarily the best place to take a
picture! These places were picked back when the parks opened. For instance
in EPCOT some places that really were a great picture spot back in '84,
aren't that great now that the landscaping as matured. So look around,
you can get some interesting shots!
Back in '84 - '85 when looking across the lake in the World Showcase,
you could see the countries across the lake really well, now they are
not so visible with the growth in the landscaping (the trees especially).
In particular, the welcome arch (not really an arch, whatever you call it)
in Japan, had a clear view of the sphere. In otherwords you could get a
clear picture of the sphere within the arch and it was nice. Can't do
that anymore, the trees on the islands inbetween these two points have
grown tall enough to block the view.
WDW Sound Systems: Have you ever stopped to see where the soundsystems
are hidden? It is interesting! Did you know the rocks along the shore
in front of Canada have some built into them, when they were doing
Illuminations, a section on the top of the rock would start to rise,
and a speaker would end up being raised up 12+feet!, When it was done
it quietly lowered and disappeared into the rock.
Timesharing: We like our timesharing, and enjoy trading it, and the
timeshare (RESORT WORLD of ORLANDO) is nice down there, but when we
went down specifically to spend time at WDW, and most of the time was
spent there, the timeshare did not fit in. It is not convient to hop on
a monorail/bus and be back at the resort in a couple of minutes, you need
to climb back in the car, drive out and then when you want to come back you
need to drive back, a hassle, plus the atmosphere off WDW really ruins it,
once you've stayed on! I would not trade there again, I'd stay on WDW and
use my timeshare to visit other places!
-Annie
|
| 183.21 | The Campbell Report | XNOGOV::KAREN | when you wish upon a star... | Wed Jun 06 1990 13:00 | 417 |
|
WALT DISNEY WORLD TRIP REPORT
26 April to 3 May 1990
Trippers:
Karen and Shaun, plus
Karen's Mum and Dad
Thursday 26 April
-----------------
Weather: Coolish; becoming warmer all the time
At 11.57 am Virgin Atlantic's flight VS047 roared west out of London
Gatwick bound for Orlando. The non-stop eight and a half hour flight
transported us from the cool, grey skies of England to a hot and sunny
Florida afternoon.
We experienced the quirks of Orlando International by reclaiming our
luggage twice. Still, Virgin Atlantic had been kind enough to point this out
as we made our final approach. Getting through immigration and customs
was a long and slow process, but we finally emerged to a waiting Lindos
courtesy bus that took us to their car hire place. This was mayhem! A
'plane load of Brits all collecting their cars at the same time and edging
nervously out onto the Floridian highways! We joined a queue to get our car
after registering and then baked for a good time in the 83 degree
heat. We finally arrived at the Wynfield Inn on Westwood Boulevard at 6.30 pm,
exactly three hours after arriving in the country. Our body clocks now
said 11.30 pm and we were tired. Nevertheless, we showered and bought a
wonderful Hawaiian pizza from Flippers round the corner from the hotel,
and soon it really was time for bed.
Friday 27 April
---------------
Weather: Mid 80s, sunny and very warm
We breakfasted at the Village Inn, next door to the Wynfield on bacon,
eggs, buttermilks and maple syrup. Yummy! This was definitely the start of
my love affair with buttermilks and maple syrup...
We took things easy and sat by the pool for a while before strolling
through the Sheraton World and over to Sea World. This was beautiful and
broke us in gently for the big parks.
Saturday 28 April
-----------------
Weather: Dull and overcast; heavy rain late afternoon; evening sunshine
The day we'd all been waiting for; Disney day! With our body clocks still
into UK time, we were up and off quite early. The car park at the Magic
Kingdom, when we arrived there, was very full and so were the trolleys to
the main gate, and so was the queue to buy tickets, and so was the queue
for the monorail...in fact, there were people everywhere.
Using my MKC discount card we bought four day passes for just over $88
The proper price was just over $100. We were happy before we even
got thorough the turnstiles!
Main Street USA was just as lovely as it had been for Shaun and I two and a
half years earlier. Mum and Dad were enthralled straight away! So for the
first half hour or so we zipped in and out of the shops on Main Street
and did as we'd been advised in notes and bought personalized Mickey ears as
presents sooner rather than later to avoid the queues.
We wandered up to Cinderella's Castle and the shops, then took the Peter Pan
ride in Fantasy Land before deciding we were peckish. After another huge
breakfast we thought we'd try something light so found the baked potato
wagon near Frontierland. These were very nicely cooked and came with lots
and lots of butter, something you don't normally get a lot of back home.
As we ate these Donald Duck and Goofy appeared from nowhere and a character
greeting was underway. People swarmed in from all directions to take
pictures of and cuddle their heroes. Mum and I were no exception!
Next we did the paddle steamer and the Country Bears Jamboree. We got straight
onto the boat, but queued for what seemed like an eternity to get in
and see the bears. Shaun and I thought they were worthwile; Mum and Dad
I'm not so sure about. But we just loved those Californian bears!
It was now very overcast and cool, so we went into the Hall of Presidents
expecting to wander round a room full of pictures. We were surprised to be
ushered into a great big cinema for a film and audio-animatronics show.
Sorry to say we found this a bit long-winded and probably the least
appealling of the things we saw that day.
By the time we came out it was nearing 3 o'clock and parade time. It was
also beginning to rain. Plastic ponchos were darting everywhere. But
could we find some to buy? Of course we couldn't! In the true spirit
of Disney the show must go on and round and round came a lot of wet,
bedraggled jungle book animals, Snow White, Mickey, Dumbo and many, many
more. It was now pouring with rain, but luckily we managed to shelter near
the Diamond Horseshoe Review. It was ...zip!zip!zip!...lovely despite the
...zip!zip!zip! rain. As my Mum said, the Magic Kingdom must be the
happiest place on earth!
After the parade the rain eased and we were able to get round to see the
Tiki Birds quite easily without getting too wet. Then we went on Pirates
of the Carribean and did get wet! This was fabulous and worth the twenty
minutes or so we spent down in the caves waiting to go on. It was
brilliant the way the car whooshed down and wet us all and the audio-
animatronics in there were just great. The dog with the keys in its mouth
really amused us a lot!
Then came the longest queue of all for the Jungle Cruise. It was never
ending and must have taken about 40 minutes. But it was well worth it in
the end. Shaun and I didn't remember the Nile bit of it from last time,
though.
Blueberry muffins and hot tea followed in the Main Street Bake Shop. These
were to keep our energies up for getting out of the park at the end of
the day. Definitely not advisible to shop in Main Street on the way home!
The crowds were incredible!
Sunday 29 April
---------------
Weather: Extremely hot and sunny, probably in the high 90s
By this time I was well and truely into the Disney tennis shoe syndrome and
decided to buy a pair of L.A. Gear. So off we went to the Belz Factory Outlet.
There were so many shops! It was like heaven! The adverts down
International Drive saying "shop 'till you drop!" were very true. By
midday I was still going strong, and we'd only intended to have a ten
minute stop off on our way to EPCOT! Eventually, I found just what I
wanted in Frugal Frank's.
A quick pitstop at MacDonald's to refuel on Big Macs and banana shakes and we
were in EPCOT. The car park was busy but there were no queues and we walked
straight onto Spaceship Earth at 1.40 pm without a single person in the queue.
This was fabulous!!
As it was a beautiful day we decided to do a retake of the character
parade back in the Magic Kingdom, this time to get some sunny pictures.
We got there about 2.30 pm and got a very good view by standing outside
the Emporium. There we could see everyone coming out of the "garage".
It was a brilliant place to be. Much better than further up Main Street.
The parade started off with one or two school bands followed by a family,
chosen from the crowds, who were paraded up Main Street in a car, and, I
think wearing Mickey ears. Then we were into the big stuff...Captain Hook,
Cinderella, Snow White, Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, Alice, a walking tea
pot and lots, lots more. With nobody in front of us it was perfect for
taking pictures, and take a lot we did between waving and greeting the
characters. This must have been perfection!
By this time the parade had finished the heat was unbearable and we headed
straight for something to cool us down in the Main Street Bake Shop. Yes,
we'd taken a real liking to this place. But lemonade is just too wet on
its own, so we ended up with wedges of cheesecake topped off with
strawberries. This was just the thing we needed to set us up for the rest
of the afternoon.
Next we made our way back to the castle. It was cordened off as a
"Disneymania" show was just about to start. How lovely to see lots of the
old faithful characters and some of the new like Oliver. We spent a lovely
few minutes here watching all the singing and dancing before heading off
towards Tomorrowland where we took in Dreamflight, the WEDway people
mover and the Skyway. Then it was off to Mickey's Birthday land and the
train back to Frontierland.
Then, basically, we took in all the things we hadn't done the day before,
like Mr Toad's Wild Ride, 20,000 Leagues, Cinderella's Carrousel and ended
up going home via the shops on Main Street (we must have been mad!). Our
favourites today were 20,000 Leagues and Mr Toad's Wild Ride.
The queues for the monorail were so long that we took our chance with the
ferry, but didn't quite make it and had a long and hot wait for the next
one. But the beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom at dusk as we sailed
across the lake must be one of the lovliest ever and with all the lights
twinkling over it, we soon forgot how hot, tired and thirsty we were!
Now two days into the Disney programme and we were beginning to wonder
just how we were going to muster the energy for the rest of the week...Dad
said he thought he'd come here for a holiday...
Monday 30 April
---------------
Weather: Extremely hot and sunny; again temperatures probably in the high
90s
A day off from Disney took us to Kennedy Space Center. With one shuttle
just landed a couple of days before, and Columbia on the launch pad ready to
to go it was mega-busy. Fortunately, we took a coach trip from the hotel
and cut out most of the hassles of driving and queuing for tickets etc.
I won't go into the ins and outs of the day as it's not Disney Business, but a
great and fascinating day was had by all. Well worth the visit...and the
ice cream floaters were ...dare I say it? out of this world! But, beware
the cafeteria!!!
That evening we took in the Disney Village Marketplace as the day had been
relatively short. There was a lovely, magical sort of atmosphere as we
wandered round all those wonderful shops, selling all those wonderful
things. The Empress Lily looked magestical, too, with all her lights
twinkling on the lake. We also glimpsed some of the non-stop lasers from
Pleasure Island, but didn't find the time to go there.
Tuesday 1 May
-------------
Weather: Extremely hot and sunny; yet again, temperatures in the 90s
We hit EPCOT around midday, suitably refreshed from lounging by the hotel
pool and doing a bit of shopping. There were no queues and it was easy to
get in. Having done the geosphere on the last visit, we skipped that and
got straight into a photo session with Mickey, the spaceman. He was cute!!
And how cute too, to see him sneak off to the water fountains for a drink
just like the rest of us!
To escape the blistering heat we headed for the Land to take in Listen to
the Land or the Kitchen Kabaret. Both had long queues so we gave them a
miss and headed for the Living Seas. Not being a fish lover I shivered my
way down to Sea Base Alpha in the hydrolator and through the huge aquarium
on the seacab. But how amazing it all was when we got there. We couldn't
get over how many unusual fish there were and how beautifully well kept
they all were. Gradually my goosepimples diappeared in sheer awe of some
of these beautful creatures. But, best of all, were the manatees! We
spent ages watching these graceful, gentle giants nibbling away at cabbages
and hoped we would see them for real out in the seas off the Keys when we
got down there for the second part of the vacation...unbeknown to us at
that time, we were to be lucky!
Next on the agenda was Journey into Imagination. The upward flowing
waterfall and the jumping water amused us on our way to see Captain E.O.
Surprise, surprise, there was no queue for Captain E.O., not because it's
losing in popularity but because the doors were just opening for the next
showing so we were soon in and ducking and diving to miss the boulders and
the beasties. I loved it!!
Out of there and into the Journey into Imagination...loved the ride; hated
the awful picture on the video screen at the end! But it's all in a day's
fun.
Off we trekked then to the World Showcase. The "countries" were perhaps
smaller than we'd expected but seemed very authentic. The United Kingdom
portrayed a very stereotyped olde worlde England, though! But it was great to
see the old red 'phone boxes, which we don't have here any more and we
felt quite homesick seeing the "Rose and Crown" and the "Queen's Table"
giftshop that even sold the Royal Doulton china I collect at home.
France seemed authentic; the boulangerie was spot on!
It must have been early evening as our tums were telling us it was time for
food. We made our way to Italy expecting a lovely juicy pizza only to be
disppointed that there was nothing we really fancied. We trekked round and
round and, eventually, ended up back in the Stargate restaurant. This was
probably the worse Disney food we had - prepackaged and plastic. Ugh!
To console ourselves over our poor meal, we went shopping in the
Centorium! We were well impressed by the fantasic range of goods this
place had to offer and Mum and I almost had to be dragged out...!
By now it was twilight and EPCOT was looking its best, espcially Spaceship
Earth, now bathed in a purply blue light. We were pleased we had stayed on
as EPCOT takes on another dimension in the dark which is definitely worth
seeing.
It wouldn't be long to the firework display so we hurried round some of the
attractions we'd missed in the afternoon, and more or less walked straight
on. The World of Motion and particularly the Universe of Energy were
show-stoppers in our book. We really enjoyed it as we journeyed through
the steamy primeval forest, watching the battling dinosaurs and errupting
volcano.
The firework display took place at 10.00 pm, and we all agreed it was the
most magnificent display we had ever seen. Well worth staying on for. It
must have gone on for fifteen or twenty minutes and all of the displays
were absolutely breathtaking! Not to mention all those beautiful colours.
It confirmed our opinion that Disney certainly don't do things by halves!
As we exited the park the lasers were beaming the world map onto the
geosphere. Marvellous!!
Wednesday 2 May
---------------
Weather: Extremely hot and sunny; high temperatures yet again
This was to be our last day in the holiday centre of the world and so we
spent part of the morning sun-bathing and then headed on to Disney Village
Marketplace to do the final bit of Disney shopping. We found there were lots
of things there that hadn't been available at the stores in the Magic Kingdom
or EPCOT. The shop selling the hand-blown glass was superb, and we bought
several glass souvenirs here. Then, not wanting to repeat the food-wise
disaster of yesterday, we headed on down to TGI's for a meal. The portions
were enormous and the service excellent. We were ready for our attack on
MGM.
We arrived at MGM around 4.00 pm. The main parking lot was crowded but not
over busy and we walked straight in. The thing that stuck us was how small
it is compared with the other two parks. But how lovely and atmospheric.
Walking in is like stepping back in time to a golden era of movies...and we
loved it from the gleaming Buick to replica of Grauman's (sp?) Chinese
Theater. The atmoshere is tremendous...espcially the lovely, old movie
themes playing away in the background that make you want to sing and dance
your way around!
The first attraction we took in was the Great Movie Ride. This was
brilliant! Hollywood....la...la...la...la...Hollywood...this tune created
just the right mood as we slid off in the huge car for our journey
into the movies. The audio-animatronics were excellent! Not only did the
characters sound just right, they looked and moved just perfectly. We were
well and truely duped when our guide told us there was a temporary fault and
we couldn't proceed any further...it turned out to be a hijacking by a
gangster!! This was great fun, and I think just about everybody on our
car entered into the spirit of it. This was one thing I'm glad I hadn't
read about beforehand in the notesfile as it came as a complete surprise.
Having read about the backstage tour, and absolutely dying to try it out we
raced round for the next departure. It proved popular as we had a long
time to wait for the train. But, in true Disney style, once aboard our tour
guide kept us laughing all the way...
...but I was laughing on the other side of my face when we arrived at
Catastrophe Canyon as I was sitting on the left hand side of the train...
enough said! I got soaked!! But loved every minute! The blinding flashes
of the explosions, the burning heat of them and the thousands of gallons
of water thrashing down the canyon, not to mention the rickety movements of
the train as we made our way through - it was a great experience and brilliant
fun! Everyone on the train was screaming their heads off...and we were
no exception! Brilliant!
Other parts of this tour were also fascinating, if nothing like as
spectacular as Catastrophe Canyon. There was the the facade of the Golden
Girls' house, the fake New York street, Roger Rabbit's car and Dick Tracy's
wardrobe. Gosh, was Dick Tracy B I G in MGM...everywhere you looked there
was something bearing the Dick Tracy trilby! Talk about overkill.
At the end of Part I of the tour, we were glad to be able to get a drink in
the Studio Catering Co before heading off down the New York street and
round the corner to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.
The only drawback to the Backstage Tour is that it's a bit misleading.
Nowhere does it say that Part II is optional. It should really say something
in the MGM handout as two hours is a long time to think you're devoting
to one attraction...
Anyway, enough said and we enjoyed it!
We had a little time before Indiana started and wondered innocently into
Star Tours...there was very little queuing...and soon we were waiting to
board our spaceship. When the announcement came on to keep your safety
belt fastened at all times, and put all valuables under your seat I
though...mm...bit strange...wonder what this is all about...wish I'd
done a U-turn there and then saved my blood-pressure a battering! This
ride is horrendous! And I'm not ashamed to admit I spent the whole time
screaming, eyes firmly closed and clammy palms clinging to the arm rests for
dear life!!!! Unbeknown to me at the time, Mum was doing a similar thing! We
exited pale faced and shaken and wondering why on earth there wasn't some
sort of warning on the ride to forewarn the lesser mortals amongst us!!
Even Shaun and Dad were paler and quieter than usual as we headed off for
Indy.
The stunt show was spectacular...every bit as good as it had sounded as we
arrived at MGM. Some of it was probably lost on me as I'd never seen an
Indiana Jones film before. Nevertheless, we had a great time. We were
lucky to get in for the 8.00 pm showing and arrived just as they started
letting people onto the set. So, again, no queue to speak of. The show
was wonderful, and it being night-time added to the atomosphere of it.
Lots of picture taking here!
When we came out the place was throbbing with lovely movie tunes, hundreds
of people and thousands of lights...a wonderful sight over Echo Lake that
will stay in my memory for ever. We had just enough time to squeeze in a
little more shopping on Hollywood Boulevard before taking in SuperStar
Television. We entered this not knowing exactly what to expect and were
pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out to be...the woman from the
audience packing chocolates with "I Love Lucy", the girl from the audience
being chatted up at the "Cheers" bar, the guy from the audience giving a
belter of an interview to "Johnny Carson"...and could we ever forget "Howdy
Doody Time"?? The technical wizzardry of it all was superb, and you got
the feeling of really being in a studio audience...full marks for this one!
By now we'd covered most of the major attractions and had decided to stay
on for the fireworks...could they match the breathtaking beauty of those at
EPCOT last night...? So it was a bit of a case of filling in time before
the big event at 11.00 pm. Off we went to the Starring Rolls for a drink
and a gooey cake before going into the Animation Tour. By now we were
feeling pretty tired, but the Robin Williams/Walter Cronkite duo kept us
entertained. We just loved the Peter Pan cartoon who was the spitting
image of Robin...and the lines "slip me some wing, Tinkerbell" make us smile
even now! It was clever the way we were shown round the amimation section
and the Robin/Walter dialogue made a complicated process seem fun. Well
worth the time, if you have it.
Soon it was time to make our way to Hollywood Boulevard for the fireworks.
They were good and entertaining as they fired up in time to all the old
movie themes, but they were quite short and could not compare to the
spectacle of EPCOT. Sorry MGM!
High on the joys of MGM, and, indeed Disney, we headed home to pack for the
second leg of our vacation in the Florida Keys...
POSTSCRIPT
Wednesday 6 June
----------------
Weather: Cool, cloudy and rainy
We're all back home now. And the Disney magic all seems light years away...
Guess there has to be a next time...
Karen Campbell
|
| 183.22 | "Let's Make a Deal" | ATE012::BERUBE | My Biscuits Are Burning!!! | Fri Jun 08 1990 10:22 | 17 |
| Rep to <<< Note 183.20 by ANNIE::LUND >>>
Annie,
> They were building a standing stage (permanent) for one
> of the game shows which is supposed to start filming there in late
> June, another opportunity, be on a game show while touring WDW!
According to a blurb in the Summer '90 issue of Disney News, this will
be the '90 version of "Let's Make a Deal". Two days a week production
will be going on, while the remaining five days will be an attraction
for park guests. Anything could turn up behind door # 1, #2 or #3 - or
even behind the tempting new !^-screen video wall. The show is suposed
to be on NBC and the fall issue of Disney News will have a more
detailed article on the show.
Claude
|
| 183.23 | "Lets Make A Deal" | VICKI::STANLEY | | Wed Jun 13 1990 12:52 | 8 |
| During my stay in Fla. last two weeks heard an ad on the radio with a
phone # to call for seats In the audience of "Lets make a deal". My
boys called immediatly and will be in the audience this Sat. The
taping is at 11:00am, they said that the chances of being selected are
the same in or out of costume. I will speak to them Sat. eve and try
to give you more details.
Terry
|
| 183.24 | Trip May27-June3, VERY long writeup.... | FDCV06::GRUBBS | | Mon Jun 18 1990 10:45 | 305 |
|
Walt Disney World May 27-June 3 1990
Bert and Debbie Grubbs (Honeymoon Trip)
This a play by play as best I can recall from my log of events and
expenses. I tried to track things every night before I went ot bed but some
days were so hectic I'm afraid some of it may be a little out of order from the
way it actually happened!! It's pretty close though.....
Sunday, May 27
--------------
Arrived Orlando International 4:30pm, picked up Avis rent car
with no problem. Headed toward CBR, slight traffic delay, road construction
was happening on I4, storms brewing so some were leaving WDW.
Check-in at CBR, we got pool-side, second floor room in St. Martinique. Primo
spot cause it's right near the CBR entrance, and next to Old Port Royale! We
liked the room and all the little Mickey Mouse emblazened soaps and such.
Unpacked the car and took showers, made reservations for Land Grille Room in
Epcot for the next day and watched the Disney info channel to see opening time.
Plans had changed and we wanted to stay at CBR the whole week but they wouldn't
let us extend beyond our original June 1 leave date because some massive travel
agent convention had them totally booked for Friday,June 1 and June 2.
They claimed they would see what they could do Friday morning but it
didn't look good. I made some calls and got a room at the Grosvernor Resort
in the Village to play it safe. Off to explore Orlando. Drove by Universal
and found out the Hard Rock Cafe there doesn't open till June 10, bummer.....
so went to the Mercado close by and ate steak for dinner. Early to bed in
anticipation of Epcot Center!
Monday, May 28
--------------
I ran down to Old Port Royale and brought Rolls and juice for breakfast
back to room while Deb got fixed up.
Stated opening time: 9:00 am. We drove car and parked in 3 row from
front, arrived 8:15 upgraded 4 day passes to 5 day Super passes (the deal was
extended to June 2) for about $75 more dollars.
Park was already open, so we headed onto Spaceship Earth (10 min wait) I love
that ride. Then did Living Seas, The Land, Journey Into Imagination and
Captain Eo (loved Captain Eo and Figment!).
Getting close to Lunch we went straight to America and had burgers for
lunch at the big cafeteria style place. Then we started out on China and went
counter clockwise through the countries. About three we headed to the Poly for
some poolside sun and fun until a thunderstorm blew in. We cleaned up and
headed back to Epcot at 6:00pm for dinner reserved the previous night at Land
Grille Room. I had stir fry vegetable and Deb had the pasta primavera (both
good!, lot's of food) and we were reluctant to carve up the little Mickey
Mouse butter they brought with that great cheese bread......
After dinner we did Norway and Mexico and sat down for a Margarita at
the San Angel Cantina right on the lagoon. Realizing it was 45 minutes to
Illuminations we decided to head out and save it for later in the week. We
were also quite tired so we didn't want to have to fight traffic leaving. Went
back to CBR about 9:30pm. Checked opening time for Typhoon Lagoon (10:00am)
and hit the hay after a long day...
Tuesday, May 29
---------------
Drove to Typhoon Lagoon arriving at 9:30 am. Got a locker for stuff to
change into after swimming. Stood behind crowd for rope drop at opening time.
Not too crowded, headed around to right side of wave pool. If you are looking
for good spots head to either side overlooking the wave pool and get a chair
close to the shade cover structures (comes in handy later on!). We staked our
spot and headed for the wave pool for a first dip. They were making waves but
we didn't realize they weren't up to it's full capability till later on!
Went and did the shark pool with no wait (BRRRRR cold water, very salty water
so there's no effort to swim other than moving forward. I was floating like a
balloon!) Didn't see shark but saw stingray and stuff. Chickened out on
Humonga Cowabunga but did smaller slides to right of it (? Falls) several times
without much wait. Have been applying VERY liberal amounts of sunscreen during
each interlude, the sun is pretty stout! Next, walked to the other side of the
wavepool stopping for a coke and beer (1.50 and 2.50 if I remember right) and
did two more slides with inner tubes, fast but rough when they hit the rocks
and such on the way down. Did Hot Dogs for lunch then castaway creek for some
digestion. If it's crowded on castaway creek, the best place seemed to be by
the tube rental place to get an unoccupied innertube. The ones that stay in
castaway creek are solid brown and blue, while rentals have some yellow patches
in the blue section. Unless you're dying without your own, tubes are provided
on the rides and on castaway creek. After one circuit of castaway creek(watch
out for the soaking waterfall) we jumped out for a few minutes of sun.
Gathered our stuff up about 3:30 pm and headed for shower and change of clothes
. Drove to Epcot and did the attractions to the left of Spaceship Earth
starting with Body Wars. BW was our longest wait it turns out on the whole trip
(about 40 minutes) but WORTH it.
Great ride! Had a small dinner snack in China of eggrolls and such. Finished
Epcot that night and headed for Cape Canaveral around 8:00pm. We had hoped to
see the Space Shuttle launch at 12:38am but it was scrubbed when we arrived.
It's about a 40 minute drive. For optimum viewing go just north of the
intersection of highway 50 and highway 1 in Titusville. As you head north out
of the intersectioon just to the right about 50 yards is a grassy area
overlooking the bay and the launch pad is in the distance. The shuttle is about
as close as you can get (i'd guess it's about 2-4 miles away) but unobstructed
view across the bay. One guy said he'd been to several launches and even at
the distance we were, the sky lights up like day and all the ground and cars
shake! Sorry we missed that, it's always been a long standing thing I've wanted
to do is see a space launch in person. We decided to eat some burgers and beer
and watch the thing since we drove out already. Got back to CBR about 12:15am.
Wednesday, May 30
-----------------
This was blow off day because we knew we had planned the shuttle.
Slept in till about 11:00am. Headed toward Disney Village and ate at Fireworks
Factory for lunch (on PI), Ribs and smoked chicken, cole slaw, cornbread, and
french fries just what a good ole southern boy loves to eat! The food is good
and very reasonable for Disney ($25 total for two). Shopped and such all
afternoon. Left to tour the resort hotels. The Grand Floridian is AMAZING!
Our favorite and candidate for return on anniversery trip. We headed down to
Crossroads just past Disney Village (in Lake Buena Vista)for dinner and the
super grocery store (DEB needed nail polish, sheeezz!). STAY clear of the TGI
Fridays there it costs as much as the Fireworks Factory (about $25 for two and
isn't even close in food or atmosphere quality). Back to CBR for early bed
(we're honeymooning here too doncha know!!!) for MK Thursday. OH, Went and
payed balance at CBR so we could express check out Friday morning (and we would
n't be back till late Thursday night).
Thursday, May 31
----------------
Got rolls and juice from Old Port Royale for drive over to TTC.
Drove to TTC, rode monorail with no wait to MK. Stopped off at lockers
to stow stuff for an afternoon Typhoon Lagoon break, pickup entertainment
schedule and headed for the rope at tommorowland plaza for run to Space
Mountain. We waited about 25 minutes to ride and turns out there would have
been less if we hadn't a been in the morning marathon. I kinda like it though
because I had been telling Deb all week that I was about 3/4 of a step away
from a dead run I was so excited to be at Disney World! This was my chance to
let it all out in a dead sprint to get to Space Mountain! The ride is fun, but
I'm glad I didn't wait an hour or more for it.....then we followed the
"Unofficial Guide" touring plan for hitting the big rides, with great success.
Never waited more than 10 minutes to ride anything except 20,000 Leagues.
Diamond Horshoe Jamboree was closed, we noticed them painting it so we had Monte
Cristos at Columbia Harbour House right after we did the Haunted Mansion.
Great Sandwiches!!
We went to Typhoon Lagoon for aftenoon break, it was nice having air
conditioning in the car. Staked us a good spot(close to the earlier day's) and
went into the wave pool where they were making 8-10 foot waves. Then we did
castaway creek to relax a little, got out and I drank a beer and watched the
scenery (and there's PLENTY of it!) while Deb slept and got some sun....
About 4:00pm we showered and shopped in the gift shop and bought some shirts
and stuff, then headed back to CBR to cleanup a little more and make
reservations for the next day at Prime Time Cafe for lunch at 11:30, and Mexico
for dinner at 8:15.
After a shower and nap we headed to MGM, by bus cause we were going to
stay for fireworks. We got there and rode Star Tours (with zero wait) then
Great Movie Ride, and went to eat. We had not made reservations so we ate at
the Hollywood and Vine which is a cafeteria style place. I had roast
chicken and vegetables, Deb had pasta again. Good food, good quantity and
another good value for Disney prices. Next we did Great Movie Ride again then
we did Indiana Jones Show. Got out in time for fireworks. HINT:HINT:
The fireworks take place right above and behind the Chinese Theater. Most are
not of significant height so MAKE sure you have an unobstructed view of the
Chinese Theater building otherwise there will be portions you can't see. You
don't necessarily have to be close, just don't have a tree blocking half the
theater or you'll miss half the show. After fireworks we did a Dick Tracy
show and left at midnight. Returned to CBR, packed stuff and loaded car for
early getaway next morn....
Friday, June 1
--------------
Got to MGM about 7:30 am. Having done the attractions the night before
we ate a leisurely breaskfast at a bakery place close to the backstage section
of the park and headed for the backstage tour.
Very interesting, plus it was nice to not be pressed for time to get done with
it so we screwed around at the middle stop where it changes from tram to walking
cause we both love Roger Rabbit and they have a little setup there with a bunch
of the big props from the movie like the safe/chalkline of a body, the steam
roller, some other neato stuff. Ate a snack, noticing the Honey I Shrunk the
Kids and Muppets under construction. Headed on to walking part of the tour.
This part was good but a LONG walk. There were many noticibly irritated people
who hadn't payed attention when they said it was an hour walk, and ride the
tram back if you're not up for it. After the tour we did Great MOvie ride (I
love the Aliens scene, DEB loves the Wizard of Oz scene) then went to Prime
Time Cafe for 11:30 reservation made the previous day during shower break. Had
BIG burgers and shakes. Good, but a little expensive for a burger/shake/fries
meal (about $25), neato atmosphere!
After lunch we went to the sound show and did some shopping leaving the
studios about 2:00pm. Went to Grosvernor to check in and get it done, The dang
room wasn't ready even after we waited till 3:30pm. Deb slept on a couch in
the lobby, and finally I said hell with it, let's not waste our time here(it
had been raining when we left the studios up to about 3:00pm anyway). Drove to
TTC and went to MK and did carrasell, Mr. Toad, Peter Pan, Wedway,
About 7:00 we headed to Epcot for 8:15 reservations at Mexico. Got a
primo spot at the rail overlooking the river! Decent margaritas, had the Carne
Asada Tampiquena wich is steak, chicken enchilada, beans and rice. The meal was
good (we are from Texas so TEX-MEX is right up our alley), steak was excellent
but the tab was about $50 OUCH! Oh well, it's a vacation..... After dinner we
headed out to nab a spot for Illuminations. We looked over people's heads the
whole time, and just like MGM you need a good view of the lagoon to see the
show. HINT:HINT Do not stand behind anything that obstructs part of your view
of the lagoon (trees, boat launches, etc.) or you will miss part of the show.
Headed back to Grosvernor for room. OK but what a shock after the CBR
and this cheapest Grosvernor room is even $25 dollars more expensive the BEST
room at CBR!! We had no control over it we were just lucky to find a room
still in the World!
Saturday, June2
---------------
Slept late cause of the previous day's schedule. Drove to TTC and got
to MK about 12. Really crowded today, monorail backed up so we rode the ferrry
wich was moving fast cause they load LOTS of people and they had three boats
running back and forth!
For luch we ate at Tony's on Main Street, next to Walt Disney Story. This is
a table service restaurant with VERY good sandwiches, and VERY reasonable
prices. I ate a muffalata and Deb had a meatball sandwich, good quality, lots
of food, cost was about $15). We just walked in, I don't know if they take
reservations. Today we did some shopping and finished Tomorrow Land, and
Mickey's Starland. We saw the show but couldn't stand to wait in line with all
those "other" impatient kids to see micky himself backstage. This was our most
crowded day at the parks but things ran well.
We started to find our spot for the parade at 2:15. HINT:HINT: A great
spot is directly across from the Hall of Presidents. There's a shade tree with
a stone wall within about 3 ft from the rope they string up so if you cop a
spot nobody will try and stand in front of you early if you stare em down. you
get a great view of the parade as it comes across the bridge into Liberty
Square as well. DON'T try to get a spot in the little cutouts on the bridge
because they will clear it just before the parade comes by and you will have
missed your chance at the spot across fron Hall of Pres. Also go down by the
bridge to the Sleepy Hollow Refreshments place, they sell Mickey Mouse plastic
Mugs in Blue and Hot Pink with coke for like $3. We never saw them sold
anywhere else in the park, plus it's a BIG coke, like 22 ounces or so. We got
some great pictures of the parade and headed back to tomorrowland afterward.
We finished tomorrowland and did the Mickey show in Mickey's starland
but didn't wait in the hmongous line to see Mickey backstage. We had already
gotten some good shots after lunch with Goffy, Winnie the Pooh, Sherrif of
Nottingham, Chip and Dale on Mainstreet right after lunch.
We got screwed on the Pirates of the Carribean. We waited for 30min
and when the boats were in sight all of the sudden everything stopped! We
stood around for about 15 minutes and people started leaving, till finally
they told everyone to backup and go back out cause something was wrong with
the ride. We did the Tiki birds and the Treehouse and when we went back it
was still broke. Went and did Country Bear Jamboree and headed out about
7:30pm.
We drove to MGM and did a lot of shopping and ate at the warehouse
place close to Star Tours where they have build you're own burgers. Deb bought
another coke to get the pastic cup. NOte that the plastic coke cups have
MIckey MOuse with stars at MGM, Many characters doing different World Showcase
country activities at Epcot, and something different (I forget!) at MK.
We toured around some more and went to the Catwalk Bar. It's overlooking the
backstage restaurant. Deb ordered a Catwalk Cooler, and let me tell you it
sure Cooled her!! It was some rum mixture drink that just about peeled my lips
back when I sipped it. Needless to say we rolled her out of there. It came in
a very distinctive glass shaped like a movie camera wich we bout for $6.
We collect glasses so it goes good with our others.......after hitting the last
few shops on the way out we waved goodbye to MGM, and got a picture of DEB
loaded down with all her stuff, and headed back to the Grosvernor.
Sunday, June 3
--------------
Tha sad day of departure has arrived....bummer. We loaded up and
headed out to the airport, caught our flight. We did trains,planes, and
automobiles getting home. Our American flight delayed 45 minutes while they
worked on something so we missed our connection to Boston in Raleigh Durham.
They put us on a United commuter flight to Washington/Dulles where the United
connection we were supposed to catch to Boston was delyed for 3 hours!! We
left the World at 11:00am and didn't get back home to Acton until 11:00pm.
I HATE flying into Boston!
All told, it was a fabulous trip, a wonderful honeymoon!! We took
roughly 5 rolls of 36 exposure 35millimeter film, so we're planning on building
a trip scrapbook with all the souvenior stuff and pictures we brought back. We
decided after introspection on the whole trip that MGM was by far our favorite
with MK fantasyland coming in second for me. We are such movie buffs though
that conclusion is understandable. We also decided that since this was our
first time in the parks, and we did 95% of all three parks, we would be
better informed and knowledgable on our next trip about what to skip. This
conference was instrumental in planning a successful trip. Changing from an
International Drive Hotel to CBR was the biggest tip from here, but there were
many other small things that lurked around in the back of my mind and helped us
have an enjoyable stay in the world.
What's next? We're planning an anniversary trip to include a stay at
the Grand Floridian, Universal Studios, and plenty of relaxed touring time to
take in favorite attractions and new things........We're HOOKED!!
Bert and Debbie
For cost information (roughly):
CBR @ 104 a night * 5 = $520
rent car for week = $124 (Avis special, Used corporate # for
insurance)
Grosvernor @125 * 2 = $150
food, souvineers(SP?),
etc. = $700
5 day Super pass * 2 = $270
airplane (434 *2) = $868 (this includes a leg through Texas)
------
total $2632
Add in a memory fudge factor, taxes, other miscellaneous things and I'd
round off the trip cost at $2725.
|
| 183.25 | Trip Report 26 April - 03 May | AKOV13::CRIMER | | Thu Jun 21 1990 17:24 | 368 |
| Trip Report for the Crimers
26 April through 03 May
Here we are finally. With Disney sandwiched between two business trips, some
other person, also known as, "the boss, wanted their trip reports first. I
have all of the credit card receipts figured out and the expense reports filed,
so its on to the real trip report.
"Executive Summary"
For those who wish to read only the abridged version, first my overall
impressions.
- This was an excellent trip for a family with children. The Disney folks
know exactly how to treat children. They were well prepared and thoughtful
at every turn.
- The weather in May is quite good. It was a bit warmer than normal, so the
natives told me, but not too bad.
- Late April, after Easter school vacations are over and into May, before
Memorial Day are excellent times to go to WDW. We waited in only one line for
more than 20 minutes (Jungle Cruise, 25 minutes on a Friday afternoon) We
waited in a couple of lines for about 20 minutes (Space Mountain and 20,000
Leagues were 20 minutes) but most lines were at most a 10 or 15 minute wait.
There was NO WAIT on a Sunday evening at Haunted Mansion and five minutes wait
at Big Thunder Mountain. Sunday was the least crowded day of the week with
Saturday being a close second.
- We found the sitdown eating places inside WDW to have much better food than
the fast-food or cafeteria style places. We particularly enjoyed the Coral
Reef (the kids loved the aquarium) and the Prime Time Cafe (my seven year old
asked why it was decorated so funny!). While all food is expensive, the
sitdown restaurants, we thought, had more value for the money.
- The characters were patient and very kind. They almost all acted like they
had all day to stay with my kids even when there were mobs of kids all around.
- The character breakfast (Minnie's Menehune buffet at the Polynesian) was a
highlight of the trip. It was worth every penny that we spent just to get the
pictures.
- The kids did well, though there were many things that frightened our three
year old. Our seven year old did everything, and the baby just went along.
- We will go back, but probably not for about four or five years. We want to
be past diapers, naps, and ghost frights.
- We liked our accommodation, off-property, but we are starting to save for the
next trip which will be all on-property. We spent quite a bit of time
traveling from home to park and back.
- We used Birnbaum and this notes conference for preparation and while at WDW.
Thanks to everyone for their helpful hints and ideas. It helped save both
time and money.
The Details
(Its long, but everyone says that they want to hear it all!)
Day 1 - 26 April - Thursday
The entourage consisted of four adults, Susan (my wife), my parents, and me,
and our three children, Elizabeth (7), Thomas (3), and Andrew (6 months). We
flew from Boston on US Air ($177 R.T., P.P.) via Charlotte to Orlando on
Thursday 26 April at 10 AM. My parents, who live in NJ, flew from Newark
non-stop to Orlando on Delta ($209 R.T. PP). We arrived Orlando about 3:45.
Car pickup at Avis (full size, $165 wk with Digital discount, no CDW).
Our lodging was a three bedroom house that my parents rented in
Kissimmee. The house was just off 192 about 20 minutes east of MK parking lot.
It was about a year old in a development of similar homes and it was sited on a
small man-made lake. About a half a block away was a swimming pool and jacuzzi
for private use by the residents. The house had three bedrooms, two full baths,
a screened in porch, garage, LR, DR, kitchen. All appliances, cable TV, linen
and towels included. No daily maid service, but the price did include end of
week maid service. Plenty of shopping and services on 192.
We rented the house because we all wanted to stay together and the price
was right. Since it was off-season my parents struck a bargain rate with
the owner. My parents also wanted to be able to retreat from Disney and my
wife agreed. So out voted, I went along.
Upon arrival, the kids went into the pool and my parents and I went to the
nearby grocery store to stock the larder. We basically decided to eat all
but one or two breakfasts at the house, so we bought breakfast food and some
snacks to keep around. We decided that we would eat most lunches and dinners
out or take out. The first night we did take out for dinner.
After the kids were in bed we did one more review of the plans, Birnbaum, and
the maps. We called four operating hours (MK 9 - 8, Epcot 9 - 10, MGM 8 - 12,
River Country, Typhoon, 10 - 5). We felt prepared.
Day 2 - 27 April - Friday
This morning was a comedy of errors. Everyone was anxious to get going, but we
just could not move fast enough. After breakfast, about 8:30, my parents took
the two older kids and went off to get tickets and make dinner reservations
for the Coral Reef. We agreed to meet at the MK gate. We had to feed the baby
one last time and change his clothes again. We finally left the house at
9:20. By 9:45 we were standing at the TTC, but no one was there to meet us.
We were in a panic thinking that we needed a ticket to get from TTC to MK.
So after wasting another 20 minutes getting set straight, we went on the ferry
to MK. When we arrived, my mother was there with the kids. Turns out my
parents were in a panic when we did not show up. Seeking advice from a cast
member, it was suggested that we were waiting at TTC because we needed a ticket
for transportation. My father went back to find us. Mom took the kids into MK,
they could not wait another second, and I hopped the monorail back to the TTC.
I found my father and we returned to MK on the next ferry. It was now 11:15,
but we were finally inside. All this, even though we thoroughly read Steve B.
By the way, we bought the five day passes which they were offering, for a
limited time as "Plus" passes, mentioned elsewhere in this notes conference. The
cost was $125 for adults, less the MKC discount. This turned out to be a good
deal because the we did visit River Country and Pleasure Island during our
week. The extra cost per ticket was more than made up by-passing the extra
admissions.
To get over our three year old's Mickey anxiety, we first headed up the Main
Street Railroad platform for a trip to Mickey's Birthday land. We did the
tour of the house, but the Minnie's Surprise Party was closed, I guess for the
change over to the new attraction. So onto the theatre and a visit with The
Mouse in his dressing room. This visit was excellent and help set the tone for
a very positive interaction with the characters throughout the visit. On the
way out the door our little guy suddenly remembered that his friend told him to
hug Mickey for her. He ran back in before we could grab him and Mickey broke
off what he was doing with the next family and gave Thomas a big hug.
We visited the remainder of the Birthday land; the kids had a great time in the
play area and the petting zoo. Then we grabbed a hot dog and cold drink and
had a brief rest. Because we got such a late start, we decided to stay on
until dinnertime.
The afternoon was crowded, but not overwhelming. The remainder of the
afternoon we spent in Adventureland doing Swiss Family Robinson, Jungle
Cruise, Pirates and a little souvenir browsing. Then it was back to Main
Street to hunt for some characters and start to head for Epcot for dinner. The
kids enjoyed all of the rides. I had forgotten all of those corny puns that the
Jungle Cruise captains try to pass off as humor. The three year old was scared
in the Jungle Cruise cave.
We took the ferry back over to TTC for the switch to Epcot. First I had to go
back to the car. Grandma decided to buy the kids those great big mylar balloons.
So we carried those around *ALL DAY*, but I would not carry them into a
restaurant. So I met the group for our 6 PM reservation at the Coral Reef.
The Coral Reef is a lot of fun. It is a nice restaurant with pretty good
food, even if the menu is somewhat limited. All the food was nicely prepared,
except for the vegetables which were overcooked. I knew that I was back in the
South when they kept the fresh brewed iced tea coming to the table.
We took the two younger children back to the house while my daughter stayed
with Grandma and Grandpa for a tour of the Living Seas and The Land. She
enjoyed both attractions, but when all was said and done, The Living Seas was
clearly the highlight of Epcot for her.
Day 3 - 28 April - Saturday
We got up early to avoid the lines. It was cool and rainy most of the day,
and MK was never very crowded. We arrived at TTC at 8:55 and MK, via ferry,
at 9:10 or so. My daughter and I went to Space Mountain while the remainder of
the group went to Fantasyland. We agreed to meet again in an hour and a half.
In a little over an hour, my daughter and I did Space Mountain, Dreamflight,
Mission to Mars, and the People Mover. Space Mountain did get crowded after we
had finished our ride, but going there first saved a lot of time and we had a
terrific ride.
In the meantime, the rest of the group went on the merry-go-round, Peter Pan,
and 20,000 Leagues. When we met again, the kids went on Snow White. My
daughter loved it but it was too scary for our three year old. To calm him, I
took him to the Mike Fink Keel Boats. This was fun for him. He loves boats
and enjoyed the trip.
At about noon or 1:00, my wife and I took the two younger children and went
back to the house. They were both zonked and needed a nap. My daughter
stayed with her grandparents and went on some more rides. They rejoined us
at the house at about 3:00.
When my parents came back my wife and I went out on 192 to do some souvenir
shopping and pricing. All of those places advertising $2 T-shirts carry mostly
shirts that were not much less than those in the Disney stores, less the MKC
discount. We wanted to compare and we were not impressed.
About 5:00, after naps and rests, we went to a local place for dinner. We ate
at several local restaurants and chain type places off property. No matter
what we paid, the food was no better at the local places than it was at the
fast food chains.
The rest of the evening was at Epcot. We took the two little boys off to the
Living Seas while my daughter and parents did Spaceship Earth and a tour of
Communicor. My three year old loved the Living Seas. He still talks about
the diver demonstration and loves to imitate the diver in the tank.
After we visited Communicor, we brought the kids back while my parents stayed
on for the light show. The day ended quietly with three very tired children.
Day 4 - April 29 - Sunday.
Ignoring all the best advice, we decided to approach the day very differently
than we had the first few days. We let the kids sleep while my parents took
off on their own for Epcot. When the kids got up, we had a leisurely
breakfast. My wife and daughter went off to the Nike outlet to replace the
sneakers that had begun to hurt my daughter's feet. Thomas and Andrew went
back for a nap and Pop read the Sunday paper.
When the shoppers returned, the sun was out, so the kids dressed in their
bathing suits and I took them to the pool. After a half hour we came back to
the house for lunch. At 1:00 we went off to the Magic Kingdom.
Our ignoring the "get there when it opens advice" turned out to be a good
decision on this particular day. The kids were well rested and the
crowds were very light. The weather had turned quite warm and the famous
Florida humidity had kicked into high gear.
Between 1:30 and 8:00 we were able to cover
Wedway People Mover (again)
Skyride
Tom Sawyer Island
Country Bear Jamboree
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Pirates of the Caribbean (again)
Haunted Mansion
All of this in addition watching the parade, stopping for dinner and doing
some shopping. There were no lines to speak of after 4:00 PM. As I mentioned
above, there was no line at the Haunted Mansion.
We had a great time on all of the rides, though my wife did have to take the
three year old out of the Haunted Mansion before they got onto the cars. Big
Thunder Mountain, IMHO, is quite simply the best ride in the MK. If the rest
of the family had not been waiting for me, I would have gone again. The kids
loved Tom Sawyer Island. It had plenty to do, was relatively safe, and offered
a chance to have a rest in an enjoyable setting.
We had to do the Pirates again because Thomas had acquired a toy six-shooter
and he wanted to shoot a few of those nasty pirates. Our second trip through
gave him a chance to learn the lyrics to what is now his favorite song, "Yo-ho,
a pirate's life for me."
Dinner was at the Columbia House to sample those Monte Cristos that seems to
bring rapture from the hearts of many Disney Noters. We enjoyed them. The
rest of the meal, fries, drinks, and cole slaw were awful. Next time, we just
get the sandwiches and find something to drink elsewhere.
As 8:00 PM approached we wandered back to Main St. and sat down for some ice
cream at the ice cream parlor. We just enjoyed the warm weather and the ice
cream as we all sat and watched the sky darken and the little white lights
shine on Main Street.
Day 4 ended with a beautiful, after dark ferry trip at about 9:00 PM on a very
warm and humid Florida night.
By the way, the folks had a good time doing the first half of the countries at
Epcot.
Day 5 - 30 April - Monday
Now for something completely different, River Country. We found a styrofoam
cooler in the garage at the house, so we got some lunch goods and packed some
sandwiches. We were off to River Country. It was a hot sunny day, perfect
for the beach. My parents were not up for a day at the beach so they went back
to Epcot to finish the countries.
We arrived about 11:00. First we drove around Ft. Wilderness a bit. I wanted
to show everyone what they were missing by not staying inside the place. My
wife agreed that next time, we would be staying here.
When we got off the bus from the parking area, we saw a pony stable. The kids
each took a pony ride before we went to River Country. Once inside, we
selected a spot with chairs and an umbrella next to the wading side of the
pond. My wife and I took turns watching the baby and taking my daughter on
the slides, rope swings, etc.
We enjoyed our picnic lunch and our swimming. The weather was perfect and the
place was not very crowded. The baby slept most of the afternoon under the
umbrella and both kids got to do everything that they wanted. We did succumb to
the off-season hazard, however, the early closing. At 5:00 our day at River
Country had to end.
We were back at the house by 6:30. Grandma and Grandpa agreed to take the kids
for the evening, so we had a date night. My wife and I ate at a place on 192
called the Atlantic Seafood Company. It was kind of expensive. The main
course was OK, but the side dishes were not too good.
We spent the remainder of the evening wandering at Disney Village (doing a bit
of souvenir shopping) and Pleasure Island. You can really spend a lot of
money at Pleasure Island, but there were some places that looked like fun.
We ended the evening sitting on the dock near the rental boats at Disney
Village, just sitting looking at the Empress Lilly.
Day 6 - May 1 - Tuesday.
Another hot, sunny, humid Florida day. We started this day at the Polynesian
character breakfast. This was terrific. Everyone loved the food and all of the
attention that we got from the characters. We have some really precious
pictures of Pluto "licking" the baby. He looks absolutely enthralled.
We opted for the Polynesian based on information that we took from this notes
conference. We thought that our gang would not go for the egg breakfast and
would prefer the buffet. We were right. There was a very nice selection of
cold (mostly fresh fruit, yogurt, juices), hot (eggs, potatoes, grits, omlets)
and baked goods (breads, croissants, muffins, donuts, and danish). Things were
fresh and nicely prepared. The service was very good. The price of 9.95 for
adults and 5.95 for children we thought was fair.
There was plenty of chance to visit with Minnie and friends. They were all
very good sports and stood patiently while we jostled around and posed people.
All in all, an excellent time.
From the Poly, we left Disney and went over to Sea World. My wife and I went
to WDW and Sea World on our honeymoon in 1978. Both places have changed a lot,
and not always for the better. Overall, Sea World is just fine, but let's say
that there is a lot of Sea World that is disappointing.
They do have some terrific exhibits, the penguins and the sharks to name two.
The kids always love the ray, dolphin and seal feeding pools. The sea mammal
show is good and the whale show is very interesting. They do, however, have a
whole lot of other totally irrelevant and obnoxious attractions there. At the
top of the list is a very sexist, military themed water ski show. Pretty silly
if you ask me. I won't go any further, this is a Disney notes conference.
Day 7 - May 2 - Wednesday.
This was to be MGM day. As the week wore on, my wife became less and less
interested in MGM. She thought that there would be nothing for the kids. My
parents arrived in Orlando completely uninterested in MGM, but were now very
anxious to visit. So, we compromised, the grandparents took my daughter to
MGM and we took the two little boys to MK. We agreed to meet at MGM for a late
lunch at the Prime Time.
At the MK, we did mostly Main Street rides and shopping. We went on the fire
truck, the trolley and the bus. We bought some ears and other souvenirs and
took a full loop on the railroad. Then we said goodby, for now, to the Magic
Kingdom.
MGM is really very nicely laid out, except that unlike MK, there is very little
shade. Also unlike MK and Epcot, they have umbrella strollers with no
sunshades. This was unsuitable for our baby. My parents and daughter did do a
lot there, Great Movie Ride, Backstage tour, Superstar TV, and Sound Effects,
but my wife and I saw only the Superstar TV. It was fun.
We had a 3:00 reservation at the Prime Time. We really enjoyed the food and
the service there. The price was not too bad either. The menu looks like its
the typical family foods from the 50s, but its not prepared that way. My
daughter, who was acting a bit sassy that day, thought that the Formica
dinettes, black and white TV shows, and funny shaped cookie jars were all kind
of silly. Little did she know.
We took the two kids back to the house and my folks stayed on at MGM to see
some more attractions. We cooled off in the pool, ate a supper of leftovers,
and had a birthday party for Mom.
Day 8 - Thursday - May 3.
Our last day. We had a 2 PM plane back to Boston, so we got up early, returned
the rental crib, ate breakfast and cleared our stuff out of the house. By
9:15, or so, we were off to Disney Village for souvenir shopping. We saved
most of our shopping until the end and we liberally used our MKC discount. As
someone said someplace in this conference, almost everything that you can buy
at MK, you can buy at Disney Village.
It was a leisurely morning, with the adults taking turns watching the kids play
in the sandbox, and shopping for souvenirs. There was plenty of time for a
sampling of coffee and pastries from the gourmet shop. But sooner than anyone
wanted, it was time to go. So, loaded down with Disney cups, bowls, T-shirts,
earrings, books, pens, pencils, ears, and who knows what else, we packed off
to the Orlando Airport.
Our flights were both on time (Orlando to Charlotte, Charlotte to Boston). The
pilot on the Orlando to Charlotte leg invited the kids onto the flight deck
when we boarded. They were thrilled. A nice cap to a nice trip.
We were home with three sleeping children before 10 PM.
|
| 183.26 | WARNING: long trip report in next note | CLOSET::AAARGH::LOWELL | Grim Grinning Ghosts... | Mon Jul 09 1990 17:34 | 4 |
| The next note (I hope) will contain my trip report. This note
is to warn you all - especially DECwindows notes users that it
is 800 lines long. Hope you enjoy reading it!
Ruth
|
| 183.27 | Trip report from the Lowells | CLOSET::AAARGH::LOWELL | Grim Grinning Ghosts... | Mon Jul 09 1990 17:34 | 800 |
| Trip Report May 18, 1990 - May 27, 1990
Pre-trip:
We made reservations for the Caribbean Beach Resort for
six nights (May 20 - May 25). Our original plans were to
start driving early on Saturday (May 19), drive until
11:00 PM or so, stay at some random hotel, start driving
again early Sunday and arrive at the CBR whenever.
However, we soon realized we could gain a Disney day (and
reap the benefits of our annual passports) by leaving in
the afternoon on Friday. Our new plans were to start
driving at 3:00 PM, drive until 11:00 PM or so (which would
get us to the Maryland area), stay at some random hotel,
start driving around 8:00 AM on Saturday, drive until
11:00 PM or so (which would get us to Florida), stay at
some random hotel, start driving around 8:00 AM on Sunday
and arrive at the CBR some time after noon.
For our return trip we planned to leave WDW around 9:00 AM
on Saturday (May 26), drive until 11:00 PM or so (which
would get us into Virginia), stay at some random hotel,
start driving around 9:00 AM on Sunday and arrive home
whenever.
We spent Thursday night packing the suitcases, using the
lists I had made up before hand. One of my jobs was to
make sure the last few essentials (blow dryer, etc.) got
packed in the morning.
Friday, May 18
We both worked until 1:00 PM or so and headed home to pack
the car. Randy got home on time so was able to make our
supper (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and pack the
cooler. When I got home, he started packing the car.
Meanwhile, I set out the guinea pig's stuff for the neighbors,
watered the plants, made sure the last few essentials were
packed and made the famous last minute appliance check.
We managed to get out of the driveway around 3:30 PM. At
7:00 PM we stopped for supper in New York. Somewhere along
the way Randy realized he hadn't packed some of the snack
foods. He's still alive. (Last October he forgot to pack
some of the juice boxes. Looks like I'll be maintaining a
food list next trip.)
We finished eating around 7:30 and didn't stop again until
we had to get gas (somewhere in New Jersey). From there we
drove straight to Maryland where we eventually (around 11:30)
found a hotel with a name we recognized (Comfort Inn) in
Perryville. The hotel was nice - I think it was new as there
was construction work going on in the area and the room was
in excellent condition.
The weather was perfect for driving. It was cool and partly
to mostly cloudy for most of the trip.
Saturday, May 19
We started driving around 8:30 AM. We didn't stop until we
got to North Carolina (about 12:45) where we had the pleasure
of eating day old peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch
(gross but Randy loves them). We started off again around
1:30, stopping for gas around 2:00. We made a short bathroom
stop as soon as we got to South Carolina (around 4:00), stopped
to eat from about 5:00 until 5:45, made another bathroom stop
as soon as we got to Georgia (around 7:45) and stopped for gas
around 8:15. We got to Florida at about 10:00 PM and stopped
for the night in Jacksonville (around 10:30). We stayed at
the Holiday Inn near the airport. The place seemed nice when
I checked in - it had a nice lobby. However, the room was
below average. The room was crowded, the bathroom was grungy
and the heater/air conditioner was in bad shape.
The weather was rough for driving. The sun was shining, it
was hot (in the 90's), it was getting humid and we had no
air conditioning. It was raining around Jacksonville and
poured while we were checking in and unpacking the night's
necessities.
Sunday, May 20
When we woke up I started getting Nicole all excited about
WDW. Hurrah, we'll be there soon! I brought her in the
shower with me to speed up the process. This is when I
discovered that the bathroom wasn't only grungy, it was also
unsafe. The shower had separate controls for the hot and
cold water, instead of a single handle, which were installed
funny. I was really careful to shut the hot and cold water
off together but wasn't careful enough. I managed to scald
both of us. Nicole didn't want to go near water for the
rest of the trip - no shower, no bath, no swimming!
We started driving around 8:45 AM and got to the CBR around
11:30 AM! We stopped at the Custom House to pre-check in
prior to heading to MGM. Much to our surprise, rooms were
ready. We ended up getting a courtyard view on the first
floor of one of the buildings in Barbados. Since we had
a room, we decided to scope it out so we drove over to
Barbados and unpacked the car. My first impressions of the
CBR were, "It's so pretty" and "Gee, the room looks exactly
like the ones in the brochures." Honestly, I've never had
that happen at WDW. They're always a different layout or
not as pretty/colorful! We were pretty hungry by the time
we finished unpacking so we decided to eat at Old Port Royale
and explore around the lake.
While walking to Old Port Royale, I repeatedly said, "This
is really pretty" while taking pictures. I took pictures of
everything along the way since it was such a nice, sunny, warm
day and I had to use up that roll of ISO 100 film so I could
switch to a faster speed for inside rides! The place really
is colorful. I'm not sure which food place we got our lunch
from but we all had the chicken strip dinners which we ate
outside. The dinners were quite good, more tender and juicy
than the chicken tenders/nuggets I've gotten at fast food
places around here, of course the atmosphere was a big plus.
After the feeding frenzy, we continued our walk around the
lake. First we checked out the main swimming pool - looked
neat and especially fun for children. We were going to walk
completely around the lake but decided to take a short cut
through the play area. There are a couple of playground
type areas there but the sun was shining directly on them
when we walked by - I bet they were hot. We stopped to
see a couple of the caged birds here but Nicole was afraid
of them so we didn't stay too long. We eventually made it
back to the room.
Nicole kept asking, "Going to Diddy World?" to which I'd
respond, "This is Disney World." and to which she'd respond,
"Ooohhhh." She just couldn't get it. When I asked her if
she wanted to go to MGM, the Magic Kingdom or Epcot Center,
she stared at me like I was from another planet, so I put
it in her terms. "Do you want to go see the Dancing Dollies,
Figment or Hurray for Hollywood?" She opted for Hollywood,
so it was off to MGM.
We drove to MGM and were surprised at how little time it
takes to get there from the CBR. The parking lot wasn't
too bad and we were able to get a space fairly close to the
gate so we walked in rather than taking the tram.
Going to MGM at this time was probably a bad idea. There
were long waits for most attractions. Since we had been
here before, we planned on skipping a lot of attractions so
were able to avoid a lot of lines. One thing I noticed was
a bulletin board which lists all the attractions, the wait
times and suggests better times to go on the attractions.
First we went on Star Tours. The wait was about 15 minutes
and well worth it. They allow you to do a "baby switch" so
if you have children under 3, you only have to wait in line
once. You wouldn't believe the looks and comments we got
because we had Nicole with us in line. The comments were
like, "How old are you?" and directed at Nicole and the looks
implied, "I bet that brat will scream through the whole ride."
Of course the real message was more like, "You incompetent
scumbag excuse for a parent. I'd like to report you to the
authorities." I imagine they were all surprised/relieved
when I confidently informed the cast member that we were
doing a baby switch.
Star Tours itself is fantastic although we both felt a little
let down as we had expected something more spectacular than
Body Wars. I feel the visual part of Star Tours is better but
the motion part isn't. I recommend riding Star Tours first as
it is a much smoother ride. If you feel bad after doing this,
don't go on Body Wars. I think Body Wars is more turbulent
because you move with each heart beat. The pre-show area
is really awesome but Nicole was scared by it.
Next we did the tram portion of the backstage tour. There
was no line so we only had to wait for the next tram to come
along. We were near the back of the tram so the audio didn't
match up with what we were seeing but it wasn't too bad.
Apparently the driver, Benny, was new so he screwed up and
took us to Catastrophe Canyon instead of to the New York
street but we didn't mind as we mainly cared about doing the
canyon part. This was great but it scared Nicole a lot. She
looked shocked when the tram began to rock, began to cry as
the explosions/flames happened and screamed when the water
came down on us. (It was great!)
Next stop was The Great Movie Ride. We waited about 1/2 hour
which isn't too bad. Nicole was absolutely petrified of this
ride. I was video taping so Randy got to hold her quivering
little body. I think the ride is great, especially the film
clips they show at the end.
In order to get some rest we stopped to watch the show. I
was hoping it hadn't changed since October (we didn't watch
it then) so I could get a picture of Minnie wearing fruit
on her head for my brother. The show hadn't changed but I
didn't get any good pictures either. We got the last shaded
spots which meant sitting behind a tree and two extra-large
sun hats. IF YOU'RE WEARING A HAT AT WDW, TAKE IF OFF WHILE
ON ATTRACTIONS AND DURING SHOWS DAMMIT! As for what I could
see of the show, it was ok but a little less polished than
others I've seen at WDW. Kermit and Miss Piggy came out at
the end and joined the show which thrilled Nicole and all
the other kids.
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Theatre was next (mainly because
the show was just starting). We had to stand in the back
but it was worth it because we got to see a lot of the effects
more clearly. One thing for sure, the explosions sound much
louder in the back than down in the seats. Randy and I thought
that was wonderful but not Nicole. By this time I realized
Nicole was not going to like anything that involved fire and/or
loud noises. Another neat thing about standing in the back
is having bullets go whizzing by your head and hearing them
strike the metal girders. Of course it's all fake but a nice
touch. There were some technical problems with the show (e.g.
one of the axes didn't fall in the first scene) and some parts
of the airplane scene had been changed. I'm not sure if they
were having technical difficulties or had permanently changed
the show but there was no ring of fire around the plane and
the scene where the guy gets shredded by the propeller didn't
happen. One thing I noticed is there is now a canopy over
the waiting area. It looked like a net with vines on it and
seemed to do an ample job of shading the people waiting in line.
When we came out of the show we decided to make reservations
for dinner at the Prime Time Cafe. It was about 8:00 and we
were able to get a table around 9:00. This is how we
discovered the main short fall of MGM. The only way to kill
time is to shop or take pictures! In the Magic Kingdom you
can go play in Mickey's Starland, go to the Penny Arcade, etc..
In Epcot there are exhibits in a lot of the countries, the
playground in the Imagination pavilion, the Transcenter at
the World of Motion, etc.. We ended up walking around so I
could take pictures and video tape the park. MGM is very
pretty at night - especially with all the neon lights.
We finally got to eat at the Prime Time Cafe. They were very
busy so service was a little slower than it had been in
October but it was still great. Randy got the meatloaf and a
Vanilla shake, I got the T-bone steak and a chocolate shake
and Nicole got the mac & cheese and a chocolate milk. The
food was quite good but Randy and I agree our lunch time
meal last October was better.
After the meal we wandered around and video taped some more
but I got a stomachache so we headed back to the hotel.
Monday, May 21
The first item on our schedule was breakfast with Minnie at
the Polynesian hotel. We had an 8:45 reservation but missed
it because we took a wrong turn on the way. Fortunately, we
didn't have to wait too long to get a table (10 minutes max).
We were seated next to the hot food buffet table which was
great for getting food but bad for seeing the characters.
Our table was the last one they had to visit on their trip
around the room so they were anxious to head off. Nicole
didn't seem to notice, but Randy and I did. Goofy never even
stopped at our table! Next time I'll know enough to request
a better table.
After breakfast I decided to pick up our tickets for Mickey's
Tropical Revue and the Polynesian Revue. In typical Disney
style, the woman looked at my reservations and immediately
questioned me about attending both shows. When I made the
reservations, I was assured that the menus were different at
the two shows. The woman at the Polynesian disagreed and
proved it by showing me the menus - there is only a minor
difference in them. I ended up getting tickets only for the
Polynesian Revue.
From the Polynesian, we took the monorail to the Magic
Kingdom. They were running both the new and old styles of
monorails. I can't see how the new cars have a larger capacity.
There is a lot of standing room but not enough poles to hold
on to. The air conditioning on the new cars was superb which
helped during the LOOONNNG waits between stops.
We finally got to the Magic Kingdom. While we were putting
sun tan lotion on Nicole a cast member came over and gave her
a free Mickey Mouse pin (left over from Christmas 1989). I
thought it was a nice touch.
Our first stop was It's A Small World for Nicole. She loved
it so we decided to head over to her second favorite ride -
the WEDway People Mover. Much to our surprise, it was down
for repairs. The cast member said it wouldn't be ready until
Sunday. Oh well, so much for checking out the line for Space
Mountain.
Since we were in Tomorrowland, we went on Delta Dreamflight.
Although this ride isn't spectacular, I like every part of it.
It's a good time killer and doesn't have any parts that scare
Nicole. After this, Randy went on Space Mountain. Nicole
and I waited and waited and waited outside for him. Eventually
he showed up - boy, I wish the WEDway had been working.
On the nice side, they are repainting everything in Tomorrowland.
The color scheme for the WEDway "tracks" is now white with light
blue, peach and red-orange highlights instead of mostly white with
yellow. The benches now have dark purple bases and light blue
seats - much more attractive than the old tan color. I really
liked the look of the new paint job.
By now we were getting hungry so we headed over to the Mile Long
Bar. The lines for food were long and seats were scarce (had to
repeatedly tell people "these seats are taken") but the food
was pretty good. Randy had the burritos which to his surprise
were spicy and I had the taco salad which I shared with Nicole.
The animal heads sprang into action while we were eating, scaring
the sh!t out of Nicole. I thought they were cute but a little loud.
After lunch we poked around in a few shops. Nicole was getting
tired so we headed back to the hotel to rest. She was pretty
wound up and was unable to get to sleep so we went swimming.
She was terrified of the swimming pool at Barbados because some
kids were splashing so we went over to the lake. She and Randy
played in the sand until it was time to eat. We opted to have
dinner at Old Port Royale. Nicole got the kid's hotdog and
chocolate milk - she loved it, Randy got a turkey sandwich and
milk - it was ok and I got the shrimp at the Oriental place and
a diet soda - the shrimp was ok but too expensive.
After dinner, we did some shopping in Old Port Royale and headed
back to the room to watch the final episode of Newhart - it was
worth sacrificing some Disney time. When Newhart was over we
went over to the bar by the main pool, had some drinks and
watched the Illuminations fireworks.
Tuesday, May 22
This day turned out to be a bummer. Nicole got sick. I
spent the morning holding her head over the wastebasket while
Randy did the laundry. Breakfast consisted of donuts from
Old Port Royale while she was sleeping. The doctor showed up
around noon. It cost us $88 to verify she had a virus and
for some suppositories to stop the nausea and vomiting. For
lunch, Randy and I had the chicken sandwich baskets from Old
Port Royale (in the room of course) - they were dry. In the
afternoon I went to the pool to catch some sun. It was cloudy
but didn't rain.
Nicole was feeling better when I returned from the pool so
we walked to Old Port Royale to get some snacks that she
could tolerate (saltines) and a couple of drinks at the bar.
Since Nicole was feeling better we decided to go to Epcot to
do some video taping. First stop was Journey Into Imagination.
We taped the ride and then got some nice footage of Nicole at
the fountains. Dreamfinder and Figment were outside so we
got to tape them too. Next we headed to The Land to tape The
Kitchen Kabaret and eat. Nicole had the chicken noodle soup -
pretty good, Randy got some fettucini with marinara sauce - he
liked it, and I got some herbed bread and mac & cheese - loved
the bread, hated the mac.
Next stop was horizons to tape the movie section, particularly
the DNA part. You don't get to see all of each section of
Horizons in one ride, needless to say, we didn't get to see the
DNA part. I really don't care for this ride at all but I had
to go on it again to tape that part. I had better luck the
second time, taped the DNA part and then did my back stretching
exercises for the rest of the ride. (It was worth it, the tape
came out pretty good.) While I was on the ride, Nicole pretended
to stick suppositories up her doll's bum. People must have
thought we're pretty perverted. After taping the interior of
Wonders of Life (no attractions) we headed to Mexico to tape
the ride and do some shopping.
It was getting late so we staked out a spot for watching/taping
Illuminations. I got Nicole one of those overpriced necklaces
and some snacks from the outdoor Mexican food place to kill some
time. Nicole was tired and fussy but managed to doze off before
the show started. She woke up when the first fireworks went off
and was scared to pieces. We were between Mexico and China and
had a good view of the show. The only problem was we were
downwind of the fireworks so the view was smoky. Next time
we'll watch out for that and also try to get a head on view of
the fountains so we can make out what is projected onto them.
Getting out of the park was tough so we waited for the crowds
to diminish a bit before heading to the main entrance. It
was also tough getting out of the parking lot (probably less
than a 10 minute wait) but took less time than waiting for a
bus or the monorail. Once we got to the road it was smooth
sailing to the CBR.
Wednesday, May 23
Typhoon Lagoon day. First we got some donuts at Old Port
Royale and then we headed for the park. Our first mistake
was not buying our tickets ahead of time. We got there at
opening (10:00) and had to stand in line forever. We
finally got our tickets and headed in to find a seat. We
managed to find chairs near the wave pool. I then headed
off to get some towels. I didn't realize we had to rent
them - $1 each, a total waste of money. I found three
lounge chairs at the head of the wave pool on my way back
to Randy so I used the towels to claim them. These ended
up being good seats because they were close to most of the
slides and a bathroom. It turns out the seats near the
lagoon portion of the wave pool are convenient only to the
wave pool.
I tried two of the storm slides - the one on the right and
the one on the left - they were mild. Humunga Kowabunga
wasn't pleasant - I don't like heights. I foolishly kept
my mouth open at the bottom so swallowed/inhaled a ton of
water. I needed a crowbar to get my swimsuit out of my
butt. Randy missed the whole thing so I told him I would
do it again only if he felt he needed to see me do it or
wanted to videotape it. He said no (thankfully). I also
tried Mayday Falls (a tube ride) which was very rough. I
kept smacking my butt on the chute each time there was a
drop. I was very worried that I would injure my tail bone.
I really loved the wave pool. The waves were good - all I
could do was plug my nose, go with the flow and stand up
when it had all passed. I was surprised that they didn't
allow rafts in the pool when they were generating the regular
waves. They only allowed rafts in when they were generating
the side to side waves. At that time they only allowed
people with floats at the head of the wave pool.
Randy and Nicole can't swim so there wasn't much for them
to do. Randy was going to try Humunga Kowabunga but was
afraid he would lose his glasses. He did like standing
in the wave pool - he went in knee deep and the waves went
up to his waist - but Nicole was petrified so he left the
pool. Nicole was so afraid of water she wouldn't do
anything at Ketchakiddie Creek. It did look fun though.
Lunch consisted of ice-creams. We wanted to spend the evening
at the Magic Kingdom so planned to leave early. Around 2:00 we
got our stuff out of the locker, videotaped and took pictures,
shopped and left the park around 3:00.
We got to the Magic Kingdom around 4:30 and headed straight
for the Pirates of the Caribbean. The line was too long (or
so it appeared) - I refuse to wait more than 10 minutes and
this line looked like a 45 minute wait at least. Next stop
was Thunder Mountain. As we approached it something didn't
look right - there was no line outside. Hey wait a minute -
I can't see anyone inside either. Then I noticed the cast
members sending people away - it wasn't working. I didn't
bother to find out why.
Bummed out, we headed for the Haunted Mansion where we
waited in line for about 20 minutes. The ride stopped for
quite a while when we were at the scene where the person(?)
is trying to escape from the casket. We were there so long
I decided to break the rules and take a flash picture. I
don't think I annoyed too many people but I wouldn't recommend
doing this. The picture came out TOO good because of the
increased light level - it really spoiled the effect. Nicole
did not like the "ghost house" so we took her to the "dancing
dollies" which she loves.
By this time the lines in Fantasyland were getting shorter
so we went on Peter Pan (10 minutes) and Mr. Toad's Wild
Ride (10 minutes). We decided to check out Mickey's
Starland. When I called the information number they said
the show would be up this week - it wasn't. Even worse,
the lines to see Mickey were LONG - I bet there was at least
an hour wait. We opted not to see Mickey. Oh, a nice touch -
Mickey's car was gone from his driveway as though he was
out somewhere.
From Mickey's Starland we rode the train to Frontierland to
check out the Pirates again. The line still looked long but
I got a glimpse of the sign which said it was a 15 minute
wait. It turns out they were loading from the left line so
the line was very short (10 minutes). I'm used to being
loaded from the right line which is longer.
Thunder Mountain was still down so we decided to see the
Country Bears Vacation Hoedown. The show is cute but Nicole
wasn't thrilled with the animal heads on the wall (recall
her Mile Long Bar experience).
It was getting close to park closing so we headed out - but
we just had to go on It's A Small World one more time before
leaving.
Our plan was to take the monorail to the Contemporary Resort
and have dinner in the Character Cafe. Well, we screwed up
and got in the Polynesian Resort section. To make up for it,
we decided it would be a good idea to pick up our car at the
Polynesian and drive over to the Contemporary. To give you
a good idea of the length of the monorail delays - it was
faster for us to get off at the TTC and walk over to the
Polynesian than to take the monorail all the way to the
Polynesian.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at the Character Cafe. We
got there about 9:00. We were greeted by the White Rabbit
who was very sweet to Nicole. There weren't many people
there so the characters spent a lot of time at each table.
The food was buffet style with something for everyone -
salads, desserts, prime rib, roast turkey, pizza, a taco
bar, etc.. The food was very good - I think it's the first
time I've gotten seconds at a buffet. I highly recommend
having dinner there. I noticed the tables aren't as close
together as they are at the Polynesian so the character
breakfast may be more relaxed.
After eating we shopped and watched King Neptune's Electrical
Water Pageant before heading back to the CBR. We managed to
see some of the MGM fireworks on the way back.
Thursday, May 24
We started the day off by stopping at the Car Care Center to
get some gas. By the time we got to the TTC, the wait for
the monorail was 45 minutes so they were telling people to
use the ferry which had no wait.
Our first stop was, you guessed it, It's A Small World! It's
a good thing I have a high tolerance for that ride. I had
taped it earlier in the week but the battery ran down part
way through so I wanted to tape it again today. The next
item on the agenda was lunch. We were in the mood for hot dogs
so we headed off to Pecos Bill's Cafe in Frontierland. I
inhaled my dog and fries and then headed for Thunder Mountain.
The wait was about 10 minutes. Nicole and Randy were just
finishing their lunches when I got back so it was off to the
Swiss Family Treehouse (I hadn't seen it in a couple of years).
It was a nice walk and Nicole thought it was neat - I guess
stairs are thrilling to two year olds. We needed a rest at
this point so we headed to the Aloha Isle for some Dole Whip.
Ahhhh, refreshing.
Randy hadn't been on Cinderella's Carousel so we decided to
go on that. Nicole really loved it. She wanted to go on again
but there was no way I was going to stand in the line again
(15 minutes or so) so I asked her where she would rather go
instead. I bet you can't guess what her choice was... the
Dancing Dollies. Randy gave me one of those, "If I go on that
ride again I'll kill myself" looks so I suggested he go get
a soda and wait for us. I really don't mind the ride. Nicole
likes to imitate the dolls and assumes we do too so I was kind
of forced into it. At one point she climbed off the seat,
grabbed my leg and made me do the can-can! What a riot.
The lines were long in Fantasyland (so what else is new?) so
we headed over to Tomorrowland to go on Dreamflight (I like
the music) and kill some time before the parade.
After Dreamflight we headed over to Main St. to search for
a good viewing spot. We followed the parade route into
Liberty Square and found an excellent spot across from the
Hall of Presidents. There is a stone wall you can sit on
which just happened to be in the shade of the Liberty Tree.
Eating Mickey Mouse ice-creams was a good time killer (got
some good pictures of Nicole's messy face). A few people
tried to stand in front of us but were cooperative when we
asked them to move. As more people tried this, we reserved
an unobstructed view by placing Nicole and her stroller at
the rope, leaving room for small children who wanted to see
the parade (we always let children stand in front of us).
The parade turned out to be the same as it was in October
but we still video taped the whole thing - better camera,
better vantage point. While Randy taped I took pictures.
After the parade we poked around the shops in Liberty Square.
I bought a couple of paperback books and Randy found a coffee
mug with a picture of Richard Nixon on it. I've been teaching
Nicole to make a "peace sign" (we call it "doing two") with
both hands and say, "I am not a crook."
Next we took the train from Frontierland to Main St. to get
a locker to put the video camera in so we would have room for
souvenirs in the back pack. I stopped in the Disneyana store
in the Walt Disney Story building. They had some neat stuff
there but I didn't buy anything. We also stopped at the
Space Port and Mickey's Mart in Tomorrowland.
By this time we were hungry. I just had to try one of the
famed Monte Cristos so dinner was at Columbia Harbour House.
I thought it was good but it wasn't what I expected. I was
appalled at seeing a deep fried sandwich with powdered sugar
on it - with honey to dip it in at that! The Monte Cristos
I've had were dipped in egg and fried, sort of like French
toast. Well, one bite and I was hooked. Randy had a tuna
sandwich which was good. Nicole got the children's chicken
meal - chicken strips and fries. I don't know if she liked
it. She kind of played around with it, dropped some on the
floor and proceeded to crap her pants. Oh, well, off to the
Princess restroom.
After dinner Nick and Randy went on Dumbo - I sat and waited
by 20,000 leagues and then took pictures. Nicole loved the
ride but it's too much of a wait to try too often.
I hadn't seen America's Journeys in a few years and wanted
to see it before the Tomorrowland remodeling starts so we
headed over to see it. Nicole decided she had to go with me.
I figured this would be a disaster but she behaved. It's
loud enough to mask out most talking anyway. About 2 minutes
into it she said, "Look Mommy, it's a circle." I responded
with the appropriate amount of parental enthusiasm stating that
it was indeed a circle - wow.
It was getting close to park closing so we opted to head over
to Epcot. The line for the monorail was too long so we took
the ferry - heading as far forward as possible so we could exit
more quickly. There were some kids wriggling their way in front
of everyone who ended up standing right in front of Nicole. As
we were crossing the lagoon I looked down to check on her. SHE
HAD HER HAND UP THE BACK OF ONE OF THE KID'S SHORTS!!!! I bet
he was thrilled. I have a feeling her teen years are going to
be rough.
First stop at Epcot was Spaceship Earth which Nicole slept
through. For the rest of the night she kept asking when we
were going to go on the big ball and wouldn't believe me when
I told her we already did.
Nicole had seen the picture of Michael Jackson in Birnbaum's
book and said she wanted to see him. I told her it was a
scary movie but she wanted to go on anyway. She was frightened
mainly by the loud sounds but the claws on the queen (or whoever
she is) really upset her. To make her feel better we went on
the Journey Into Imagination ride. We then tried Wonders of
Life but the lines were too long so we left. Since we were in
the area we went on the World of Motion ride and stopped in
the Transcenter to grab a couple of the pamphlets with the free
video offer in it.
We were getting tired and didn't want to deal with the crowds
after Illuminations so we shopped at Centorium and left.
When we got back to the CBR we stopped at Old Port Royale to
get a snack and watched the MGM fireworks from the bar. We
had a perfect view and the fireworks were just as nice as
the ones they set off over Cinderella's Castle. We could here
the Pleasure Island fireworks going off at the same time but
couldn't see them as Old Port Royale blocked our view.
Friday, May 25
We started the day with breakfast at Old Port Royale. We got
donuts at the bar inside and took them outside where we sat
overlooking the marina. It was a nice breakfast.
When we were done we headed for Epcot. First stop was at
Wonders of Life. The line for Body Wars wasn't too bad so we
headed in. I think we waited 20 minutes or so. Everything
went well until Nicole lost one of the buttons from her dress.
We couldn't console her - her dress was broken. A woman in
line had a safety pin which calmed her down a bit (Randy
probably threatened to poke her with it or something). We
did a baby switch - much to the relief of the people in line.
I went on first so I had the pleasure of watching several
nauseous people get off the ride. Fortunately, no one got sick.
They have benches by the exit for dizzy/nauseous people to sit
on and the cast members are quick to offer water to anyone who
isn't feeling well. Most people recovered very quickly.
Next we tried to go on Cranium Command. Unfortunately, the
pre-show area was full and a new line was forming. There was
no way we were going to wait that long so we left. The cast
member waiting at the Body Wars exit told me Centorium might
have safety pins - Nicole's other button was loose - so it was
off to Centorium. They did have pins which they gave to me -
a pleasant surprise since I had expected to have to buy some.
We headed over to the Norway pavilion to ride Maelstrom. The
line was long (20 minutes or more) but we went on anyway. Nick
was frightened by the scenes - bears, trolls and absolutely
petrified by the drops (as were the elderly women seated next
to us). She was also bothered by the short film they show
afterward. After the ride, we went in the shops in search of
Wishniks. They were just too expensive. Six dollars for a
three inch tall troll is too much. The big ones were $20!
We decided that if we were going to spend that much money we
should buy one of the realistic looking trolls. We scoped
them out and decided to leave our decision to later.
We were getting hungry so we decided to eat at the outside
Mexican restaurant. Randy got the burritos, I got the
combination plate and Nicole got the children's meal. The
food was good but Nicole would not touch her watermelon
drink. I tasted it and it seemed to be pureed watermelon.
While were eating, the marimba band came out to entertain
us. We thought it was kind of neat.
After lunch we rode the doubledecker bus over to Japan. The
bus ride was worth it. It saved a lot of walking and we were
able to see some of the backstage areas between Mexico and
Italy. We went into the department store in Japan to buy a
bonsai tree. I made the mistake of having it sent to the front
gate. It takes two hours to get there and we weren't planning
on staying that long. I wanted to go to the American Adventure
but we decided to get going so headed back to Norway to buy a
troll. We settled on a two-headed troll which is now sitting
on our mantle.
On our way out, Randy stopped at the Sun bank to get some cash
for the trip home. Reality began to set in.
I needed to pick up a souvenir that I had only seen at the
Tinkerbell Toy Shop so we headed over to the Magic Kingdom.
We parked at the Polynesian Resort since we were going to the
luau later.
At the Magic Kingdom we stopped to watch the end of the
Disneymania show in front of the castle. It was the same show
we had seen in October but the costumes had been modified.
Since we were in the Magic Kingdom - Fantasyland at that - we
just had to go on It's a Small World one more time before
going to the toy shop.
I wanted to get to the luau early so we left the MK for the
last time (reality really sets in). We were really early so I
headed for the restrooms to change Nicole and went shopping to
pick up those last few souvenirs we needed to get. After putting
them in the car we headed down to luau cove only to be told that
we were too early and to come back at show time. So, we decided
to go wading in the lagoon. Except we never made it there
because we got side tracked by the video games by the swimming
pool. Randy played games until it was almost show time.
The luau was fun. I had expected the food to be really bad and
was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked it (except for the
dessert). I was disappointed with the mai tai's though, yuck. Of
course that didn't stop me from having a couple. I would have
had more but the thought of riding home with a hangover prevented
me from doing it. The show was less than I expected but Randy
really liked it (even said he would be willing to see it again -
not bad for the evil anti-Disney!). Nicole slept through the
whole thing. I was surprised at the amount of "sex" (for lack
of a better word) in the show - it being Disney and all. Randy
and I laughed a lot because so many women were making cat calls
at the male dancers. They really liked the guy with the tongue!
From the sound of it you would have thought we were at
Chippendale's!
As we were leaving the luau, King Neptune's Electrical Water
Pageant was starting so Nicole and I stopped to watch it while
Randy played some more video games.
We still had to pick up our package at Epcot so we stopped there.
We considered going in to do Cranium Command but decided not to
face the Illuminations crowds. Goodbye Epcot (sniffle, sniffle).
When we got back to the CBR we swam in the pool at Barbados.
After a lot of coaxing we got Nicole to come in with us. She
had fun so she's no longer terrified of water!
Saturday, May 26
We packed up the car and left the CBR around 9:15AM. We stopped
at Goodings to get groceries for the return trip and breakfast.
We were on our way at 10:00, reaching I-95 at 11:00. There was
more traffic than I had expected. I had forgotten to consider
the beach traffic. We drove until 2:45, stopping to eat just
after we got to Georgia. We started driving again around 3:30
and stopped at 4:00 to get gas and ice (10 minute stop). We
drove until 7:00, stopping somewhere in North Carolina and left
around 7:30. We stopped for gas again at 10:00 in Virginia
and drove until 11:45 - when we stopped to find a hotel in
Fredericksburg. There weren't any available at the first exit
but we got one at the next one - it was midnight. We stayed at
a Day's Inn. It was a really bad room. Everything felt damp
and it was musty smelling. We managed to sleep, at least they
had a complimentary breakfast.
The weather was hot and humid all day. Nicole whined the whole
time about the sun being in her eyes. The worst part was around
Richmond. We drove into a thunder storm and it was pouring. We
didn't know whether it was safer to stop or drive. Some parts
of the highway were flooding and we saw a few accidents. We
decided to drive through it since we would have gotten lost in
the city. Visibility was too poor to read any signs.
Sunday, May 27
We left Fredericksburg at 9:00AM and didn't stop until 1:00
so we could eat and get gas (ha, ha) somewhere in New Jersey.
We left at 1:45, stopped for 15 minutes at 3:30 in Connecticut
so I could use the bathroom and drove the rest of the way home
without stopping. We got to Derry at 6:45 - not too bad. We
would have gotten home earlier but we missed the junction with
the Palisades Parkway in NY and ended up going over the George
Washington Bridge and all that traffic.
After thoughts:
We noticed a few changes while we were at WDW, most positive -
like the new paint job in Tomorrowland. At some point during
our stay, the train spiel (on at least one train) was changed
from the Mickey's Birthdayland Express song back to the original
monologue discussing the scenes around the train route. I was
relieved as the song was the evil twin of It's a Small World and
as such would spin around in your head all day until you ran
around the park in a frenzy, eating Dole whip here, frozen
bananas there and such.
One thing that really amazed me is the shiny gold portions of
the exterior of It's a Small World are done in gold leaf. I
made sure to take a couple of pictures of the men applying it.
The two negatives that stick out in my mind were a couple of
dirty bathrooms and lots of things were being refurbished for
my future enjoyment, even in MGM!
I also noticed some changes in myself. I used to rush from
attraction to attraction trying to see it all and more. This
time I was more relaxed and wanted to more things like Typhoon
Lagoon and the dinner shows. I see this as a positive change.
|
| 183.28 | | PAPPAS::JIM | Jim Pappas | Wed Jul 11 1990 00:15 | 43 |
|
I am probably setting the record here for the longest trip to
WDW. There are five of us in my family, with three children
ages 4, 6, and 8. We flew down on June 14th and returned
three weeks later on July 5th.
This started out as a 4 day business trip for me, which I
combined with an additional 10 days of vacation. We stayed at
the Caribbean Beach Resort for these two weeks. Later, after
our plans were already set, we decided to go down a week
early. We rented a condo in Kissimmee and invited my
mother-in-law to spend the first week with us.
Having this much time allowed us to have a very relaxing time;
we were quite atypical from the normal Disney crowd.
Naturally, most people try to jam as much as possible into the
few days they have for the parks. With our annual passports
we were able to really take it easy. Most days we went into
the theme parks, but we would typically only spend a few hours
at a time there, generally either very early or very late when
the crowds were nearly non-existent. Even though this was the
busiest time of the year, we spent less time standing in lines
than we did in early December, the least busy time of the
year.
We had annual pass upgrades for Typhoon Lagoon, River Country,
and Discovery Island. Additionally, my wife and I bought the
upgrades for Pleasure Island. We used at least one of the
above on most days. These upgrades are a great deal if you
are down there for a while. My mother-in-law had a super pass
so she could go to these places as well during her week with
us.
Bottom Line: As someone else said earlier, WDW is a great
resort where children are welcome. We came back from WDW
relaxed from a great vacation. Last time we returned we felt
like we needed a vacation to recuperate.
I will enter a lot more data in the various topics throughout
this notesfile.
/Jim Pappas
|
| 183.29 | Trip Report June 1990 - Wiedeman Family | SIMUL::WIEDEMAN | | Wed Aug 01 1990 14:25 | 296 |
|
2 adults, 3 kids (3, 7, 11)
**Day 1 6-23
For train trip details see note # 84.
We arrived via Amtrak in Orlando at about 2:30 pm on Sat. Jun 23.
The terminal is small, old and somewhat rundown.
We found the temp and humidity to be quite comfortable.
It was hot but not as humid as it is up here in the summer.
We rented a car at the terminal form Air-Rail Rental, it
cost us about $240 for 10 days without CDW.
We then proceeded to the CBR and checked in. We got a
room in the Martinique section (as suggested in the notes file).
It was a good choice. It is close to the bus stop and
close to Old Port Royale.
The room was very nice, clean, and comfortable. It was much nicer than
most places we have stayed at. We rested for awhile and then went to
Mass at the Queen of the Universe Shrine on Vineland Dr.
It started to rain quite hard. We went to the Olive Garden
near the Crossroads Shopping Center. It was very good. We
all had pasta of somesort. It was a bit expensive for spagehtti
($7.00, I think). Also went to the Publix market on
102 east and picked up a cooler, snacks, and breakfast food.
We then went back to the room for the night.
**Day 2 6-24
We go up early to try to get to the MK before official opening
time but we ran up against Murphy's law. We got on the bus
and the bus driver asked if we had pink passes for the
early bird breakfast. Apparently, on some days you need a
ticket to get into the MK early, these can be obtained at
you hotel front desk. So we got dropped off at the TTC
like everyone else, got into the park at about 9:30am.
We upgraded our 5 day passports to a five day super pass.
This allowed us unlmited access to Typhoon L, Pleasure I,
Disc Isl, and River country for 7 days plus (about $130 for
adults, about $110 ?? for kids). They do not
appear to offer a regular 5 day pass any more.
This was a Sunday and the crowds were not too bad. We did have
to wait for about 30 minutes for the Jungle Cruise. We then
went to Pirates and then got on the train for Mickey's Starland
Show, very enjoyable, then the kids got to see Mickey backstage
the 3 yr old like this alot. Rode the train back to frontierland.
Went to smallworld.
We went back to the CBR for a rest via bus. Did some swimming
at the Old Port R pool. Had dinner. Returned and did the
haunted Mansion, I stayed outside with the little guy. He was
scared a little on the Jungle cruise).
This was the first time we have been there in the summer so
we got to see the electrical parade and tinkerbell flying down
from the castle. It was very entertaining. The parade was
"awesome". Got back late about 12:00 midnight.
**Day 3 6-25
Since this is a crowded day according to Birnbaum and the Unofficial
Guide, we went to Typhoon Lagoon. What a place! We went on the
river that goes around the whole park first. Good relaxing ride
but watch out for the water falls they could knock kid under.
We also went on the family raft ride ??falls. It was a goosd ride but
it did not last too long (it is 300feet long but it goes by fast).
We played in the wave pool a little, the waves can be quite large.
They gulp up a lot of people, I don't know how the swimmers keep from
bumping into the bottom (concrete) or each other.
We visited the shark tank and went down under to look through
the port holes at the fish. This is made to look like you in a
sunken ship in a reef, very real. One thing that bothered me was
that there were no low port holes for little kids, what were the
designers thinking??
When we went back to the room, I think we ordered the room service
Pizza. It was expensive but good ($14 for a pepperoni with tip).
That and cans of coke was our dinner. The kids loved it.
**Day 4 6-26
This was our day for the character bfast on the Empress Lilly.
I think this is the BEST character Bfast. We did Chip and Dale's
at Fort Wilderness last year it was good but not as good as
this one. We went on the 3rd deck. The food, service, and show
were excellent. They had the five major char's come out
Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Donald. The crew were very
congenial to the guests.
We then went shopping at the Village. the kids had been saving
all year for. They each had about $100. They were somewhat disappointed
at the prices. I think Walt might be doing some spins now if he knew how
expensive the gifts and food items are. The kids even started to
cry! They did find some items that they really liked at the Pirates
gift area in the MK and at the Morocco pavillion in EPCOT (these
appear to be the best places for value per $).
We had lunch somewhere and then we went to Fort W for reserved horse-
back riding for my older daughter and wife. They really liked it. I
took my younger daughter and little son to the Trading post for
a Coke while we waited. The bus driver said that the campgrounds
are going to be refurbished this fall. We then went to the
petting farm and the two younger Kids got to ride a pony.
Not sure what we did next but I think we went back to the CBR
and wnet swimming in the Martinique pool. Less crowded than the
Old Port pool. The beaches at CBR were only use dby a few people.
**Day 5 6-27
This was the day we went to River Country and Discovery Island.
If we didn't have the Super Pass we would not have gone to these two.
We took the bus to the TTC and then a boat to River country. I think
that our family actually enjoyed river country better than Typhoon
Lagoon. It was not crowded but there were enough people there to make
it fun. The kids really enjoyed the small slides. Me and the wife
even did the tube ride. It is smaller so that it is easier to keep
track of the kids and get your bearings. My kids also liked the
pool there.
We stopped at the crocket tavern to get a drink and then visited the
trading post and the playground near it. From here we took the boat to
Discovery Island. We enjoyed it quite alot but if it were not on the
Super Pass we would pass it up. The admission price is just too high
for what you get there. Don't get me wrong, it is a great bird zoo but
not, in my opinion, worth $40 for a family to spend on.
Not sure waht we did next.
**Day 6 6-28
This is the day we went to EPCOT. We took the bus over from the CBR.
After getting a schedule from Spacesip Earth we headed for the
Wonders of Life. We must have spent over two hours in there
and still did not see everything. I thought it was quite neat.
We really enjoyed the making of me with Martin Short.
The kids really like all the hands on stuff and especially
the house that makes you look small and big. We did not try
body wars, we saved ourselves for Star Tours at MGM.
From here we went to GM's World of Motion not much of a line
here. Then we went to Norway and rode the boat, nice but short.
Good movie at the end. From here we went to Mexico, I always
have liked the atmosphere here. Boat ride is quite relaxing and
cool. There were some mexican musicians playing a wooden xylaphone
in the market place area.
We then headed over to the Living Seas where I hade made Lunch
res. at the Odyssey. This restaurant is really neat because
of the huge view you have of the Living Seas aqaurium. There
were a large number of all kinds of hughe fish that swam by plus
a diver. The place is decorated in a maroon or kelly green I think,
kind of dark and mellow. I thought the food was very good but
pricey as is everything else at Disney. I definitely would
recommend this place if you have the extra money. It costs
us about $50 for lunch my family. The kids got the kids meals,
I forgot what my wife and I had but it was very good.
(The other restaurants that I think are quite nice and have
a great atmosphere are the Land Grille in the Land pavillion,
we had lunch there last year. The other one that looks inviting
is the one in Mexico although we have not eaten there. Also
a few years ago we went for the show at the Germany, more food
than I could eat and the entertainment was very enjoyable if you
like the oompah style music.)
**Day 7 6-29
This was a Friday so we ventured very early to MGM Studios.
Some people on a previous bus ride suggested that we get there
at 7:00am, we got there at about 8:00am. No crowds or lines!
We followed the plan in the unofficial guide except in one
case and it worked very well. We especially liked Star Tours.
This ride is very realistic! Kind of like being on an outer
space roller coaster. We then went to the Great Movie Ride,
excellent! By noon we hade seen about all we could see because
the lines were pretty long at that point. The place started to get
crowded at about 10:30 or so. We did get to see most of what we
wanted to from 8 til 11am. We came back another day to see
the rest of it. We never did get a chance to do the
walking tour part of the backstage ride.
We thought MGM was very enjoyable! I really liked it. It
is smaller that the other two parks but it has a lot of
good things to see and do. (We did not make Universal due
to lack of funds but from the ads its looks like it has
"one-up" on MGM, the rides look like they are "state of the
art").
**Day 8 6-30
We went back to Epcot today and hit some of the countries and
pavillions that we missed before. After the movie in France,
my wife and two daughters did a little shopping while my son
(3 yrs old) and I sat by the fountain. He was reaching over the
edge a playing in the water. I naturally turned my back for
a nanosecond, sure enuff, in he went. Soaking wet! So we headed
to the new entry to the Swan/Dolphin hotels near England and
bought him a long shirt. The we took the tram to the Swan and
Dolphin (these are attractions in themselves, worth walking thru).
The we decided to take the boat to MGM and catch see the Muppet
Show and go thru the animation tour. It was after 6 pm at that point.
The lines were about a half hour wait. (One bus driver said the
best time to hit MGM was after 6pm, I think it is much better
to get up early and get there before 8am.) The Muppet Show was
very good. The animation exhibit was very educational and interesting.
**Day 9 7-1
This was Sunday and we went back to that the MK. Had breakfast at
Tony's Cafe. I was disappointed here because I expected more
"Lady and Tramp" type theme. It looked just like the old
Town Square Cafe with a few new pictures. Prices were ridiculusly
hight. Coffee was $1.50 I believe. Anyway we got to ride the big
canoes at Frontierland, The 3 yr did very good paddling. Then
we took turns with the two girls on Thunder Mount RR. The first
time for them. The 11 year old screamed the whole way but she did
have fun. The 7 yr old laughed the whole time and wanted to go
again. We did tomorrowland and then went on the teacup ride.
Eventhough this was a Sunday it started to get very crowded due to
the fact it was near the 4th of July. People also seemed to be
somewhat ruder than normal.
**Day 10 7-2
Last full day, I forgot what we did but we rode around and did
some misc stuff. Went swimming at the poly, took my older daughter
for hair styling at the beauty shop at the Poly. They did a real
nice job, I would recommend them. Took a boat over to the MK
bus stop and went back to the CBR. We relaxed and then went to
this rest. on 192W called "Key W Cools", a themed tropical style
place. Key W is a penquin and he ws out in the praking lot and
my daughter with the new hairstyle to our table like he was her date.
This palce was quite neat and had a nice selection of different
food. Prices were less than Disney. The food was good. I recommend it
for a change of pace.
Because this was our last night we wanted to have a restful evening
at the CBR, of course Murphy's las came into play. We walked over
to a gift shop and while in the shop my 3 yr old scratched his eyeball
somehow. We drive back to the CBR Custom's House and the attendent
told us how to get to a hospital. He offered to have someone drive us
there but we drive instead. Sand Lake hospital about a 20 minute ride.
Waited in the emergency room for quite a while. They checked his eye
and put in some salve and patched it. COST $201.00!! I had to pay on
the spot! I did get re-imbursed by John Hancock later. Got back to the
CBR about midnight.
Day 11 7-3
Checked out and headed for the Amtrak station for our trip home.
Comments:
The weather was surprisingly bearable. It was hot but it was not
that humid. I found it more comfortable than a hot, humid day up
here. You need to keep a sunscreen on or you will BURN.
No matter how much time or money you have it's never enough.
The buses worked out fine but they did seem to take some of
the uniqueness away from being at WDW.
Had a grat time, the vacation was fun but not too relaxing.
We thought that the maintenance at the parks was not quite
what it was in the past. May be we just seemed to notice it
more because we have been there 4 times. Minor stuff, worn
rugs, cob webs, wiggly rest. tables, etc. - the parks are still
very clean and well taken care of.
Prices of gifts and food have gone up quite alot from last
year.
Pinocchio's rest near Small world is relatively inexpensive.
Adventureland Veranda also.
Florida tax on rental cars is up from $.50/day to $2.00/day,
love those politicians.
|
| 183.30 | Trip Report Coming | COEM::SCOPA | MAJOR | Mon Aug 13 1990 10:27 | 8 |
| This is my first time back in the conference since July 3rd. I felt it
only right that I not jump back in until I submitted my trip report. My
report follows this reply and it's quite long. It covers from July 8
until July 26th.
You may want to extract it and readit later.
Mike
|
| 183.31 | WDW Trip Report (7/8/90-7/26/90) | COEM::SCOPA | MAJOR | Mon Aug 13 1990 10:28 | 1724 |
|
First off I have to preface this report with a few points:
o The report contains more than just WDW information because I
thought other information may be of some interest to future
vacationers.
o At times it may seem that this vacation was a bit extrav-
agant. It really wasn't but keep in mind that the wait (14
years) and the heavy duty planning (3 years) prepared us men-
tally and financially for our trip. This is important to keep
in mind...you don't do this type of trip every year.
o This trip was very enjoyable because of my fellow noters
and all the information I compiled from this conference.
I hope to add to the wealth of information already in this
conference.
Okay, everyone have their vicarial powers working? Here goes...
Sunday, July 8
I had set the alarm for 3:00 A.M. but I was up at 2:40. We had
packed the van the night before and I had checklists up the
ying-yang insuring that I would not forget anything.
We woke up the kids, got them dressed, checked the doors and
windows, got our last minute things together, everyone into the
van. I went back into the house and went over my list one more
time. We took off at 4:00 A. M.
Our first stop was in Mount Kisco, N.Y. for fuel and a quick
breakfast. We pulled in next to another New Hampshire car. These
people were returning from Tennessee and they were also from
Merrimack. Small world. Well, a quick breakfast and we were off
at 8:30. We were about 90 minutes ahead of schedule.
Our next stop was in Alexandria, Va. (actually it was Newgate,
Va. but who's heard of Newgate?). We reached this destination
point 3 hours ahead of schedule. Mickey's pull was greater than
even I had anticipated. I guess an early start, fewer stops, and
driving fast had a lot to do with it. Fatigue was not a factor
yet. I planned on putting as much behind me as possible on this
first day. Driving through cities kinda pumps me up too.
Once we got through D.C. and part of Virginia I started to get a
little tired so my wife took over and drove until we hit Roanoke
Rapids, North Carolina. At this point it's around 6:30 Sunday
night so we secured a room, ate, and then went right to sleep.
By the way, we looked for Best Western Hotels. They seemed to
be the cleanest and most economical of the hotel/motel chains.
We had passed one about 20 miles back but hadn't stopped. We
settled for the Interstate Inn.
We traveled 696 miles that first day. Total time on the road was
a little over 13 hours. We had logged almost 200 miles more than
my original schedule.
Monday, July 10
We got up early and headed out. We had packed snacks and juices
in our cooler to save time. We decided to skip breakfast and
take off early.
About 50 miles down the road we ran into a Stuckey's and I
pulled in to see what kind of brochures and such I could pick
up. They were offering Universal Studios tickets and were hon-
oring the discount card I had gotten from The PAC Center. I
figured I could get them here so I wouldn't have to wait in line
at US. I was able to get the adult tickets but not a children's
ticket for my son. I got the three adult tickets and hoped for
another spot along the way that had a supply of children's tick-
ets.
Of course we stopped in and saw Pedro at "South of the Border"
which has to be the best Tourist Trap in the U.S.
While driving through South Carolina we passed by some prison
work crews working along the side road. They were being watched
over by armed guards.
Again we were making grat progress...soon I was finding myself
ahead of schedule by almost a 8 hours. We pulled into the north-
ern outskirts of Jacksonville, Fla. at around 7 P.M. I checked
my schedule. I was almost a full day ahead of schedule. If you
drive don't make a lot of stops. You'll get there faster. I
would have been in Orlando Monday night if we hadn't stopped at
"South of the Border" earlier in the day.
I could have taken another 2-3 hours to make it to Orlando but
we were really tired and needed to rest. We secured a room (Best
Western) and had supper at a Lum's Restaurant before going to
our room. While in the restaurant I decided that I would call
the CRO and and try to get my CBR room a day ahead of schedule.
The person I talked to was great. She told me that the CBR could
not squeeze me in a day early but was willing to look around
for another room. I told her we wanted to stay on the property.
She came up with a $400 night at The Disney Inn. No thanks. She
then went down the list and finally came up with a "special" at
the Contemporary. My wife and I had always dreamed of staying
at the Contemporary Resort when we visited WDW in '75 and '76
but it was always too high in price. Since we were ahead of
schedule and since the adrenalin was flowing I grabbed it. When
I told the family where we were staying we all got hyper like
you wouldn't believe. Boy was it tough getting to sleep that
night.
A few notes in my trip notebook and I was then hitting the
pillow.
Tuesday, July 10
I got up early the next day, showered, and started packing the
van. Everyone else got up, showered, and dressed. We took a vote
and the vote was not to have breakfast in Jacksonville but to
drive awhile and have a mid-morning breakfast.
Well I started off and soon we were in downtown Jacksonville
during rush hour. Unfortunately I was not in the correct lane
and missed a turn and instead found myself on U.S. 17 which runs
parallel to 95. I stopped off at a MacDonalds for breakfast and
plotted out the remaining distance. Eventually we could link
up with 95 although 17 was actually shorter in distance so we
stayed on it. It was shorter but was slower too...less traffic.
We eventually picked up U.S. 4 and we were in North Orlando.
We started seeing all kinds of billboards for Universal Studio.
Big bucks were spent on those billboards. Then we passed through
the city and eventually we saw WDW signs. I headed for TMK and
The Contemporary Resort. I pulled into the Contemporary parking
lot, got out of the van, and just stood there taking it all in.
I could see the castle, space mountain, the Grand Floridian, the
monorail, everything. I had returned.
We got into the Contemporary and pre-registered. They told us
they could move our bags over to the CBR to save us time the
next day. I told them that I'd do it myself...I didn't want to
take any chances.
We loaded the cameras, went upstairs, and took the monorail to
TMK. Now carrying around tickets, cash, and Traveler's Checques
can be tricky and uncomfortable. I immediately went into the Em-
porium and bought my first souvenir...a Mickey Pouch. This pouch
held my cash, traveler's cheques, the kids' Disney Dollars, my 4
and 5 day passes, and the tiny notebook I used to jot notes down
for this report.
By the way, they were advertising a 6-day Super Pass....more on
this later.
As we were walking up Main Street U.S.A. (it's about 1 P.M.)
we could see "The Kids of the Kingdom" performing at the castle
forefront. My kids wanted to see "Pirates of the Caribbean"
first. We went in the left side and we were in the boat within
30 minutes. Ah yes...a Pirate's life for me. We seemed to have
a problem with our 35mm camera so after "Pirates..." we went to
"The Darkroom" on Mainstreet and they were able to fix it for
us.
Hmmm. haven't eaten since 8:30 or so. We decided to take a
stroll over to the Tomorrowland Terrace....usually not crowded
for lunch. Afterwards the kids wanted to see the Hall of Presi-
dents. I too was curious about the "new" Abe Lincoln as well as
the new additions. Abe seemed a lot smoother in his movements.
We then took a stroll over to the Silversmith Shop in Liberty
Square. My wife had been thinking about a ring she almost got 14
years ago. They didn't have that particular ring but she found
one she liked.
We headed back to Main Street U.S.A. for the 3 P.M. Character
Parade. It was pretty good with all the Disney characters. The
parade lasted about 30 minutes tops.
From there we wandered about and started to head towards Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad. Along the way I mentioned the Haunted
Mansion and we decided to visit the old spooky joint. The wait
was maybe 15 minutes. I noticed a change in the attraction from
my last visit. It seemed like the graveyard scene was much
darker than back in 1976. It was as if they had removed some
of the figures. This scene was to the left of your car...after
you pass the three singing heads.
As we left the Haunted Mansion and headed towards Big Thun-
der Mountain Railroad we came across the WDW All-American
College Band. These guys are great as they entertained us in
Liberty Square. We forgot about BTMR and headed towards the Jun-
gle Cruise instead. This ride had the longest wait of all the
attractions...45 minutes.
While on the way to the Jungle Cruise I noticed Aloha Isle...home
of DOLE WHIP....so after the JC I introduced my kids to the
wonders of Dole Whip.
Last year my daughter got a parakeet and ever since she's been
bird crazy...she wanted to go to the Tiki-Room so I obliged. I'm
not a big Tiki-Room fan. The audio-animatronic age has come a
long way since these birds first made their appearance some 25
years ago. Again, hardly any lines, not a real popular show.
After Tropical Serenade we strolled over to FantasyLand. We went
in to "Magic Journeys" and I was amazed at the 3D effects...much
better than Captain EO. We came out of "Magic Journeys" and
headed for Main Street U.S.A. for the Electrical Light Parade.
The crowd had already gathered but we managed a spot near the
entrance to Adventure Land (left of the castle. One of the Main
Street ushers was busy keeping the crowd busy with some comical
antics.
The Parade was topnotch as usual.
After the Parade we headed back to FantasyLand. We took in "It's
a Small World". The kids loved it.
We came out and it was close to fireworks time. We cut through
towards TomorrowLand and got a spot to sit at the Tomorrowland
Terrace. Everyone was there. The fireworks seemed a little less
than I had expected but then again the last time I had witnessed
Fireworks in TMK it was the Bicentennial and the show was a bit
bigger.
One nice touch was Tinker-Bell. Are you going soon? Then when
the lights go out focus your camera to the top of Cinderella
Castle or you'll miss Tink.
It had been a long day so we decided to head back to The Con-
temporary to get our key and get a good night's sleep. Along
the way we stopped off at "The Darkroom" to have our first roll
of film developed. We wanted to be sure the camera was work-
ing poperly before using another roll of film. Having your film
developed down there is expensive.
We dropped off the film and we saw the WDW Express Railroad and
said, "Why not?" We took a ride around TMK and cooled off in the
process. We then left the park and headed for The Contemporary.
Everyone fell off to sleep before me. I soon joined everyone
after I jotted down some trip notes.
Wednesday, July 11
Since we were closest to TMK the kids wanted to start the day
there. We checked out (express checkout is the best way to
check out) and headed towards TMK. This was to be the only day I
would not have my video camera with me. We walked into the park
and there was Minnie and Roger Rabbit and me without my video
camera. Not only did I have it with me from that day forward...I
made good use of it logging about 28 hours of footage.
I went into Guest Services to inquire about upgrading my 5-day
passes to Super Passes. Before leaving NH I went to the Disney
Store to buy Super Passes but found that they were sold only at
the parks. I purchased four 4-day passes and used them the first
couple of days.
I was able to upgrade my 5-day passes to 5-day Super Passes.
The cost was an extra $70. This saved me at least $50 and maybe
as much as $70 because we visited Typhoon Lagoon a couple of
times. Typhoon Lagoon runs you about $19/per person if you are
not a resort guest...$16 if you are a Resort Guest. A family of
4 would pay either $64 or $78 for one day. A 6-day Super Pass
was also available and later on in this report I'll mention why
I wish I had opted for that one instead of the 5-day.
Okay gang...where is the best place in TMK to eat breakfast?
The Crystal Palace of course. And wouldn't you know it....a Jazz
Trio came over to our table and played for us...and me without
my camera.
I found out that spilled Orange juice should not be allowed to
touch powder blue shorts. "That's okay son...it'll dry....I'll
live".
After breakfast we headed towards Frontierland...my son had seen
the Shooting Gallery the day before so we went there and spent
some time and money shooting light beams at inanimate objects
that became animated once a beam hit them.
The next stop was the Country Bear Vacation Hoedown and again
I wish I had my camera because I was only a few rows back. Any
camera with a decent lux will work okay in that attraction.
When we came out of that attraction it was close to 11 A.M. The
pictures were supposed to be ready by then and we were concerned
about the camera and if it was working correctly. We headed to
The Darkroom and got our pictures. They were great. The camera
was working fine. Big sigh of relief. My wife and daughter
thought that this was a good time to do some souvenir shopping
for friends and relatives and my son and I agreed...except that
we headed for the penny arcade and also back to the Shooting
Gallery. I recommend the fighting helicopter in the Arcade.
We were all to meet in the Arcade at Noon. We were a bit thirsty
and grabbed an ice tea. We then were entertained by the piano
player (no *&^%$#@ camera). He took requests and I asked him to
play "Baroque Hoedown". He said he wasn't allowed to play that
song. Interesting.
Well after the piano playing we strolled over to TomorrowLand.
We went into the Carousel of Progress (15 minute wait) and I
noticed that the last scene had changed a lot since my last
visit. It's still a pretty good attraction.
We then took a ride on The Wedway which took us through Space
Mountain, Dreamflight, and the rest of Tomorrowland. At one
point the ride stopped and we heard someone say the ride had
stopped temporarily but that it would start up again. Attrac-
tions with moving cars stop at times to allow the boarding of
wheelchair visitors.
Our next stop was Circlevision....another 15 minute wait. The
film was new to me...enjoyable but I liked the original film
when WDW first opened.
We stopped off for a ice cream before leaving to check into the
CBR. It was getting close to check-in time.
Orlando and WDW has changed a lot since 1976 and it took me a
day to get my bearings. All the changes plus driving through
my first Florida rainstorm in 14 years added to the confusion.
I did manage to get to the CBR on this day (thanks for the map
Claude).
While checking in at the CBR the computer equipment bit the
dust. They were using that other company...I immediately flashed
the badge and gave a little sales pitch.
We had a second floor corner room in Martinique. It was a non-
smoking room also. The key is almost like an NCS card. We were
close to the pool and the ice machine. I liked the room....big
enough for our needs.
The CBR is perfect because it is 5 minutes from Typhoon Lagoon,
MGM, and the WDW Village, 10 minutes from Epcot Center, and
about 20 minutes from TMK.
Busses were alawys there when you needed them. Sometimes I drove
and sometimes I took the bus. At TMK I parked at either The
Grand Floridian or The Contemporary. The only problem with
Martinique is that you have to go through the rest of the CBR
before the bus leaves for a park. This only bothered me when
going to either MGM or Epcot because they were so close. I
recommend driving to those parks...as well as Typhoon Lagoon.
After checking in we headed over to check out Old Port Royale.
We found it to be pretty handy and we usually ate breakfast
there.
My son is a big Tigger fan and at the store in Port Royale were
a lot of Tiggers....all marked at $24.95. I figured we'd wait
until we got to the Shopping Village so I could use my Magic
Kingdom Club Card but one of the Tiggers was marked at $18.95 so
we grabbed it.
Well we put Tigger back in our room and headed off yet again
to TMK. It was close to 7 P.M.at this time and my wife and I
wanted to get good spots for the Electrical Light Parade. Also,
I wanted to get a good place to tape the parade. We got to the
park around 7:30 and the kids wanted to go to the Penny Arcade.
We let them go and we staked out a spot. Even around 7:30 a
lot of spots were taken. We ended up sitting across from the
Emporium. One of life's greatest pleasures is sitting along
either Main Street U.S.A. or Hollywood Blvd. (MGM) and taking in
the atmosphere (and streetmosphere).
To our left we could see storm clouds building. I stopped one of
the cast members and asked about the possibility of the parade
being cancelled due to the weather. He said that rain would
not stop the parade unless it was a real downpour. However, any
lightning and the parade is cancelled.
Now before we had left for our trip my wife had mentioned about
getting ponchos and I had said they weren't worth it. It started
to rain and she ran into the Emporium and got some ponchos. Let
me state right now that ponchos really should be a consideration
while you're down there in the Spring, Summer, and Fall months.
We carried them and an umbrella in a backpack.
The kids returned and we all sat down in our ponchos and we
waited for the parade. I got great shots and the kids enjoyed
the up close seating. Unfortunately the back of my shorts
were soaked. It rained while my wife went to get the ponchos
but I didn't give up my spot. I still had on the powder blue
shorts...looked like I had an accident if you know what I mean.
Now I wanted to find a spot to videotape the fireworks. Along
the way we decided to call home and say hi to one of the grand-
parents. After that we looked for a spot in front of the castle
to watch the fireworks. The trees have grown really tall so it
was hard for me to find a good spot...but I did and managed to
tape the whole show with no problems.
It was around 10:30 now and my kids wanted to take on Big Thun-
der Mountain Railroad. I'm not a roller coaster fan but from
what I had read in here I thought that the ride wouldn't be
too bad...plus I think my daughter was going to wimp out and
my son wouldn't have anyone to ride with him. The line was
not too bad and again it seemed like only a 15 minute wait.
I got a little nervous as we got closer. We ended up in the
last row on the last car. I was okay until the first drop. After
that I had my eyes closed. The drops were tough enough but oh
those turns...and it looked so smooth watching the ride from the
ground. Well we got off and the kids, especially my daughter,
wanted to go on again. They did, I didn't. Another 15 minute
wait for them.
It was now pass 11:30 and time to head out. I walked down Main
Street with my videocamera on my shoulder and taped TMK at
night. With the crowd thinning out the park looked great.
I fantasized about hiding out in a shrub and then waiting until
the park closed, then videotaping the workers through the night.
We caught our bus at TMK entrance and we were in our room at the
CBR in 25 minutes.
Thursday July 12
Where else would one want to wake up on his/her 40th birthday
but on the happiest place on Earth? The 5k run I managed to put
in the previous morning wasn't in me this morning. After jotting
down notes and watching TV the night before until 1:30 A.M. I
felt some more sleep was in order.
Today was to be a non-Disney day. We had breakfast at Port
Royale and then sped off to Sea World. The HBJ discount card
I got at the PAC center saved me some money with the admission
price being about $25 per person. First order of business was
to get a Sea World hat for my son. The sun had bothered him
the first two days and a hat would take care of that. We walked
around a bit...saw some flamingos...petted some sting rays...let
the kids have some fun in that play area where they can climb
up a rope net onto the ship and also blast away with some water
cannons.
The Shamu show was good. They have this huge video screen and
use camera to catch the crowd on the screen once in awhile. We
enjoyed all the tricks including the splashing of the orange
clad Brazillian tour group. I had been so excited earlier in the
week about arriving in WDW that I hadn't noticed them. Now they
were noticeably wet.
From the Shamu show we went to the Waterski Show. I'm not a
Waterski fan but my wife is and she enjoyed it. It was a "USO
Waterski Show" with some comedy relief thrown in. These people
are quite skilled and the level of difficulty involved made you
wonder how many hours they practice their craft.
After the show we looked for a nice air-conditioned restaurant
for lunch. I finished first because I needed to find an outlet
to charge my battery for the video camera. The extra battery I
had purchased a month before was working fine before the trip
but couldn't hold a charge a month later...grrrrrr.
I found an outlet in the men's room and gave my battery a 30
minute charge.
I caught up to everyone and we went into "Tropical Reef" which
houses many different types of fish. Saw some interesting fish,
including some sea horses.
From there we wanted to catch The Water Fantasy a.k.a. The
Waltzing Fountains but we just missed that show. We strolled
over to the Hawaiian Rhythms for 15 minutes before heading back
for the next show. The weather was really building up towards a
storm and the heat and humidity started to build.
The Water Fantasy was great. I ran out of video tape 5 minutes
before the show ended but had an extra tape and ended up just
missing about 30 seconds overall.
From there we went over to the Whale and Dolphin Show. That was
so-so. There wasn't much else to see except the Sharks so we
headed towards them but the sky looked ominous. We got under
cover and went through the Shark exhibit. Next to Shamu this is
probably the best show/attraction at Sea World. At one point you
go through a tunnel and you are surrounded by live sharks.
When we got to the end of the tunnel we went up a ramp and
found out that there was a heavy duty rainstorm going on. There
was no way anyone in their right mind would try to go through
it....industrial strength lighting was added for effect. Our
ponchos were (sigh) in the van. This storm lasted long (for
Florida), about 3 hours. We finally got out during a lull and
headed towards the exit...picked up some shirts and postcards
and headed back to the CBR. The rain lingered on but did not
continue to pour down.
We ate supper at Port Royale which was crowded. It seemed a lot
of people were turned off by the rain and "sat out" the evening.
We got back to the room around 10 or so and watched some of the
videotape before catching the news. The weather had made some
news...they're not used to all-day rain down there.
The kids were tired and fell asleep around midnight while I
jotted down more trip notes before nodding off.
Friday, July 13
I got up early for a short run around the CBR. You joggers will
enjoy it...ya gotta do it early in the Summer (before 7) unless
you love the heat. I came back to the room and grabbed the
camera to tape some of the CBR. As I walked around one of the
workers called to me and pointed up in the sky. I turned and saw
a hot air balloon...then another one. What a sight...got it on
tape. I also videotaped the pool area. The pools at the CBR are
great. There is enough shallow area for the youngsters but also
plenty of deeper water for the advanced swimmers.
The kids got up around 8:30 or so. We showered and headed over
to Port Royale for breakfast. We came back to the room around
10:30. We then decided to spend sometime in the pool and do some
laundry since we had about 5 days worth of laundry to do. We
practically had the pool and the laundry to ourselves. We spent
about 2 1/2 hours relaxing. Pool water feels pretty warm after
you've come out of an air conditioned laundry room. The laundry
facilities are right next to the pools at the CBR.
After taking care of the laundry we got dressed and headed off
to Medieval Times. We got there sometime in mid afternoon. There
was hardly anyone there. We talked with the person behind the
counter and she gave us the schpiel on the place. The 7 P.M.
show was booked but the 9:30 show wasn't. We decided to hold off
until Monday since that would be a crowded WDW day.
We left Medieval Times and headed back towards Orlando (Medieval
Times is in Kissimmee). We were getting hungry and looked for a
good place to eat. We stopped in at a Sizzler Steak House. This
place offerred a buffet type meal as well as regular dinners.
I'd go there again anytime.
Afterwards we stopped in any interesting places we spotted.
One place in particular was called "Shell World". We stopped
in there and they had everything and anything you could make
with shells. They even had preserved baby sharks if you were in
the market for one. Next door to this place was a huge t-shirt
store. The best shirts they had were ones which said "University
Gator Wrestling Squad". The shirts looked torn on one side with
dried bloodstains.
I talked to a woman who was selling attraction package tickets
to people. She asked if I had Universal Studios tickets and I
had said yes but I was looking for a child's ticket. She didn't
have any. I asked her about Universal and she mentioned how some
of the attractions are hit and miss. By that she said one day
they're up and the next day they're down. I immediately stored
this knowledge away and planned to wait until towards the end of
our stay in Florida before venturing over to Universal Studios.
I wanted to give them plenty of time to work out the bugs.
After stopping off at a few other places we decided to head back
to the CBR. ALong the way we stopped in a Publix supermarket and
grabbed some juice and muffins. We planned on haveing a quick
breakfast in the room and head off to Epcot in the morning.
We got back to the room and got our clothes ready for the morn-
ing and then we headed out to the pool for an evening dip. We
came back around 11 and hit the sack.
Saturday, July 14
We were up early, had our muffins, and walked over to the bus
stop for the Epcot bus. The bus dropped us off at the Epcot
Entrance. We had arrived 15 minutes before the gates were to
open (9 A.M. opening). We walked right past Spaceship Earth
and headed for World Showcase. We took the boat to Italy. There
were only 10 people on the boat. Heck everybody was in Future
World. We got off the boat and headed over to The American
Adventure. We were the first visitors to see the first show
of the day. You know that huge theater? Well there were no more
than a dozen people there for that first show. For those of you
with video cameras be advised that the video came out well. Try
to get within 20 feet of the stage...especially if you have a
polarizing filter on your camera.
We came out of the American Adventure in a patriotic state of
mind and visited Japan, Morrocco, and France. It started to rain
but we had our ponchos with us. We watched the film in France
and then my kids decided they would try some of French Pastry.
My wife and I abstained. We then headed back towards Italy.
Still raining and the crowds are way down. We then visited
Germany, took in the China movie, took a ride on The Maelstrom
in Norway...probably the best ride in World Showcase, and then
visited Mexico. The atmosphere in the Mexican Pavillion is
really quite something.
The rain was still coming down. The crowds were nowhere to be
seen. Heck the length of the films, attractions, or rides were
longer than the wait. I wouldn't even call them "waits" because
most of the time we walked right in.
After Mexico we headed over to Future World. The rain was begin-
ning to let up. It was now around 2:45. We walked right in on
The World of Motion. After that we headed over to the Odyssey
Restaurant for lunch. I'm beginning to see more and more of
our Brazillian neighbors...green, yellow, orange, red.....all
different groups with their own special color....led by a flag
waver.
After lunch we decided it was time we voted for the Person of
the Century. If you're keeping count I voted for Dr. Christian
Barnard, Walt Disney, Jackie Robinson, Dr. Salk, and possibly
FDR but not sure about that last one...mayber it was Babe Ruth.
From there we went to Horizons. We went right on.
Next was the Wonders of Life Pavillion. The kids wanted to
go on Body Wars but I wanted no part of it. They got in line
while my wife and I walked around the pavillion. The Body Wars
line was long. I'd say my kids waited an hour and a half to
go on it. They weren't too enthralled by the ride. We saw the
Anacomical Players, rode some Wondercycles, visited the Sensory
Funhouse, and did some of the other things as well as Coach's
Corner before leaving the Pavillion. You can easily spend 2
hours in this Pavillion so keep this in mind when planning your
Epcot visit.
The next stop was The Universe of Energy....again, no lines....I
guess everyone was now in World Showcase. The rain had stopped.
From there we went over to The Land and enjoyed "Listen to the
Land".
I forget why but for some reason we did not stay for Illumina-
tions. The kids were tired (13 hours in Epcot) because we hadn't
broken up the day like we had in the last few days.
We took a bus back to CBR and had a late supper. We returned to
our room, made some notes, and hit the old pillow. Epcot's size
can do you in without you realizing it. We'd see Illuminations
another day.
Sunday, July 15th
This was to be an exciting day. We headed off early for MGM.
It's a 5 minute bus ride from the CBR...I should have driven it
this first day. We went to Star Tours. We walked right in. My
wife opted to sit this one out so she kept the videocamera. The
ride was enjoyable and we talked my wife into trying it. She
had been waiting at the ride bypass and had talked with one of
the ride workers. The worker took us through the back way and we
were back in the pod. This time I tried taping the ride. I had
to do it with the camera at my hip. It's so so. I got a little
queasy this time around as did my daughter. Two Star Tours rides
in less than 10 minutes...it's got to be a record.
We shot over to The Great Movie Ride...again, nobody there. We
walked right in to the gangster side because they only had one
side going. It's a great ride. You never know where "Alien"
is going to pop out at you. I enjoyed the Indiana Jones-like
portion....especially after the gangster had kidnapped us. He
got his just desserts.
We came out of the ride and went right back in, asking for the
Western side. I think we waited 5 minutes this time. I knew what
was going to happen in the Western scene and I had the camera
ready. You sure can feel the heat.
The Oz setting is very good...as is the Margaret Hamilton
Audio-Animatron. I think that the Humphrey Bogart figure in
the Casablanca Scene is amazing. The finale is great.
It was still early (10:30) so we took in The Backstage Tour. It
was neat. More advice for the videocamera buffs....sit on the
right side of the car. We got off and had some "Fototoons" taken
with Mickey and Minnie and had lunch while we waited for them.
Lo and behold but COWABUNGA DUDES...yes it was April, Raphael,
Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo....those heroes in a half-
shell...Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My son got all their
autographs, including April's, and I got it all on tape. We
went back and picked up our Fototoon picture. We then continued
on towards Part II of the tour.
We saw that humorous Goldie Hawn/Rick Moranis film along the
way. We watched the special effects, and walked through the
sound stages where Divorce Court, Let's Make a Deal, and The
Mickey Mouse Club is taped.
After the tour we took in "Here Come the Muppets" which is a real
entertaining stage show. We waited 10 minutes for that show.
It was early in the afternoon (around 1 P.M.) and we headed
back to the CBR for a little R&R...we had a busy morning. Along
the way we stopped in at this Music Video place in MGM and we
made a family music video....my daughter made one of her own
afterwards...it was fun.
The bus brought us back to the CBR in 5 minutes. We watched
the music videos while I charged the battery. We relaxed a
bit before driving over to Fort Wilderness for Hoop-Dee-Doo.
We pulled into Fort Wilderness, parked the car, and headed to
the bus stop to take a bus to Pioneer Hall. We were halfway
there when we realized we had left the backpack containing the
ponchos, umbrella, and extra film, back at the bus stop. When we
got to Pioneer Hall I stayed on the bus to return to the stop to
hopefully find our backpack. It wasn't there. I went over to the
lodge and filled out a lost article card and returned to Pioneer
Hall...only 5 minutes before Hoop-Dee-Doo's 5 P.M. show.
Our table was in the middle of the floor. They sang Happy
Birthday to me. We enjoyed the entertainment. The food was so-
so...the ribs were fatty but the chicken was okay...love those
beans. It is a fun show and I would definitely do it again. The
guy who played "Sixbits" would show up at yet another point in
my vacation...keep reading to find out.
After Hoop-Dee-Doo we went back to the Fort Wilderness Lodge to
see if our backpack turned up...it did.
We left Fort Wilderness and drove to MGM. We just missed getting
in to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular so we headed
for the Monster Sound Show. That was entertaining...oh yeah
we waited...10 minutes.
From The Monster Sound Show we headed over to "Indiana Jones".
It was the last show of the day (9:30 P.M.). I recommend seeing
this at night. It's a topnotch show.
From "Indiana" we headed over to see "Diamond Double Cross"
which was a musical with Dick Tracy, Breathless Mahoney, Mum-
bles, and others. It is a Broadway type production and the lead
song "Calling Dick Tracy" is catchy. If you saw the July 4th
Disney special on TV you saw a short version of this 20 minute
show.
After the show we headed out to Hollywood Blvd. because Vin-
cent Price's voice was all over the place informing us of the
"Sorcery in the Sky" fireworks show that was coming up at 11:00.
Now I had seen fireworks before but nothing can compare with
a Disney fireworks show. The combination of synchronized fire-
works, music, and singing really hypnotizes you. The first part
of the show saluted movies and the second part was a salute to
Fantasia with a 40-50 ft. Sorcerer's Apprentice (Mickey) appear-
ing and shooting fireworks out of his finger. It was one of the
more memorable moments of my trip.
MGM closed at Midnight but we were tired so we left right after
the fireworks. How close is CBR to MGM? Well the fireworks went
off at 11:00 and after they were done we left the park....got
into our car at 11:20...drove back to the CBR...I looked at my
watch when we got in our room...it was 11:30. I was too tired to
jot down notes...we all fell asleep real fast.
Monday, July 16
We left the CBR at 7:15 A.M. this day because we had a breakfast
date with Chip and Dale at their character breakfast in Pioneer
Hall. Once again an enjoyable show was on tap and the food was
great. I recommend this character breakfast. Chip, Dale, Donald,
Goofy, and Pluto were on hand. Somehow when it got to seeing who
had a birthday my family pointed to me and I was sung to for the
second time.
After breakfast we decided to wander over to the Trading
Post...I was in a souvenir buying mood. On the way we heard
this familiar laugh and walking about 20 feet in front of us
was one of my daughter's teachers who was roaming the country-
side in his camper. Small world. After some small talk we bade
goodbye and we went into the Trading Post and gobbled up some
souvenirs...I got myself a Fort Wilderness shirt and hat.
Remember Medieval Times? Well we wanted to do it this day so I
called and made reservations from outside the Trading Post. Got
reservations for the early show. We needed to shop for mementos
and to get some stuff for friends and relatives so we drove over
to the Disney Shopping Village. If you are a serious shopper
that's the place to go.
One of the stores there, I think it's the character shop, has a
robot that creates custom designs on t-shirts. We picked up a
few things and put them back into the car. We wanted to check
out Pleasure Island. Before going we all got a Root Beer Float
to cool off.
Pleasure Island is a neat place. I don't think I'd go there at
night with kids but during the day it's nice and not crowded
at all. It was at Pleasure Island that my daughter saw a Mickey
Watch she wanted. I had promised her one and got it for her.
There was also a Music Video Place at Pleasure Island. I
couldn't resist. I did a duet with my daughter and my son and
daughter also did a duet. Be advised that there is a difference
between making music videos at MGM and at Pleasure Island. MGM
has private booths...at Pleasure Island EVERYONE watches you
make your video...at MGM only if you want to will they show your
video on the bank of video screens...at Pleasure Island your
video is played on the screens immediately.
Well it turned out to be quite a day so far. We drove back to
the CBR to drop off our stuff and freshen up for Medieval Times.
We drove to Kissimee to MT and purchased a combo ticket which
allowed us to visit the twon they had brought back from Europe.
This was called "Medieval Life"...sort of a Sturbridge Village.
It was quite interesting. We watched them train falcons in one
area...quite a sight. We learned about all the crafts of those
days and also saw a torture chamber which contained some two
dozen torture devices.
Afterwards we went through a door and were greeted by the
king...each one of us had our picture taken with the king.
Soon we were called to our seats, we had front row seats. We
were to root for the Red Knight. Our waitress...erh "wench"
was Glenda. And yes it's true, you do not have any utensils.
The food was decent...wine cocktail, chicken flambe', vegetable
soup, spare ribs, potato, and pastry of the castle.
Before we had started eating someone with a camera took our
picture...more on this later.
The King's right hand man was making all sorts of announcements
before the competition began...one of which was announcing my
birthday....my wife had struck again. If I had a chance I was
going to tell someone it was her birthday....it never came.
The jousting and other competition was great. It looked authen-
tic. My son got caught up in all of the revelry and battles. Our
knight almost pulled it off but, alas, bit the dust. Remember
the individual pictures with the king? We were shown them...I
thought they were part of the package...nope. Well I took the
ones with the kids but not the other two. And then they came by
with the group picture. Sorry. Next time.
The Medieval Times show is a great non-Disney type thing to
do if you want a break from the World. But watch out....the
Brazillians also go there.
If you want to avoid the Brazillian tour groups then make sure
you do character breakfasts, eat in Epcot World Showcase Restau-
rants, and do Hoop-Dee-Doo. We saw them almost everywhere.
Well we got out of Medieval Times about 9 P.M. and headed back
to the CBR. Once again we had a full day and after a dip in the
pool we did nighty night.
Tuesday, July 17
We opted for TMK in the morning. We got in early and made reser-
vations for the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. From there we went
to "Pirates..." (kids really like this ride). The waiting times
for the attractions aren't worth mentioning because the average
is about 15 minutes. I'll be sure to mention any attractions
that presented any problems.
From "Pirates..." we took the train to Mickey's Starland. Are
you into taking photos of characters? Then this is the place
for you. In a span of 30 minutes we got photos of the kids with
no less than a dozen characters. We also saw Mickey's house.
Whoever thought of Mickey's Starland had the right idea in mind.
We walked from Mickey's Starland to the Diamond Horshoe Jam-
boree. I remembered some shortcuts through Liberty Square (be-
hind some buildings). The show was pretty good. We also had
lunch. We had a balcony table.
It was now early afternoon. We decided to check out Typhoon
Lagoon. We wanted to see how convenient it is to the monorail to
the TTC and then to Epcot and then caught the bus to the CBR. It
didn't save anytime.
We changed and got ready for Typhoon Lagoon. It was only 5
minutes from the CBR. We pulled in and it said "Sorry, Typhoon
Lagoon is closed". I pulled up to the parking lot and because I
had a Super Pass and I was a Resort Guest, I was allowed to go
in.
Now I am not a water park person but I was amazed at TL. The
sight of that ship at the end of the Wave Pool was really some-
thing....but that's nothing. Noone...I mean NOONE can imagine
the force of the tidal wave that comes every 90 seconds. It was
unbelievable. I couldn't get my kids outta that Wave Pool. When
the tidal wave hour was over it was easy to convince them to
come out.
We headed for Castaway Creek. That is fun. I could spend all day
floating around TL on a "Typhoon Lagoon Flotation Device". We
went around the park twice.
After CC we went back to the Wave Pool. It's really something.
We stayed until the sky looked too ominous to remain. We got
back to the van just in time before it started to pour. It was
an enjoyable 4 hours. We planned to return and I was coming back
with a loaded camera. I had to tape that place.
We returned to the CBR and changed. We were planning on going to
Epcot that night but weren't sure where we were going to eat.
We saw an ad for a new family restaurant called The Farmer's
Market. We went there to eat...buffet...pretty good.
We got to Epcot about 6 P.M. and took in Imagination and Captain
EO. I was a little disappointed in the 3D effects. We watched
those jumping fountains and then headed towards the World Show-
case. We walked around almost forgetting about Illuminations. We
stopped in front of Japan and watched Illuminations. I expected
more. MGM had spoiled me.
After Illuminations we walked around checking all the restaurant
menus because we wanted to check out the menus before making
reservations when we came back to Epcot in a few days.
We rode the Maelstrom in Norway again....we avoided the
movie....Norway is hungry for tourists.
It was close to closing time so we headed back to the van. We
were in our room in 15 minutes. Along the way you can see The
Swan and The Dolphin Hotels...ugly...simply grotesque.
Another full day...another simple task to fall asleep.
Wednesday, July 18
We headed out for MGM first thing. We took the bus on this
morning. When we arrived we made reservations for lunch at The
Prime Time Cafe. From there the gang wanted to take in Star
Tours. I sat this one out and taped the outside. Check out the
Warehouse Restaurant, next to Star Tours. We didn't get a chance
to eat there...it looked pretty neat.
We weren't hungry when we got up but we decided we were hungry
after Star Tours. We had breakfast at Hollywood & Vine.
We then took in Superstar Television. I would have liked to
have been picked for Cheers...came close. It's great fun and the
people who run Superstar Television work real hard at making the
show enjoyable for everyone.
From there we went over to The Theater of the Stars to watch
"Hollywood Hollywood!" It starred the Disney Girls and Mickey
and friends...including Kermit and Miss Piggy. It was a very
glitzy show which traced Hollywood musicals to a point.
From there we took in some "streetmosphere" and met "Hannah" and
"Chiefy".
Omigod...lunchtime already?
We hopped over to Prime Time. This restaurant turned out to be
our favorite place to eat. We sat down and waited for "Mom".
One of "Mom's" helpers was originally from New Hampshire and
we talked a bit. I had the Pot Roast and a banana split (if
you're wondering yes I gained some weight on this trip). A lot
of people were not finishing their veggies this day so we had to
make airplane noises while "Mom" flew in the veggies.
While talking with Anne ("Mom's helper from Dover, New Hamp-
shire) we found out that along with expanding MGM to include new
attractions, there are new restaurants being planned too. One
new restaurant is supposed to have a "car" theme to it with the
waitresses on roller skates.
After lunch we went out to Hollywood Blvd. and took in the
"Streetmosphere" again. While sitting on one of the benches we
were approached by a gossip columnist named "Barbara Bouffant".
She gave us her card and starting talking to us. Soon we were
joined by "Hanna" and "Willy". I don't know exactly what "Willy"
does but he was so excited to meet my wife and asked for her
autograph. He claimed to have seen all her movies. "Hannah" said
she saw my wife's last movie at least forty times and said "You
were wonderful in it."
Soon it was time for the parade. Blair Underwood from L.A. Law
was being honored in front of TGMR. The two streetmosphere nerds
called him "Blair Underwear".
Some of the best video I got on the trip was from the "streetmo-
sphere" at MGM.
We had been having such a good time we didn't realize it was
almost 3:30. We headed back to the CBR via our bus to relax for
awhile, charge the battery, and maybe take a quick dip. We had
some major league T-storms that afternoon so it was not to be a
day in the pool.
We decided to watch some of the video I had taped, charge the
battery, and take a nap while the rainstorms passed. After a
nice relaxing nap we returned to MGM around 6:30. We took in
"Here Come the Muppets" again. It's eerie to hear Jim Hensen's
voice. By the way, so far the Muppets are not taking over WDW
like we all thought. They are a small part of MGM today...they
may become more visible as MGM grows.
We then decided we'd eat before it got too late. We ate at the
Soundstage Restaurant restaurant which is made to look like
the set of "Big Business". It's sort of a fast food restau-
rant although the food tasted better than your basic fast food
establishment.
When we came out of the restaurant we saw Roger Rabbit and Chip
& Dale who were very accommodating for pictures and autographs.
I think it was around 8:30 or maybe even 9:00 at this time. We
poked through some shops looking at all the interesting mementos
one could pick up from MGM.
We also looked through the shop right outside the Animation
Tour. Check out the prices on those original cartoon cells.
At about this time it's close to 10 P.M. and there was practi-
cally nobody at TGMR so we walked over to the ride. Before going
in we checked out all the cement autographs and seeing whose
footprints and handprints had already made their appearance.
The toughest one to make out was one that said, "May the force
be with you!". The handwriting was terrible. I had to ask the
castmember at TGMR who that was. It was George Lucas........he
has the handwriting of a doctor.
We went into TGMR and we thought we had gone into the left side
but we ended up going into the Western ride. Oh yeah, yet an-
other Brazillian story. Castmembers ask, "How many in your
party?" so you won't be split up. Our neighbors from Brazil
didn't like to be split up. If there were 9 together they all
wanted to be in the same seat. Once placed they would try to
change their seats and would get up after the castmembers
thought that all the riders were seated. During this partic-
ular visit to TGMR one castmember really came close to the edge
as far as her temper goes. She politely but firmly asked that
these people wait for the next car if they could not all fit on
this one. I felt bad for her.
This ride was different from the other times we had gone on it.
I won't tell you what was different except that you never know
when "Alien" will pop out at you. This ride is real enjoyable.
This time around I was closer to the Margaret Hamilton figure
and got a good shot of the audio-animatron.
Movie buffs will like the finale to this ride.
Okay gang it's now about 10:30 and I'm determined to find myself
a good spot to tape "Sorcery in the Sky" at 11. I planted myself
directly in front of TGMR (actually about 200 feet back because
they will not let the crowd get too close to the attraction
during the fireworks because it is low ceiling fireworks and
some of it spills over in front of the theater) and waited. Over
my right shoulder I could hear and see the last 15 minutes of
"Diamond Double Cross".
Finally I heard Vincent Price's voice introducing "Sorcery
in the Sky" and then it began. This 15 minute extravaganza is
exhilarating because of the wrking trinity of lights, fireworks,
and music. The tribute to Fantasia at the end is thrilling.
Don't miss it.
We immediately headed over to the Theater of the Stars to watch
the final performance that day of "Diamond Double Cross." Even
at 11:30 P.M. the performers were putting out like it was their
first show if the day...topnotch.
The show ended at 11:55 and we headed to the exits. On the way
out my son used some of his Disney Dollars to get an MGM visor
with blinking lights.
The bus terminal was more crowded than usual but within 15
minutes we were on a bus and before you knew it we were back
at the CBR. Everyone fell asleep rather quickly and I hooked
up the camera to the TV to check out my work for the evening. I
didn't get to sleep until 2:00 A.M. We planned to start the day
at Typhoon Lagoon in the morning so I knew I could sleep a bit
longer in the morning.
Thursday, July 19
We all got up around 8:30. After our morning showers we headed
over to Port Royale for breakfast and then to Typhoon Lagoon.
I planned on spending half the day videotaping and the other
half splashing about. Unfortunately many of the lockers weren't
working so I spent most the day taping the Wave Pool, Castaway
Creek, Shark Reef, and Humunga Cowabunga. I taped the kids in
the Wave Pool and in Castaway Creek. At one point I climbed up
the mountain and across a rope bridge to get close to the ship.
Phew! was I high up. After a couple of hours in TL we decided to
return to the CBR and wash up. Here's a tip....you want to cool
off at TL? Try the shaved ice....refreshing.
We got back to the CBR to find that the room hadn't been cleaned
yet. It was around 2 P.M. I took a walk over to the Custom House
to cash a Traveler's Cheque while the rest of the family spent
some time in the pool.
When I came back to the pool someone yelled out "Hey COEM!!?!"
That was the name of my DEC softball team. It was a player from
a team back in 1986. We talked about the drive down and stuff.
He had just arrived and was asking for some info on the parks.
We chatted for awhile and then I headed back to the room.
While getting dressed we watched the news on the TV. The big
news was that a woman was injured at MGM this day. Apparently
some European woman had tried to retrieve a bag or something
from a moving tram and when she tried to get off the moving
(parking lot) tram, she had fallen and hit her head. I guess she
was hurt pretty bad.
We took off in the van and headed to the Grand Floridian. I
wanted to see this place and since we were heading to TMK anyway
I figured we'd park in TGF lot and take the monorail.
You probably want to be making six figures before considering
staying here. I guess the big thing is "S-E-R-V-I-C-E" for
this hotel. It's pretty impressive walking through the lobby.
I think I'd consider spending one night there just for the
experience. I sort of look at this hotel the same way I looked
at The Contemporary Resort back in 1975.
We took the monorail to TMK. Once in we took the Horse Trolley
to the Castle forefront. Hmm...we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
We headed over to Liberty Tavern. The menu really didn't look
too inviting. We ended up eating at the Columbia Harbor House
which is down the road from The Haunted Mansion. I have some
distressing news about this restaurant....but that's for later
on in this report.
After supper the kids wanted to take in the Haunted Mansion. My
wife decided to sit this one out so I gave her the camera and
off we went. Once more the wait was about 15 minutes.
Regarding the Haunted Mansion, again I have to comment that I
really feel they "downgraded" the graveyard scene. The scene
to the left of your car after the signing heads seemed to have
been cut down a bit. Does anyone who visited WDW back in the
early and mid 70's remember it? I still think the best part
of The Haunted Mansion is the long corridor with the floating
candelabra.
The attraction needs something...I don't know what but it's
beginning to show some age, especially the sound system.
We headed to FrontierLand and took in Country Bear Hoedown. The
first time around I didn't have my camera. We sat in the last
row this time and I taped it. It came out okay but I wish I had
brought my camera the first time around when we were only 5 rows
back.
Outside the Mile Long Bar we witnessed a family potty training a
little boy...with potty chair and all. It made me thankful I had
waited until now to return to WDW with the kids.
It's tough to pass that shooting gallery withing trying to knock
off a buzzard or two. My son and I emptied a couple of rounds.
The toughest target to shoot is that moving train.
Well it's about 8:42 and the kids are thinking about Big Thun-
der Mountain Railroad. I'm not but they are. We got up to it
and they got in line. I figured they'd get through the ride
in 20 minutes. My wife minded the camera while I strolled to
AdventureLand to Aloha Isle for a Dole Whip. I was thirsty.
The kids came off BTMR just as I had finished my Dole Whip.
We had to move fast because it was after 9 and the Electrical
Light Parade had already begun. The parade finished up to the
left of BTMRR and we didn't want to get caught. We went over to
"Pirates..." and walked right in for another adventure. We could
hear the parade as we walked through the Caribbean Plaza. It's
true that the attractions are extremely light during the parade.
After Pirates we walked over to Main Street U.S.A. I had
promised the kids some Ice Cream and The Plaza Restaurant makes
the best Sundaes in TMK. We barely got in there. Most of the
restaurants started to close at 10 and we got in around 9:45.
When the fireworks started outside we soon were witness to fire-
works inside. If you are familiar with the Plaza Restaurant you
know that there is a line to get in. Once a table is freed up
another party is brought in. At 10 P.M. they close the restau-
rant. However this particular evening there was this guy who
was very adamant about eating in this restaurant and would not
take no for an answer. He practically pushed his way into the
restaturant. He got the Restaurant Manager very upset. In no
way should that guy have spoken to her like he did...she was
shaken up a bit. When she went back into the kitchen all the
busboys and other waitresses were poking their heads out to see
this jerk. Practically everyone in the restaurant was aware of
what happened. She got even by making them wait...and wait they
did. I could have sworn the busboys were instructed to wait 15
minutes before cleaning off any table. The guy's wife was em-
barrassed. They were finally seated but their meal wasn't too
enjoyable. There was a lot of tension at the table. While they
were there some park security came in. They didn't do anything
but asked about what happened.
While we were there something interesting happened to us. Just
before we were about to dig in to our ice cream our waitress
looked at my wife's glass and said, "You can't have that", and
snatched the glass off the table and immediately went to the
kitchen.
She came back with a new glass and explained that my wife's
glass had a chip on it and that she (our waitress) would be
reprimanded for serving food on chipped dinnerware. She did not
charge us for that ice cream because of this.
We left The Plaza Restaurant and headed towards TomorrowLand.
When we got there we realized we had left that pesky ol' back-
pack back at the restaurant. I ran back and got it.
We took in Dreamflight and walked through Space Mountain before
taking a spin on The Wedway People Mover.
Fatigue started to set in. We headed to the monorail and got off
at TGF, hopped in the car, and sped off to the CBR. We hit the
sack rather late again.
Friday, July 20
This is Universal Studios Day. After breakfast at Port Royale
we headed out. The kids needed some film for their cameras
so we stopped off at a K-Mart along the way...same prices as
N.H.....but for the tax. This K-Mart was located as you head
towards the back entrance to Universal Studios off I-4. The
front entrance is on International Drive I think. I could be
wrong.
We paid $3.00 to park, then a tram picked us up and dropped us
off at the front gate. Each ticket window had a sign which read
NOT OPERATING TODAY:KONGFRONTATION, JAWS, EARTHQUAKE. Whaaa????
Some people read that and turned right around and left. We
decided that since we were there we'd take a shot...they were
giving out complimentary tickets anyway and they said that Jaws
may be up sometime during the day.
We did the Nickelodeon tour first...so-so. We then walked around
the park to get our bearings. Unlike any of the Disney parks
there is no "family type" atmosphere. It's sort of cold and
plastic. We went into the Hanna-Barbera store and I met George
Jetson. I think he liked my brand new "Jetsons" shirt. There
were some animation games and activities there which kept us
amused for awhile. There is a Flintstones car there for pho-
tographs.
We walked outside and boy were the lines long...to the tune of 2
hours. I figured we'd walk around and see what was what before
determining what to go in. I think the Hanna-Barbera ride is
similar to Star Tours.
Universal has it's own "streetmosphere". We ran into Mae West,
The Ghostbusters, Laurel & Hardy, Frankenstein's Monster, and
The Marx Bros. Oh yeah, I also ran into Beetlejuice. Some of
these people were pretty good at their craft.
We took in the Murder She Wrote Post-Production Attraction in
which the audience gets to put their own finishing touch to an
episode. My wife, daughter, and I got to do some sound effects.
The last portion of this attraction is a riot. With time running
out the sound editor, with toilet paper coming out of his shoes,
panicks as he tries to meet the deadline. This was enjoyable.
We also took in the "Phantom of the Opera Horror Make-up Show".
I expected more from this show. Remember Six-Bits from Hoop-
Dee-Doo? The same guy hosted this show. We saw some examples of
horror makeup, film clips, a guy in a gorilla suit, and saw the
co-host change into a fly like Jeff Goldblum but it really fell
short of expectations.
We came out of there and watched a scene from a TV pilot being
filmed. The name of the show is called "Anything Can Happen".
I'll be curious to see if it shows up on TV in the Fall.
We walked over to The Bates Motel and grabbed a bite at THE HARD
ROCK CAFE WHERE YOU HAVE TO TALK LIKE THIS IF YOU WANT SOMEONE
TO HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
My daughter got a Hard Rock Cafe shirt before we left and when
we came out we found that the Alfred Hitchcock attraction was
having problems and were advised that it may go down at any
time...it did. The Ghostbusters attraction seemed to have no
line. You guessed it. THAT WENT DOWN! That left the animal show,
Hanna-Barbera, and E.T. as the big attractions. E.T. was running
over 2 hours by this time. It's a real popular attraction. It
may be wise to head over to E.T. first when you arrive at the
park. I was very upset. We walked around the rear of the park
where the Back to the Future attraction is being built. They had
a Back to the Future souvenir shop open for business right next
to the construction site.
We saw the set of "Swamp Thing" and Amity (from Jaws). We looked
at the boneyard of props and then got some postcards to write
home and tell everyone how Universal was still not ready.
We went to the parking lot and noticed how a lot of people had
also left early. While buying postcards we talked with one of
the employees. She sayed that it's hard to work there when an
attraction breaks down because the visitors get grumpy and feel
they've been ripped off....uh huh!
Well it was late afternoon so I popped over to International
Drive and pulled into The Wizard's House. We spent about an hour
there and then just drove around to see how much of this roadway
had changed in 14 years. It seemed so much more congested.
We returned to the CBR and spent some time in the Pool and did
some laundry. Afterwards we went over to Port Royale and had
some pizza before coming back to the room and checking out the
day's video. If I had known what kind of a day it was going
to be I would have opted to go to the Kennedy Space Center
instead of Universal Studios. If you are going within the next
few months you may want to call to see what's operating...THEN
DON'T GO!.
Saturday, July 21
We had been delinquent in sending out some postcards so we wrote
them out just before leaving for Epcot. We hit Epcot about 9:15.
I felt that we should have a nice dinner in one of the countries
so we took a vote to see where we wanted to eat. Mexico and
Italy ended up in a dead heat. I did something that absolutely
floored everyone, especially my wife.
We went in to Earth Station and I made reservations in Italy
for lunch. Then without blinking an eye I made reservations in
Mexico for a late dinner. My wife didn't believe what I did.
"Hey," I said, "We're running out of time and we couldn't make
up our mind!" We were also way under budget which helped.
From there we went through The Living Seas, The Land (Kitchen
Kabaret), and then went over to Imagination to play with the
fountains. All this took most of the morning. We went into World
Showcase and decided to take a double-decker bus to Italy.
Lunch was great. I had the most unusual lunch since I was the
only one who ordered the calamari (squid). Being a cook myself I
talked recipes with the waiter.
After lunch we strolled over to the American Adventure. We
enjoyed listening to The Voices of Liberty so much that we ended
up buying a tape to listen to on the drive home. The singers
sound exactly like those on the cassette.
The Dolphin and Swan are now open and you can actually walk to
either hotel via International Gateway near France...I discov-
ered that today.
It was early afternoon and getting hot. We headed back to the
CBR for some pool time. We did some laundry and charged the
battery and returned back to Epcot in late afternoon.
We walked around doing various things in Future World before
strolling over to Mexico. Our table was right at the rail up
front. The food was okay but I think we would have enjoyed the
Mitsukoshi Restaurant in Japan even moreso. But hey...that's for
next time.
After we had dinner my wife and the kids were going over to
China to get a souvenir for a friend. I told them to meet me at
the Port of Entry area because I wanted to get a good spot to
tape Illuminations. Bad idea. When I got there I was shocked
to see EVERY *&^%$#@!*&^%$#@ BRAZILLIAN TOUR GROUP THERE.
There were red shirts, yellow, shirts, green shirts, orange
shirts....ARRRGHH!.
Well I got a spot and soon the rest of the family showed up.
they had the same reaction. One of our Brazillian neighbors got
a little rambunctious and shoved my wife while he tried to get
a good spot to watch Illuminations. I poked him on the shoulder
and said, "Hey pal there's plenty of room for everyone. Take
it easy." His associate, looking to calm me down, apologized
in slow, broken, English. I was ticked because it was too late
to find another spot and I had to endure their singing while
waiting for Illuminations to begin.
I didn't know what was to happen next. We were all told to
sit down because of where we were. I'm thinking, "Huh!? How
am I gonna tape if I'm sitting down?" Our southern neighbors
were being told in their native tongue to sit down by an Epcot
employee. The same employee was speaking to me in the same
tongue. I turned and said, "You can speak in English to me!".
Illuminations started and I had a heck of a time trying to tape
it. I tried to get on one knee but an Epcot employee told me I'd
have to stay down. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper
that evening. I should have set up shop near China. Please
remember this episode when you visit Epcot and stay away from
that area when it's time for Illuminations.
After Illuminations we went over to get that souvenir for a
friend. From there we slowly strolled out of Epcot. It was our
last evening there.
Sunday, July 22
MGM was our destination for this, our last full day in Orlando.
We skipped breakfast and went right to the park. When we got
there we decided that we should think about when and where
we'd eat lunch. The Brown Derby didn't seem to have anything
interesting on the menu. We talked it over and decided, what the
heck, Prime Time Cafe again. The kids went to Star Tours while
my wife and I went over to make reservations. I would have also
liked to have gone to the Warehouse Restaurant but it's good to
leave something to look forward to for the next visit. We got
over to Star Tours and when the kids came out they dragged me
back in with them to take another trip to Endor. Again, no line.
After Star Tours we started over to the Animation Tour. Along
the way we ran into Chip & Dale, Mickey, and Pluto. Snap, Snap,
Snap! More photos.
Don't miss the Animation Tour. Robin Williams is superb...he'll
crack you up. Please note you cannot videotape the studio por-
tion of this tour. Tape the Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite
film at the beginning. You'll regret it if you don't. If you're
wondering....yes I taped it. By the way, the studio operates 7
days a week so you'll see animators there any day you go.
After that tour we headed over to see the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles again. Along the way we found out that a "Let's Make
a Deal" taping was about to start so we took that in. Hey they
were giving out real prizes including CD Players. Now I know why
that guy was walking down Hollywood Blvd. carrying a CD player.
Yes folks, Let's Make a Deal is taped at MGM Studios in Orlando,
Florida. I estimated prizes for that show totaled about $5K.
We saw TMNT after that. After those heroes in a half-shell
we went over for lunch at Prime Time. This time I tried the
meatloaf. Good stuff. My son got "Mom" to make my wife sit in
the corner with no TV.
After lunch we took in some more "streetmosphere". There were
some different people on this day. When they did "the chase"
I knew where they'd end up. I scurried over to the lockers and
stood my ground. As each one passed by they looked straight in
the camera and said something. It was great.
We bid farewell to MGM and went back to the CBR to charge the
battery, take a dip, and rest up a bit for that final evening.
Remember...we usually didn't get to sleep until 1 A.M. and we
were usually up around 6:30 A.M. so some mid-day shut eye when
the crowds were heavy and the sun hot, was a necessity.
We arrived at TMK a little after 5 P.M. We had decided to finish
up our last day at this park....it's a tough decision to make,
but you can only be in one park at a time.
We got there and I thought that it was now time for the kids
to know all about Walt Disney. We took in The Walt Disney story
and they learned about the man who started everything. I think
they were able to really appreciate his efforts after enjoying
the parks and then seeing this film instead of vice versa. They
talked about afterwards. By the way, you Zorro fans can rest
assured that Zorro's cape is indeed in the lobby of The Walt
Disney Story.
We took a ride to Cinderella's castle in a 1903 automobile.
From there we went to FrontierLand to check on that Silversmith
shop again for some rings. It was around this point in the trip
that I began to show symptoms of PWDWVD (Post-WDW-Vacation-
Depression). We did some more shopping in FrontierLand before
hitting the Shooting Gallery for the last time.
From their we went to FrontierLand and the kids used some Disney
Dollars to get some wooden parrots at one of the shops. While
everyone shopped I sat down and watched the crowds go by and
took it all in. As people walked by I started to place them in
one of two categories. There were those people who were on the
front end of their vacation and those who were on the tail end.
I knew where we were.
My wife could sense my mood and said, "Hey, you can't leave
without having at least one Monte Christo sandwich!" We hadn't
eaten since Prime Time so we headed over to the Columbia Harvest
House, the only place in TMK which had Monte Christo's on the
menu.
We got there and I was feeling a little better until...
...........I didn't see Monte Christo sandwiches on the menu. I
asked the cashier and she said, "Oh we don't carry them anymore.
We changed the menu three weeks ago."
When I was revived the first time I asked, "Does any restaurant
carry these sandwiches?"
You know the crack of thunder you hear in a movie when a dra-
matic moment comes? Well the thunder occured one nanosecond
after I heard the answer to that question.
PWDWVD was really starting to cook.
My wife made a desparate move. She suggested we go to the Pin-
nocchio Village Haus restaurant. Her quick thinking had immedi-
ately focused on a favorite MK restaurant of mine from our last
visit 14 years ago.
It was a small remission, but a remission nontheless and I
enjoyed what was to be my last MK meal there.
Along the way I took some dusk/sunset videos of BTMR and the
Castle.
While in FantasyLand the kids rode the Carousel. I needed some-
thing to offset the oncoming depression so while in the "Toy
Shop" I purchased two CD's with Disney Music from movies and TV.
We then took in "Magic Journeys" one more time.
After that my wife and kids wanted to go through "Small World"
one more time. I told them I'd meet them under the large canopy
around the corner from the Pinocchio Village Haus. I wanted to
watch "Fantasy in the Sky" from behind the castle. If you want
to get away from the crowds it is the best place to watch the
show. Of corse this means you look away from the castle and also
don't hear the music.
While waiting for the rest of the troops I updated my trip book.
The fireworks from this point in the park seemed bigger and
louder. I taped it since I had tape and battery left.
We then did Snow White for the final time and then headed back
to Liberty Square. We wanted to watch the Electrical Light
Parade one more time. We stood outside the Hall of Presidents
for the 11 P.M. show. I had a good spot along the wall. I was up
high and taped the whole parade.
After the parade we went over for one last ride on BTMR. It was
now late...it was close to midnight. We left BTMR and walked
towards FrontierLand and AdventureLand. We came across the
parrot out in front of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was eerie.
the park was really deserted but Pirates was open. We headed
into Pirates. We were to be the last one's on the ride...we
had it to ourselves. When we stepped into the boat I checked my
watch...12:04 A.M.
While riding through this, our final ride, it hit me that it
was also our first attraction some 14 days before. We came out
of the ride and there was absolutely noone around. We headed
towards the Hub where Main Street meets Cinderella's Castle.
Along the way I'd stop and get more footage of the castle at
night. Deep depression. We walked down Main Street...I mean in
the middle taking it all in.
I started to walk slower...slower than everyone else. They were
ahead of me. We walked past "The Walt Disney Story" and while
the rest of the family headed for the exit I stopped, turned
around, gazed up Main Street U.S.A., then turned towards The
Walt Disney Story and said, "Thanks for a great time Walt". I
turned and left. I didn't look back after that.
Needless to say, it was a very quiet and solemn ride back to the
CBR.
Monday, July 23
We got up rather early and began packing up. I had to adjust
a seat in the van to give me more room to pack everything. I
wanted to check out in person rather than do an express check-
out.
We drove over to the Custom House and I checked out. From there
we drove to Port Royale to have our last Disney meal.
From Old Port Royale we headed to the Shopping Village to pick
up some things we had been putting off. Putting off buying stuff
before you leave is dangerous because the inventory down there
goes real fast. We wanted to get a book on WDW and he couldn't
find it in the Village Shoppiing Plaza just a few days after we
had seen tons of them. We ended up getting one at The Hilton. We
got some last minute items. I couldn't make up my mind on some
shirts...got 'em all.
Oh yeah, we purchased a cookbook that contains recipes for
the most requested meals at WDW.......yep...Monte Christo is
included.
We then left Orlando and headed North on I-4 and eventually
I-95. We took a detour a bit up the road and headed East to
stop off in St. Augustine. While there we visited a Ripley's
Believe It or Not Museum. From there we drove to Jacksonville
and secured a room for the night.
Tuesday, July 24
We took off early this day and just before leaving Florida we
stopped off at a grocery and stocked up our cooler with munchies
and drinks for the long ride home. While in the parking lot I
struck up a conversation with a retiree from Lowell, Mass. He
said Florida is a great place to live if you don't have to work.
Gee, I thought any place is a great place to live if you don't
have to work.
Our next stop was South of the Border in South Carolina. I
wanted to tape some of the sights there and wanted to get a
shirt also.
We left SOB and kept on going until we hit Roanoke Rapids, Vir-
ginia. We stayed at the Interstate Inn that night. We decided
we'd make an effort to get home be the next night. I told every-
one we'd have to get up early.
Wednesday, July 25th
We got up real early and headed out on I-95 around 4:45 A.M. Are
you ready for this? While driving through Maryland we listened
to the Voices of Liberty cassette. I remarked how I would have
liked to have seen The American Adventure one more time. I also
said that we had done so well moneywise that we could have swung
1 or 2 more days at the Caribbean but that I had thought back
then that everyone was anxious to get home. The kids and my
wife said, "We would have stayed!!?" I'll regret not vocalizing
my thoughts a day or two before leaving WDW. Remember I had
mentioned that I should have gotten a 6-day Super Pass? I wish I
had.
Anyway, we hit New Hampshire around 7 P.M. that night. I pulled
into my sister's driveway at 7:30. She was leaving for Orlando
the next morning and I had wanted to warn her about Universal
Studios.
After an hour or so of post trip conversation we left and drove
to the Old Homestead...pulled in about 9 P.M.
Our trip was over.
Some observations and points which I've learned from this trip
which may be helpful and informative to others:
o The information I got from the conference was invaluable.
o Stay on Disney property if possible.
o The Caribbean Beach Resort Hotel is the most convenient of
the on property hotels.
o Going to the parks between 8-12 in the morning and 5-11 P.M.
gives you the best chance at missing long lines.
o Summertime visiting offers you longer hours and going to the
parks in the hours mentioned above lets you avoid the heat as
well as the crowds.
o The best deals are the Super Passes (5 and 6 day).
o You can avoid the Brazillian tour groups early in the day,
late in the day, at Hoop-Dee-Doo, character breakfasts, and
at all the better WDW restaurants.
o It's worth taking your videocamera with you all the
time...you never know what you'll miss if you don't.
o Driving down to Fla. is fun.
o Bring lots of money!
o Visits to this resort should be spaced at least 2 years apart
to give Disney time to add new things and give you time to
save $$$$.
o Birnbaum is second only to this conference regarding informa-
tion.
o You can visit WDW, enjoy the food, and lose weight. My wife
did.
o When you visit Epcot Center visit World Showcase FIRST and
then work your way back to Future World.
o Buy most of your souvenirs at the Disney Shopping Village so
you can use your MKC card.
o If you drive then park your car at The Contemporary, The
Polynesian, or the Grand Floridian and take the monorail in
instead of parking in the lot serviced by trams.
o Better yet....take the busses if you stay on the property.
o Bring as little as possible with you to Typhoon Lagoon. The
lockers are small.
o Make restaurant reservations first thing in the morning
regardless of which theme park you visit. Don't wait.
o Always go to the left.
o Plan on dining in theme park restaurants no later than 9 P.M.
o Purchase your film and video tape prior to leaving on your
trip.
o Make lists.
o Go for as long a stay as you can.
o If you're driving down plan on going a month or two before an
oil-rich Arab nation is invaded....to avoid high gas prices.
Mike
|
| 183.32 | Last Week of August | AKOV12::ISRAELITE | | Wed Sep 05 1990 12:35 | 114 |
| August 25 - September 1
Our plan was to go when the crowds would be small. Everyone told us
this was the week and they were right. We also were told it would be
very hot: right on both counts.
This trip report will be shorter than the last one. I will break it up
into several general categories, followed by an overall impression.
Background
My family (wife, 9 year old and 6 year old) had been to WDW about 18
months ago. The youngest child was a little too young then and didn't
remember a whole lot. At that time we bought a timeshare at Vistana,
so this was our first trip back.
The Parks
We were there approximately 6 days, if you deduct the day we arrived
and the day we left. Roughly speaking, we divided our time this way:
MGM - 1.5 days
EPCOT - 1 day
TMK - 1 day
Typhoon Lagoon - 1.5 days
The other day represents the afternoons we spent at Vistana by the pool
or recovering.
MGM - We all really like this alot. We did almost everything there was
to do, from Star Tours to being a 'contestant' on Let's Make a Deal.
My kids really liked the Indiana Jones stunt show, but they enjoyed
just about everything. We even did a family Dick Tracy Screen Test.
Usually they pick people from different families (to max out the number
of tapes they sell), but we managed to get a family video out of it
(for the nominal price of $24.95).
This is a typical Disney experience. It is clean, well run, and there
is a lot to do. We were able to get through the the whole thing
because there were no (NO) lines. The only thing we waited for was
(suprisingly) was the animation tour, but even that was only for the
next show.
For the most part, I think this park would not be that interesting for
younger children -- no younger than 6 years old. There are a few
things, like the Muppets Show, but for the most part, the attractions
are too sophisticated, scary, or rely on some knowledge and/or interest
in old movies or TV shows.
EPCOT - I will limit my comments here to the attraction in which Body
Wars is shown. This, in my opinion, is the best single attraction in
the entire Disney complex. We spent something like 2.5 hours and still
hadn't done all that there is to do. The Body Wars 'ride' is great.
But the best thing is a presentation which illustrates how the brain of
a 12 year old works. It was extrememly well done. My general attitude
about EPCOT is that most of the presentation technology is not state
the art, but this place is. Go see it!!
My children actually like EPCOT better then TMK (I do also). The only
area we still haven't seen is Horizons. Next time we will go there and
spend some time in the international area.
We were able to stay for the laser/fireworks show. It was impressive.
Everything was working and, as at MGM, there were not lines.
TMK - We didn't do a whole lot here. This is partially because my wife
became ill after going on Thunder Mountain and I had TERRIBLE allergy
problems. We saw the show at Mickey's Starland, which was enjoyable,
and went on a few rides in Fantasy Land. The problem is that the rides
are soooo low tech. When you compare the Mr. Toad ride Body Wars,
Toad loses badly. The funny thing about this is that TMK was the most
crowded of the three parks. 20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is
closed for renovation.
Typhoon Lagoon - We loved this place and spent far more time here than
we should have. It was very relaxing. Some advice... you really don't
need to rent a tube unless you want to ride it in the wave pool. We
got there early in the morning so we were able to find chairs. The
truth is we never used them. We were either floating around the place
or going on water slides.
The Family raft trip is extremely short and not worth the wait. The
others are pretty good. The water slides are fun. My son (9) went on the
Humonga Kowabunga slide (30 mph...). I climbed to the top and had no
motivation to ride down, so I climbed back down.
Food - Three comments here. First, we had Mexican food at a place
called TEX MEX, which is near Disney Village. Just go past the
Crossroads shopping center to the next light, and take a right. The
food was terrific and inexpensive.
The Olive Garden (Italian) was okay also.
In MGM we ate in the Prime Time Cafe. This was fun. The decor is
interesting, the amibiance amusing, and the food was good. Make
reservations when you arrive in the park.
Vistana - Fine as usual.
Money - We spent a lot on this trip. My 69.99 car cost 130. Our
Disney Ticket were about 400. We spent another 500 on food, junk, gas,
etc. Then we have our airfare and the condo. I choose not to think
about this. Even though we spent alot we did have a terrific time.
Thanks for all of your advice.
LI
All in all we had an extremely enjoyable trip. The heat wasn't great,
but the lack of people more than made up for it. We'll probalby go
back in two more years for the next round.
|
| 183.33 | Possible DECwindows warning | ASABET::KUMPEL | Set DEC/TLA=JDI .... JUST DO IT!!!!!! | Thu Sep 13 1990 13:03 | 7 |
| The next reply (hopefully no gets between) will contain a trip report
of more than 200 lines. I realize that long notes messes up windows but
not knowing how long is long I am putting this warning in.
Bill
Who can participate again without reprisals
|
| 183.34 | Kumpel 8/14-8/23 | ASABET::KUMPEL | disney DISney DISNEY | Thu Sep 13 1990 13:13 | 204 |
| Better to be a little late then not at all. Beside I miss being able to reply
because I haven't filed my trip report.:=):=} Well here goes:
Who: Pat(wife),Amy(11),Emily(6) and myself(age left blank on purpose)
When: August 14-23,1990
Where: Caribbean Beach Resort (Jamaica)
Why: Because, and our annual passport expired on 8/27 so why not
Since this was our 5th trip in the last 4 1/2 years and the 3rd in the last
15 months we took a lot of liberty in what we wanted to see and what we could
skip. First of all let me state that is was hot and humid the whole time and
that this was the most crowded of all our trips. We usually go more "off-season"
Needless to say this figured into what we did each day.
8-14: Plane (Eastern, I know but the rates were the best when we booked) leaves
Logan "on time" and arrives into Atlanta as scheduled. Here is where we
had a problem. Seems connecting flight was canceled so instead of leaving
at 11:30 now scheduled for 12:30 across the airport. Take subway to new
terminal and begin to wait. BUT, I overhear the family next to us talking
and he was just told that although he was scheduled for the 12:30 flight
the 11:30 is not full and he can take that one. Turns out that they
"found" another plane in the last 10 minutes and the 11:30 will leave a
little late. Mind you,this was no announcement or posting on the board. So
back we go. ( I hate Eastern) Arrive in Orlando almost a hour late.(1:30)
Messed up my plans to be in the park by 2:00.
Car rental(National) is no problem. Collect luggage and family and off
we go. Make one stop at Goodings Market for the essentials like cooler,
milk,juice,goodies and other refreshments for the room. At CBR there are
no parking lot views left so they upgrade to garden view. Because of the
heat we wait until 4:30 to go to Epcot. Place is crowded. The first time
I've been this late in the afternoon to Epcot and not walked right into
Spaceship Earth. Wait is 10 minutes (I know I'm spoiled) and this is one
of the shortest of the whole time. From there we go to Norway then Mexico
for the ride and supper at the San Angel Inn. Food is ok but not spicy
enough for me. Kids loved their meals. I would have preferred the Cantina
but the daily afternoon rain shower was taking place. Florida is a wonder-
full place in that regard. You could bet your paycheck that it will rain
at least 5 times a week between 4-7 p.m. After dinner we hit Energy,
Horizens,Wonders of Life except for Body Wars,which had at 75 minute
wait and Communicore East before leaving around 9. We left early because
we wanted to do MGM first thing the next day. We did however get to watch
the fireworks at MGM from our room which happened to face that way. We
watched them every night we were in our room at 11:00. We could even hear
the announcer and music.
8-15: Were at MGM when the gates open. Did Star Tours (GREAT "ride" the effects
are incredible),Superstar TV (Emily is selected to be Ginger on the
Gilligan's Island skit), Great Movie Ride by 9:15. Take in Indiana Jones
and decide to try some place cool. A good place was the Lets Make A Deal
studio. Pat was selected as a trader so we had to stay and watch the
"taping" and see if she wins anything. Unfortunately she is not selected
during the show. People won some good prizes though. Cameras,bike,CD
players and the person who spun the wheel at the end missed a Disney
cruise be 2 slots. (Disney pays taxes on winnings up to 600.00 after that
your on your own). By now, 11:30, its hot and crowded. Instead of waiting
until 1:30 for Prime Time reservations we try the Brown Derby. Walk right
in and seated in minutes. After lunch we call it quits and go back to
the pool. Back to Epcot at 5:00 and did Living Seas,Land (ride,Kitchen
Kabaret and Farmers Market for dinner),Imagination,Communicore West and of
course Illuminations. Managed to get back in time to watch MGM fireworks.
8-16: Break Day. This is what we call a day to prepare for the next one.
Breakfast at Port Royal. I love the buffet at the Chinese place. 1 adult
and 1 childrens feeds 4,especially if the kids had cereal in the room
before. Then to Sea World (free tickets from last year) by 10:30. Do the
entire park by 3:00. Return to the pool. Have supper in the room. (see
below) then wander over to the shopping village. Kids asleep by 9:30
and my wife and I wander down to the lagoon to watch Epcot fireworks
(although you can't see the lasers you can see most of the fireworks
from the CBR) then back to the room and watch MGM's.
8-17: Friday. Busiest day of the trip. Blitzkrieg tactics all day. Breakfast in
the room and at Magic Kingdom by opening time. Oldest daughter and myself
do Space Mountain while wife and youngest do StarJets. Finish at the same
time then do in rapid fire Wedway,Dreamflight,Mission to Mars, American
Journeys, Grand Prix Raceway,Mr Toads Wild Ride,Ciderella's Carrousel
and Small World (I know but the kids love it. At least we didn't have to
do Dumbo's Flying Circus for the first time which is worse IMHO) by 1:00.
Returned to the room for lunch and a swim. While the kids were swimming
I went to the Amtrak station to pick up my brother-in-law who came down
from Savannah for the weekend to join us. After returning and finding him
a room out on 192 (no reservations. Who needs them)we decided since he is
semi-broke(just moved to Georgia from St Thomas and started his own
business from scratch) he will buy only a one day pass to a park. Since he
been to the MK several times and Epcot once we figure MGM will be best.
Arrive at 4:30 and by the time we watched the fireworks from the parking
lot at 11 we had done everything but animation and the Muppets. This
includes Star Tours twice, dinner at the Prime Time (without reservations)
the complete Backstage Studio Tour,Monster Sound Studio,Superstar TV,Great
Movie Ride,tried to get on Let's Make A Deal(twice) and the Indiana Jones
Stunt Spectacular. (It's twice as good at night. The effects are great)
Considering the crowds and the fact dinner took more than an hour we
did pretty good. Needless to say my brother-in-law was very impressed
with the whole place especially Star Tours (the look on his face at the
first drop was priceless),Catastrophe Canyon (we let him in the tram
first,aren't we friendly) and Indiana Jones.
8-18: Break Day again. Since this was my oldest daughter birthday we took the
day off so to speak. We used our annual passport for River Country and
since we managed to pick up Plus Pass tickets from someone who was leaving
the day before (socializing by the pool is great,it is amazing) my brother
in law was free. Spent a nice lazy day swimming,sliding etc there.
Afterward we had a birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's at the shopping
village. We embarrassed my daughter there. When it's your birthday they
bring this big birthday balloon with a cake in the basket attached to it,
the waiters and Mickey come over and lead the restaurant in a chorus of
happy birthday. Finished up with shopping at the stores.
8-19: Since my brother in law was leaving early in the afternoon we used Sunday
morning to go the Minnie's breakfast at the Poly. Afterwards just visited
the various hotels such as Grand Floridian,Dolphin,Swan and then over to
Pleasure Island just to look around. After dropping him off at Amtrak it
looked like it was really going to rain(which it did for several hours)
so we stopped at the Belz Factory Outlet. Did some shopping and decided
to try Universal Studio the next day so called it quits early and managed
to get the kids in bed at a reasonable hour. Watched MGM fireworks again
of course.
8-20: Universal Studio. Arrived before it opened and proceeded to blow the
opportunity. This place has what I consider some serious problems. There
really hasn't been enough discussed in this file to plan Universal the
way we can Disney. What really messed us up was the fact the kids wanted
to audition for Nickelodeon. No one would give any info in advance
on how it works so we did that first. Mistake. By the time we got out the
lines got long. Still, I managed to do everything except Jaws (down and we
know why). I will put more on Universal in that topic. Suffice it to say
that this killed the entire day and left us tired from the heat and
humidity.
8-21: Slept late. Had breakfast in the room then went swimming until late
afternoon. Went to Magic Kingdom to finish up there. Did Jungle Cruise,
Pirates of the Caribbean,Tiki Birds (the kids love them not me),Swiss
Family Treehouse,Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer,Mike Fink Keelboats,
Hall of Presidents,Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan,Snow White,Fantasy Faire,
Mad Hatter Teacups,quick stop in Mickey's Starland then the Skyway back to
Thunder Mountain (managed to be on the Skyway when the fireworks started
and Tinkerbell flew. different perspective.) and finished up with the
electrical parade at 11:00. This sounds like a lot and it is. We were
helped by the fact that this was a very hot day with a longer then
normal rain shower around 5:30. This thinned the crowd out some and by
the time the 9:00 parade started the rides were really emptying out.
Back around midnight. Missed the MGM fireworks,oh well.
8-22: Slept late again. Had breakfast in the room again and then swimming until
late in the day again. Hit Epcot around 3:30 this time to finish there.
Finish World Showcase which takes up most of the time. Worked from Germany
around to Canada then hit Imagination again for the little one then bite
the bullet and went to Body Wars at Wonders of Life. The wait no matter
when we checked was at least an hour but since this was the only thing we
had never done we went. Fortunately the 60 minute sign was off,it only
took 45. I think people got out of line as the time for illuminations
approached. It wasn't worth the wait. Star Tours has got this beat by a
mile. Finished up with illuminations again then back to the CBR to watch
MGM's fireworks.
8-23: Departure day. I tried to convince my wife for one more blitz. I had it
all planned and it would have worked. MGM for Star Tours and the Movie
Ride,then over to MK to do Thunder Mountain and then Space Mountain.
I know we would have been back to the room by 10:00 AM and since the plane
didn't leave until 2:30 we had plenty of time. But she and the kids were
too tired. Settled for a leisurely breakfast and then the shopping village
to blow the rest of our money. Lunch at Chef Mickey's and then to the
airport. Then the fun started again with Eastern. Seems Atlanta was having
fog problems so when we got there our flight was 45 minutes late arriving.
The agent at the gate got us on another flight that was getting ready to
leave.(it was already an hour late) Even though we had to hurry I figured
I was better off waiting in Atlanta for my connecting flight then to stuck
in Orlando. Thank goodness we did. Atlanta was a zoo. Flights were running
late everywhere. After changing the departure of our flight 4 times due
to inbound problems Eastern finally decided on a gate and a plane. The
original plane was supposed to be a 727 but we ended up with a L-1011.
Turns out they took the biggest plane they had around because so many
connecting flights were late in arriving they had over 500 people waiting
for Boston. It turned out to be pretty much a first come first served
scramble for seats. (I hate Eastern) We were lucky though, we managed to
get 4 seats together. Somehow our luggage followed us but we weren't
sure until we claimed it at Logan.
In order to save money and time we would often have breakfast and lunch in
our room. How do you do this you ask. Well, we cheat. Most people when they eat
in their room at the CBR buy food at Port Royal and bring it back. Not us. We
brought a portable single electric burner,a electric pot for heating water,
plastic plates and bowls, some silver ware and cooking utensils,hand can opener
and some basic food stuff like cereal,pasta etc. For breakfast we would have
english muffins,pancakes,corn beef hash and cereal. Lunch was often tuna fish,
grilled cheese,soup and pasta. It would be a lot easier in the trailers at FW
but this wasn't off season. Just had to be careful not to set off the smoke
alarm.
The other thing is we used our car every single day when going to the park
except for the next to the last night when we knew we would close the park (MK)
By going late in the day not only did we avoid most of the heat but we managed
to get a parking space right up front usually in the first row nice and close to
the entrance. Epcot is the best to do this at. No trams or monorail crowds.
This will be our last trip until 1992 unless we hit the lottery or win
a trip. We will let them add some new stuff before we go back (sigh)
Bill
Who's_vac.com_will_sit_idle_for_a_while
(sigh)
|
| 183.35 | LATE REPORT and LONG | HPSTEK::PASCO | Mark 'PASCO' Pascarelli | Mon Sep 17 1990 14:13 | 725 |
| Sorry this is very late in coming but I've had lots to do. And this has been
partially done for over a month !
THE FIRST PART OF THIS REPORT IS A SUMMARY WITH GENERAL INFO. THE SECOND
PART IS A DAY BY DAY...BLOW BY BLOW DESCRIPTION. READ THE PART YOU ARE
INTERESTED IN.
WALT DISNEY WORLD TRIP REPORT FOR PASCARELLI FAMILY
SUMMARY OF TRIP
WHO: 4 adults , 1 child (6 yrs)
HOW: Driving round trip was 3030 miles
HOW LONG : 5 days in park ( world vacation plan) , 2 weeks total vacation time
First time for Myself, wife and child
We stayed at the Polynesian, which was top notch. The atmosphere was just
right and I felt comfortable. Closeness to the TCC was an advantage as this
gave us lots of options as to how to get around. The staff was excellent,
and the pool and grounds were in excellent shape.
We decided to go using the 5 day World Vacation. This was our first trip and
I wanted to do everything and anything without worrying about the cost. It
was a wise choice and I'll try to do it the same way next time. I was told
in advance that our plan DID NOT include the Neverland Club and was prepared
to pay on the night our son went there. They surprised me by asking if we
were "GOLD KEY" and then taking it as payment for the $24 charge (4 hours).
We used the card for boat rental, admission to river country and discovery
island, all the parks, Neverland Club and many EXCELLENT and EXPENSIVE meals
and shows. We met some people that were told that "Victoria and Albert's"
was not included but we went there 1 night with no problem. Our record
Dinner for 4 was $365 and record Lunch for 5 was $200. These kind of meals
being free helped justify the package price. When our plan expired we added
up all receipts and the total for 5 days of meals for 5 people, plus water
sprites, and river country .....$1885.... And this does NOT include hotel
or park entry and the little things like VALET parking. We ate like
Kings and Queens....And the beauty was that with all the walking no one
gained any weight !!!
We visited each of the 3 parks multiple times, caught the Polynesian review,
Front row for Hoop-De-Doo, Sunday Brunch-With-The-Disney-Bunch, Broadway at
the Top, Dinner at the Empress Room, Electrical Parade, Water Pageant,
Fireworks from in the park and from the top of the contemporary, Dinner at
Victoria and Alberts, Sat in the front of Monorail 3 times including once at
night, and did too many other things to remember.
Magic Kingdom was MY favorite and Sons also. Wife Liked Epcot the best.
Magic Kingdom has the most shade in park area with most lines being under
some kind of shade. BUT the rides are mostly outside and HOT. MGM has the
least shade but Lots of stuff is inside and VERY COOL. You can feel the cold
air from open doors when you walk up the sidewalk.
On the next trip ??? I would like do do most everything again. I would try
to stay Longer and use the same plan if finances allow. I would go into the
parks ONLY very early and VERY late, saving the middle of the day for
boating, swimming, relaxing, etc. I would cross off the Polynesian review
but Do the other Dinner show and the Character Brunch again. The Neverland
Club is a MUST at least once for the kids.
FIRST THING UPON ARRIVAL GET EACH CHILD A DISNEY AUTOGRAPH BOOK. THEY SOLD OUT
AFTER WE GOT OURS. STEPHEN LOVED GETTING THOSE SIGNATURES AND ALL THE CHARACTERS
SIGNED AS SOON AS THEY SAW IT. CARRY YOUR OWN PEN !
Most of our NON-DISNEY motel's were DAYS INN'S. The reservations were made
through the Days Inn 800 number telephone reservation number. THIS WAS A
GIANT MISTAKE !!!! At every place reserved through this number we were stuck
with a motel that did not meet our expectations. We also found much nicer
DAYS INNS in the same city in every case. WE DID CHECK and found that in
every case the nicer place still had rooms available but to change our
reservations we would have had to forfeit our deposit. In the opinion of the
adults on this trip The parent company is filling the less desirable
buildings with the 800 reservation people. Walk-in's from the street may not
stay there once they see the place. They have lost us as future customers.
And now the details
*** ALL NUMBERS IN PARENTHESIS ARE THE APPROXIMATE WAIT TIME FOR THE ATTRACTION
=============================================================================
JULY 4... 4:00 p.m....Pick up rental van at Logan Airport. National Car,
Plymoth Grand Voyager, $257 per week unlimited mileage.
We own a Grand Caravan and thought it would be a good choice for the
trip, but didn't want to add the miles to ours...especially since the
transmission had been acting up.
11:00 P.M.... Left Marlboro, Mass. travel route was 495 to 95, Tappen Zee
bridge, N.J turnpike, Garden State Trnpk., then back to 95....
===============================================================================
JULY 5
4:30 P.M. stopped for 1'st night at Florence, South Carolina
===============================================================================
JULY 6... Arrived in Orlando 1 day before our package started to rest up and
be better able to take full advantage of the first day at Disney.
Checked into DAYS INN CENTRAL and determined that we will never stay
there again. I wouldn't even wash the dog with towels that looked like
the ones they furnished. My son burnt his hand on tap water from
the COLD faucet. The AC was practically non-existent. No ICE. ETC.
===============================================================================
July 7 ... DISNEY DAY 1..... My Birthday
Arrived at the POLYNESIAN right before 9:00 A.M. Took about
10-15 minutes to get squared away at registration desk.
We received resort ID's for each person, GOLD KEY cards for each
person, 2 room keys for each room, maps and hotel info, 2 vouchers
for VALET parking, 2 vouchers for Bellhop service. The rooms were
naturally not ready at this early hour but that was expected.
We drove the van up to the front door and Disney took it from there!
All luggage was taken out and locked up and the car was parked right
up close to the front entrance. We never saw the car until check out.
After About 9:15 A.M. or so were were all set and started WDW by
having breakfast at the Coral Isle Cafe. After reading about it "HERE"
for 6 months I had to have the Banana French Toast. Very Good but once
was enough for me.
Took the Monorail over to Magic Kingdom and did :
Tomorrowland
Mission to Mars (5)....good
Wedway people mover (0)....good
Starjets.....I skipped but son enjoyed
Temp. was now in 90's and VERY humid. Break for Ice tea !
1'st spill of the trip. Whole cup of orange soda. Caused by ADULT !
Skyway to Fantasyland (5)
Fantasyland
Smallworld (5)...I expected to hate this but actually
thought it was an excellent ride. My wife
and the other couple did it 3 times before
the week was out.
Carousel (10)...standard fare
Dumbo (20+).... My least favorite ride and longest
wait of the trip. son really enjoyed it.
20,000 leagues (15)...good for kids
We moved around slow because of the heat, 90+ every day. By now we had
soaked up lots of Disney Magic and took the Monorail to the Contemporary for
lunch. My wife's hat said Bar Harbor and The waitress was from Maine so took
a great interest in our table. Shrimp cocktail was my son's lunch.... That
"PLAN" sure came in handy. Shrimp never fails to get my son to eat. He ate
mine and his ! Lunch for 5 was $70.
After lunch we went back to the Poly, stopped in the Gift shop, and got our
room keys around 3:00. I stopped back out front and Disney snapped into
action again. They took all bags, plus my son and I on a little cart ride
right over to our building (Hawaii) and carried everything inside. All as
part of "THE PLAN" . We were now ready for the pool but a Thunder and
Lightning storm changed that idea. Did a little souvenir shopping with my
son and relaxed for a few hours.
We did the Polynesian Review for dinner. We were told to be there 45 mins.
early !!! 15 minutes would have been better. There is no place to sit while
you are waiting and small children get bored waiting that long.The food was
OK, with the stir fried shrimp dish being excellent. I thought the show was
a little slow for the 1'st half. My son really enjoyed the faster moving
dances. I'm glad we did this show but would probably not do it on the next
trip. Stephen (6 yrs. 50 lbs.) fell asleep right before the fire dance and
missed it. He is still asking why they didn't do it. I carried him back to
Hawaii which is quite a hike when carrying someone !!! He slept about 5
minutes after I put him on his bed and awoke just in time to go see the
water pageant.
With the child wide awake and DAD chomping at the bit We headed back to the
MAGIC KINGDOM for :
Grand PRIX RACEWAY (15) ... excellent Stephen got to drive
I controlled gas !
Saw the fireworks immediately after we exited the Raceway. Lost the rest of our
group who were SUPPOSED to meet us at raceway. It turns out they decided to take
a second ride on SMALLWORLD. We wasted about 1/2 hour before we gave up on them.
and did......
SPACE MOUNTAIN (15)... I absolutely HATE rollercoasters but was so
hyped up I thought this was super. The hype
inside is so great that I think some people are
scared over nothing. About 20 people left the
line and snuck out the back while we were waiting.
Stephen sat in front seat and spent the whole
time saying "I HOPE I LIVE". We both decided that
1 ride per Disney trip is enough for us. We
couldn't talk the rest of our group into going on
it later.
Got turned around at castle because of Parade and then got kind of lost. I
had forgotten my map in the hotel. Ended up in FrontierLand and took train
back to front, then Monorail to Hotel. The Monorail was always slow and made
stops between hotels due to preceding monorail being still stopped at the
hotel stations.
BEDTIME around 12:20
==============================================================================
JULY 8... DISNEY DAY 2
Rise and shine at 5:45....I got everyone up early every day and I took
abuse for it . Out front waiting for the MGM bus at 6:50. Arrived at MGM
shortly after 7:00. Coffee and VERY light breakfast at Hollywood and Vine.
Front row, Center seats for the first show of the day of Indiana Jones Stunt
Show. Excellent show. They can fit a great number of people inside....Felt the
heat of the flames !!!!!
Then STAR TOURS (0) ...WOWEE ZOWEE !!!! Even my wife who hates space and/or
Science Fiction loved it.
Over to the Monster Sound Show (5 +). My son was itchy and wanted to look for
RIDES ! Once inside He was one of the loudest laughers and really enjoyed the
show.
Cold drinks were now in order and then a walk to The Chinese Theater for
THE GREAT MOVIE RIDE (10). Again my son was itchy waiting in line but this
was another attraction that had his FULL attention once it started.
Back to the Polynesian by bus, A quick fresh-up in the room and Over to the
Main house for "SUNDAY BRUNCH WITH THE DISNEY BUNCH". The food was excellent
with champagne included for adults. Lots of breakfast foods and lots of hot
"meals" like stir fry shrimp, and pork, Roast beef, cold shrimp....
Characters were MINNEY, GOOFY, CHIP, DALE, and PLUTO. We were there well
over an hour and all the characters except PLUTO visited our table, sat,
played, signed autographs, and posed for pictures. They spent as much time
at tables with all adults as tables with kids.
Next was 45 minutes on the Water sprites. I "had" to drive as my son was too
young. Then a dip and slide at the pool. The Polynesian has 2 pools. We always
used the one with the awesome slide. The stairs are reached by going under a
waterfall.
We adults looked kind of funny with ties and dresses but that was the dress
code for our next adventure...Dinner at VICTORIA AND ALBERTS at the Grand
Floridian. Stephen stayed at the Mickey Mouse Club (at the Floridian). This
was kind of disappointing as it was just a small room with toys and vcr.
Geared more toward smaller children 6 and UNDER. Actually not bad but The
NEVERLAND club a few night later was much better (and more money of coarse).
Dinner was FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harpist playing during dinner, every need is catered to. If you leave the
table they take away your napkin and bring a fresh one upon your return, AND
put it on you lap. Fresh Silverware is brought on a silver tray after every
course. Complementary PORT wine was served before desert the night we were
there. A multi-hour Gustatory experience. Dinner for 4 including tip but no
Alchohol was $365. Included special hor's de oers while "the chef prepares
your appetizer", soup, salad, entree, sorbet to clean the palate, and
dessert. Even the rest rooms in this restaurant were an experience.
Then pick up Stephen, Back to the Poly by Launch , Change clothes, Monorail
to TTC...big mistake and Monorail to Epcot for a scouting trip. We found out
the ride to TTC is long and the walk is short. We walked to and from TTC
after this.
We scouted around Epcot arriving minutes before the light show and chose
SPACESHIP EARTH (0) over watching the Light show. Great Ride. Monorail back
to TTC and walk to Poly. I did another Infamous Child Carry and again he
awoke as soon as we arrived back at the room. Which of us is smarter ????
==============================================================================
July 9 ... Disney Day 3
Up early... Breakfast in the Coral Cafe at the Poly. 8:30 A.M. walk to TTC and
monorail over to EPCOT. Wandered around awhile people watching then:
UNIVERSE OF ENERGY (5 +) ... Most of this was Excellent but I thought
some of the movie was boring. The Dinosaurs
are really good.
BODY WARS (15) ... EXCELLENT but Star Tours was better. However I think
this was a rougher ride.
Wandered around the wonders of life trying a few touchy-feely exhibits.
Lines were getting long so headed over to the Living Seas and were seated
early for our lunch reservations. Lunch was at the Coral Reef Rest. Maine
Lobster all around plus the obligatory Shrimp cocktail. Stephen ate the
1-1/2 pounder and a shrimp cocktail and left nary a scrap. They do lobster
really nice. You don't even need a cracker for the shell. Watching the fish
while eating was great and a scuba diver "visited" the front tables through
the glass. Again I was glad for "the plan" since the bill would have been
$200. Desert was also great, too bad I was too full for anything but ice
cream. After lunch :
LIVING SEAS (5) ... Son wanted to skip since we go to the N.E. Aquarium
a lot. He was getting fussy but once inside
didn't want to leave. We missed the divers going
in and out but it was still a good attraction.
CAPTAIN EO (20) ... We missed the first group to go inside after we
started waiting but we got inside on the next. The
pre-show movie is good but little ones can't see
very well since it's all standing. The EO show
itself is excellent even for those who don't like
Michael Jackson. The special effects are good and
people actually reach out to try and grab the
creatures.
EL RIO DEL TIEMPO (Mexico) (0) ... The river of time. Very good. Got
stuck getting off ride when a women a
few boats ahead had a hard time
getting off. We were actually sitting
for close to 5 mins. while they tried
pushing her out, pulling her out, prying
her out, and everything else.
MAELSTROM (Norway) (5) ... Very nice ride. It's slightly spoiled by the
view you get from outside the building while
waiting in line.
After an Ice Tea (and pastry) our party split up. Stephen went with the
other couple over to Journey into Imagination while my wife and I walked
around the other countries. We took the launch back across the lagoon when
we were done and went in the back and upstairs at Journey into Imagination.
Stephen was on TV making one of those movies when they put the kids into a
film using special effects. HE had a very good time playing and Figment
turned out to be one of his favorites.
After a walk around Communicore it was back to TTC by monorail and walk to
the Poly. After a short rest It was Monorail to the Contemporary and launch
ride over to Ft. Wilderness for the HOOP-DE-DOO REVIEW ! We originally had
reservations for the first show of the night. BUT sometime that morning we
decided to try and change them. We were successful in changing to the
second show of the nite. This was another case of being told to be there 45
mins. early and finding out that 15 would have been better. while waiting to
get in I did a little shopping at the trading post and met some interesting
and friendly people from Texas. Once in Pioneer Hall I was expecting tables
way in back because of the reservation change AND was surprised by receiving
a front row center table. The food was not as bad as some reviews here claim
with the beans being extra good. The music and jokes were old and very corny
which is what makes the show so good. My son thought it was fantastic and
even the other Male Adult warmed to the show after they made some comments
about him "EYEING" the women performers. This is a MUST DO on any future
trips !!!!!
Because of the late hour the Launches were not running when we exited so We
took a bus back to the Polynesian. The next morning we found out that 3 or 4
kids were killed later that nite. They were high school aged WDW employees
driving around late after work and HIT a bus that was waiting to make a left
turn. It made all the papers since SPEED was definitely involved and there
were friends of the kids as witnesses. Police claimed speeds in excess of
80, witnesses claimed "not more than 55"....either way a sad and unnecessary
loss.
===============================================================================
JULY 10 .....DISNEY DAY 4
Up and at em early.... Bus over to MGM and a very lite breakfast at HOLLYWOOD
AND VINE. MGM was a good place for early morning with it's 7:00 opening time.
During the morning coffee it was decided that the other 3 adults wanted to
take the Backstage tour. I decided that Stephen may not enjoy a 2 hour tour
so He and I decided to do our own thing. We agreed to meet the others at
11:30 in front of the BROWN DERBY since we had lunch reservations there at
12:00.
Steve and I did :
ANIMATION TOUR ( 10 ) ... This is a really good movie. Robin
Williams with Cronkite? The tour part
was OK but some people will shove "their" kids
in front of other people to make sure "they" can
see then the adults themselves will block out
other children from seeing also. I tried to
never block "polite" children even if I had to
stand back a little.
When we exited the tour we ran into Mickey right out front. This was our
only real run in with the Brazilian tour groups. Steve had his heart set on
a picture of himself with Mickey and an autograph. The Brazialian's showed
up 3 seconds behind us and took over. They were climbing over seats and
planters to get behind Mickey and push others away...even pushed little kids
and jammed in front of them. Mickey couldn't see what was happening. Stephen
finally got an autograph after 5 minutes of waiting....as the 2'nd in
line.... Then before I could take the picture these 3 women jammed him out
and "HOGGED" Mickey until someone came out and led Mickey away and behind
the scenes. We also saw Brer Fox for autographs...
NINJA TURTLE SHOW ... We arrived 30 minutes before the show. The
girl setting up the ropes told us that the
1'st 75 kids would get on stage for an
autograph and picture taking opportunity.
we were about 20'th in line. When the show
started we missed the turtle wagon pulling up
and the turtles getting up to the stage.
2 turtles dance around the stage while 2 others
and April sign autographs at the ropes. We were
ushered up on stage 2 kids at a time. Each kid
was brought to 1 of the turtles and could get
an autograph while the parents took pictures. We
were allowed less than 30 seconds for this and
then led off stage. In all the "SHOW" lasts less
than 10 minutes and then they drive off in the wagon.
For real TMNT lovers a good show if you are one of the
75 allowed on stage, otherwise a waste of time.
MUPPET SHOW ( 10 + ) ... Excellent show with Kermit, Fonzi,
Animal and others....
INDIANA JONES ( 15 ) ... This was our second time. The pre-show
routine was the same so this part was
not as interesting. I insist that the
show itself was slightly different but
my son claims otherwise. I remember 2 big diff's
in the stunts. Some of the characters were
different but INDY was the same guy.
STAR TOURS ( 5 +) ... second time for this. Just as good a it
was a few days before. Sat in LAST row on
first ride and in 2'nd row this time. Ride
was rougher and better in front. IMHO.
Made our way over to BROWN DERBY for Lunch. Met the others right on time and
were seated about 5 minutes early. Cobb Salad was good, Shrimp cocktail
again for my son. I would rate food as Good but not great, service OK,
Atmosphere not really special. I would skip this next time and go somewhere
else. The LOW POINT of the whole vacation happened here. My son went to the
rest room and forgot his fanny pack in one of the stalls. I didn't notice
since I wasn't wearing one. When we went to leave the restaurant He
remembered the Pack. We were only out of the rest room 5 minutes but the
pack was gone. NO ONE turned it in. Net loss was a cheap camera with
Priceless pictures in it, A Ninja Turtle pack, and 1 new purchase ... A
Ninja turtle Keychain. The pack was replaceable but we haven't been able to
find another keychain. Good thing I was carrying his autograph book in my
pocket that day. He was quite upset and it brought tears to his 6 year old
eyes. He learned a valuable lesson and if he ever finds something he will
turn it in to lost and found and save someone else the hurt.
We made our way back to the POLY by bus and the Wife's did laundry while
Al rested and I brought Stephen to the Game room. He spent 7 or 8 dollars
playing video games while the wives spent a few dollars doing the laundry. I
think he got more enjoyment than them.
We dressed again and all went by Monorail to the Contemporary for the 9:00
show of BROADWAY AT THE TOP. Excellent show even Stephen enjoyed it. The
menu was a little limited and difficult for him since there was no shrimp.:>)
During dinner only the band plays. Nice easy stuff like Big Band Sounds.
We watched a Lightning storm through the windows and also watched the
Fireworks over Magic Kingdom right from our seats. After dinner a stage pops
out from under the band and 5 performers came out to sing and dance. All
music was Broadway tunes and done very professionally. Great show and I
would do it again. If my memory is correct it was over 2 hours for dinner
and the show. Monorail back to Poly and another infamous CHILD CARRY !
===========================================================================
JULY 11 .....DISNEY DAY 5
This was the last day of our package deal and we were therefore supposed to
leave the park that nite and stay off property. Yesterday we found a flyer
under our door advertising that we could extend the hotel stay for $120 per
night. The usual room rate was 200 +. This rate was for room only. We
decided to stay the last night instead of going off property. This saved us
from leaving in the middle of the day to check in someplace else then
returning for our night dinner plans.
Today we split up again.
I had used the PLAN to get free tickets to Discovery Island and River
Country Last night. I just went over to Guest Relations in the Poly lobby
and showed my card. We got the tickets last nite and planned on using them
today. The other 2 Adults wanted to visit Discovery so slept in and did a
late start. I "informed" my wife that I was being tour leader today and
"forced" her and my son along. We got up early and ate a leisurly breakfast
at the Polynesian Tangarea Terrace. The buffet was excellent and included
Mickey Mouse Waffles.
We hopped a Monorail and were on Main Street about 8:40. We were waiting at
the bridge near Adventure Land when the 9:00 opening came. We did :
Jungle Cruise (5) ..... Not as good as I expected. This really needs
to be updated with better and newer technology.
Wife thought this an absolute waste of time.
Son liked it but not as much as....
Pirates of the Caribbean (5)..... Great ride. Worth a long wait if
need be. One of my son's favorites !
Wife liked this also.
Thunder Mountain R.R. (10) ..... Again I "hate" roller coasters but this
was Excellent with a capital E. Most
of the ride scenery is wasted on your
first trip because your too busy holding on.
We then hopped the Disney R.R. over to Mickey's Starland.
Mickey's House and SHOW ( 5+) ..... The show is quite good with
characters from the Rescue Rangers TV
show and Duck Tales doing a skit with
Mickey and a young woman.
Then we went backstage for pictures with Mickey. This
Was the part my son wanted the most and it is very
Poorly done in my opinion. Mickey was in a dimly lit
room with a very bright light behind him. This makes
for BAD pictures. Each child was given about
10 nanoseconds alone with Mickey. Once again we had a
slight problem with a Brazilian family pushing in line
and then trying to Hog Mickey's time. The Cast member
inside also doesn't help matters by trying to Hustle
everyone through in less than 15 seconds.
Mickey's Starland was a great place to meet characters. We saw about 7
different ones floating around between the attractions. Then it was back on
the R.R. to the front gate and over to the Poly by Monorail.
We had Soda's and ice cream, changed into swimsuits and took the Monorail
over to the Contemporary then out the back door. A boat ride to Fort
Wilderness and a short walk later we were inside river country.
My son enjoyed the wading area and small slides, then we all went on the
Tube ride. This should have been made longer. It seems like it's over too
quick. My wife went once then decided it was dangerous. Since your feet hang
out one side and your head hangs out the other she was afraid that someone
would bang their head on the cement walls and get knocked out. Son and I did
it a few more times. He fell out of his tube on the last ride and couldn't
get back inside until I came along to help. He bumped his tailbone quite
hard on the bottom and decided that he was finished there.
So it was over to the big waterslides. These baby's Are pretty steep at the
end and put you out in very deep water. The wife chickened out at the top
but son and I went for it. Ride #1 was fine. Ride number 2 was a near
disaster. When I reached bottom Steve was right in front of me and doing
fine. We hit the water and started toward the ladder out. My son swims much
better than I and was in front. I couldn't see very well since I am blind
without my glasses. I floundered after him and lost sight of him when I went
under a wave. I reached the ladder, and climber out expecting him to be
waiting but only saw my wife. I searched the water and he was not out there.
I started to panic and was about to leap back in when another GUEST came
swimming over helping Steve along. He had somehow gotten pushed under the
floating Logs that are used to mark the safety area thats the end of the
slide drop zone.. The logs were too big for him to grab and he was too tired
to go under or around. THE LIFEGUARD NEVER SAW A THING. He looked like a
drowned rat and decided on his own to stay in the wading area for the rest
of our visit.
After we dried and had a snack at the Fort Wilderness Trading Post...and
bought a few souvenirs.....we Did the reverse trip back to the Poly.
i.e.....Launch to Contemporary, Monorail to Poly. After showers, and a hour
or so rest.... We dressed up for the third time in suits, met the others from
our group,and then dropped off Stephen at the NEVERLAND CLUB at the Polynesian.
The NEVERLAND CLUB turned out to be one of Stephen's favorite activities.
This was a completely fun place. Large Screen for Disney movies, Video games
that are permanently turned on ( no quarters needed), buffet supper, Goofy
stopped by and they gave each kid a Polaroid of themselves with Goofy,
autographs, and other fun "stuff".
While Stephen was occupied the adults walked over to the TTC and caught a
bus to Pleasure Island and had a dining EXPERIENCE in the EMPRESS ROOM
aboard the EMPRESS LILLY. Another gustatory delight.....dinner for 3 was
$270. Roses and candies for the ladies, Attentive service, nice atmosphere,
very GOOD food.
After a rain storm we caught the bus back to the TTC and walked to the Poly.
When picking up our son at the NEVERLAND CLUB we were told...."We just take
care of them. You have to get them to leave." They place was so nice that I
can believe that some kids don't want to leave.
It was now a little after 9:00 on our last night in Disney. One adult
decided to go back to EPCOT to video tape ILLUMINATIONS. One adult was sick
and my wife decided to stay with her because she didn't want to stay up real
late. Steve and I already had plans to end with a bang not a whimper.
I changed out of my suit and we hopped the Monorail over to Magic Kingdom.
We got one last Monorail ride in the front seat...at nite to boot. I told
Stephen that we were going to stay until either the park closed or He wanted
to leave AND we would go and do anything he wanted. WE THEN DID :
Haunted Mansion (5) ..... I liked , Son LOVED it. Forward motion
stopped when we were in front of long room
Everything was operating except we stayed in
one spot for 5 minutes.
We walked over to Pirates and found the ride had just broke moments before.
May not even be fixed for tomorrow's opening we were told. We got halfway to
Thunder Mtn. when Stephen decided that he wanted Jungle Cruise instead..SO..
we turned around and went back by the Pirates. Jungle Cruise Line looked too
Long for him ... SO ... Turned back around and hiked back to .....
Thunder Mountain R.R. (10) ..... We both thought that ride was more
intense at night. Curves seemed tighter
hills steeper,views different under lights.
Son next decided that Haunted Mansion was worth a second trip ... SO... off
we go toward Mansion. Stopped at the Shootin Arcade for a few rounds. Then
over to the HAUNTED MANSION for the second time that night. The first part
was spoiled by these 3 girls....LATE teen years....seemed to have been on
this ride many times...spoke the cast members lines with them....screamed and
carried on. The cast member inside was giving them dirty looks. By the time
we hit the ride portion of this, most of the paying customers were also
giving these "children" dirty looks. My son liked this just as much the
second time round.
By now the ropes were all up and the electrical parade was somewhere in the
park. Son was tired and wanted to leave BUT then heard the parade music and
decided that he wanted to see that. We watched at the point that the parade
makes a sharp left turn right near the river boats. Good spot. Not crowded,
good view as parade slows to turn. Turns out that the adult from our group
had gotten video's of Illuminations and still made it back to Magic Kingdom
in time for this parade. He filmed from somewhere else. My wife missed the
parade since she was already in bed by now.
After the parade my son became "very" tired again. On our way to the R.R.
station we had to make a "pit" stop. The only restroom I could find was near
the pirate ride. We rallied again and tried the Jungle Cruise line but
Stephen though it was still too long. On the way by we did SWISS FAMILY TREE
HOUSE. This was one of my son's favorite Disney Movie. A good way to end the
week.
My exit plan was via the Walt Disney R.R. This was a big mistake !!! We were
at the station about 11:45. The train picked us up about 12:10 and then
stopped at Mickey's Starland for a 5 minute wait. By now Stephen was fast
asleep. It was 12:20 by the time we hit the Monorail. I carried him all the
way. While we were in line for the Monorail I noticed that we would not make
the first tram. Stephen was getting very heavy when they announced that the
Monorail was having difficulties and they were switching the tram to a
different rail. The projected wait was 15 minutes. Then 5 minutes later they
announced that there was difficulties on the rail switch and the tram was
stuck between rails. The wait would be of unknown length and it was
suggested to leave the station and take the ferry boat. Enough people left
to put us very near the front and guarantee we would fit on the first tram
so I decided to wait.... within 5 minutes more they announced that they had
fixed the original problem and had swapped the tram back to it's first rail.
We arrived into our room at the Poly around 1:00 A.M.....remember we had
started to leave the park at 11:45 ! A tough way to end but I really wanted
to carry 50 pounds for an hour anyway ... so it was OK by me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPILOGUE
We checked out of Disney and did Cape Canaveril July 12. Stayed in Orlando
that night at the DAYS INN SUITES. Very nice Place. It was raining so hard
and so long that we needed to try 3 rooms before they gave us a second floor
room. All the 1'st floor rooms were flooding. It was the hardest and longest
storm we experienced in Florida. We saw a fire on the way back from
Canaveril that was started by lightning.
Started north July 13. Stayed overnight somewhere in North Carolina. Reached
Williamsburg on Saturday July 14. Stayed at "DAYS INN COLONIAL
WILLIAMSBURG". I wouldn't recommend this place. Took most of Sunday the
15'th and did Colonial Williamsburg. Better than Sturbridge Village but I
felt that it was very expensive. $50+ for 2 adults and a child. The more
interesting things to see (blacksmith, military encampment) were not
operating that day. Reached Washington Late in the day and checked into DAYS
INN DOWNTOWN. Another reservation from the 800 number. This was not too bad.
3 blocks from the subway. A fairly good location and not too hard to find.
Spent Monday the 16'th visiting the Capital, Washington Monument, Vietnam
Veterans Monument, Lincoln Monument, and 2 Smithsonian (Natural History and
Air And Space). The Subway System is the absolute BEST I have ever seen and
very easy to use. Tuesday we checked out of our hotel, left the car in their
Garage and took the Subway to the Zoo. Got great views of the Panda's and
lots of other animals. Picked up car and left Washington mid-afternoon.
Stayed Tuesday night somewhere in Conn. Arrived home early on Wednesday,
Unpacked 1/2 the van, Took other couple home, unpacked and cleaned the VAN
completely and dropped it off at Logan airport a hour before it was due.
We added a 5 year old to the family a few weeks later and we are planning on
our next trip to DISNEY being the summer of 1992. As of now it's scheduled
to be another World Vacation type stay and include around 10 days on WDW
property.
Pasco
|
| 183.36 | 9-Sep-1990 to 15-Sep-1990 | DSSDEV::ZEHNGUT | | Mon Sep 17 1990 18:29 | 339 |
| Trip Report -- Walt Disney World
Who: Marc Zehngut and Carol Frampton
Dates: 9-Sep-1990 thru 15-Sep-1990
This was our first trip to WDW.
Flew Delta from Boston to Orlando. Greeted by Pluto, Chip and Dale,
and a Dixieland jazz band at the Orlando airport!
Rented a Ford Escort from Hertz. Hertz has a 5% discount for AAA members,
bring your card. You could get around WDW without a
car, but I'm glad we rented one for the convenience it provided for
fairly low cost (less than $100). The monorail and busses were
pretty convenient, although more timeconsuming than driving. The ferry
ride from the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) to MK is nice.
Stayed at the Disney Inn. This is a very nice hotel, nowhere near as
fancy as the Grand Floridian, but very nicely maintained and excellent
price/performance (about $117/night with MKC discount). We had a large
room overlooking one of the two pools. A 1/2 mi. walk to the Polynesian
to get on the monorail (You could take a bus there as well). If you want
to play golf at WDW, stay here! The Disney Inn has 2 championship golf
courses (which we didn't play) and a 6-hole "executive" golf course which
we did play on 2 different days. The 6-hole course will be expanded to
9 holes by next spring. It is well groomed and a lot of fun for the
not-so-serious golfer. Greens fees are $70 for each of the championship
courses, and $13 for 2 circuits of the executive course (12 holes total).
The executive course is an excellent golf value. The pro shop is very
well equipped, with lots of nice golf accessories and top-quality rental
clubs. I would highly recommend the Disney Inn. The rocking chairs on
the veranda are nice, too.
We had 5-day Super passes which gave us basically the run of the resort
for the 6 days we were there. This worked out well, as we saw the 3
theme parks our first 3 full days there, then rested a day, and returned
to the parks the final 2 days to see the attractions we had missed.
Unless you are a trained athlete, I would allow for a day of rest after
seeing all the parks -- it gets tiring walking around for 10 hours a
day in 90 degree heat.
The weather was hot, but great! It was in the mid-90's during the
afternoon and 70's at night. It only rained for about an hour one
afternoon, otherwise it was mostly sunny.
Lines were short, except for Saturday when some lines were 15-20 minutes.
Many attractions had no lines at all. Our plan to go there after all the
kids were back in school seems to have been a good one.
Theme Park Attractions
----------------------
We followed the general guideline of seeing the attractions at the far
end of each theme park in the morning and working our way toward the front
of the park during the afternoon. This was generally the opposite of where
the crowds were and it worked out very well.
To try to keep this short, I'll list most of the attractions that we saw
at each of the theme parks, along with a short comment about it.
Magic Kingdom Attractions
-------------------------
Walt Disney World Railroad. Don't miss this. I'm still singing
the "Rolling, rolling, on the express..." song! A fun ride and a
great way to get around the park when your feet are tired.
Pirates of the Carribean. A little disappointing, but entertaining
nonetheless.
Jungle Cruise. Don't miss this. Very funny tour guide.
Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. This is a MUST SEE event. Very entertaining
show. Make reservations for this as soon as you enter the MK (near
the "Walt Disney Story" theater on the right). The food here is
nothing to rave about, however, but the show is great.
Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. A very entertaining show. Bears sing and
dance. Note the trophy heads over the exit. And remember, move
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll the way over to the right!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Don't miss this. I usually don't like
roller coasters, but I enjoyed this ride! Lots of fun.
It's A Small World. Cute ride, moderately entertaining for adults, kids
would love it.
Snow White's Adventures. Scarier than I expected. A fun ride.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Another fun ride. Tight, twisting turns.
WEDway People Mover. Good overview of Tomorrowland. After seeing the
preview of Space Mountain that this ride offers, we skipped Space Mtn.
Carousel of Progress. Don't miss this. This was one of my favorites.
Excellent audio animatronics. It is a bit dated, though, with the
last scene looking to be done about 1975, when it was moved to WDW.
Tomorrowland Theater show - Disney World is Your World. A MUST SEE.
Ten high-energy all-American kids sing and dance up a storm with the
Disney characters. I was exhausted just watching! Don't miss this.
American Journeys (Circlevision 360). A good film that is entertaining
but not terrific. A good break from the heat.
Grand Prix Raceway. Lots of fun, driving small racecars around a course.
The problem is that a high percentage of the cars don't go very fast.
We went twice - I was lucky and got 2 good cars, but Carol got 2 bad
ones.
Mickey's Starland. This is called "Mickey's Birthdayland" in the 1990
Birnbaum WDW guide. This is mainly a brightly colored street which
has the characters strolling about posing for pictures. There is a
MUST SEE attraction here. I forget the name of it but it's something
like "Mickey's Musical TV Theater". This is a live show with Mickey
and other characters, with fantastic musical numbers. Don't miss it.
Main Street character parade. DON'T MISS THIS!! The Disney characters
are in a parade down Main Street, with great music and floats. Lots
of fun and a great photo opportunity.
EPCOT Attractions
-----------------
Spaceship Earth. Very interesting ride. Don't miss it. It covers the
history of the earth in an amazingly short amount of time.
FutureCom. Computer type games and exhibits. Interesting break from
the heat.
Journey Into the Imagination. Don't miss this. Figment is very
entertaining.
Captain EO. Don't miss this. Michael Jackson is great in this film. The
3D effects are very good. A little too loud, though.
World of Motion. Very interesting history of transportation. The end gets
to be more of an advertisement for GM than an attraction, though.
The wind tunnel display is interesting.
Horizons. Don't remember much about this one, but it was ok.
Anacomical Players Theater at The Wonders of Life exhibit. This is a
MUST SEE. A comedy troupe that does health-conscious skits. Very
entertaining. Don't miss it.
Body Wars. Don't take this ride on a full stomach. I started feeling
queasy as the ride was ending. If you love rough roller coaster
rides, you'll love this -- if not, stay away.
Illuminations. DON'T MISS THIS. A spotlight, laser, fountain, music,
and fireworks extravaganza at EPCOT closing time. Unbelievable.
Make sure you can see the ball in the center of the pond from where
you are standing to view this. This is a MUST SEE.
EPCOT World Showcase -- Walk through all the countries to get a feel
for what each one has in the way of shops.
Canada - O Canada (Circlevision 360). Don't miss this. Incredible
photography and a nice song at the end. Very well done.
Morocco - guided tour. The one low point of our trip. After being told
the tour would start in a few minutes, it started 20 minutes later and
the guide was nice but her English was unintelligible. We ducked out.
Japan department store. A woman cracks open oysters and sells the pearls.
The American Adventure Show. Don't miss this. Actually, I had very high
expectations of this show and was a little disappointed, but it is an
excellent show nonetheless. Excellent audio-animatronics.
Norway Adventure ride (Not sure what it's called, but it's the only one).
Don't miss this. A fun ride through the waters of Norway. The film
following the ride is ok, but it turns into a travel advertisement for
SAS airlines at the end.
Disney MGM Studios Attractions
------------------------------
The Great Movie Ride. Don't miss this. A terrific ride through many
Hollywood classics. Excellent audio-animatronics.
Backstage Studio Tour. Very interesting tram ride and walking tour
showing props and special effects. Don't miss this.
Superstar Television. A MUST SEE. Lots of fun. Audience members act
out scenes from famous TV shows.
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. A MUST SEE. Indy and company act out
scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Great effects. Don't miss it.
Star Tours. If you like rough rides, don't miss it. I enjoyed it. Not
as rough as Body Wars. Flight simulator tour of the universe.
Typhoon Lagoon
--------------
DON'T MISS THIS!! After a few days on our feet, it was great to come
here and drift the afternoon away on Castaway Creek. Even if you aren't
a beach person (I'm not) this is a great place. The wave pool is amazing.
The 5-day super pass included admission here, otherwise it would have
cost about $19 each. Towels ($1) and lockers ($.50) are available.
Disney Village Marketplace
--------------------------
A nice place to shop. Lots of shops to see. Next to Pleasure Island.
Check out the gourmet grocery store, the Christmas shop, and the main
Disney character shop which offers a 10% discount for MKC members.
Pleasure Island
---------------
DON'T MISS THIS!! At night this is a constant party. It is like being
at a huge college fraternity party. We speculate that many locals frequent
this place. Interesting looking shops. We couldn't get in to the comedy
show, though. New Year's Eve celebration at midnight looks like fun, but
we couldn't stay up that late!!
Places to Eat
-------------
Food at WDW is generally excellent. BUT, it is expensive. We estimated
that meals there cost about 1.5 times as much as eating out in suburban
Boston costs. Dinner for 2 was generally $50 to $60. In the theme parks,
a soda will cost you $1.50.
At the restaurants you can charge meals to your room if you are staying
at a Disney hotel. A word of warning: if you have 2 people in one room,
find out who is the primary person listed for your room and only use the
id card of that person to charge meals. If you use the secondary person's
card, it will work but the restaurant will have to call the hotel to verify
the card rather than just using a computer terminal, and it will take much
longer to verify.
Here are some of the places we ate:
Disney Inn Food
---------------
Garden Gallery (breakfast). Order the buffet. Everything
on the menu is on the buffet. Actually, the food is only ok here,
but it was convenient for us since it was in our hotel.
Note: The Garden Gallery offers a 15% discount for Delta frequent
flyers -- bring your card.
Magic Kingdom Food
------------------
Tony's Town Square Cafe (lunch). We didn't like it. I got an open faced
sandwich which was good, but cold in the middle (obviously not
freshly prepared). Very slow service.
Main Street Bakery (breakfast). We didn't like it. My orange juice was
bad. Try the chocolate chip cookies in the front of the bakery.
Aloha Isle (snack). DOLE WHIP!! This is great stuff! You must try
this. Even though the center is hollow, it is well worth it!
EPCOT Food
----------
Au Petit Cafe (France, lunch). Very nice place. Very good food, nice
atmosphere watching the people pass by. We had the salad nicoise,
which is similar to a tuna salad plate.
Restaurant Marrakesh (Morocco, dinner). Interesting atmosphere, belly
dancer and music. Good food, we got the sampler plate. Service
was mediocre. A smaller restaurant would be better.
Alfredo's (Italy, dinner). Very nice place. Tables a little close
together. We got the fettucine Alfredo, which was invented here.
Very cheesy but good. I'd recommend it.
Disney MGM Studios food
-----------------------
Brown Derby (lunch). Highly recommended, one of the nicest places we ate.
Make reservations. Carol had the Cobb salad and I had the tuna
club, both very good. Try the raspberry mousse dessert (with the
chocolate derby) -- it is excellent. Excellent service and food.
Backlot Express (lunch). We couldn't get in at the Primetime Cafe, so we
had a couple of Chefs Salads here. They were very good. This is
a good fallback place if you can't eat elsewhere, or need to eat
quickly.
Grand Floridian Hotel
---------------------
Victoria and Albert's (dinner). What can I say? This restaurant is 5-star
all the way. We ate here on our anniversary. Impeccible food and
service. Highly recommended. The lady gets a rose after dinner.
Beautiful interior. If you are at WDW for a special occasion and
have a spare $200-plus to spend, this is the place to spend it
(dinner is $75 fixed price, menu changes daily). After dinner, we
enjoyed sitting in the Grand Floridian lobby and listening to the
jazz band and piano player.
One note about V&A's. You get personalized menus to take home with you.
Make sure when you make reservations that it is clear how you want your
name(s) to appear on the menu. Ours were misprinted when we arrived.
Albert had them reprinted while we ate. Being a Victorian restaurant,
they don't know how to deal with couples with different last names.
Narcoossee's (dinner). Excellent place to eat. Excellent shrimp cocktail.
I had the salmon fillet which was very good. Highly recommended.
Expensive drinks (Strawberry daiquari was $5.50).
Pleasure Island
---------------
Portobello Yacht Club (dinner). Don't miss this place. Highly recommended.
Wonderful fresh seafood in a very nice dining atmosphere.
Fireworks Factory (dinner). Another excellent restaurant not to be missed.
Casual atmosphere, wonderful food. The baby back ribs are a MUST!!
They were wonderful. Carol had filet mignon which was very good too.
Note: Both Portobello Yacht Club and Fireworks Factory offer a 15%
discount for Delta frequent flyers -- bring your card.
Summary
-------
We had a great time. Anyone thinking of visiting Disney World should
go out right now and buy the Birnbaum Official Guide and read it cover to
cover. It really helped us make the most of our trip.
Also, the information posted in this notes conference was very helpful
to us. I wouldn't have tried Dole Whip without it!
[end of report]
|
| 183.37 | Whew! These are a lot of typing! | FPTVX1::ABRAMS | My home is my CATsle | Fri Sep 21 1990 10:16 | 487 |
| Presenting
Our September 1990
Walt Disney World
Trip Report
Bill Abrams (Rochester, NY ACT) and wife Diane
This entry is about 8 pages of reading.
* Things which are of noteable interest are set off in paragraphs
that begin with *, like this one. This includes things which I
highly recommend or were sorely dissappointed in.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 5
Weather: Sunny, hot, low 90's.
Crowds: N/A.
Got on our USAir flight in Rochester, NY for our 7:20am flight to
Syracuse, NY, with a 40 minute connection to an 8:30 Direct
flight to Orlando. We board, and watch a lightning storm from a
cozy waiting spot in the middle of an airport taxiway. At 8:00,
we take off, and we are told that "all connections are good." We
pull up to the gate at 8:25, and RUN to the Orlando gate, and
find that it's delayed 15 minutes. No problem. Until I notice
that the right engine has many mechanics around it and many parts
laying on the ground. Not a 15 minute delay, I tell myself. We
watch the departure change from 8:45 to 9:15, to 9:30, to 10:00,
to 10:15, and they finally board us and we take off at 10:30.
It turns out the engine had an overheating valve which had to be
replaced. When it came in to Syracuse earlier, it was apparently
greeted by a full complement of fire and rescue crews as a
precaution. Many people on the plane chose to take a different
flight. I figured it was the safest engine in the air following
it's repair.
Arrive Orlando. Boy is it warm. Luggage is intact. We get on our
van to the car rental place (American International, or ai.)
Whoops, they don't have a reservation. They say our travel agent
cancelled it two months ago. All they have left is 5-speeds at
$30 more than our original rate. Our travel agent doesn't know
what they're talking about, but all they can offer is another
rental company at $20 more for a smaller car. (a hot ride back
to the airport, then to alamo, and we're already two hours late?
I don't think so.) We settle for the the first offer; we'll deal
with the travel agent when we get back. (It turns out that ai
screwed it up when the travel agent requested a lower rate.)
* Don't use American International car rental.
It's 3pm now. We drive to the Radisson Maingate, our hotel for
the first night (we did this to ensure that travel delays
wouldn't cut into our time on-property. Good thing.) The
Radisson is decent. We take a nap in preparation to stay up real
late, as I have clearance to join a tour to the VIP Shuttle
Launch Viewing Site (I belong to the National Space Society.) We
hop in the car at 6pm and head for the cape. Turn on the radio,
just in case... oops. We turn around, luckily before we get on
the long part of the Beeline. Dinner at the Crab House, visible
from I-4 and in a plaza just north of the CrossRoads plaza in
Lake Buena Vista. Good food, but service was not good until we
made a minor complaint. A large party arrived and they thought
our waitress could serve this party of 20 and us. Not likely.
Cost $42.00 for two. Very good seafood. House specialty is
Maryland Bluecrabs cooked in a delicious garlic recipe. Diane
had coconut shrimp done nice and crispy.
* The Crab House serves very good food at reasonable prices.
Back to hotel, and a late swim. I had forgotten how nice Florida
pools are in the evening.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, September 6
Weather: Sunny, Hot, high of 96. Whew.
Crowds: Very short lines or walk-on.
* Up early, out at 8am to pre-register at the Contemporary. (Show
your registration at the toll gate and they won't charge you for
parking. Otherwise, they make you pay and get a refund.)
Check in. Receive all our goodies (We booked on the Vacation
Kingdom plan, 4 nights, plus three extra nights, including 5 day
passes, 2 dinners, 4 lunches or breakfasts, one typhoon lagoon
pass, and one pleasure island pass, each, and $85DD. That means
Disney Dollars.) Surprise! Our room is available. We go take a
look. Very comfortable. Two Queen beds, a covertible sofa, a
table and two chairs, ceiling fan, two-room bath, large closet.
TV has three Disney channels: the real one, a daily schedule and
info channel, and a salesy channel about all the hotels and
attractions. Also CNN headline news. Perfect. We're in the
north wing, garden view, but we can also see a fair part of Bay
Lake. There is a nice letter inviting us to spend a lot of money
at Top of the World Restaurant, plus this curious letter:
Dear Guest:
In the past month, there has been Saint Louis
Encephalitis (SLE) virus activity in Central
Florida, and over the weekend of August 25,
Orange County declared an "alert."
...
* It goes on to say that they recommend long sleeves, pants, and
repellent when outside at night, and explains how to avoid
contact with mosquitos, and so on. What it DOESN'T say is that
most outside evening activities are cancelled, including all
evening Fort Wilderness activities. We found out later from a
pool lifeguard that one of the women at the Contemporary Front
Desk has all the symptoms of SLE.
The entire south wing of the hotel is closed for renovations.
River Country is closed from now to Jan 1, 1991 to be
refurbished for your future enjoyment.
Off to breakfast at the Character Cafe. We don't have kids, but
we've found that many characters can entertain us big kids just
as well, or better. It's amazing how they communicate without
speaking. The breakfast is a buffet with a lot of good food on
it, only $9.95 per adult. We used one of our coupons. We get
visits from Dale, The White Rabbit who's always late, Goofy, and
The King Lion from Robin Hood (I can't remember his name.) King
Lion is funny -- he demands you kiss his paw. When he and Goofy
cross paths, he demands that Goofy kiss his paw. After refusing
several times, Goofy delivers a very messy sounding sneeze into
his paw instead. King Lion spins around in disgust and wipes
his paw -- on Diane. Still dismayed, he takes my napkin and
wipes his paw up. I take my napkin back, and wipe it on Diane.
The King approves.
We retrieve our luggage. (Clever, you get to tip twice for
luggage handling: When they take it and when they deliver it.)
Off to Epcot Center by Monorail. At Guest Relations, we upgrade
our passes to 7-day Superpasses for $24 each. This gives us our
5 days in the parks and unlimited access to Pleasure Island,
Typhoon Lagoon, and Discovery Island for 7 days. Perfect for
us, because we love Typhoon Lagoon, but it's best in small doses
to prevent major sunburns. We also ended up loving Pleasure
Island.
* If you plan to structure your days to stay at a park all day,
with only one visit to other WDW attractions outside the 3
parks, the Superpass may NOT be a good deal. Get it only if you
like to visit Typhoon Lagoon and Pleasure Island frequently.
Spent the rest of the day checking out the new stuff since we
were there last: Norway (good ride), and Wonders of Life.
Cranium Command is very entertaining. Body Wars was
dissapointing. It didn't give the sense of motion I expected.
Checked out our favorites, too: Mine -- Horizons. Hers --
World of Motion.
* Back to Contemporary for a late afternoon swim. Just in time,
the pool is going to close at 6pm????? What? Mosquitos? Well,
here's one casualty. All WDW pools are complying with county
order to close pools at 6pm because of the mosquito alert. Big
bummer.
Back to Epcot for a quick dinner. San Angel Cafe. Skip it when
you go. Food is dried out, and obviously microwaved. $12 for the
two of us.
Back to hotel to get an early start tomorrow.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, September 7
Weather: Sunny, Hot. I see a pattern developing.
Crowds: None. No lines.
Simple cheap breakfast.
Spent morning at Typhoon Lagoon. Saw lots of Europeans in
bathings suits that are either skimpy or transparent. Saw lots
of Americans in bathing suits two sizes smaller than they should
have been. I love water parks.
* Lunch and a swim at Caribbean Beach Resort. Good burgers at
the burger place (about $12 for two for lunch). If you are a
resort guest and you swim at CBR, bring towels. At CBR they
don't have towels at poolside like they do at CR, PR, and GFBR.
DYGT? (Did you get that?) They keep the spa VERY hot.
* Off to Pleasure Island at 6pm. Dinner at the Portobello Yacht
Club, at $77 including sangria and tip for two. One of the best
restaurants in terms of service and food quality. Excellent
people and working atmosphere also. A real pleasure. Worth the
price for this indulgence.
Went to Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer's Club. Got too crowded
(bit local crowds here on the weekend!) so we didn't wait around
tonight. The Comedy Warehouse had a warm-up act which was
better than the show (IMHO.) The show was improv, with about
50% being quite funny and the rest so-so. The British people
next to us didn't get a lot of it, I think the show should be
careful to appeal to an international audience. Adventurer's
Club is fascinating, but tough to take it in with too big a
crowd.
* Back to Comtemporary, took a nightcap at the lounge on the
15th floor, with a great view of the Magic Kingdom. Went out on
the observation deck to see Pleasure Island New Year Fireworks
at 12:00. Nurse your drinks: $8 for two drinks.
The Magic Kingdom was running with a private party tonight.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, September 8
Weather: Sunny, hot. Okay, you can turn down the heat
now. Really.
Crowds: Walk-on at MGM in the morning. 15-30 minutes at
the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. Waits
longer on children's attractions. Odd.
Simple cheap breakfast.
* Bus to MGM. In general, buses were timely and quick at this
time of year. A real pleasure not to deal with large parking
lots, trams, and burning hot steering wheels. Why don't they
make steering wheels a lighter color in Florida?
* MGM exceeded our expectations. I thought it would be too
sugar-coated and glamorized, but you do get to see real working
production, the tours are quite good, and even the staged stuff
is entertaining.
Went on the backstage tour, Great Movie Ride (saw both action
scenes because crowds are low) and Star Tours (great! Much
better than Body Wars.) Saw Here Come the Muppets (targets
small children and not adults.)
When it got too hot, took a bus to Magic Kingdom. Had pizza at
Tony's Town Square Cafe. Food was good, service was unspeakably
bad. Checked out our favorites: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Space
Mountain (for me only). Saw Dreamflight, new since we were here
last. It's just If You Had Wings with new scenery. I liked the
old one better.
Back to hotel for a swim. At 7pm, to dinner at Narcoosee's on
the waterfront at the Grand Floridian. Recommended by someone I
work with who spent her honeymoon at the Grand Floridian.
* Narcoosee's is a great restaurant. The food is outstanding,
the service is great, the people are friendly. Used a coupon
for a dinner worth $76 plus 15% tip. We paid only an extra $5
tip for great service. They have the best Iced Tea of anyplace
in Walt Disney World.
Our waitress taught us how to discipline children in Florida.
The child at the table next to us was screaming, and then
investigating the dinner of the six nearest tables. When we
exchanged comments about it with the waitress, we said we'd have
taken the kid out of the restaurant at least. She suggested
dropping him over the railing into the lake and yelling "gator!"
Our opinion is that unhappy children should be simply removed
from the public areas of the restaurant until they are ready to
return!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, September 9
Weather: How you feeling'? HOT! HOT! HOT!
- Buster Poindexter Song
Crowds: Walk-on or only a few minutes.
Magic Kingdom. Bakery on Main Street for Cookies, muffins and
Coffee. Another round of favorites. I like the new improved
cars on Space Mountain. When I realized the woman behind me was
in line by herself, I said "Couldn't get anyone to go on with
you, either?" She said "My boyfriend's a WIMP!"
Did we skip lunch? I can't remember! (Yes, Diane tells me.)
Epcot in the afternoon. Did some videotaping but the battery
failed after 30 minutes. Must be too old to hold a charge.
Dinner at the Odyssey. Not bad for cafeteria food.
Watched Illuminations from a not-so-good viewing spot, but still
enjoyed the show. Not much change from three years ago. About
time for a new show, I think. Also, all the greenery around the
world showcase is growing in and making it difficult to find good
viewing locations. You would need to stake out a spot over an
hour before the show, and that's during the lowest crowd season!
Back to hotel, took in a drink at Top of the World Lounge again.
The Magic Kingdom is much quieter tonight.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, September 10 -- Our seventh Wedding Anniversary.
Weather: TV reports record-setting heat wave. This is the
third time we have had record setting heat in
September or October!
Crowds: Nonexistent.
Quick and cheap breakfast.
To Typhoon Lagoon for the morning. It's deserted. Wonderful.
Lunch at the Fireworks Factory. $25 for the two of us. Nothing
really special, but not bad either.
Did some shopping at the village, tried to replace the camcorder
battery. Got a quote of $55 at the shop in Epcot. Out here they
want $70. I'll go back to the park! We go back to hotel, I set
out to get a battery from the camera shop inside one of the parks
without using my passport. I ask around to find out how I can buy
something from the camera shop without going inside the gate. It
turns out you can buy a one day passport as a "Shopping Pass," at
guest relations. It you return it within one hour you will
receive a full credit. I head over, and end up waiting in three
extra long lines, and the monorail gets stalled for 20 minutes to
take a train off the loop. The round trip from the Contemporary
to the Magic Kingdom Camera Shop and back was an hour and a half!
Dinner at the Portobello Yacht Club again, using our second
dinner coupon. Worth $70 plus tip. Once again, wonderful food,
great service!
Then to Pleasure Island. MUCH LESS crowded, very pleasant.
Visited Mannequins (get there for the show when they start the
revolving dance floor and lights.) Went to Adventurer's club.
Got a geography lesson from Mille the Maid. Very amusing. New
Year's is celebrated at 11pm on weeknights in the off season.
I've never seen so many total strangers get along so well when
the party started. The atmosphere is electric! They do a real
class act. I want the job of the guy who gets paid to put on the
records in the tower over the street and play "air band" while
the records play.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, September 11
Weather: Hot and Stuffy, but overcast. Not quite so
knock-you-out and drag-you-around hot.
Crowds: Not too bad at MGM, only a few minutes. Still
pretty crowded (15-30 minutes at Magic Kingdom.)
Cheap and quick breakfast.
Bus to MGM. Weird driver. He talked at us since we were the
only two on the bus. We heard all his problems.
* Saw the Stunt Spectacular -- WOW! I can't believe they pack
so much into a 30 minute show. Don't be deterred by an
apparently large line; the theater holds hundreds.
* Saw the animation tour. My favorite! It gives you a far
better appreciation for the work that goes into one second of
animated movie. Plus, you see real work in progress. I wish I
could have taken pictures.
Saw a few of the same things again, too.
Took a bus to Grand Floridian for lunch at Narcoossee's again.
Same weird driver, different route. Used a coupon for a meal
worth $75, plus tip! We were so full, we couldn't eat any dinner
later. During lunch, the sky got dark and we watched a whopper
of a lightning and thunderstorm roll in. You couldn't see the
magic kingdom across the water it was raining so hard. The
lightning was more violent than they usually see down there. An
hour later it was over.
Took a boat to the magic kingdom. Finished off some attractions.
Took a long nap early evening.
To Pleasure Island at 9pm. Met up with Laurel and Rich Aroian
(See other notes this conference). I used to work by phone with
Laurel frequently. I saw in the conference that she was going
the same time as us! There were more people tonight, and the
party was even better.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 12
Weather: You wouldn't believe me if I said how hot it was.
Crowds: Private at World Showcase in the morning.
Walk-on all day.
Monorail to Epcot. Breakfast at Kringla's in Norway. Did a tour
of World Showcase and some shopping. Toured latest in
Communicore East and West. A Robotic vision system took Diane's
picture and the robot painted it on paper. Neat. Studied the
map of future expansion plans.
Here are some of the interesting items: A new highway from the
proposed southern Airport Access Highway. A new North-South
Highway on the west side of the World. Extend World Drive South
from US192, loop around to cross US192 further east, and connect
to the new South access highway. I believe they are working on a
new set of "back roads." We found one just finished that goes
from the Epcot Access Highway/Village Plaza Road to Vista
Boulevard just east of the Fort Wilderness access gate. I think
they're undoing some of the weird routes you have to drive up by
the Contemporary, too.
Bought my hand-painted 50th anniversary Fantasia t-shirt. It has
the silhouette image of the Sorceror's apprentice (Mickey)
reaching up to shake the hand of the conductor, who's reaching
down. Classy. I'll wear it once, on October 4 (if you don't
know what October 4 is look elsewhere in this conference), wash
it by hand, and then I will put it under glass and display it.
Lunch at the Polynesian Cafe on the second floor of the main
hall. Food was okay, service was below par. Not worth the $35
we paid for it.
After a short nap, drove to Dolphin. Walked around Dolphin and
Swan, but we are not that impressed by them. I think someone
else's trip report called them ugly. The use of the squashed
dolphin or swan on EVERYTHING is cartoonish, not stylish. The
atmosphere was too formal for Disney. (Diane says they are
HIDEOUS.)
Caught the tram to the International Gateway to Epcot. Rode by
the new Beach Club and Yacht Club Resorts. They look very nice.
Did some last minute shopping and attractions. Decided to skip
out before IllumiNations to see the 10pm Comedy Warehouse show.
We get to the tram, where the driver says, pick any seat, we're
not leaving until after IllumiNations. Aaacck. It's a 20 minute
wait, or a 20 minute walk. Oh well. We wait. We run, drive
quickly but safely, and run again to get to the show, and we make
it because the crowds are light again.
There is no preshow. The skits are mostly the same. One clever
gag: A piano player starts the show with a medley of Disney
classics. When he get's to "It's a small world..." he begins to
repeat it over and over and over and over and over and he gets a
tap on the shoulder, as his drink is being delivered. He gets up
to take the drink from the waitress and the music continues on
without him.
Back to hotel to... pack. How distasteful.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, September 13
Weather: Guess. I dare you.
Crowds: Pretty light again.
Finish packing and check out. Character Cafe for breakfast again.
Same characters. We lingered a bit, and found the once in a while
a character dissappears, reappears, and greets you again with the
same routine... aha. Goofy ties Pluto's ears behind his head.
Goofy finds that Diane's head fits neatly inside his gaping
mouth. I hope the picture comes out!
Spent from 10-2 at Typhoon Lagoon. It's nice to know that
Disneyworld has NOT outlawed thong bikinis, even though Florida
has on public beaches. (Both men and women were wearing some of
the most outrageous swimwear.)
Off to do some shopping along Rte 192. Lunch at Pizza Hut. Ease
into real life again. Forgot how nice Old Town is for shopping.
We love Jimmy Buffet's shop -- it has the greatest nature themed
T-shirts and other stuff. Spent way to much money.
Returned rental car at 3pm. $137 for 8 days. To airport. Our
flight is an hour late, it started in Seattle, then to LA, then
to Orlando, then Pittsburgh, then Rochester. Arrived at 11:10pm,
only a half hour late.
It's good to see our kitties. It was smart of us to clean house
and refrigerator before we left.
----------------------------------------------------------------
General comments on things I haven't commented about yet:
* September is the best time to go. Low crowds, good weather. A
surprising number of people are pulling their kids out of school
to go at this time, though.
* We like the new monorails, except when you have to stand on the
long Epcot haul.
* We only saw one brazilian tour group.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The end.
|
| 183.38 | Trip Report of the Campbells | FDCV07::CAMPBELL | | Mon Sep 24 1990 16:38 | 264 |
|
Trip Report - August 17 - September 4
I know I'm late, but I just got finished reading through everything
I missed while I was gone from this file. Now all I have to do is
remember everything we did.
Who: Husband, myself and 9 year old son
When: Disney August 30 - September 4
Some of this trip report will have things done prior to our stay
in WDW so bear with me.
Friday, August 17: Left Logan Airport on U.S. Air at 1:00. Plane was
right on schedule, no problems. Arrived in Charlotte to change plans
right on schedule, left Charlotte 45 minutes later, no problems.
Landed at Orlando at 7:00. Picked up my sister at the baggage claim
area (she was meeting us there, she didn't come with the baggage!)
She arrived from Newark airport 2 hours before us. My parents had no
idea she was coming, we wanted to surprise them. Got our Hertz rental
car no problem, we were heading down the beeline expressway at 7:30.
Went to my parents in Ocala, arrive there after a quick stop at Raks
for a burger, at 9:30.
Saturday, August 18: Stayed around moms, did some food shopping and
bought a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake for my son who was going to
be nine on Sunday. We ended up celebrating that night so we could
take my sister to MGM (She's never been) on Sunday.
Sunday, August 19: Arrived at MGM around 10:30, no problems with lines
and not to hot, very overcast day which helped. Headed right for Prime
Time Cafe to make reservations for lunch, ended up with 1:30 seating
time. Headed next over to Indiana Jones, which is always great (but I
agree with previous noters it much better at night.). Then onto Star
Tours, it was great, no line walked right in. Stopped for Ice Tea.
Then onto Great Movie Ride, waited about 15 minutes. Next stop Prime
Time Cafe for lunch. THey sang happy birthday to my son and brought
out a delicious carrot cake with candles. Finished up around 3:00 and
on to Backstage Tour, waited about 20 minutes. Then did Monster Sound
Show and Animation Tour. By that time my parents were really tired
of walking so we stopped had a burger at the old factory down by the
Star Tours ride, then headed for home around 10:00.
Monday, August 20: It was very hot so we decided to head over to
Daytona Beach for some swimming. The place was empty and the water
was gorgeous.
Tuesday: My sister headed off to Universal with a friend from the area
and we played some golf. It was tough because if was HOT!!
Wednesday, August 22: My sister was going home, we left my son with
my parents and my husband and I headed to the Marriott Sawgrass in
Ponte Vendra Beach to play golf for four days. The place was
gorgeous!! If your a golfer, this is a must. This is where they play
the Skins game if your ever seen that infamous 17th hole that looks
like an island. We had Marriott points so the room cost us nothing.
Golf was expensive $85.00 a person a round not including your cart.
I'm not experienced enough as I just started playing last year, so I
road in the cart with my husband. The view and the homes along the
course and just beautiful.
Friday, August 24: We went and did some site seeing at St. Augustine.
Was a pretty city.
Saturday,August 25: We headed back to Ocala.
Sunday, August 26th: Went back to the beach.
Monday, August 27th: Left my parents and headed for Orlando. More
free Marriott points, stayed at the Marriott on international drive
for three nights for free. Got there around 11:00 and decided to head
over to Epcot as we had to start our 5 day superpassport in order to
go to Typhoon Lagoon the next day. Epcot was very hot that day. We
had to drink plenty of fluid all afternoon. Waits were practically
nothing. Headed to the Land, did the LAnd Ride, no wait, then Kitch
en Kabaret, 15 minute wait. Right on into Imagination no wait, to
Captain EO 10 minute wait. We decided to have lunch in CAnada, no
wait walked right in. I love their cottage pie!!! We then decided
to do some of the countries since we were out there. Went into
American Adventure, Norway (got up to the front of the line and the
ride broke and we all had to leave). Then into Mexico. By this time
we needed a ice tea break again! Sat outside Mexico and watched the
people go by for a bout 1/2 hour. Then onto Horizon, and into Space
Ship Earth. We watched the lazer show from behind Mexico, it was
pretty good spot. Still haven't found the idea place to see
everything. Then we left with the millions of other people.
Tuesday, August 28: We were to meet another DECkie friend at Typhoon
Lagoon. We spent the entire day there from 9:00 to 6:00. It was
great. Floated around that creek about 15 times. Left there to go
back to our hotel and shower and change clothes. We decided to meet
again for dinner at the Character Dinner in the Contempory. We got
there around 7:30, walked right in. Dinner was great!! Characters
we also good, my son got lots of autographs and pictures.
Wednesday, August 29: Myhusband had to go into the Orlando office
of his place of employment to do somethings. I ended up sick the
entire day, only left the room twice, once for my son to swim in the
pool and then when the maid came to clean the room, we went back to
the pool. My husband got back around 5:00 and we decided to do
Daryl's for dinner, then over to Universal. We knew we would be
getting free tickets to come back, so why not go at night to see some
things while its cool. It was a great night. We headed over first to
see Ghostbuster, which my son loved, I thought it was corny. Then on
to Earthquake, I loved that!! I thought it was the one of the best
attractions they have. Then over to ET. We were on line and the ride
broke, but we were so close to the ride we decided to stay. The guy
running the ride said that if we stayed we would get on. The park
closed at 9:00 and it was 8:20. So we ended up standing there until
9:10 but they finally did getting it running and we did get on the
bikes. I thought it was very well done, cute ride. The walk to the
ride is wonderful, through the forest. Then we stopped at Mel's diner
on the way out and got a milk shake and headed back to the Marriott.
Thursday, August 30: We leave at 8:00 and head right over to the
Carribean Beach Resort to check in. I did end up with a corner room
but we couldn't get in Aruba or Jamaica, we ended up in Barbados.
I was bummed but it ended up to be very nice. We couldn't get in
the rooms yet so we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom. It was
packed!!! This was the most crowd we saw the entire vacation in any of
the parks. We headed over to Tomorrow land and did, Delta Dreamflight,
then Wedway people mover, then into the 360 movie. We had not seen
that movie in 10 years so we assumed it had changed. It did and we
enjoyed it. Ice Tea break, then onto Small World, everything else
in Fantasyland had linesd 45 minutes long, it was to hot to wait when
we knew we had five days left to come back. We were hungrey so we
headed over to Frontierland to Peco's Bills for Burritos and Tacos.
Then onto Pirates of the Carribean, waited about 15 minutes. My son
wanted to do the haunted house so we did that, then decided to go back
and check into the room. Not knowing where we were going, we carried
luggage FAR!!! That was the one thing we missed having was a bell hop
carry our luggage like they do in the other hotels. My son wanted to
go swimming, so we headed down to the pool with the cannons by the
Port Royalle. It closed at 7:00 and it was 7:30. So we went back
to the pool by our room. He was only in about 15 minutes and the
lifeguards came around and threw everyone out because of the mosquitos
problems, the pools were closing at dusk. So we changed and went to
TGIF's for dinner.
Friday, August 31: Back to Universal. Went on Hanna Barbera first.
That simulator ride to find Elroy (from the Jetson's) was sickening to
me. My son loved it. Then onto Nickolodean studios. They were
choosing kids 14-16 years old to be on their new show. We did the
tour, it was ok, no big deal really. Then we walked past
Kongfrontation and it was opened. We decided to wait on line. It was
outside in the sun no shade. It was 94 degrees and really hot. We
waited outside about 20 minutes then you go inside and it looks like
your walking through the subway station . Its supposed to be the tram
station at Roosevelt Island in NewYork. It really is great. Well
after a total of 45 minutes we got on the tram. And let me tell you
I thought it was the best ride I've done anywhere. I really loved
it. Very well done, they are to be congratulated. Then onto ET
again. My son really wanted to do this again. Half way over there we
ran into a thunderstorm so we ducked into MEL's diner for a burger and
fries. They have this nerdy guy running around with a soda jerks hat
on, an apron, white socks, back shoes, black horn rimmed glasses with a
bandaided holding them together, and we talked nasally. It was great.
Food was ok. Then back to ET, waited about 15 minutes. Didn't break
down this time. Jaws of course is closed for a year. Then on to the
Phamton of the Opera Horror Make-Up show. I thought this was boring.
Then we went to Alfred Hitchcock show, that I also thought was just ok.
Then lastly we did Murder She Wrote. That was pretty good. All in all
I can't say anything bad except they need to take some lessons from
Disney in crowd control. The people were going under the ropes cutting
in lines. It was mostly teenagers. That was a big problem in almost
all the lines, and the security cops did nothing. We left around 9:00
and decided to hit Hard Rock Cafe for a Pig Sandwich and tee shirts.
Back to the hotel around 11:00 and decided to go down to Port Royalle
and have a frozen strawberry dacquri and listen to the guy on the
guitar.
Saturday, September 1: Over to MGM around 9:00. breakfast at Port
Royalle first. My son really wanted to see the Ninja Turtles so
we headed to that section of the backstage tour. What a zoo that is.
Thanks goodness they are only out for about 15 minutes. They sing two
songs and sign autographs, that's about it. My son for three of the
four. Then we had never done Muppets new show so we waited about 20
minutes for that. It was cute. Can't wait to see their new 3D one.
Then of course Ryan had to go back on Star Tours, no wait walked right
on. I was a little queezy this time when we got off. He wanted to go
right back on again, so my husband took him on and I wait outside.
They were back out in 10 minutes. Then time for lunch, decided to
just go have a hot dog at the place next door to Star Wars. Then
back to the backstage tour. Only did the riding part this time. Then
we decided to go back to the hotel and swim for a while. Went to the
pool with the cannons. It was fun! Decided to have dinner at Port
Royalle that night, pizza and beers. It was great. Then back over
to MGM for Sorcery in the Sky. Best fireworks to music I've ever
seen. That huge Mickey Mouse that comes up from behind the Chinese
Theater is fantastic. Back to the hotel by 11:45.
Sunday, September 2: Had breakfast at the Polynesian Tangora Terrace,
nothing spectacular, just a ordinary breakfast. Then decided to
rent a floatboat. That was a lot of fun. We had about 15 minutes left
on our hour and the boat died and we had to be towed in. Some little
kid cut right in front of us on a water sprite and my husband had to
cut the engine or he would have hit the kid. He was a little mad to
say the least. But one good thing, after we got towed back, they told
us we could go back out for another hour. So we got two hours for the
price of one. Then we went over to the Floridian to Narcossee's for
lunch. I still had three coupons left for lunch from last year and we
were told we could use them. No questions asked. We had everything
from soup to nuts, appetizers, soup, salad, 2 1/2 pound lobster, shrimp
cocktail, deserts, virgin pina colada's or strawberry dacquiri's were
included. It cost us nothing except the tip. It was great. Glad I
held onto those. We then decided to go back to Epcot and try and do
body wars. The line was about 30 minutes, so we waited. I didn't like
it, it made me sick. My husband and son liked it, but not as much as
Star Tours. Then we decided to see the Cranium Command which was
excellent. The other things were really hard to do, the coaches corner
and the bikes were impossible to get time on. We then decided to go
over and walk around Pleasure Island and see the 50/60's car show that
was going on. It was great! All the fifties music, dancing and
beautiful cars. We ate at the Firework Factory. The waiter was
annoying he was trying too hard, he came back every 2-3 minutes to see
if we wanted anything. It got ridiculous. Then back to the room to
rest, went back down to Port Royale to listen to the guitarist, play
some video games, and watched the fireworks from outside.
Monday, September 3: My parents decided to come over from Ocala for
the day. They've wanted to eat In Italy, so we made reservations for
2:00. We decided to meet them at the restaurant because they didn't
know what time they would arrive. So we got over to EPcot around 11:00
and went on Norway, and stayed and listened to the singers for about
1/2 hour. Went on Mexico again, and started to head over to Italy to
meet the folks. A thunderstorm hit when we got to Germany, so we ended
up standing inside there for 1/2 hour until the ran stopped. Went over
to Italy and had a wonderful meal. After that we decided to go do
Captain EO again because it was starting to rain again. We upstair in
the playroom first to kill some time. My son had a great time in here.
Then we tried to get in Captain EO, the line was long and it was so hot
in that standing room that I started to feel sick. I left and sat
outside, my parents left also, they couldn't stand the heat and the
crowd. We waited outside about 40 minutes for my husband and son to
come out. My parents were going to leave to drive back home so we
walked with them to the gate and said goodbye. We decided to do one
more thing. So we went back to Body Wars and my husband and son rode
that again, while I watched goofy cartoons for 45 miniutes. Then it
was time to leave for the last time. I was tired and my feet hurt.
Well we got half way back to the hotel and we decided to go over to
Magic Kingdom one last time and watch the fireworks. After the
fireworks we tried to get on the monorail back to Poilynesian where
we had left the car and this guy at the ramp said that the monorails
would not be running for about 1/2 hour and we had to take the boat
back to the hotel. Now you know as well as me that those boats only
hold about 25-30 people, and they're were hundreds waiting. We were
very annoyed. We stood on the boat time for 10 minutes with no boats
in sight. I was watching the monorail line. People were walking up
that ramp now. So I said lets go back over there. So we did and
walked up the ramp and 2 minutes later a monorail was there. I don't
know what that guy was trying to pull, but I was mad. Back to the
hotel by 10:30, and went down to Port Royale to get something to eat.
Tuesday, September 4: Checked out around 10:00, went over to
Denny's to get some breakfast, then headed to the airport for a 1:00
flight. We were quite early but we had plenty of time to get rid of
baggage, eat, and relax. Flight left on time (US Air again, free
tickets, freqent flyer mileage) landed on Baltimore on time. Left
Baltimore 10 minutes earlier, landed in Boston 20 minutes early.
Went over and got our rental car, drove home. We were inthe door
at 7:30. Getting off the plane in Logan was an experience, the weather
sure was a lot colder than we had left that morning. It must have
gone to 45 that night. We had no coats and cranked up the heat in
the car. At least I wore pants home, my son and husband insisted on
shorts. They changed as soon as we got home.
So another wonderful trip is over. I really think that I'll wait two -
three years to go back I started to get sick of certain rides. And I
LOVE WDW don't get me wrong, but I think I'll wait until some new
things arrive. Any way my husband refuses to go back for three years.
So maybe it'll be two who knows.
|
| 183.39 | September 11th-19th | ICS::THEALL | | Tue Oct 02 1990 13:39 | 244 |
| Trip Report for the Theall Family
September 11th-19th, 1990
We are fortunate in that we have been several times and do plan to go
again that it was not necessary to do everything this trip. We took
our time and left several things for January. Therefore, this trip
report should be somewhat short.
Tuesday, September 11th
Left the house at 6:15 a.m. drove into Logan (no traffic) got there in
plenty of time for our 8:30 a.m. flight on Delta ($150.00 r/t).
Travelling with us with husband Jim, bother Frank, daughter Samantha
(still under 2) and myself. It was suggested that travelling with an
infant to request bulkhead seats for more leg room (wrong). I would
never ask for these seats again because you can't fold the arms up and
that meant Samantha had to sleep in my arms, rather than across our
laps.
Flight went well, it was non-stop into Orlando and landing on time.
Samantha had a little discomfort on descending but it went away after
several ounces of water.
We picked up the car at National. The only problem that we ran into
was the Terminal was brand new and just opened that a.m. at 6:00, so
they had not had a chance to get the cars over to the new terminal for
customer pick-up. It took 15 minutes (not long at all) for them to
have a car available.
We started our drive to DisneyWorld. As we got closer we got more
excited. Then we realized that we had to stop and get the necessities,
cooler, milk, cereal, fruit and diapers for the baby. We stopped at
Gooding's at Crossroads. After shopping was done we proceeded to our
destination, the Polynesian Village.
We arrived at the Polynesian in a terrible thunderstorm, the rain was
coming down so hard not one attendant would help with the bags. It was
about 2:15 and the room was ready for us. After I explained that we
had a baby that needed to get out of her wet clothes and into bed they
agreed to take our bags. We were in Bora Bora(the non-smoking
building). We had poolview and we thought the location was convenient.
We had easy access to the Great Ceremonial House, just a few quick
steps to the Snack Bar, a pleasant walk to Tangaroa Terrace and just a
little further to the Walkway to the TTC. After staying in Bora Bora
and looking around for a room that I would prefer, I would have to say
a lagoon view in Tonga or Morea (sp). If I had to have poolview I
would request Hawaii or Oahu.
The rest of the day was unpacking, resting, and relaxing. We planned
out the next several days and had a quiet dinner in the room. We got
Pizza from the Snack Bar.
Wednesday, September 12th
Samantha slept until 10:00 a.m. so we were in no hurry to get out of
the room. If we woke her she would have been crabby. We all got ready
and waited for her to get up. We got to the park at about 11:15. We
walked from the Poly to the TTC and took the ferry to the MK. There
were no crowds to speak of. The lines for rides were less than 10
minutes. We went directly to Fantasyland and did Dumbo (several times
this is our daughters favorite ride) then the carousel, Tea Cups,
Grand Prix Raceway, People mover then Samantha fell asleep so I walked
around while Frank and Jim went on Space Mountain. Went to Tommorland
Terrace for lunch. Samantha slept for about 2 hours and by the time
she woke up it would be time for her to eat. We had grabbed a PB&J
sandwich for her ahd kept on walking. Off to get a good place to view
the parade. It was at 3:00 we stood at the Main street rotary against
the rope on the left side facing the castle I don't recommend this
location. You can only see what is right in front of you. You can't
see down the street nor around the corner. But it was good enough we
were right in front and Samantha could see perfectly.
After the parade we got a jump on the traffic and headed to
Adventureland where Samantha could climb the stairs at Swiss Family
Tree house.
I forgot to mention that we saw the Kids of the Kingdom show and
Samantha liked it the best. She got right up in front of the crowd and
danced to every song. She loved it.
After Swiss Family we walked through Adventureland, Liberty Square and
back to Fantasyland to do another round of Dumbo and Tea cups. Then
off to Main Street for some shopping and onto the Monorail for home
(POLY).
Had dinner at the Snack Bar and relaxed around the room and went for a
walk around the Poly before bed. Once Samantha went to bed Jim and I
took turns walking around the Poly or shopping in the many stores in
the Great Ceremonial House.
Thursday, September 13th
Rested all day. Nothing special
Friday, September 14th
Got up very early and headed over to MGM got into the gates and Frank
and Jim headed for the Great Movie Ride, Samantha and I watched the
Theatre of the Stars presentation. When they got out which seemed very
quick we ran to Star tours. First Frank and I went on then Frank and
Jim went on. There was no one in line and we got to pick the row and
seat we wanted. They asked if anyone wanted to stay on that we could
ride again.
Then off to the Back Stage Tour. It was good, but I don't remember too
much since I was constantly interrupted by Samantha. I didn't mind
because she was asking "What's that" so at least I know she was
enjoying herself. I tried to focus her attention away from Catastrophe
Canyon, but I'm not sure why. We didn't want to take the walking part
of the tour, since we had done it just last year. So we headed out to
the set for Let's Make a Deal. I was selected as a trader, but not
picked to do any actual trades.
After Let's Make a Deal we headed down Hollywood Boulevard and decided
to have Samantha's picture on a magazine cover. The people were not
near as patient as they could have been. It didn't come very good at
all. Then we left.
It was still early so we got into the car and headed to Epcot for the
afternoon. The first place we visited were the countries. We walked
through all of them until we got to Mexico where we had frozen
margaritas and nacho chips then we went to Body Wars. Samantha was
sleeping so when she woke up we went to Imagination. She didn't really
like it as much as we hoped she would. Then to the land to get a
potato. I do love those potatos with cheese and bacon. It was getting
late and Samantha was tired so we left.
Saturday, September 15th
There were a couple things that we wanted to do at the MK so we headed
over. The crowds were much heavier than Wed. so we didn't do too much.
It started to rain so we left and went back to the room so Samantha
could take a good nap. (4 hours later). We went to the Shopping
Village for dinner and then over to the Empress Lilly to see John
Charles. We have been following him for years. He had been at the
Poly Lounge for many years and this time we found him on the Empress
Lilly. He gets a much larger crowd and much nicer stage for his show.
We stayed there for his entire show 7:30-12:30. Samantha had a good
nap and fell asleep in her stroller around 9:45.
Sunday, September 16th
Today was a day to recover from the night before. The guys really
enjoyed themselves. I think they lost track of the number of 20 oz
beers after 6 each. I was the designated driver and responsible for
getting Samantha up in the morning.
All we did was hang around on the beach, at the pool and I couldn't
believe I found Jim and Frank at the pool bar. I would have thought
they had had enough for a week.
Monday, September 17th
Another lazy day of hotel hopping. We got on the monorailand got off
at the Grand Floridian and had a drink by the water. Then off to the
contemporary where we played in the game room for awhile. I couldn't
get Samantha away from the horse.
For dinner we ate at the character buffet at the Contemporary. I
highly recommend this for children of all ages. We were there for at
least an hour and a half. Not much eating happened but the characters
had a lot of fun with the children. They came over to our table (as
they did everyone elses) and posed for numerous pictures with Samantha.
Tuesday, September 18th
Our last day in Disney for this trip so we decided to do all of
Samantha's favorites and Jim's favorite and my favorite. Frank stayed
home (poly). We went over to the MK and did Dumbo, tea cups then went
to Mickey's Starland. I didn't like the show near as well as the
Birthday party. When we got out of the show you could go over to
Mickey's dressing room to have pictures taken, but we opted to go down
near the railroad where all the other characters were out. We got
great pictures of Samantha with Pooh, Minnie and others. But those two
are her favorites.
Then we headed to do Jim's favorite the Tiki Birds, but we got
sidetracked when Goofy came up to us while having our Dole whip and
took Samantha by the hand and began to walk with her around the area.
We couldn't believe that she just went. She looked up at him with a
look that I hoped only her father adn I would ever see, but Goofy got
that look of LOVE, and off they went. He must have spent a good 10
minutes with just her. I wish she had been a little older because at
1 and 1/2 how much will she remember.
We left the MK because nothing we did would ever beat that in her eyes.
Off to my favorite the Land for my last potato. We went on the ride,
then into the Kitchen Cabaret then to the FOOD COURT.
After we went to Horizons and to GM to get the coupon for the free
video. It was getting late and we still had the packing to do so we
left before Illuminations. I'll catch tat in January.
That night was full of packing, shopping for those last minute
trinkets.
Wednesday, September 19th
We got up at 9:00 Frank had already been out for breakfast and back.
The last of the small items were packed and the luggage was brought out
to the car. I went to check out (because I had forgot to do the
express check). The line wasn't long and we had plenty of time before
the flight (so we thought).
We got to the airport (no traffic) at 10:30 for our 11:30 flight. The
line to check baggage was at least 50 people long. There was another
line about 20 people long I got into the smaller of the two lines and
hoped I would make the flight. By the time we checked our bags and
walked to the tram that took us over to the terminal they had already
called for pre-boarding with small children. I still had to check the
stroller at the gate and get organized for the flight. (Last diaper
change, bottle of water handy for take-off and landing, gum to chew).
We had the bulkhead seats again and I knew I wasn't going to be
comfortable. We took off within minutes of the scheduled time.
Samantha fell asleep about 20 minutes into the ride which made lunch
impossible. We took turns eating our meals, and saved some of
Samantha's in case she woke up. Which she did with a scream of pain
from out of a dead sleep. It was obvious to me that she was
uncomfortable. We were descending so I attributed her cries with
change of pressure. I tried everything I could think of to get her
ears to pop, but nothing stopped the crying. It went on for what
seemed hours but was probably 15 minutes. When she finally let me hold
her nose while she blew. I guess this worked because all of the sudden
I had a child in my arms that every muscle in her body relaxed at the
same time.
Other than this minor inconvenience everything else with the flight
went fine. Oh yah, except they lost our car seat.
We got all our luggage and noticed that the car seat didn't make it. I
went to the claim office and they filled out the paperwork and gave us
a lender. (Fischer Price very nice) They returned our carseat at 2:00
a.m. that morning. They got my mother out of bed to make the switch.
I'm not sure why they did it at 2:00 in the morning when they had given
us a carseat for use. Anyway we were not without very long.
I had expected this to be much shorter, but as I got to typing it all
just came out.
I am looking forward to planning my January trip.
|
| 183.40 | October 17 - October 23
| DNEAST::SYLVIA_KRIST | | Tue Oct 30 1990 12:08 | 207 |
| Trip Report for Kris and Joe, October 17 - October 23
Left Logan at 12:15 on a Delta direct flight...($189 rt) and arrived at Orlando
at 3ish. We claimed our luggage and bought two round trip Mears Motor Shuttle
Passes ($42 total). It took us about an hour to get to our hotel with the
driver making one stop at the Days Inn in Lake Buena Vista first to drop off
a family. Then it was on to the Carribean Beach Resort. I had booked the
Magic Kingdom Club's Carribean Magic Package with two extra nights at the
CBR. I figured this would give the two of us plenty of time to see all we
wanted to. Looking back I wish we had booked one more night.
Joe had been to the Magic Kingdom 3 times before but had never seen anything
more of the World. I had also been only to the Magic Kingdom,,,,,,many years
ago as a child and also hadn't seen the rest. We were really looking forward
to making the most of the time we had to spend. I had prepped for the trip
by reading this conference and also Birnbaum and the Unofficial Guide as well.
Given that we planned this whole trip in only a month, I'd say we made out
pretty well.
We checked into the CBR and requested nonsmoking, Martinique, king size bed.
We got all but the king size bed. We had booked a garden view room. We picked
up everything that went with our package when we checked in and then went over
to Guest Relations to make sure we were all set with our Hoop De Doo reservations
for Friday. We also picked up some schedules of events and park maps and then
took a van to our room. Our porter was real helpful and showed us where the
nearest bus stop was to our room. He pointed out the features of our room
including what channels we would get on tv. He showed us the pool, ice
machine and gave us directions to Old Port Royale. We spent some time scoping
out the room and then headed over to OPR. We strolled by the marina, checked
out the food court, shops and main swimming pool, and then headed over to the
lounge where we each had a banana cabana.....(frozen and yummy!!). We strolled
back to the room after this, ordered a pizze and some beer, planned the day
ahead, made restaurant reservations,,,and watched the second game of the World
Series.
Thursday,,,,,,,Epcot Center
Up early at around 6:30,,,,,,breakfast at OPR and then took the bus over to
Epcot.. At Martinique we were always first on the bus and first off the bus.
Gates opened at 8:30 with only Spaceship EArth and Communicore East and West
open. Everyone ran for Spaceship earth. We hung out at communicore East and
made a mad dash for Body Wars at 9:00. It was okay but not quite as exciting
as I expected. Then we headed over to the Land and rode Listen to The Land.
I found it VERY interesting. Next was Captain EO. We both enjoyed this
immensely. Journey Into Imagination was next. Ofcourse we loved Figment,
but the ride as a whole was a little boring for us. We skipped into World
Showcase next and started our tour in Canada. We saw Oh Canada which we
enjoyed. We strolled through the UK, France, Morocco and Japan stopping in
shops and listening to street music. We skipped Impressions of France. We
stopped at the American Adventure and saw this. It was very patriotic. We
had lost track of time and got out of there at 12:25. We had lunch reservations
in Mexico at 12:30.......and we practically ran through the countries between.
Lunch was wonderful. We got a table right on the water. Joe had flautas and
I had a combination plate. Both were very good. Joe is a big soda drinker and
we loved the fact that at all the full service restaurants we ate at, soda
refils were free!! After lunch we rode Rio El Tiempo in Mexico,,and then
Maelstrom in Norway. I really liked Maelstrom. Then we headed out of World
Showcase and over to Horizons. This was Joe's favorite Epcot attraction.
Cranium Command was next and we both loved this one too!!! The stars they
got to play the parts of this boy's body were all perfectly cast. We laughed
through the whole thing. It kind of reminded me of The Wonder Years..........
Ofcourse we couldn't leave Epcot without checking out Spaceship Earth. We were
both disappointed with this one.
We were both beat and headed back to the hotel for a swim and a shower and to
change. Then we went back to Epcot for 7:00 reservations at the Land Grille
Room. We loved the food here. Joe is a very picky meat and potatoes eater
and he had a great steak. I had roasted pork. We sat at an upper tier table
as we didn't want to wait for a lower one. Some of the veggies served with
dinner were grown in the Land. It was a delicious meal......(about $50 each
of us had one drink, I had an appetizer,,,,no dessert...we were stuffed). After
dinner we went through the Living Seas and then home to CBR. We skipped
Illuminations.
Friday, MGM Studios
We took the earliest bus over to MGM. They opened the park at 8:30 and we
started off with the riding part of the Backstage tour. I really enjoyed this.
We were hungry after this and headed over to Starring Rolls for breakfast.
One croissant, two cinnamon buns, two milks,,,,,$10. We watched a show on
the stage next door while having breakfast........then we were off.
The Great Movie Ride was my favorite in the park,,,,,,,I loved it!!!! Then we
did Star Tours which is Joe's favorite attraction in the World. I really
enjoyed it too.....ten times as much as Body Wars. Next was the Monster Sound
Show which was fun and then we acted like fools trying to be picked for Let's
Make a Deal. We weren't so we skipped the show and went to Superstar TV. Then
we killed some time before our lunch reservations by putting Joe on the cover
of a magazine as a great baseball star. Then off to Prime Time for lunch.
The atmosphere and service were great.....but I found the food to be pricey and
so so. We had huge hamburgers ($8) that tasted like meatloaf burgers to us...
but overall we enjoyed it for the atmosphere...and would recommend it.
Longest line of the week after lunch for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.
We waited about a half hour. It was wonderful though and worth the wait. We
had just enough time to do the walking part of the backstage tour. Contrary
to much of what I've heard,,,,,,,I thought it was fascinating and was glad I
didn't skip it. We were running late now though and had Hoop De Doo
Reservations for 5:00. We took a bus back to CBR and changed real quick and
then took a bus to MK and then a boat to Fort Wilderness and arrived at Pioneer
Hall at 5:15. A miracle considering we left MGM at 3:30.
Our waitress was great.....(she loved Joe and kept joking with him and bringing
us pitchers of beer,,,,,,,,,and extra "breasts" for Joe). We ate and drank
like pigs. We sat on the balcony and thoroughly enjoyed this show. It's great
not to have to drive. I suggested Illuminations afterwards but Joe wanted to
go back to the hotel and crash. He's still singing the "Hoop de Doo" song...
Saturday,,,Typhoon Lagoon Day
Oops!!!! The weather looks bad. We pack for the park but decide to save our
pass and head for MK instead. Good thing. It rained much of the day.
Our other days had been sunny and in the high eighties. The MK was packed!!
We only waited 10 minutes for Space Mountain,,,our second ride after
Dreamflight. Then off to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.....first time...we
loved this one and labeled it our favorite in the MK. 20 minute wait for that.
Then we did the Jungle Cruise which had been closed the first time I was in
the MK. I loved this as well.....30 minute wait......I was hung up on waiting
as we had done NO waiting in Epcot or MGM except for Indiana Jones. Pirates
of the Carribean was next with a 15 min. wait. We always love this one!!
Next we walked through the Treehouse,,,stopped for Dole Whip and then off
to the Haunted Mansion. NO wait!!
It was around 1:30 now and we monorailed over to Epcot and had lunch in the
Farmer's Market downstairs in the Land. We got lunch at the Handwich place..
about $10 and we each had a great big huge sandwich, chips and drink,,,,
We did the Universe of Energy which was real interesting and then took off
to MGM again. Love those three park passes.......We saw the Ninja Turtles
cruise down the street as we waited to get into Let's Make a Deal. Again we
weren't picked but we stayed for the show and were glad we did. We had a
great time there. It was around 6:00 by the time we got out and we headed
back to the CBR. We decided that tonight would be our free dinner at OPR
night. We managed to rack up a $45 bill at the Bridgetown Broiler. Joe had
t-bone steak, I had surf and turf and he had this great chocolate cake for
dessert and I had carrot cake. It was a great meal....Off to bed.....
Sunday,,,Typhoon Lagoon...finally
After three days on our feet we needed this. The weather was perfect for it.
We tried out EVERYTHING except the shark reef. I didn't do Humunga Cowabunga
but Joe did twice. We tried every other slide and the wave pool.....but
loved Castaway Creek the best and spent most of our time floating with
the current. We'd had enough sun and fun by about one and it was starting
to get crowded.....We grabbed a cold beer and headed back to CBR for a shower
and change. Then we headed off to Disney Marketplace to shop. We ate lunch
at Minnie Mia's. The calzone was delicious. Joe had pizza and said it was
great! We shopped and had icecream, checked out PI and then went back to the
hotel for a shower and swim. Then we went back to PI to the Portobello Yacht
Club for dinner. I loved it. The food and service were excellent. Joe
didn't find much to suit his taste though and had one of their appetizer pizzas
which he didn't eat. I had garlic shrimp and it was yummy!! Service and food
delivery were very fast here.....
Monday,,,MK,,,,,final sweep
Got to MK when it opened and made reservations for 12:15 Diamond Horseshoe
Jamboree. Hung out on Main Street for about a half hour and then took the
monorail to the Poly.......I had been drooling for banana stuffed french
toast since I first read about it in this conference. WE got to ride in the
front of the monorail which was fun. We had an excellent breakfast. Joe had
the buffet and I had that french toast. We were smiling and stuffed when we
returned to the MK. Joe had been wanting to ride the railroad so we took
it to Mickey's Starland and walked around. There were characters everywhere.
We did Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, It's a Small World,,,,,(gotta do it,,,but I'm
always ready to jump ship by the end of it). Then I dragged Joe to the Country
Bear Vacation Hoedown,,,,,,which he'd never been to and wasn't too interested
in. He admitted it was good after we got out. It is one of my favorites.
To kill time before lunch we went over to Tomorrowland and rode the Wedway
people mover,,,which I enjoyed.....then off to Diamond Horseshoe. We had
seats right in front of the stage and really enjoyed this,,,,,didn't eat lunch
there though.....When we came out it was raining,,,,we went over and did
American Journeys. Boy has it changed!! I didn't like it as much as I did
before. Then we had lunch at Tony's Town Square Cafe. It was very good.
We ordered burgers and they were huge!!!! Then we headed back to the CBR.
Joe wanted to have dinner at the Steerman's Quarters on the Empress Lily but
they were booked so we made reservations at Chef Mickey's. We're glad we did.
What a great place to bring kids. Mickey strolls among the tables while you
eat. The food was wonderful and so was the service. Joe and I had fallen
for those chocoalate mints they serve with the check everywhere and had
bought a couple of bags in the MK that day. After dinner we headed for PI.
We stopped in and checked out most of the clubs. We went to one of the comedy
shows. It was okay. Then we hung out til 11 and waited for New Year's. That
was the best part of the evening. The dancers were good and the fireworks were
nice. But we were tired and left shortly after to call it a night.
Tuesday,,,bye bye
We hopped our Mears shuttle and had breakfast at the airport. Hello reality!!
It was an awful meal....and headed back to Boston.
Wednesday we would drive home to Maine.
Overall our trip was wonderful........we were never bored!!! We saw everything
we wanted to see,,,,,,,but could have used an extra day,,,,,to rent boats
at the marina,,,,,,,,,,,check out the other hotels a little more,,,,,and
just relax. ......even with 5 full days and two adults,,,it was a fairly
fast paced trip. We were treated well by every Disney employee we came across.
We really enjoyed the CBR and would highly recommend it. The hints from the
reading we had done up front helped us make the most out of the time we had....
and this conference was by far the biggest help.
We can't wait to go again!!!
Kris and Joe
|
| 183.41 | WARNING - VERY long & VERY late trip report! | KERNEL::WHITAKER | | Thu Nov 01 1990 13:36 | 510 |
|
Trip Report - August 28th to September 16th 1990
************************************************
Who: Andy Whitaker (me)
Wanda Krywalksi (my "other-half" and also a Digit)
Addie Krwyalski (sister to Wanda)
Paul Vince (Addie's boyfriend)
Marina Krywalski (another sister)
Andy Kingsman (Marina's boyfriend)
History: I have been to Florida 3 times before, Wanda & Marina twice,
Andy once - first time for Paul & Addie.
Where: Private house in Meadow Woods, Orlando (in-between Orlando
and Kissimmee, off the Orange Blossom Trail).
Disclaimer: The trip report attached is long and represents our holiday
from start to finish (including days at Universal Studios,
Sea World & Busch Gardens). I do tend to waffle-on a bit, so
there is a fair chance that you will find some (perhaps even
most) of the following to be crashingly boring.
I would not be offended if one of our esteemed moderators
decided to give this the 'big E' from the conference, feel free
to do so Claude or Len if you feel that this 'diary' is
terminally long and/or dull.
There were only 5 Disney days included in our holiday,so if
you are only interested in that aspect of it, please read the
FOURTH reply on from this one which just includes the Disney
days specifically.
All opinions are obviously coloured by my own personal tastes
and preferences. All observations are based purely on my
experiences at that specific time.
Right-then, down to business .....
Day 1 - Sunday 26th August
**************************
We left our house near Basingstoke at 6:40am and arrived at Gatwick airport
at around 7:30am. We checked-in and got the first bad news of the day - our
flight was already delayed by 4 hours. We were naturally thrilled by this news
and even more delighted by our 3 Pounds voucher, courtesy of Richard Branson's
Virgin Atlantic airline, which would probably buy us a croissant, based on
previous experience of aiport prices.
We took the monorail to the North terminal and I was pleasantly surprised by
the prices. We had a full breakfast for just over three quid which set us up
for the 5 hour wait we were now faced with.
After sleeping most of this time away, we boarded the plane and took off around
3pm. The flight was not as hideous as I expected, Mr. Branson has rather more
legroom in his planes than usual, which was very welcome as I am over 6-feet
tall. I was disappointed with the cabin crew who were surly and miserable, I
had expected better from Virgin.
We landed at Orlando at around 7:30pm and proceeded through to immigration to
find that we were third in line - and through in less than 20 minutes, our
first experience of queuing was a success! We were also lucky at Lindo's car
hire, being the first of several coaches to arrive. I pulled out onto the
Sandlake road just before 9pm.
It then proceeded to chuck it down - luckily I am fairly good at remembering
directions and was able to navigate reasonably successfully. We got to our
house at about 9:40pm and were delighted with what we found. The house has
been bought by us (a small syndicate of 5) and this was the first time we
had seen it complete. It seems to me that building standards are MUCH higher
in the US than here in dear old Blighty - and the prices are amazingly cheap.
Late night trip out for pizza & salad from the ubiquitous Pizza Hut, and a
stop at the local shopping plaza for essential beers, plus the sour cream and
chive potato crisps (chips), that I am addicted to.
Day 2 - Monday 27th August
**************************
Up at 7am to have a look at the surroundings in the daylight, too excited to
eat breakfast ... so did some video-ing and photo-taking in the house, and
spent a blissful hour or two in the pool. Off at 1pm to that great American
institution, K-Mart (we needed air-beds!). Then off to have lunch at Allies
on the 192 in Kissimmee. All you American natives should take time to count
your lucky stars (and stripes:-) .... for the quality and value of these
types of restaurants. They may be nothing special to you, but if you have
'experienced' a British Little Chef or Happy Eater, you'd know what I meant.
A massive blow-out ...... tuna salad sandwich + salad bar for me .... and
the bill for six was $46.
Rest of the day doing the shops ... into Orlando to check-out some furniture
stores, then down to I-Drive and the Belz Mall, where we discovered they have
now built another large covered mall next door. First buying binge of t-shirts
and sports shoes etc etc .... the credit cards are already taking a pounding.
Back home for more pool activities, then into our glad-rags and out to a real
favourite restaurant of ours - Sammy's Spaghetti House. This is a very un-
pretentious place, but it's very friendly, and the Fetuccini Alfredo is mega
delicious. Six MASSIVE meals plus plenty of pitchers of beer for around $75.
This place is situated down the 17-92 (Orange Blossom Trail), if you are coming
from the Florida Mall end, and heading for Kissimmee - it's about half way
down on the right-hand side - in a small precinct of shops. It is visible
from the road as it's the last unit in the precinct. If you go past the
Gatorland Zoo, you've missed it - well worth a visit!
Day 3 - Tuesday 28th August - Sea World
***************************************
Up at 6:30am to find that Wanda has managed to pour washing-up LIQUID, into
the dishwasher. Call me old-fashioned if you will, but getting up at 6:30
after going to bed at 1am is NOT exactly going to put me in the best of
moods. There was foam EVERYWHERE in the kitchen and it took several wash
cycles and mucho baling-out to clear the thing inside!
Out of the house at 9am and off to Sea World (Wanda's favourite as she is
obsessed with dolphins). Decided that food was essential first, so we de-
toured to Gilligan's on the 192, for their breakfast buffet - $28 for six
and very tasty.
Got to Sea World at 11:15 and went straight into feed the dolphins. After
that we went on the 'tour' of the shows. They are much the same as I
remembered them apart from the Sea Lion & Otter show which now has a new
5000 years BC set. This was a good show .... and they had a female mime
artist taking the rise out of people as they came in .... that's always
the best part of the show for me. She came near us, and I almost had
heart failure - but she only wanted to borrow Andy's camera! 8 out of 10.
Of the rest of the shows ... Shamu is ok, about 7 out of 10. Dolphin &
Whale is getting to be boring now (same routine & jokes with the kid who
goes out to meet 'Starbuck'). Too schmaltzy for me, so it gets 5 out of 10.
We then made the mistake of going to see the water-ski show ... this was
painful and embarassing to watch. The songs & jokes are naff - not even
cornily laughable - and the dancing was reminiscent of amateur night at
the Wheeltappers & Shunters Social Club. 2 out of 10 for the skill of
the people in the motorboats.
We left Sea World in late afternoon and went to K-Mart again for beers and
other sundry items. This was where I saw my first boxing match of the
holiday ..... it took place outside the doors of K-Mart and involved about
6-8 idiots who should've known better. It started as we were driving out of
the car park ... and the police were coming the other way just a few minutes
later - quick work!
Home for a dip in the pool and then out to Sizzler (again on the 192), this
is un-doubtedly the best value place to eat in our opinion. The buffet court
is huge ... and for $7 a head .... you get to go as often as you want. It's
not just salad .. it's pasta, pizza, tostada, fresh fruit, puddings, hot
appetizers, fried chicken wings, soup ... etc etc etc. I made the mistake of
ordering all-you-can-eat shrimp as well - luckily the Whitaker stomach is
capacious, but even I felt like I'd been force-fed for a week by the time
we left.
We waddled into the house at about 11:45pm ... more beers, read the Orlando
Sentinel ... then off to bed.
Day 4 - Wednesday 29th August
*****************************
This was Addie's birthday and we went off to Cocoa beach ... we stopped at
a diner which is part of the Howard Johnson hotel, on the beach. It's
called Herbie K's ... and we'd been there before and enjoyed it, and we
enjoyed it this time too. When they heard it was Addie's birthday they
brought a tiny chocolate cake with a candle .. and sang her a song. Mega-
embarassing to us shy, retiring Brits ... but appreciated.
Rest of the day on the beach frying ...... then down to Ron Jon's to get
yet more T-shirts and bargain Levi 505's.
Home at about 5pm to give Addie her present and birthday cake, off to a new
chinese called China Court - on International Drive. It was a nice place,
they must have spent plenty on the decor ... but the food was bland. The menu
SOUNDS gorgeous (mentioning plenty of spicy, hot stuff which I like), but the
actual flavour was un-inspiring. At least there were some vegetarian meals
though, they normally appear in very short supply in Orlando.
Day 5 - Thursday 30th August
****************************
This was a lazy day .. we had breakfast in the house (corn dogs & corn flakes
for some!). Then the lads went off to try out one of the two golf-courses.
We played the Buenaventura Lakes course and I had my first experience of hiring
a golf cart .. this was good - forget the golf, just let me play in the cart.
Clubs and cart cost $8 each ... green fees are free as we are resident home-
owners. It was great - hot & sticky ... the woods rang with 'colourful English
phrases' as we managed to lose 12 balls between us.
Back to pick up the girls at about 5pm .. and decided to go and try Captain
Nemo's, along the 192, not far from the Disney exits. This was the WORST
rip-off meal of the holiday. The so-called shrimp in garlic sauce tasted of
absolutely zilch .. and the service was rushed. It was $15 a head, which isn't
exactly gourmet prices, but compared to other restaurants it was appalling.
Interested to hear if others have had better experiences here as it always
seems to be popular.
Day 6 - Friday 31st August - EPCOT Centre, at last!
***************************************************
We took a vote ... and most people wanted to go to EPCOT first, which
was ok with me as it's my favourite. We got to the gates at around 9am
and had the pleasure of chosing whichever empty ticket booth we wanted.
No queue to get in .... and when we did enter, it was (compared to my
previous visits) empty! I had carefully researched Birnbaum over many long
hours, back in the UK, to make sure that I was totally and utterly prepared
for long lines and queues ... only to find there weren't any. The plan was
kicked into touch and we just strolled along going in whatever took our
fancy.
o Spaceship Earth. A slight wait while the girls went to the loo, then
straight onto the moving queue and up the ramp and in. I enjoyed this
much more than the one other time I'd ridden it. Perhaps it's because
the last time was at the end of the day, and I was knackered, it just
seemed more enjoyable ... and that tune at the end is still instantly
rememberable ("tommorrow's child' etc etc). 8 out of 10.
o Wonders of Life. This was my first time in this attraction and I think
it's excellent. From an aesthetic point of view, I loved the inside,
so many colours and well laid out. Straight into Body Wars, no line,
just a wait while the previous crowd were riding (they were only using
two of the simulators). It was enjoyable, but not that thrilling. I
felt the film was so-so and didn't give any real feeling of moving
rapidly. It is quite jerky, but not long enough to cause anyone any
harm I think. 7 out of 10.
Cranium Command was something I really enjoyed. I liked the pre-show
cartoon and I found the film and audio-animatronic pilot to be really
well-done and funny. Better than Body Wars by far. 9 out of 10.
Here's a real bad admission to make, but I have to say that although
I love going to WDW, I'm not exactly mad about the Disney characters
indeed I prefer the Hanna Barbera ones! ... BUT! ... Goofy is an
exception. You can keep your Mickey's & Donald's, Goofy is in a
class by himself. His Goofy About Health booth is really good for
a Goofy-phile such as myself. I got pulled away by the rest of the
party, but I returned at a later date for more.
The rest of the exhibits are fun too, I didn't bother seeing The
Making Of Me ... from what I'd heard through this conference, I
wasn't desperate to see it. Generally 9 out of 10 for W.O.L.
We went to eat at the Odyssey restaurant because it catered for
vegetarians (well, it had a salad bar ... and it sold fries), we
started eating and then about 5 minutes later all hell broke loose.
There was a character show starting and the music was so loud it
nearly made my ears bleed. There were only about 10 other occupied
tables in the restaurant, so we got plenty of attention (Goofy
included) ... I almost got converted into liking the rest of the
characters ..... Minnie was a lovely mover!
Onto World of Motion which is another real favourite, I particularly
like the bit where you go slowly down a 'tunnel' and the film which
surrounds you makes you feel like you're travelling fast - a really
good effect ... even made me feel a little queasy, I like that.
8 out of 10.
Horizons next ..... I like the big-screen film portion of this and
also the audio-animatronics, particularly the neat bit where the
boy & girl talk to each other on a video-telephone link, and you get
to see them both, with the other one showing on the screen (if you
catch my drift). I like watching the people in the other vehicles
when we got to the area where the orangey smell is .... everyone
nudges everyone else and points to their nose.
Chose the undersea ride home and it gets 8 out of 10.
Straight into Universe of Energy ... I don't enjoy the pre-show film
as I think it looks amateurish, especially if you already know what's
to follow. We got front row seats on the right-hand side of the big
moving cars, so we followed the other side into the swamp. This is
the saving grace of this pavillion, if it wasn't for the atmosphere
of this part and the impressive dinosaurs, I wouldn't bother. 6 out
of 10.
We then took off for the World Showcase ... I love walking around here,
although the shops can get a bit wearing after a while. Into Mexico
first, I really like the night-time atmosphere in here. Always one
of the best to walk around, there is quite an interesting exhibition
of historical artefacts near the entrance. The ride itself (Rio del
Tiempo), is a bit tacky compared with others. One thing, I always
thought that some Disney noters were prone to exaggeration when they
say that some of the tunes remain in your brain for a long time ... now
I know it's true. As I write, that bl**dy tune is cackling away in
the Whitaker bonce!!!!! The only bit of the ride I like is the
character at the end who appears to be 'chasing' the boats to make you
buy something ... got to admire his persistence. 7 out of 10 for
atmosphere.
Into Norway next, and straight onto Maelstrom ... this is one of my
favourites ... it's a bit short, but I like the pitch-black start it
has ... and the backward motion, and then the fairly quick downward
ride. It's not exactly heart-stopping, but it amuses me. We skipped
the film portion at the end of the ride and had a look around the shop,
which was hideously expensive. 8 out of 10.
Paul and I were thirsty by this time, so we ran ahead to Germany for
a beer ..... $3 for a glass! .. no-way! we could get 12 cans of Old
Milwaukee for that, forget the quality, I go for quantity.
Yet more walking and we come across China .. this is where I discover
that I really don't like the films in EPCOT ... we had to wait until the
previous show was finished ... and then we were treated to a l-o-n-g
film hosted by a fake 'Chinese' poet .. who looked remarkably sprightly
for someone who claimed to be several 100's of years old. 0 out of 10
for the film, but 7 out of 10 for the general architecture and the
excellent shop which, in stark contrast to others, has some really
good quality, cheap merchandise.
Into the USA building next .... and were unlucky enough to just miss a
show ..... walked in and were told quite rudely by one of the staff
that we 'shouldn't have used that door anyway' ... I thanked him for
his pleasant welcome and assured him that I would make absolutely
certain that I wouldn't commit such a terrible faux-pas again.
NOW THEN, I remember one of our moderators (I think it was Len),
writing somewhere in this file, asking a rhetorical question as to
what the foreign visitors to Disney thought about some of the overt
patriotism at some of the attractions. Well I have to say that this
pavillion made me feel very 'foreign' ... the Liberty Singers came
out and began going on about some 'real patriotic songs to gladden
our hearts - join us and show how proud you are to be American'
.... he carried on in this manner for sometime, exhorting us to
gather round. Now i'm not exactly enamoured of over-the-top
patriotism - however much the country might deserve it - and that
goes for the UK too. I found that the atmosphere generated almost
made me feel unwelcome ... and although the singing was of a marvellous
quality, we all decided to leave. Next time I'll try to time it so
that we miss the singing and can go straight into the show, because
I do want to see the audio-animatronic figures that other noters
have raved about. Don't get me wrong, this is not a dig at American
patriotism, we have an 'event' over here called The Last Night Of The
Proms (these are the Promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in
London), it is basically an evening of jingoistic, patriotic English
music ...... and it gives me the same feelings as the Liberty Singers
did. All IMHO of course, if others enjoy it, fair enough.
Right then, on with the show .....
Yet more walking, stopped at the refreshments kiosk just past USA and
had some lovely yoghurt ... into the Japan shop and noted the good
value of the Bonzai trees ... $10 is cheap compared to the UK. On
further to Morrocco to watch the enthusiastic dancers, how they do
it in such heat is beyond me.
We are getting mega-tired by now and tempers are shortening, I wasn't
impressed by the prices again at the UK Rose & Crown pub $4-50 a
pint is well over the top .... and rumour has it that it's served COLD
... is this true?
We persevered and arrived back at the Future World pavilions. Straight
into the Captain EO pre-show ... this is definately the most nauseating
thing in the entire WDW ... I hate that film! The singing grates on me,
as do the 'cute' kids. BUT .... we took the advice of other noters and
aimed for a centre seat, towards the back of the auditoreum for the EO
feature. This was great, definately the best position to watch it from.
The effects were brilliant and I enjoyed the film more than ever before,
it made up for the naff pre-show, and what a sound-system! 9 out of 10.
The Journey into Imagination ride with Figment and Dreamfinder is yet
another of my favourites .... pure fantasy in parts, and another one of
those tunes that get to you. 8 out of 10.
We walked into the Land pavillion at about 5pm ... and met our first
queue! .... we were really tired now and decided to leave it until
another night.
We went into Communicore West to play for a while. The guy on the tele
conferencing machine was funny ..... he didn't let anyone just stand and
look at him ... he wanted to talk! Went to the information counter
and got quoted two different times for the last night of the Magic
Kingdom night-time parade, decided to play-safe and get there for the
earliest one.
We decided to go back home for a wash ... out for a quick bite and then
off to the MK for the parade. We walked out to the car (we were in row
7) ... and it was roasting hot ... Andy was driving and he opened the
doors and switched the a/c on to cool the thing down. We stood outside
chatting ... and heard the rumblings of a distant thunderstorm, so we
decided to get in the car. I saw Andy's face as he tried the door .... he
hadn't actually unlocked the car .... he'd locked it! ... with the keys
inside, and the engine running. We were saved by yet another example of
how well Disney do things. The car-park has several guys who drive up &
down looking for people in trouble ... and we sure were, as the thunder
storm was getting ever closer. Anyway, he radioed for assistance and
told us a 'lockman' would be along in about 20 minutes ... which he
was ... and just in time, as the rain was just starting. He got us into
the car no problem, AND refused a tip. Excellent service.
We went home and washed and then went out to Sizzler on 192 again (you
can tell it was one of our favourites). Andy drove us back to WDW, in
through the car-park entry .. then he had a brainstorm or something,
and instead of going straight on to the parking area, he veered right
on the service road to Fort Wilderness. Now I don't know my way around
there as I've never wanted to pay the outrageous prices that Disney
charges for accommodation ... and we got lost, no matter how we tried,
we didn't seem to be able to get back to the parking lot. After about
20 minutes of ever-rising anger we stopped at the security gate for
FW and the gentleman there gave us directions to get back in.
We got to the MK, just as everyone was leaving ... we saw about three
fireworks from behind the chain-link fence at the TTC !@#$#!$!!@$%@$^
As it was the last evening the MK stayed open late, it looks like we'll
have to wait until next time to see it.
What else could we do? .... back home to drown our sorrows in cheep &
cheerful Old Milwaukee, and Geyser Peak red wine.
Day 7 - Saturday 1st September
******************************
Basically just a lazy day at home .... but with a morning tennis session
thrown in. Highly embarassing, my mastery and skill at tennis is equivalent
to my skill as a brain surgeon .... but great fun nevertheless.
A trip to Sizzler YET again in the early evening (we were looking for an
Indian meal, but the two local ones were either shut, or full). Our plan
was to go to the flicks at the Osceola (sp?) East cinema ... and Sizzler
is close by, so in we went.
Went to see Darkman, which was being heavily plugged in the press, not a
bad movie - but it had a rather nasty chap in it who had a penchant for
removing people's fingers with a cigar-cutter - NOT someone to take home
to tea with mother. 7 out of 10 for the over-acting of the star of the
film (Liam Nielson???)
Home for the usual, beer, cards & read the Sentinel.
Day 8 - Sunday 2nd September - Disney Village
*********************************************
This was a designated shopping day, so we began it by nipping up the 17-92
to the Florida Mall. We spent a couple of hours walking around and of course
partaking of the wide variety of nosh available at the food court (a date &
walnut sandwich from the Nature's Table for me, another personal favourite).
After buying some Ray-Ban sunglasses at around half the price we'd have to
pay over here, we decided to go to the Civic Centre as there was a 'Home &
Sports Exhibition' .... well as we approached, there was a HUGE downpour
and we were too wimpy to run in through the rain ... so we decided to drive
over to the Disney village instead.
As we parked, I caught a glimpse of a beautiful, red '56 Chevy. I am VERY
interested in classic American cars (I'm determined to get one when I've
saved enough pennies to be able to afford the freight fees), so I naturally
rushed to get a picture of it. We don't see too many of those cars over here
so I felt quite pleased with myself .... until we walked into the Village
itself and saw that there were similar cars all over the place. It was a
classic car show, packed full of 50's & 60's motors .... and plenty of custom
jobs as well. Now this was just too good to be true as far as I'm concered,
Disney AND classic cars in one location was almost too good to be true.
While everyone else was 'flashing-the-plastic' in the stores, I was outside
taking pictures of Corvettes, Bel-Airs, Thunderbirds, Cobras etc etc. I didn't
get to do too much shopping, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Addie got herself an M-M watch, and as usual there was a t-shirt buying spree.
The place was very crowded despite the rain that fell in regular showers. We
sauntered down to Pleasure Island as I'd never been there before ... but my
mind was so full of all these amazing cars that I just wanted to go back and
ogle the rest of them. This was definately one of the highlights of the holiday
for me.
We drove out at around 6 pm, back to the house to change, then off to try to
get in at the Olive Garden, but it was packed with a 45 minute wait. Being
cheapskates (I believe we Brits have a reputation to keep up here), we elected
to try Duff's Smorgasbord, along the 192 ...... A-Y-C-E for $7, definately NOT
gourmet standard - but plenty of plain good nosebag, on a revolving serve-
yourself counter. Some 'interesting' characters in there as well, particularly
the guy who came into the loo when I was in there, singing Elton John's "It's
No Sacrifice At All" ... at the top of his voice. 5 out of 10, because he
couldn't hit the high notes.
Day 9 - Monday 3rd September - Labor Day
****************************************
I'm still not sure what Labor Day is all about, even though I was there, anyone
care to enlighten me? Anyway, we decided to go to the beach, despite warnings
about it being packed. We set off for Daytona Beach at around 9am and stopped
at a diner on the road behind the beach - buffet-style breakfast, A-Y-C-E for
$6.
Another first for me when we drove onto the (uncrowded) beach, I was expecting
hordes of people, but we drove for a few minutes and found a clear space, no
problem. Daytona Beach is so long, that I find it hard to imagine it ever
getting crowded ... perhaps it is during the infamous Spring-break??
As I don't enjoy sunbathing .... I spent over 3 hours in the sea with Andy and
Paul, hiding the pale skin and ever increasing beer-belly. Good fun though, it's
amazing how much enjoyment a li-lo and a frisbee provides!
We left the beach at around 4pm and went to Kahlua Jim's Surf Shop for yet MORE
t-shirts and I managed to get an immensely baggy pair of cheap bright blue knee
length shorts, which complemented my carefully groomed 'complete & utter nerd'
look, perfectly.
Drove back to Orlando (took about 1 hour 20), and went straight to the Olive
Garden on the 192. It was freezing cold in there ... they take the prize for
the fiercest air conditioning of the holiday. The cost for 6 was $90 and the
food was good, but not spectacular. I had shrimp linguini (I am a 'demi-veggie'
... I will eat fish, but not meat. Wanda is a total veggie, this does cause
problems in some of the restaurants we went in), this was tasty, but the garlic
sauce was quite tame.
|
| 183.42 | second installment | KERNEL::WHITAKER | | Thu Nov 01 1990 13:40 | 288 |
|
WARNING - please read the introduction to the previous reply which contains
a 'boredom warning' - before reading further.
If you are determined, waffle-resistant and haven't anything better to do
- read on!
Day 10 - Tuesday 4th September
******************************
This was to be a 'business day', we had some loose ends to tie-up, concerning
the house. This involved visits to the property management company, the
furniture rental people ... and also such salubrious places as Circuit City
and the ubiquitous K-Mart, to cost-up appliances and other items of furniture.
This unfortunately took-up most of the day, lunch was an appalling piece of
cardboard, masquerading as a MacDonalds 'Fillet 'o' Fish' .... never will I
risk such a revolting item again. Bought at the MacDonalds on the corner of
Sand Lake road and North Orange Blossom Trail - I know all of these places
are supposed to be the same, but this one was (I hope) unique - avoid it at
all costs.
We decided to get take away pizza from a shop called 'Little Caesar', at our
local shopping plaza (Ventura Woods) .... this is an interesting place where
it appears to be impossible to walk out with one, single pizza. I paid what
I thought was a reasonable price for a monster-pizza, and ordered a couple of
extra toppings. The lady behind the counter asked me if I wanted the toppings
on both pizzas .... despite me protesting that I'd only ordered one, she
insisted on giving me a free one. An interesting concept, but gratefully
received - we dined on pizza for two days instead of one.
This was also the day we got visited by the 'old bill'. We had just finished
eating, and the girls were outside sunbathing by the pool, when I heard them
talking to some-one ... and then in came a policeman! His name was D/S Richard
Zachorewitz, from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. He was investigating the
theft of some appliances from one of the neighbouring empty houses and he
wanted to know if we'd seen anything. Well it turned out that two of us had!
There had been a white pick-up, parked out the front of this house on the
previous Saturday, Andy had gone outside for a smoke and seen two men loading
boxes onto it - they wore 'uniforms', so he didn't suspect anything. It turns
out that these must have been 'thief-uniforms' becuase they'd broken into the
house through the garage, and nicked the cooker, washing machine & fridge.
Andy gave a statement ... and we checked our video to see if we'd managed to
be lucky and get the people on tape, but no luck. This was rather worrying as
our house had been empty for several months .... but nothing had been touched
there. I talked to a local contact after we returned and it turned out that
there were some construction workers in on the scam, that's how they gained
easy access to the houses.
Something else that I found unsettling was the sight of the officer carrying
a gun in our house ...... I guess we're still not used to police being armed,
and I hope it stays that way!
It made for an exciting end to the day at least.
Day 11 - Wednesday 5th September - Magic Kingdom
************************************************
I know, I know ... Wedneday isn't supposed to be a good day, but after seeing
the small crowds at EPCOT, we figured it wouldn't be too bad - and we were
right, I've never seen it so quiet.
We were at the TTC for 9am and walked straight onto a boat that was waiting.
Not even a delay getting in through the gate ... and we went over to the front
of the City Hall where the characters were 'doing-the-business' ... Addie &
Marina insisted on having a photo with each character, so we waited while they
did that.
Addie was desperate to try a roller-coaster, so we made a bee-line for Space
Mountain, we got there only to find two attendants telling us it had just
broken down!@#$!@$$%~$@%$#$!$#$#%#$ ..... we decided to catch the Skyway to
Fantasyland, walk through past the Yankee Trader and into the Haunted Mansion.
As we went over F-land, we were treated to the sight of a drained & dry 20k
Leagues Under The Sea (closed for cleaning), it sure didn't look 20k Leagues
deep to me - are Disney being a little economical with the truth here? :-)
We descended and walked around to the HM and went in ...... I really love this
ride and when I think of WDW, it's either this, the Pirates, or Horizons in
EPCOT - that I can imagine myself on, most clearly. Here's a couple of trivia-
type questions that occured to me while I was on the ride:
1) When you get to the 'haunted hallway' where the doors are creaking open,
and the 'ghostly knockers' (!) are banging away ..... what is on the wall-
paper surrounding the doors?
2) When you leave the ride .... what is the LAST thing the female ghost above
the exit, says?
I hope they haven't been asked before. 9 out of 10 because I like it.
Right-then ... out of the HM and a brisk walk around to the Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad, to satisfy Addie's roller-coaster desire. Again, there was no queue,
just the time it took to walk through and down to where the trains are. We were
at the back of the train unfortunately, perhaps that's why it didn't seem as
fast as the previous times I'd ridden it ... but still enjoyable nevertheless.
Paul actually taped as we went along ... on viewing the film since .. it doesn't
look brilliant, because all he got most of the time was my shoulder (nice though
my shoulder is, it hardly makes for scintillating video) ... but the sounds that
we and the rest of the people were making are worth listening to! I've never
ridden the BTMR at night, according to this conference, that's the best time. I
will make sure I do next time. 8 out of 10 for the screams.
From BTMR, we went past the railroad station ... AND past a woman who was
holding her (approx. 3 year-old), son up off the ground so that he could 'do
what comes naturally' over the floor! This pleasant sight was just outside
the Golden Galleon gift shop ..... look out for her when you next go, another
attraction not to be missed! (well it made me laugh anyway). We walked through
El Pirate Y el Pericolo to inspect the grub, but decided against and went down
into the Pirates of the Caribbean. It's so lovely and cool in there, I really
like the bit where the galleon is being fired at .... and where the pirates
in the gaol are trying to get the dog to bring the keys over ... AND I
remembered that someone had said you could see hair on the pirates leg who sits
on the bridge above the boats .... so I had a good look up his trouser leg, and
sure enough, there it was! We had a delay at the end so we were looking at the
last scene of the room with all the 'treasure' in, for quite some time. It's
amazing how much you miss, even if you've been on it a few times before.
Does anyone share the same temptation that I do? (!) .... when you go around
these rides, and you see areas where it would be SO easy to get out and walk
around the figures and scenery .... the temptation to do it is STRONG, I
nearly leapt out and whipped the keys out of the dog's mouth, so that I could
throw them to the locked-up pirates ..... knowing Disney, they'd probably
get out too. But as we hadn't been in that long, I didn't want to get thrown
out myself, so I resisted the temptation. I wonder if it's ever been done,
and if so - what happened to the guilty party that did it? 9 out of 10 for
the pirates hair.
The stomachs began their all-too-familiar rumbling, so we went into the
Adventureland Veranda for lunch. The food was pretty grim and definately not
worth the money, I had egg fried rice and shrimp lo-mein. The others had
chicken sandwiches of some description which were apparently not bad. I then
went next door to try the now famous (thanks to this file), Dole Whip. Well I
think that all I had read about it probably gave it too much of a build-up. I
DID find it refreshing, but not quite the ultimate experience I had been
expecting - having said that, I would probably make sure that I had another
one next time I go, perhaps it's addictive??
We gave the Swiss Family Treehouse a miss as it's one of those 'seen once,
don't bother again' attractions - and we went off to try the Jungle Cruise.
This was the ONLY queue of our day ... over 30 minutes to get on. Now, I really
think this is not worth the wait, the cast member's spiel was naff and no-one
on the boat paid him much attention .... it was embarassing for him really
when he kept ducking down in a 'panic' to avoid the 'dangerous' animals that
lurk the river-bank. Do they ever change these routines I wonder? .... it
seemed the same as last time to me. I quite enjoy the trip and the scenery, but
I don't think I'll ever bother to wait 30 minutes for the privilege in the
future, unles I'm with some-one who's never been before. 5 out of 10 for
the scenery.
Addie was adamant that we go back and try Space Mountain .... being a notes-
file-trained expert on such matters I was against it, telling her that there
would be an enormous queue by now .... but I was out-voted ... and then made
to look a complete & utter plonker as we walked in, and straight to the front
of the 20 person queue! Now I wasn't too thrilled the last time I rode this,
but this time I thought it was GREAT. We decided to visit again later on,
I thought it was the best ride I'd ever had on it and was keen to go straight
back on, but there was obviously much more to see. 9.5 out of 10.
From SM, we walked across to the Carousel of Progress. I really couldn't
remember this one at all ... I thought I'd covered everything on my previous
visits, but this was a new one on me ... I'm sure it's not new, I guess I
just can't have bothered before. Well, it's not exactly as fast as SM, but I
thought it was marvellous ..... don't really know why, I think it's because
I'm just fascinated by Audio-animatronic figures ... especially the dog that
wags it's tail and whines. I like the different scenes from the different
eras .... and it's clever how they have the end of the stage light-up to show
another member of the family ... then it goes dark again ... then ANOTHER
light, and this time a DIFFERENT member of the family appears, in a totally
different room. Now how do they do that then? I know I am but a simple,
backward Brit, but I didn't hear any machinery turning the scenes around,
and I couldn't see inside the curtains when it was dark. Anyway, it is a
bit outdated when you get to the last, most modern scene ... but I found it
a relaxing & enjoyable 20 minutes or so. 8 out of 10.
Next stop was Dreamflight, this was a new one on me and I can't say that it
thrilled me to the bone. The worst part was that it broke down as we were
going through the bit where there is a sort of rotary strobe light effect
that makes you feel as if you are spinning around. After the Captain EO pre-
show film at EPCOT, this gets my vote as the most nauseating effect in WDW.
It's probably ok in short bursts, but being stuck there for several minutes
put me in dire danger of seeing my shrimp lo-mein again! I was VERY relieved
when it cranked into life again and we got out of there. 6 out of 10 for
this ride, a bit disappointing for something so new.
We went down to watch the character parade for a while, we got a front-row
spot on the hub ..... as I mentioned earlier, I'm not exactly a devotee of
most of the characters, and the rest of the party weren't too fussed, so we
thought it was an ideal opportunity to go back and ride Space Mountain again!
It was virtually deserted this time and all we had to do was walk in and
wait for our 'rocket'. I sat at the back this time ... and found it to be
the seat with the most jpm (jolts-per-minute) .... if you like it rough, ride
the back! 9.75 out of 10.
For the benefit of Addie & Paul, the 1st-timers, we went into Mission to MArs,
this is another see-once-and-forget-it rides IMHO, surely it's ripe for
replacement (sounds like it is if the re-planning of Tomorrow Land happens).
5 out of 10, and that's only for the seat moving!
We left SM and walked back into Fantasyland ... stopping at the Mad Tea Party,
this is where I found out that I have a high tolerance for being spun around
at high speeds .... and that the rest of the people in my cup didn't. There
were 3 of us in each of two neighbouring cups ... and I threw down a challenge
that I could get our cup going faster than theirs ..... well you can forget
all your aerobics and iron-pumping, jogging etc ... tea-cup spinning is THE
most exhausting exercise known to man .... I got that thing going like the
clappers ..... but because I was concentrating so hard on making it spin
fast, I didn't spend too much time looking around. Those that weren't operating
the wheel, just felt sick ... when it finished, most of us couldn't walk
straight, and a little sit-down & rest was called for. 8 out of 10 for making
other people ill.
Next stop was the Magic Journeys 3D film, but it wasn't due to start for 20
minutes, so we went across to the Carousel, beacuse the girls wanted to ride
it - then back to MJ3D ... but according to the cast-member it was STILL 20
minutes 'til kick-off, so out we went again and down to Peter Pans' Flight.
I lied when I said we only queued for one thing - this was another queue,
about 20 minutes, by which time I was thoroughly sick of hearing Peter Pan
shouting "HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I guess I must've heard it over
a 100 times as we queued 'snake-fashion' for what is a very short ride. I
enjoy the sensation of the ride, but it's not amongst my favourites. Fanatsy-
land is obviously aimed at the wee-ones and although some would say that 3
years is just about my mental-age, I don't find much to enjoy in F-land. Having
said that, PP's Flight is the best ride there. 5 out of 10, it would've been
6, but for hearing that bl**dy phrase so many times.
Back to finally get in to the 3D movie, I really enjoyed the pre-show 3D
cartoon, it was much better than the film itself. One annoying thing was the
amount of people who ignored the cast-member's request to NOT sit-down in
the pre-show auditorium ..... perhaps there were a lot of deaf people there
that day.
The actual film was pretty content-free, although some of the effects were good.
I don't know if anyone can answer this question, but where was the start of
that film, filmed? Where the kids run through a blossom orchard and down to
the sea ... anyone know? It looked a nice spot where ever it is.
We had had enough of the attractions by now and started to walk out, stopping
at some of the shops on the way. We took the monorail back to the TTC and
strolled over to the car.
We decided not to go back to the house, instead we'd find the nearest Denny's
(we hadn't tried one of these yet), and then go back into EPCOT for the
Illuminations show. Denny's was good, Helena our waitress tempted me into
trying the chocolate-pie, which just shows how easily led I am. We ended-up
paying $70 for six meals.
The drive back to EPCOT began at around 7:45 pm, so we had plenty of time to
get settled before the Illuminations started. We parked up right near the front
and sauntered in at about 8:05. We decided to go into the Living Seas pavilion
as we didn't do it the first time. There were us and another 18 people in the
auditorium when the film began. I didn't remember too much about this one from
my last trip, and I didn't even realise there was a ride portion to this
attraction. It just seemed weird having so few people with us .... normally
I'm used to being part of a much larger crowd. I find the first bit of this
show to be quite dull, but I enjoy looking around the Sea Base Alpha part.
The marine tank is very restful and gentle to watch, after the long day we'd
had, I sat on the side watching the fish sail by ... and nearly dropped off
(to sleep that is). My favourite part of the attraction is to watch the gentle
and graceful manatees ... but by this time it must have been past their bed
time, because the lights were off in their tank - but if you put your face
right up to the glass you could still see them. I'm undecided about seeing
animals in cages or aquariums, no matter how large they are ... and the tank
for the manatees looked a little small to me. I console myself by the thought
that they are well looked after there, away from the boats that I understand
cause them such damage, out in the 'real world'. 6 out of 10 for the Living
Seas, but 9 out of 10 for the manatees.
As it was now about 9:35, we thought we'd go out and find a spot to watch
the excellent Illuminations ... we took the loooong trip on the Hydrolator,
up to the surface .. came out of the attraction and started to walk towards
the lagoon .... and that's when we heard the fireworks ........
Mr. Careful-planning had got it wrong again. Because WDW was now on an off-
season timetable, the Illuminations began at 9pm ..... the inevitable verbal
asault from the rest of the party was not long in coming ...... I think I'm
beginning to enjoy being humiliated!
Home for yet ANOTHER night of Old Milwaukee consolation, and off to bed at
around 12:30am.
|
| 183.43 | third installment | KERNEL::WHITAKER | | Thu Nov 01 1990 13:41 | 629 |
|
*** WARNING! ***
This is a continuation of the previous TWO replies, and it is another
long one. Feel free to skip to the next reply ..... but stay with it
if you are a resilient person, and can take more.
Andy.
Day 12 - Thursday 6th September
*******************************
This was to be another 'sports' day, Paul had bought one of these fancy,
shocking-pink tennis racquets at the Florida Mall. The salesperson was very
nice and promised faithfully that Paul would now be transformed into what he
described as a 'court animal'. Paul WAS very animal-like on the court, but
only until he fell awkwardly and sprained his ankle. The racquet was then
passed to me and it transformed me into a player who could at least keep it
roughly in the same court we were playing on. Paul sulked.
We went back to the house for a swim, then off in the afternoon (mad dogs &
englishmen really DO go out in the mid-day sun), to the Meadow Woods golf
course for a round of ball-losing.
This was not as successful as the first round, because my cart ran out of
electric charge on the 14th hole (which is the one furthest away from the
club-house). We managed to 'push' it back to the 19th with the other cart,
and I was in such a genial holiday mood that I didn't even complain.
Out in the evening to Gilligan's on the 192 .... although we'd been there for
a breakfast before which was good .... the food this time was generally
mediocre. It came to about $70 for six, but I wouldn't recommend their seafood
buffet, it sounds better than it looks and tastes.
The evening was saved by returning to the Osceola cinema complex to see Ghost,
which I hear has been a huge success in the USA, and is just about to do the
same over here. I must say I really enjoyed it - I've never been a fan of
Whopi Goldberg (sp?), but I thought she was EXCELLENT in this. Sad ending as
well .... I was 'swallowing' the proverbial rugby-ball and joining in the
communal sniffling when it finished.
Day 13 - Friday 7th September - Busch Gardens
*********************************************
As the traffic was bad on the 192, it took us quite a while to get to the
I-4, we left the house at 8am and drove into the car-park at around 9:45.
After being sent back and forwards between the ticket booths that had "locked-
up computers sir" ... we finally got in. First impressions were of surly staff
and a generally poorer atmosphere than Disney. It seems that everyone has a
grin on their faces when they walk into the MK, but here it seemed far more
dismal. We walked around some of the shops just past the entrance while the
girls did the now traditional loo visit. We then walked through towards the
train station (can't remember the name, and I've lost my park guide). There
was about a 20 minute wait for the next train, so we went in the animal
petting bit and made the acquaintance of several goats & pigs. We also took
time out to watch an elephant being washed, which was great, got some good
snaps of that.
We were then accosted by a very strange man in a psuedo-safari outfit, who
insisted on taking our pictures and giving us a ticket to collect them later.
I am about as photogenic as a baboon's posterior so I wasn't keen on this
deal at all, the guy's spiel was falsely jokey .... a complete and utter turn-
off. They really don't come close to Disney in this respect.
We went back to catch the train and disembarked at the Congo train station.
As usual the stomachs were rumbling, so we went in search of sustenance,
the rest of the group fancied the fare at the 'German' Festhaus - but as there
was no vegetarian grub there, Wanda and I had to make do with churros from
one of the stalls in the 'games-of-skill' area. It was the first time I had
tried these strange objects and, despite not liking cinnamon at all, I found
them to be delicious.
After meeting the rest of the crowd, we went over to the nearest roller-coaster,
which was the Scorpion .... there was a loooong area for queueing, with no-one
in it - so we walked straight on! Well I'm getting a bit braver about roller-
coasters in my old age, I even keep my eyes open now. This was great, but very
short. The best part was the first drop, and also the top of the loop-the-loop
where it appeared to slow down enough to get me worried that it wasn't going to
make it. 7 out of 10, would be 8 if it was longer.
Next attraction was the Congo River Rapids (after stowing our cameras away in
a locker first) ..... one of the women on the boat had a full rain poncho and
hat, which seems to defeat the object of going on it if you ask me. If you are
wimpy enough to not like getting wet, then DO NOT go on this ride ... I AM a
wimp, but I had to grin and bear it anyway - it's designed so that some people
get drenched, while others merely get soaked. It wasn't as rapid as I thought
it would be, but it's a great laugh anyway. 7 out of 10.
As we were now soaked, we decided to carry-on and do the other water rides, but
we found that one of them was closed. We made it to the Tanganyika Tidal Wave,
which is a short meander through a jungle-type river ... then an ascent, then
a VERY rapid drop into a pool of water. I had shrewdly and scientifically
calculated that the people in the front row would remain the dryest, as the
water sprayed over their heads ....... I of course had calculated wrong and
consequently got double-drenched. One thing that is REALLY funny about this
ride is the bridge that spans the pool at the bottom, where the boats hit the
water. If you go up on it, you can see that it is soaked ... you can also see
that if you cross right over,there is a glass protection panel behind which
you can stand when the water gets thrown up over the bridge.
Well all these clues seemed lost on some people .... there were still people
standing there on the bridge ... perfectly dry .... cameras at the ready,
waiting to take photos (and video film!) of the boats descending. The look on
their faces ... and the screams of anguish when the water hits them is indeed
probably the most amusing thing I have seen since granny fell down the stairs.
Some of them try to act cool, pretending they wanted to get wet, but most are
too shocked and stunned to play-act. I'm just thankful that some-one pulled
me behind the glass panel, because I was one of those people thick enough to
stand there gawping.
By this time we are terminally wet, next time we will make sure that we bring
a change of clothes with us. What a great laugh though. 9 out of 10 (including
1 for watching the other people get drenched).
It was now obviously time to attempt to dry off ... it was steaming hot that day
.... too hot to lay out in the currant-bun, so we just kept walking around and
went straight to the other roller-coaster (the Python). This is slightly more
frightening than the Scorpion as it has a double corkscrew - but it was still
disappointingly short. 8 out of 10.
From the Scorpion, onto the Monstrous Mamba, which has a circular plus up and
down momentum ... the name is worse than the ride, although you do get that
'stomach dropping' feeling. Mild but enjoyable, 6 out of 10.
We stopped and played on a few of the 'boardwalk' type stalls, where I
demonstrated my fearsome talent at hitting pop-up posts with a mallet - for my
skill and dexterity I was awarded a 6" high Mutant Ninja Tortoise which will of
course be a treasured item in the Whitaker Acres trophy cabinet for generations
to come. Next stop was the dolphin and sea-lion show ... this is much more of a
conventional dolphin show with hoops and balls and 'leaping out of the water to
snatch the fish from the glamorous lady' routines .... YAWWWWNNN! ... I was also
disturbed to see the tiny pools that I assume the dolphins were kept in - I hope
I was wrong! The sea-lion was well-trained and moderately amusing, but in
general this was nowhere near the standard set at Sea World. 5 out of 10.
Then came the worst ride I went on during the holiday .. it was called the
Phoenix, and it's one of those boat-type arrangements that slowly rock back and
forth ... until they are upside down. Now I cannot STAND these rides, but I
didn't know that until I was hanging upside down for what felt like an hour,
with coins from people's pockets pinging into me and past me .... and all the
blood in my body being squeezed into my head. The sensation as you swing slowly
around then stop, is quite sickening ... and the view of the world is indeed
confusing from such a position. It was nauseating and revolting, and I can't
wait to go back and do it again! 9 out of 10!
After a 20 minute recovery period we took a very pleasant ride back on the
Skyway, this gives a great view of Busch Gardens and presents many opportunities
for some good snaps of the wildlife (and the animals too).
We then went off to find the REAL reason for visiting the place, which is of
course the free beer sampling. We did the brewery tour - assuming that's where
the free beer would be - only to find it wasn't! Much careful poring over the
map finally pointed to the Hospitality House ... bingo! .... amazing how fast
you can walk when thirst is driving, even after a stinking-hot day being
drenched and terrified. As only two of us were able to drink (the girls didn't
want any - and the other chap was driving), Paul and myself spent a marvellous
45 minutes slowly getting sloshed and listening to some musical entertainment
provided by two characters with banjos .. I've never liked banjo music, but the
free beer seemed to make it sound good.
As it was now around 5pm, we decided to hit the I-4 back to Orlando ... we
stopped to purchase some Budweiser t-shirts to add to our huge collection, and
left the park at 5:30pm. A strange thing - on the way out, they stop you and
give you one of those airline-size packs of dry-roasted peanuts ... perhaps
there IS something Disney could learn from here? Monte-wotsit sandwiches and
Dole-whips, free at the exits?????
On the whole ... Busch Gardens is definately a very enjoyable day out, it's
different enough from Disney not to suffer from direct comparison. It's inferior
to Disney in many ways, such as the quality of its' staff .... but it DOES have
things worth seeing ... and I liked getting wet! I will go back and I'd give it
8.5 out of 10 on the whole.
We decided to eat in TGIF's at the Crossroads Plaza .... I like this one, the
atmosphere seems better that the one on International Drive. They were doing a
promotional thing where they gave you free 'Italian Appetisers' if you ordered
an 'Italian' meal .... 4 of us did, so we got plenty .... and it was VERY tasty
(fried egg-plant, zucchini, mushrooms etc). I followed up with french onion
soup, then manicotti with ricotta ... and a massively extended stomach. Great
grub though ... and at a cost of $84 including tip (we Brits DO tip sometimes),
for the six of us.
This was the place where Paul demonstrated his newly-found mastery of the
American lingo. As we are obviously frightfully polite people, we found it hard
to attract the waiters attention ... but Paul's rendition of:
"YO! .... Scotty my-man!"
... worked a treat - fellow Brits please note and practice before travelling.
We wandered around the Crossroads shops, savouring that marvellous warm,
tropical air (sigh! ... it's about 15 degrees, and windy-cold here in lovely
down-town Basingstoke), we went into Mojo's surf shop and bought Addie some
sunglasses for her birthday. Then a nice stroll around Goodings ... it may be
a bit dearer than other supermarkets, but it does have good stuff. I'd say it
was more akin to our Marks & Spencers over here, whereas Publix are more like
our Tescos.
Day 14 - Saturday 8th September - New Smyrna Beach
**************************************************
Not much to report here .. left at 10am, stopped at Sobicks for some of their
very nice tuna salad & cheese subs at around $3 each, they are a real bargain.
We nipped into the Florida Mall to get me some Ray-Bans from the Sunglasses Hut,
$54 for a pair of Wayfarer tortoise-shell glasses .... brilliant value compared
to here in dear old Blighty.
We drove onto the beach at around 1pm, ate our subs and then into the oggin
for 3 hours worth of frisbee throwing.
Left the beach at 5:40pm ... back down the I-4 to Crossroads shopping plaza and
into Goodings to get some food from their hot-counter. I got a selection
including crab quiche, egg roll, vegetarian samosa, salad etc all for about
$4. It may sound a revolting combination, but it tasted great.
Day 15 - Sunday 9th September - MGM Studios
*******************************************
As we had now decided that the theme parks weren't going to be crowded anyway,
we took our time getting to MGM, stopping at Sizzlers YET again - but for their
breakfast buffet this time.
Arrived at MGM just after 10am and went straight in and onto the backstage tour.
The one and only other time I had done this, we waited over an hour ... this
time we walked directly to the area where you board the tram .. and we were on
and away within a couple of minutes.
I enjoy the tour, but one difference I noticed was that Herbie the car didn't
'rear-up' on his back wheels as we passed the houses, has he retired?? I was
impressed again by Catastrophe Canyon ..... the effects are excellent and the
two of us who hadn't ridden it before were suitably surprised by the explosions.
I also saw the colourful Dick Tracy street scene for the first time, as the
tram took a slightly different route than it had the last time I went.
The bit I REALLY like about the tour, are those 'toon boxes that make the noises
when you open the lids ..... I could play around with those for ages if I was
allowed. We took the usual pictures of us with Jessica , and also being
'crushed' under the steam-roller. We then strolled out and caught sight of
those Ninja Hero Terrapins again .... this time they were demonstrating their
skill at dancing and singing with a young lady, bizarre indeed! We took some
video & camera shots, so that we could prove to Wanda's nephews that we HAD
in fact met these green items in person. They sure attract the crowds, wish I'd
thought of the idea.
The walking part of the tour is probably a 'do twice, but no more' attraction
for me. I don't think I'll ever do it again unless we go with someone who hasn't
been before. I do enjoy looking around the set of the Bette Middler film though
and it seemed particularly appropriate as we were in the middle of that 100
million Florida lotto fever at the time. 8 out of 0 for the 1st part, 6 out of
10 for the walking bit.
Next was the Great Movie Ride, which is one of my real favourites. I like the
look of the building, I like the interior and I like watching the movies while
you wait in line (we had to wait about 20 minutes for this one). Thanks to this
conference, I was now aware that there were two scenes on this ride, depending
on which line you took. I've ridden it three times before and always got the
cowboy side .... this time we were entertained by the gangsters. I think on
reflection I prefer the cowboy scene because of the explosion, which frightened
the life out of me the first time I went through. It seems that the gangster
ride follows the other one around, as you could still feel the heat from the
fire as we went through the cowboy scene. I would ride this attraction every
time I go ... and I don't think I'd get tired of it. Definately 9 out of 10.
Onto the Superstar Television, another first time for me. I was typically
British and tried to hide behind other people while the 'host' was looking
for suitable victims to use inside. Luckily I was successful, how come you
always feel he's looking at you, when you're trying to hide??
Well, I wasn't expecting too much of this one, it just didn't appeal to me when
I read about it .. and we almost left before the start. I'm really glad we
didn't because I thought it was a grin! The scenes were very well done, I liked
the Lucille Ball sketch particularly and the Cheers skit around it being every-
body's birthday was hilarious. The 'fake' actors all did a good job and all of
us thought it was brilliantly done. 9 out of 10 (but I bet it could be naff if
you get some weirdos volunteering .... anybody seen any?)
Now we finally got to what I'd been looking forward to most - Star Tours. This
is infinately better than Body Wars, as everyone else seems to indicate. The
actual walk-up to it is impressive, and also the walk-through, past R2D2 and
C3PO et al. Again we were happy to find that we went straight in, just as the
previous people were leaving the other side of the simulator. The ride itself
was very impressive, it certainly gives you the impression you're moving quick!
The film seemed more co-ordinated and it had much better graphics than BW. The
sensations on this ride make it a not-to-be-missed attraction, even real
'queasies' should try it once ..... it won't hurt you. Having said all this, I
think that Star Tours and Body Wars are both bettered by the simulator-type ride
in Universal (which appears in later paragraphs). 9 out of 10.
A quick bite to eat in the Backstage Lot restaurant, we had planned to go into
the Prime Time caf�, but decided we didn't want to take that long to eat, and
anyway, we can try it next time. Off to see if we could get into the Indiana
Jones Stunt Show, but it was crowded and there were no good seats left - so
we toddled-off to do the Animation Tour. Again this was a first time for me,
and it will be the last ... I thought it was yawn-inducing in the extreme.
Robin Williams & Walter Kronk-thingy were quite amusing at the start, but
the rest of it was dull. good if you're fascinated by how they make cartoons,
boring if you're not IMHO. 4 out of 10.
Back to the IJSS ... and no problem getting in this time. The seats still
weren't the best, but good enough. I was mightily impressed by the sheer scale
of this show, particularly when they move the original screen back. The only
thing that spoilt it for me was the innane banter that went on between 'takes',
I'm sure they could come up with something more original than that. The fight
scene was a fitting final� and the show gives you many chances to get some
great pictures. I'm a point-and-shoot man myself, I don't understand all the
intricacies of f-stops and apertures etc ... but even I got some good action
photos with my newly-acquired Olympus 330AZ. 8 out of 10.
Overall MGM has some excellent attractions, but it IS too small. Universal is
better (or will be when they get their act together), Disney will have to
develop and extend this park in order to compete - which will be good for all
of us I hope.
We had decided that we would make sure we got to EPCOT in time to see the
Illuminations show, so we left at 5:30 and drove over. We hoovered-up the
attractions we missed before, including the Land which was MUCH better than
I remembered it. I think it was down to the guy who 'drove' our boat. Last time
we got a bit of a wally, this time he was slick and amusing. He made the subject
matter interesting, even I learnt something, well-done that man. It is also
worth mentioning that we had a good-value tasty meal in a Disney restaurant at
last! It's a personal gripe of mine that the food in the Disney parks is
very over-priced and not of startlingly good quality. I had a seafood handwich,
and followed-up with a HUGE hunk of carrot cake which was superb. Large amounts
of great nosh for $5, well worth it.
This time we weren't going to get caught out ... we went for position A, in
front of the lagoon. We got there at about 7:45pm ... which was WAY too early
as other people didn't start arriving until about 8:15pm. We were happy enough
sitting down there, watching the daylight disappear around us. It's a pleasant
experience to look across at all the countries as it gradually gets darker.
We did have the added bonus of seeing the MGM firework display at 8pm - they
appeared over the top of Morocco. I've never seen the actual show from MGM,
but they didn't seem to last very long. Anyway, Illuminations was as good as
ever, it was the first time I'd ever seen it from this position, but to be
honest I think I'd probably elect to stand a little way to the right or left,
in front of either the 'Disney Traders' or 'Port of Entry' shops. I found it
a little hard and uncomfortable on the posterior (even with my ample padding)
and also - as mentioned before in this conference - not being able to stand
up, meant that I was peering through the railings, which again wasn't ideal.
There was a refreshingly easy stroll out of EPCOT afterwards, thanks to the
light crowds. I stopped to take some shots of the Geosphere with the laser
projection of the map of the world on it, for our fellow-noter Karen Campbell
..... these did not turn out too well unfortunately as I am not a camera buff,
but as Karen says .. it gives us BOTH an excuse to go back and try again!
We went home for a midnght swim - and also to feed the cat that had adopted us
during our stay - I hope someone is looking after it now that we've gone.
Emergency at the house ... only a few beers left, we managed to scrape through
on what we had, plus some gut-rot red wine we hadn't drunk yet, but it was
a close shave.
On reflection, EPCOT is even more definately my favourite. I like those 'sit-
on' rides more than anything and although it lacks that indefinable 'magic'
of the MK, I just find it more absorbing. MGM is way behind these other two,
although the quality of its' good attractions still make it worth visiting
each time I go.
Day 16 - Monday 10th September
******************************
Yawwwnnnn! ... yet another of those boring days of getting-up late (10am),
swimming in the pool, raiding the capacious fridge for food and drink,
playing golf in the afternoon ... and then off for yet more food in the
evening.
Don't laugh .... we thought we'd try a 'Perkins Family Restaurant' that night.
It was the one on the 192, near to the Osceola Mall .... what a great atmosphere
two other tables with people on ... and if it wasn't for the fact that one of
the men on the other table was wearing a REALLY poor-fitting, movable wig, we
would have hod no entertainment at all. I should point out that I have NO
prejudice against people wearing wigs ... I don't want to offend anyone - but
this was a ludicrous 'hairpiece' which the unfortunate gentleman should NEVER
have purchased. He was done by some unscrupulous salesperson somewhere.
Day 17 - Tuesday 11th September - Universal Studios
***************************************************
Jaws not working, Back to the Future not open until 1991 - Kongfrontation and
Earthquake in 'technical dress rehearsal'.
After all I'd read about the place and all the problems they'd had, I wasn't
sure what to expect from Universal. I have to say that I was VERY impressed by
most of it. There is no doubting that they still have major bugs to iron out
(and we all know about THEM don't we?), but the potential is there for a huge
money-spinner if they can get it together. Real competition is here at last,
which can hopefully only be good for consumers like us.
We entered the carpark at 10am, and I was worried that it was closed! There
were so few cars around I thought only the staff were in. Despite there being
so few people .... there was still a long queue for tickets (it must be awful
when they are busy), I demonstrated my uncanny knack of chosing the most slow-
moving queue yet again - it took us about 30 minutes to get in. We were still
getting the free return-passes at that time.
Predictably, our first thoughts were for food, so we checked-out the map and
decided to walk down through 'Hollywood' to see what the Hard Rock Caf� had
to offer.
The street scenes are excellent in my opinion, there is an immediate feeling
of space and size, which MGM doesn't have - 1 up to Universal. We walked
down past the very attractive Mels Drive-in (which has a few classic cars
parked outside) and into the area known as 'Cinemagic Center'. We got to
the Hardrock, stopping to take a few snaps of Norm's house (aka The Psycho
Shack). You have to get your hand stamped to get to the HC, as it is technically
outside the park. As we were the only people in sight, they didn't bother!
We looked at the menu and decided that it wasn't what we were after, had a
quick look in the souvenir shop .. and re-entered the park. As there was no-
one in the Caf�, there wasn't exactly the sort of atmosphere you'd want to
have in there, this was another reason why we didn't bother.
We strolled back past the ET ride and decided to go in. As we approached, two
very bored attendants beckoned through all the queue-chains, rather than making
us zig-zg around them all. We were the first there and they just asked us to
hang-on while another 10 or so people approached. As we stood there the guy
told us that 2 weeks previous the line had been over 1 hour, and 4 weeks before
it had been over THREE hours!
You go in and watch a short pre-show spiel from Spielberg, then you get a
little card given to you as you go through the next door which you are told
to give to the attendant who will help you board your 'magical bike'(supposedly
this is to monitor wait-times, or so the guy said). Also when you go in, you
stop at a little computer terminal and the chap asks for your name, which he
then keys in - very suspicious!
There then follows a walk through 'ET's Forest', which is very good. He appears
in various places and it's an effective and atmospheric stroll. When you get to
the other side of the forest, you get 'on-yer-bike'. The attendant takes your
card and you board the bikes which I think are three people abreast - there is
a lap-bar for safety. Then off you go, up into the air (it's suspended from the
top, in the same way the Peter Pan vehicles are in the MK).
It's quite a long ride, more ups & downs and more action than the MK Peter Pan
ride. Basically ET is hidden in the basket on the front of your bike, and you
are being chased by the 'government agents'. ET does stick his head up out of
the basket every now & then, which did give me a shock the first time he
'surfaced'. I really enjoyed this trip and as you get near the end, our hero-
alien pops up again and says goodbye to you by name ... so now you know why they
key it in at the start ... next time I'll think of a more adventurous name
than Andy and see how the clever little extra-terrestrial copes with a tongue-
twisting multi-syllable one (I can think of some Welsh names that would be
good!).
8 out of 10 for this ride, it's got a lot going for it. It would've got 9 but
for the fact that if you look up, you can clearly see the motors and pulleys
that the thing runs on .... picky perhaps, but Disney would make sure such
things are camouflaged to ensure the effect was total.
Next stop was to quell the pangs of hunger, we went to the International Food
Bazaar, which is a bit like a smaller version of the food court in the centre
of the Florida Mall. It is decked-out with loads of film posters, and there
are several food counters serving nose-bag in different country-styles. There
were German, Greek, Chinese, Italian & USA counters ... I chose Chinese and
had an excellent shrimp lo mein & egg roll + a fresh and delicious mug of
coffee, it came to $8 dollars a head, which is as pricey as similar stuff in
Disney, but definately of higher quality than similar food bought from the
Lotus Blossom Caf� in EPCOT, or the Adventureland Veranda in the MK.
We walked over towards the 'On Location' set (which contains the no-teeth JAWS
ride), and tried our luck at the various Pitch & Skill games, literally
throwing money away on one that looked easy - I found out that tossing quarters
onto a glass surface is impossible. There was also a booth there with a 'guess-
your-weight-and-age' guy in it - he was good, amazingly accurate, if he wasn't
within a couple of pounds, he'd give you a dollar. He was far too accurate for
me to embarass myself by going in, no matter how much I wanted the dollar.
There are also some very confusing 'Trick Photography' spots, dotted around all
over the place. Supposedly you follow the instructions, line your victims up
on the appropriate spots and - presto-hey! - you have a marvellous trick-shot
that looks like your nearest & dearest are in a wondrous location, such as the
'heart of a NASA Shuttle Passenger Base'. I am glad to say that it was not just
myself who couldn't work these infernal things out - everyone else who tried
seemed to have similar problems .... has anyone sussed these items out yet?
We proceeded-on and into the Earthquake attraction, although the park was just
about deserted, there was still a queue .... when they say 'Technical Dress
Rehearsal', they mean it breaks down a lot. I guess that was what was happening,
as it took us 15 minutes to get in.
There is another corny pre-show spiel from a lady who wants volunteers (makes a
change), then you go into a theatre where she carries-on a 'conversation' with
a filmed Charlton Heston. Basically it explains how the film was made, and it
shows you the actual model used on the set - quite interesting actually. Next
you go through into another theatre where they fling a dummy down a lift-shaft
(there's family entertainment for you) .. and then the volunteers are filmed
on an escalator, with polystyrene (sp?) rocks falling all about them. Congrats
to the ladies who starred in this bit, they were better than the film.
After this bit, you exit through the doors at the rear of the theatre and onto
a subway train. This is the 8.3 on the Richter Scale shake-up-mobile, which
first surprised me by travelling backwards. You go through and stop in a
station ..... and that's when the rumbling starts! The movements are quite
violent, and various nasty things occur such as lorries falling through
ceilings .... platforms buckling, and water rushing down stairwells at you. As
you might have surmised, it's an underground version of Catastrophe Canyon in
MGM - but as with ET, they've improved on the effects. 8 out of 10.
As we were about to exit the ride .... the heavens opened with a large t-storm,
cowards that we are, we huddled with the rest of the crowd until it finished.
Dodged up the street when a lull arrived and spent some time in Golden Gate
Mercantile shop ... plenty of good merchandise in the gift shops in Universal.
Quite a few of the T's were reduced in price and were relative bargains.
We then progressed through the street sets - Fisherman's Wharf, Louisiana
Bayou and on into some really excellent scenes supposedly representing Little
Italy, the Upper East Side & Theatre District ... again I feel that US has the
edge over MGM. Not only in the apparent authenticity (I haven't been to most
of those places, so I don't know how real they are), but also in the 'peculiar'
characters they have sauntering around the place. We met a confused Doc. wotsit
from Back to the Future (not surprising that he's confused, since BTTF isn't
slated to open until next year!) ... also Marina got 'assaulted' by Beetlejuice
who then went on to frighten the revellers in Finnegan's bar - she also got
'headlocked' by Frankenstein. These characters were great, obviously more adult-
oriented, that's probably why I liked them better.
Next stop was Kongfrontation - you walk through a subway (they seem to like
subways here), and up a ramp to board your cable car. The atmosphere is good
because you can hear the big-fella roaring somewhere nearby, and the scenery
is again very authentic looking. We had a brief wait of about 5 minutes, then
we boarded. We got around the corner .... got frightened by the first explosion
- then the thing broke down. Our guide told us that we were just going to go
around in 'safety mode' ... does this mean we normally go around in UN-safety
mode I wonder? We passed by both King-Kongs ... and I was impressed by the
size of the things, they've got to be at least 25' high. Back to the cable-car
station and off again. This time no problems ... and I have to say that this
was my joint-favourite ride of the entire holiday. It's just done on such a big
scale that I thought it was brilliant. If KK was good when he was behaving
himself, he's MUCH better when he's upset. The sensations are 'feel-able' when
the cable-car drops out of the sky ... and the noise is loud - awesome bedlam!
Another neat trick is at the end, as you come into the station again, the on-
board video screen starts up with a 'news report' showing the last bit of your
ride through the attraction. It rounds the event off nicely when you get to see
yourself on the screen.
IMHO, a truly excellent ride - 9.75 out of 10.
We strolled around the streets a little while, then went into the diner for a
milk-shake and to listen to the resident DJ's Wolfman impression. From there
we queued for about 25 minutes to get into the Phantom of the Opera Make-up
Show. I wish we hadn't bothered, as this was naff. It is a couple of guys,
trying to be funny, and also demonstrating how various special effects are done.
It included the ever popular shooting-someone-in-the-head-and-watching-the-
blood-go-over-the-wall stunt. It concludes with a spectacularly mediocre attempt
to show the transformation of The Fly onstage. This was such a let-down after
Kong, worth seeing for curiosities sake, but I won't bother again. 3 out of 10.
More mooching around shops ... then back towards the entrance to get on the
rides near there. First stop was the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. This
contains my personal cartoon faves (Dastardly & Muttley, The Flintstones,
Yogi Bear & Scooby-Doo), so I was on a winner straight away. Even allowing for
my bias, this was again a truly excellent ride. First is a film which shows
Yogi & pals, and also includes Hanna & Barbera themselves. It evolves into the
fiendish Dick Dastardly making-off with one of the Jetsons children - as the
audience are obviously heroes, we are invited to help Dad Jetson and his chums,
chase the evil duo and rescue aforementioned space-child.
You enter a large room with sectional seating, each section with about 8 rows
of seats, each row would accommodate about 10 people. they give a warning about
those not liking sudden movements etc. to make themselves known. I wasn't
expecting any speed ride, so I was pleased with this announcement. They also
told you to put any cameras, videos etc on the floor OUTSIDE of the seats. A
minute later you understand why, because all of the seat-sections start moving,
and the exterior floor also moves away to make a gap. The cartoon starts again
on the very large screen at the front of the auditorium - and that's when the
fun begins. It's another flight-simulator-type ride, except it's one big room
with about 10 of these things in it. The ride itself is hectic, many swoops
through space ... and a fast journey through Bedrock. All in all it's quite
a thrilling occasion with plenty of thumps & bumps. It all ends happily of
course with the Jetson sprog getting rescued - then the seats return to the
floor again and it's time to exit out into a really good touchie-feelie
section, with various animational exhibits to try out. Another excellent
merchandice shop completes what was my favourite entire attraction (the ride
is as good as Kong ... and the attraction as a whole I would rate marginally
above Wonders of Life in EPCOT). 9.75 out of 10 for it all.
We went across the street to try out the Alfred Hitchcock, Art of Making Movies
show. This was one of those that is boring to start with (lots of clips from
AH films), then a surprise (which I won't reveal 'cos it would spoil it for
1st timers), then onto a re-enacted shower scene, which for once had a front-man
with some amusing patter. There is yet more stuff after this bit, which you can
wander around and 'experience' ... mostly around special effects and such-like.
This is again a very impressive show, I'd definately do it again. 7.5 out of 10.
Last stop of the day for us was Ghostbusters. It seems that the long-waits
correspond to the least enjoyable shows! I didn't like this one much. You go
into a large theatre, and there is a large set in front of you, onto which
comes our heroine. She then over-acts in poor fashion whilst ghosts are flying
around all over the place, and subsequently gets rescued by the Ghostbusters in
person. They zap all the ghosts and then they try to get an un-impressed crowd
to clap their hands and singalong to the famous theme-song. It fell flat,
despite their enthusiastic efforts.
The special-effects are very clever, and the set is quite spectacular, but the
patter and the show itself doesn't cut the mustard. I'd probably give it another
go next time, but I wouldn't make it a priority. 6 out of 10.
It was now well past 6pm and we were cream-crackered. There were still plenty of
things we hadn't seen and done, despite being at it all day. We made our way out
just as the bangs and whistles from the Lagoon Stunt Show started up, but we
couldn't be bothered to rush down to see it. We'll leave that, and the rest of
the stuff, for when we return next year to cash-in our free entry passes.
I think Universal is well worth a visit now (just check and make sure that Kong
and Earthquake ARE running). We tried hard but didn't see it all - it is better
than MGM in more ways than MGM is better than it, and the scenery makes it a
fascinating place to walk around. I expected to almost dismiss the place in
comparison to Disney, but as I said earlier - if they can iron out the wrinkles,
then Eisner's Empire has some real competition at last.
|
| 183.44 | FOURTH installment | KERNEL::WHITAKER | | Thu Nov 01 1990 13:45 | 292 |
|
*** WARNING! ***
At the risk of repeating myself, make sure you REALLY want to wade through
this, by checking some of the previous replies. Congratulations on your
resilience so far, to those of you still awake.
Honest, it's the last one!
Day 18 - Wednesday 12th September
*********************************
This is easy to write. The rest of the party went off to Cocoa Beach for the
day, Wanda and myself decided to stay behind and do nothing. I spent all
afternoon floating on the pool, either sleeping or reading a book. Absolute
bliss.
In the evening, when the rest returned (after being warned by a speed-cop
for doing 49 in a 30 zone - AND getting lost on the way back, don't ask me
how), we went out to eat again at Sammy's Spaghetti House on the Orange Blossom
Trail. Once again, I would encourage you to find it and try it out - just
thinking of the Fetuccini makes my mouth water and makes the prospect of my
intended chip butty down at the local pub tonight, seem lacklustre in
comparison.
It was a great meal again, very friendly staff - especially nice garlic rolls,
and a crisp side salad. 9 out of 10 for Sammy's.
Day 19 - Thursday 13th September
********************************
This was another boring day of sorting out business details to do with our
house purchase. The afternoon was given over to shopping for presents and
YET MORE T-shirts ..... followed by more golf, followed by another remarkable
2-for-1 take away pizza deal at Little Caesars. Us lads have by this time
gone berserk and started treating ourselves to such illustrious beers as
Michelob Dry and more Budweiser - forget the Milwaukee Best, we're on the big-
time amber nectar now!
Day 20 - Friday 14th September - Last Disney Day (sniff!)
*********************************************************
Time to go back and re-do the favourites, and also collect the ones we missed
before. We started at the MK - didn't bother with MGM - and finished up at
EPCOT.
We got to MK at around 9:30, and took the monorail in, we got chatting to a nice
Welsh couple who were over visiting their daughter who was working in the UK
country in EPCOT. It sounded from their stories, like she was having the time of
her life - lucky blighter! After breezing into the MK, food was again the top
priority, so we headed for the Crystal Palace restaurant. I was really impressed
by this place - their scrambled eggs were gorgeous, as was the rest of the
buffet-style breakfast. For the second time this holiday, I didn't begrudge
paying Disney prices for the food - perhaps I'm going to have to re-appraise
my opinions on the VFM of their food. One other nice experience was the jazz
band they had strolling around there. As only 5 or 6 tables were occupied, it
wasn't long before they came to us - we'd heard them at other tables, and the
guy singing did a great Satchmo impression - but we have a certain song that
for various boring reasons, is one we like to sinagalong to (it's Roger Miller's
King of the Road - I know it's not exactly hip, but we have our reasons).
To our disappointment, the gravel-voiced one told us they 'didn't do that one'.
Didn't do it??? .... I thought everyone knew that one, but he was a big-lad,
so we didn't argue. They instead did an excellent rendition of Moon River, which
was the only other song any of us could think of when put on the spot. It was
marvellous stuff though ... a really enjoyable and civilised way to have our
breakfast.
Next stop was the inevitable Space Mountain ... and I believe we rode it 4 more
times during the day, all making sure we tried every permutation of seats, to
see which one was best (I reckon you get more sensation in the back seat, but
most of the others - apart from Wanda who didn't like it at all, but was game
enough to come on each time - preferred the front seat). Whichever seat you
choose, SM is a real classic attraction - I pity those that won't try it out,
they don't know what they're missing :-)
We tried to ride BTMR one more time, but it was surprisingly busy - guess we
just picked the wrong time.
Back to the Haunted Mansion for another trip, I was disappointed by some of the
crowd going in. There was an elderly lady in a wheelchair who came in with us,
just as you exit the 'sinking/strecthing room' the walkway funnels into quite a
narrow area. Now there was not a big crowd there, but for some reason everyone
seemed to want to rush-on. The elderly lady took quite a buffeting from some
of the 'guests' and I just felt it was a bit un-necessary. Don't know what the
compulsion is to rush through like that, if you take your time, you see more.
We did quite a bit of the stuff along Main Street. I wrenched my arm in the
Penny Arcade - they have one of those machines where you grab the handle and
squeeze for all your worth. Because Wanda's sister was watching, I decided to
make a real effort, or suffer the inevitable saircastic comments. I DID manage
a respectable rating on the scale, but I think I pulled a muscle I didn't know
I had.
More time spent in the various shops down Main Street, they'd changed it around
since last time and I couldn't find the place that used to sell loads of sweets
(candy), I bought a huge bag of Disney lollipops last time, which I brought back
for my group here at work. This time the choice was much more limited, so they
had to make do with a mixed bag of candies from K-Mart instead.
Back for yet another couple of trips on Space Mountain - when there are no
queues, and you can just come out and go straight back in again, it's worth
taking advantage of the situation.
We next walked through to Mickey's Starland, on the insistance of the girls, who
still hadn't collected MM's autograph yet. I gritted my teeth and sat through
the 'TV special' show ...... not my cup of tea, but I have to confess to
singing along at the end. I hadn't ever heard of these Gummi Bear things
before, but they seemed to be the stars of the show.
A little time spent at the Petting Farm, and then back towards the exit via
Fantasyland. I've never been in It's A Small World, but because I'd heard so
much about the tune - I thought I'd better try it this time. Well, I have to
admit that I quite enjoyed it, much to my surprise. I seem to like most of
the rides that include 'floating' around in a boat, and because your eyes are
bombarded with so many colours and so many different scenes, it's quite a
pleasant way to spend 10 minutes. Technically it's not exactly startling, but
I can understand why the kids would enjoy it so much.
The tune didn't stick in my head though, every time I think back to the trip,
it's that music from the Mexico ride in EPCOT that comes to mind.
As it was now early afternoon, we decided it was time to wend our way across
to EPCOT. I always enjoy that last lingering look of Cinderella's Castle, but I
wasn't too upset at going as I knew that I'd be back within a few months (I hope
to be going back at least twice a year for the foreseeable future, and as long
as the money-pit doesn't get exhausted).
We caught the mono-rail to EPCOT, as I enjoy the circuit of the park it does
before arriving at the station.
Once again, queues were light, so we walked onto Spaceship Earth for another
trip - this is one attraction that I would really like to see with the lights
on. As you make the steep descent back down and you travel through the 'outer
space' section, I'd like to see how big the thing really is (perhaps I'd be
rather disappointed?).
We spent a lot of time in the Communicores, and went through Backstage Magic
to see what UNISYS were trumpeting about. Not bad, slow for those of us that
pretend we know a bit about computers, boring for those who don't, according
to the rest of our party. There were several Digital terminals and workstations
on view when we were in the seated portion of this attraction - but I didn't
see any larger machines on view, unless they were disguised. I thought someone
else in this conference mentioned seeing a VAX or a large PDP? Maybe my eyes
weren't keen enough to make it out.
We pottered around the exhibits for an hour or so (including a 'trip' to
London, taken from one of the Travelport booths in Communicore East - this was
amusing as it mentioned the "friendly & welcoming Londoners, who will always
stop to pass the time of day" ..... ! ..... must be a different London to the
one I know).
The girls were intent upon buying one of the Bonzai trees from the Japan shop,
but I wanted to go on a few more of my favourite rides - so they went off to
take the boat across the lagoon, while I went to the East side of Future World.
I had time to re-do Horizons and World Of Motion, and then went back into the
Wonders Of Life pavilion for another mooch around there. Body Wars was the
first stop, in and out in around 15 minutes. It seemed tamer this time, perhaps
because I had lost any first-timers anxiety feelings.
I also had the un-interrupted freedom to watch the Goofy About Health cartoons
to my heart's content. This is funny stuff! There weren't that many other people
watching, so I had to keep my rather 'distinctive' laugh under control - but I
would highly recommend this as a cure for any temporarily depressed visitors.
There are also some very interesting booths in the Met Lifestyle Revue, where
you can learn about how all the things you like to eat & drink, are bad for
you (as if we didn't know already), and it's well worth spending some time at
Coach's Corner, watching the live coach giving people hints on their golf swing.
You get to see yourself on video straight afterwards ... then the coach punches
something into a computer, and a golfing celebrity pops-up on a video screen to
give you a few tips also.
I watched a guy from Texas, when he mentioned where he was from, the coach went
to her keyboard again, and Nancy Lopez appeared on the screen. She is from Texas
and I think they try to match-up the home state of the punter with the
selection of stars that they have, as I saw a guy from Illinois get matched
with another star from the same state (although I didn't recognise that one).
I could have watched this thing for much longer, perhaps I might even have got
some tips that would help me to understand baseball - but it was time to meet-up
with the bonzai-buyers, back at Showcase Plaza. I got there just as the double-
decker bus was picking up the characters after their greeting session.
We spent a little more time wandering through some of the shops in Communicore
West and then made our way to the exit. A depressing trip on the mono-rail back
to the MK, as I realised that this was it for at least a few months.
We drove out of the car-park at around 6:30pm and went straight to the Indian
restaurant (the name of which escapes me now), along the 192. We are all
devotees of Indian grub - it seems to be much more popular here in the UK, than
it is in the USA. Despite asking for my Prawn Dhansak to be made hot, it wasn't
particularly, but very pleasant nontheless. The only criticism was of the
papadoms, which were soft. The meal was comparatively expensive - around $11 per
person - but it was enjoyed by all.
Home to finish off the blueberry muffins that I'd bought from Goodings and bed
at the usual time of around midnight.
Day 21 - Saturday 16th September
********************************
I lost the vote, and Saturday was another beach day. We went back to Cocoa again
because we like the Herbie K diner at the Howard Johnson hotel, and we like the
beach-bar and shower behind it. I felt too full to go straight into the sea, so
I lay on the beach for about an hour to let the food digest.
Now although I love being in warm climates, I hate laying in direct sun for any
length of time - so I decided to cover-up as best I could. I had a towel over
my legs and my T-shirt on. Unfortunately the only part of me that wasn't covered
was my neck ..... and this got well & truly fried. After remaining sun-burn free
for the previous 3 weeks, I got scorched on the last day. I was not a happy-
chappy at all, but consoled myself with the pleasure I gave to everyone else in
the party who of course thought my discomfort was hilarious.
The rest of the day was spent perfecting our li-lo surfing technique, next time
I'll consider buying one of those 'boogie-board' things, as people seemed to
be having a great time with them.
We left the beach at 5:30pm and dashed home to wash and change before going out
to try TGIF's on International Drive as our last evening meal. Although I prefer
the one at the Crossroads Plaza, it was still a good meal. Their Blackened
Grouper was probably my most enjoyable dinner of the holiday. Much depression at
knowing that this was my last experience of a 'tropical evening', so I made
especially sure that I savoured it.
LAST DAY - Sunday 16th September - back to Blighty
**************************************************
This day is only of note because I thought I was going to get another week in
Florida!
Wanda and I were packing, she bent down to pick up a packet of sweets and went
to throw them into one of the suitcases, she then proceeded to collapse on the
floor clutching her back. It turned out that she had strained some ligaments
in her back, but at the time we obviously didn't know that.
She was in a pretty bad way, and I had visions of a visit to the doctors, and
for the first time, started worrying about the amount of our medical cover.
Wanda didn't really get any better - she tried lying on the floor, resting on
a li-lo in the pool ... but nothing really cured it. She is a very determined
lady however, and she insisted that we were going home. I know better than to
argue when she is as resolute as that - so I abandoned any thoughts of a
further week in the sun.
We packed as quickly as possible to give us maximum time in the 'pool before
heading off for Orlando airport. After a scheduled stop for some last minute
house business, we drove to Lindo's to drop the car off.
Contrary to what I've been reading in this conference recently, we had an
efficient and painless time at Lindo's. We drove in, stopped right by the
office, one of their guys took our luggage out of the car while I went in
to settle-up. Despite the fact that I had lost the original paperwork, they
were able to find my details, and the whole process took about 10 minutes,
before we were on the (admittedly aging) bus, and off to the airport.
I have no great desire to 'defend' Lindo's, and I much prefer dealing with
the rental agencies which have offices at the airport - but they were totally
efficient as far as we were concerned. Just goes to show that one person's
experience is exactly that.
One thing I CAN moan about is the appaling in-efficiency and poor planning
shown by whoever was co-ordinating the opening of the new terminal at the
airport. We didn't know it, but it was the first day of operation for this
terminal.
We waited over 2 hours in line to check-in, and it took the guy a further
20 minutes to actually process us through. They asked for our patience as
it was a new terminal, and new staff! I would have thought that they might at
least have used experienced staff on opening day, rather than use the people
who have paid large sums of money to visit Orlando, as training-fodder for
their new recruits.
There were further technical difficulties in the departure area which almost
resulted in lynch-mobs apprehending the unfortunate announcer. I tend not to
get upset in these situations as it's bad enough having to face 8 hours plus
on a plane, but some people were definately getting hot under the collar. Some
of the excuses the guy was using for the delays were quite entertaining though.
The flight home was comfortable enough, it became my birthday as we flew and
I was bought a large bottle of Southern Comfort by Wanda, which I cuddled for
comfort on the remainder of the journey.
Not much to say about Gatwick apart from it was 40 degrees colder and the car
wouldn't start, we were back in the real world.
|
| 183.45 | Disney Days Only | KERNEL::WHITAKER | | Thu Nov 01 1990 13:47 | 802 |
| This is the last in this mega-series, and it contains only the days of
the holiday when we were at a Disney attraction.
Day 6 - Friday 31st August - EPCOT Centre
*****************************************
We took a vote ... and most people wanted to go to EPCOT first, which
was ok with me as it's my favourite. We got to the gates at around 9am
and had the pleasure of chosing whichever empty ticket booth we wanted.
No queue to get in .... and when we did enter, it was (compared to my
previous visits) empty! I had carefully researched Birnbaum over many long
hours, back in the UK, to make sure that I was totally and utterly prepared
for long lines and queues ... only to find there weren't any. The plan was
kicked into touch and we just strolled along going in whatever took our
fancy.
o Spaceship Earth. A slight wait while the girls went to the loo, then
straight onto the moving queue and up the ramp and in. I enjoyed this
much more than the one other time I'd ridden it. Perhaps it's because
the last time was at the end of the day, and I was knackered, it just
seemed more enjoyable ... and that tune at the end is still instantly
rememberable ("tommorrow's child' etc etc). 8 out of 10.
o Wonders of Life. This was my first time in this attraction and I think
it's excellent. From an aesthetic point of view, I loved the inside,
so many colours and well laid out. Straight into Body Wars, no line,
just a wait while the previous crowd were riding (they were only using
two of the simulators). It was enjoyable, but not that thrilling. I
felt the film was so-so and didn't give any real feeling of moving
rapidly. It is quite jerky, but not long enough to cause anyone any
harm I think. 7 out of 10.
Cranium Command was something I really enjoyed. I liked the pre-show
cartoon and I found the film and audio-animatronic pilot to be really
well-done and funny. Better than Body Wars by far. 9 out of 10.
Here's a real bad admission to make, but I have to say that although
I love going to WDW, I'm not exactly mad about the Disney characters
indeed I prefer the Hanna Barbera ones! ... BUT! ... Goofy is an
exception. You can keep your Mickey's & Donald's, Goofy is in a
class by himself. His Goofy About Health booth is really good for
a Goofy-phile such as myself. I got pulled away by the rest of the
party, but I returned at a later date for more.
The rest of the exhibits are fun too, I didn't bother seeing The
Making Of Me ... from what I'd heard through this conference, I
wasn't desperate to see it. Generally 9 out of 10 for W.O.L.
We went to eat at the Odyssey restaurant because it catered for
vegetarians (well, it had a salad bar ... and it sold fries), we
started eating and then about 5 minutes later all hell broke loose.
There was a character show starting and the music was so loud it
nearly made my ears bleed. There were only about 10 other occupied
tables in the restaurant, so we got plenty of attention (Goofy
included) ... I almost got converted into liking the rest of the
characters ..... Minnie was a lovely mover!
Onto World of Motion which is another real favourite, I particularly
like the bit where you go slowly down a 'tunnel' and the film which
surrounds you makes you feel like you're travelling fast - a really
good effect ... even made me feel a little queasy, I like that.
8 out of 10.
Horizons next ..... I like the big-screen film portion of this and
also the audio-animatronics, particularly the neat bit where the
boy & girl talk to each other on a video-telephone link, and you get
to see them both, with the other one showing on the screen (if you
catch my drift). I like watching the people in the other vehicles
when we got to the area where the orangey smell is .... everyone
nudges everyone else and points to their nose.
Chose the undersea ride home and it gets 8 out of 10.
Straight into Universe of Energy ... I don't enjoy the pre-show film
as I think it looks amateurish, especially if you already know what's
to follow. We got front row seats on the right-hand side of the big
moving cars, so we followed the other side into the swamp. This is
the saving grace of this pavillion, if it wasn't for the atmosphere
of this part and the impressive dinosaurs, I wouldn't bother. 6 out
of 10.
We then took off for the World Showcase ... I love walking around here,
although the shops can get a bit wearing after a while. Into Mexico
first, I really like the night-time atmosphere in here. Always one
of the best to walk around, there is quite an interesting exhibition
of historical artefacts near the entrance. The ride itself (Rio del
Tiempo), is a bit tacky compared with others. One thing, I always
thought that some Disney noters were prone to exaggeration when they
say that some of the tunes remain in your brain for a long time ... now
I know it's true. As I write, that bl**dy tune is cackling away in
the Whitaker bonce!!!!! The only bit of the ride I like is the
character at the end who appears to be 'chasing' the boats to make you
buy something ... got to admire his persistence. 7 out of 10 for
atmosphere.
Into Norway next, and straight onto Maelstrom ... this is one of my
favourites ... it's a bit short, but I like the pitch-black start it
has ... and the backward motion, and then the fairly quick downward
ride. It's not exactly heart-stopping, but it amuses me. We skipped
the film portion at the end of the ride and had a look around the shop,
which was hideously expensive. 8 out of 10.
Paul and I were thirsty by this time, so we ran ahead to Germany for
a beer ..... $3 for a glass! .. no-way! we could get 12 cans of Old
Milwaukee for that, forget the quality, I go for quantity.
Yet more walking and we come across China .. this is where I discover
that I really don't like the films in EPCOT ... we had to wait until the
previous show was finished ... and then we were treated to a l-o-n-g
film hosted by a fake 'Chinese' poet .. who looked remarkably sprightly
for someone who claimed to be several 100's of years old. 0 out of 10
for the film, but 7 out of 10 for the general architecture and the
excellent shop which, in stark contrast to others, has some really
good quality, cheap merchandise.
Into the USA building next .... and were unlucky enough to just miss a
show ..... walked in and were told quite rudely by one of the staff
that we 'shouldn't have used that door anyway' ... I thanked him for
his pleasant welcome and assured him that I would make absolutely
certain that I wouldn't commit such a terrible faux-pas again.
NOW THEN, I remember one of our moderators (I think it was Len),
writing somewhere in this file, asking a rhetorical question as to
what the foreign visitors to Disney thought about some of the overt
patriotism at some of the attractions. Well I have to say that this
pavillion made me feel very 'foreign' ... the Liberty Singers came
out and began going on about some 'real patriotic songs to gladden
our hearts - join us and show how proud you are to be American'
.... he carried on in this manner for sometime, exhorting us to
gather round. Now i'm not exactly enamoured of over-the-top
patriotism - however much the country might deserve it - and that
goes for the UK too. I found that the atmosphere generated almost
made me feel unwelcome ... and although the singing was of a marvellous
quality, we all decided to leave. Next time I'll try to time it so
that we miss the singing and can go straight into the show, because
I do want to see the audio-animatronic figures that other noters
have raved about. Don't get me wrong, this is not a dig at American
patriotism, we have an 'event' over here called The Last Night Of The
Proms (these are the Promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in
London), it is basically an evening of jingoistic, patriotic English
music ...... and it gives me the same feelings as the Liberty Singers
did. All IMHO of course, if others enjoy it, fair enough.
Right then, on with the show .....
Yet more walking, stopped at the refreshments kiosk just past USA and
had some lovely yoghurt ... into the Japan shop and noted the good
value of the Bonzai trees ... $10 is cheap compared to the UK. On
further to Morrocco to watch the enthusiastic dancers, how they do
it in such heat is beyond me.
We are getting mega-tired by now and tempers are shortening, I wasn't
impressed by the prices again at the UK Rose & Crown pub $4-50 a
pint is well over the top .... and rumour has it that it's served COLD
... is this true?
We persevered and arrived back at the Future World pavilions. Straight
into the Captain EO pre-show ... this is definately the most nauseating
thing in the entire WDW ... I hate that film! The singing grates on me,
as do the 'cute' kids. BUT .... we took the advice of other noters and
aimed for a centre seat, towards the back of the auditoreum for the EO
feature. This was great, definately the best position to watch it from.
The effects were brilliant and I enjoyed the film more than ever before,
it made up for the naff pre-show, and what a sound-system! 9 out of 10.
The Journey into Imagination ride with Figment and Dreamfinder is yet
another of my favourites .... pure fantasy in parts, and another one of
those tunes that get to you. 8 out of 10.
We walked into the Land pavillion at about 5pm ... and met our first
queue! .... we were really tired now and decided to leave it until
another night.
We went into Communicore West to play for a while. The guy on the tele
conferencing machine was funny ..... he didn't let anyone just stand and
look at him ... he wanted to talk! Went to the information counter
and got quoted two different times for the last night of the Magic
Kingdom night-time parade, decided to play-safe and get there for the
earliest one.
We decided to go back home for a wash ... out for a quick bite and then
off to the MK for the parade. We walked out to the car (we were in row
7) ... and it was roasting hot ... Andy was driving and he opened the
doors and switched the a/c on to cool the thing down. We stood outside
chatting ... and heard the rumblings of a distant thunderstorm, so we
decided to get in the car. I saw Andy's face as he tried the door .... he
hadn't actually unlocked the car .... he'd locked it! ... with the keys
inside, and the engine running. We were saved by yet another example of
how well Disney do things. The car-park has several guys who drive up &
down looking for people in trouble ... and we sure were, as the thunder
storm was getting ever closer. Anyway, he radioed for assistance and
told us a 'lockman' would be along in about 20 minutes ... which he
was ... and just in time, as the rain was just starting. He got us into
the car no problem, AND refused a tip. Excellent service.
We went home and washed and then went out to Sizzler on 192 again (you
can tell it was one of our favourites). Andy drove us back to WDW, in
through the car-park entry .. then he had a brainstorm or something,
and instead of going straight on to the parking area, he veered right
on the service road to Fort Wilderness. Now I don't know my way around
there as I've never wanted to pay the outrageous prices that Disney
charges for accommodation ... and we got lost, no matter how we tried,
we didn't seem to be able to get back to the parking lot. After about
20 minutes of ever-rising anger we stopped at the security gate for
FW and the gentleman there gave us directions to get back in.
We got to the MK, just as everyone was leaving ... we saw about three
fireworks from behind the chain-link fence at the TTC !@#$#!$!!@$%@$^
As it was the last evening the MK stayed open late, it looks like we'll
have to wait until next time to see it.
What else could we do? .... back home to drown our sorrows in cheep &
cheerful Old Milwaukee, and Geyser Peak red wine.
Day 8 - Sunday 2nd September - Disney Village
*********************************************
This was a designated shopping day, so we began it by nipping up the 17-92
to the Florida Mall. We spent a couple of hours walking around and of course
partaking of the wide variety of nosh available at the food court (a date &
walnut sandwich from the Nature's Table for me, another personal favourite).
After buying some Ray-Ban sunglasses at around half the price we'd have to
pay over here, we decided to go to the Civic Centre as there was a 'Home &
Sports Exhibition' .... well as we approached, there was a HUGE downpour
and we were too wimpy to run in through the rain ... so we decided to drive
over to the Disney village instead.
As we parked, I caught a glimpse of a beautiful, red '56 Chevy. I am VERY
interested in classic American cars (I'm determined to get one when I've
saved enough pennies to be able to afford the freight fees), so I naturally
rushed to get a picture of it. We don't see too many of those cars over here
so I felt quite pleased with myself .... until we walked into the Village
itself and saw that there were similar cars all over the place. It was a
classic car show, packed full of 50's & 60's motors .... and plenty of custom
jobs as well. Now this was just too good to be true as far as I'm concered,
Disney AND classic cars in one location was almost too good to be true.
While everyone else was 'flashing-the-plastic' in the stores, I was outside
taking pictures of Corvettes, Bel-Airs, Thunderbirds, Cobras etc etc. I didn't
get to do too much shopping, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Addie got herself an M-M watch, and as usual there was a t-shirt buying spree.
The place was very crowded despite the rain that fell in regular showers. We
sauntered down to Pleasure Island as I'd never been there before ... but my
mind was so full of all these amazing cars that I just wanted to go back and
ogle the rest of them. This was definately one of the highlights of the holiday
for me.
We drove out at around 6 pm, back to the house to change, then off to try to
get in at the Olive Garden, but it was packed with a 45 minute wait. Being
cheapskates (I believe we Brits have a reputation to keep up here), we elected
to try Duff's Smorgasbord, along the 192 ...... A-Y-C-E for $7, definately NOT
gourmet standard - but plenty of plain good nosebag, on a revolving serve-
yourself counter. Some 'interesting' characters in there as well, particularly
the guy who came into the loo when I was in there, singing Elton John's "It's
No Sacrifice At All" ... at the top of his voice. 5 out of 10, because he
couldn't hit the high notes.
Day 11 - Wednesday 5th September - Magic Kingdom
************************************************
I know, I know ... Wedneday isn't supposed to be a good day, but after seeing
the small crowds at EPCOT, we figured it wouldn't be too bad - and we were
right, I've never seen it so quiet.
We were at the TTC for 9am and walked straight onto a boat that was waiting.
Not even a delay getting in through the gate ... and we went over to the front
of the City Hall where the characters were 'doing-the-business' ... Addie &
Marina insisted on having a photo with each character, so we waited while they
did that.
Addie was desperate to try a roller-coaster, so we made a bee-line for Space
Mountain, we got there only to find two attendants telling us it had just
broken down!@#$!@$$%~$@%$#$!$#$#%#$ ..... we decided to catch the Skyway to
Fantasyland, walk through past the Yankee Trader and into the Haunted Mansion.
As we went over F-land, we were treated to the sight of a drained & dry 20k
Leagues Under The Sea (closed for cleaning), it sure didn't look 20k Leagues
deep to me - are Disney being a little economical with the truth here? :-)
We descended and walked around to the HM and went in ...... I really love this
ride and when I think of WDW, it's either this, the Pirates, or Horizons in
EPCOT - that I can imagine myself on, most clearly. Here's a couple of trivia-
type questions that occured to me while I was on the ride:
1) When you get to the 'haunted hallway' where the doors are creaking open,
and the 'ghostly knockers' (!) are banging away ..... what is on the wall-
paper surrounding the doors?
2) When you leave the ride .... what is the LAST thing the female ghost above
the exit, says?
I hope they haven't been asked before. 9 out of 10 because I like it.
Right-then ... out of the HM and a brisk walk around to the Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad, to satisfy Addie's roller-coaster desire. Again, there was no queue,
just the time it took to walk through and down to where the trains are. We were
at the back of the train unfortunately, perhaps that's why it didn't seem as
fast as the previous times I'd ridden it ... but still enjoyable nevertheless.
Paul actually taped as we went along ... on viewing the film since .. it doesn't
look brilliant, because all he got most of the time was my shoulder (nice though
my shoulder is, it hardly makes for scintillating video) ... but the sounds that
we and the rest of the people were making are worth listening to! I've never
ridden the BTMR at night, according to this conference, that's the best time. I
will make sure I do next time. 8 out of 10 for the screams.
From BTMR, we went past the railroad station ... AND past a woman who was
holding her (approx. 3 year-old), son up off the ground so that he could 'do
what comes naturally' over the floor! This pleasant sight was just outside
the Golden Galleon gift shop ..... look out for her when you next go, another
attraction not to be missed! (well it made me laugh anyway). We walked through
El Pirate Y el Pericolo to inspect the grub, but decided against and went down
into the Pirates of the Caribbean. It's so lovely and cool in there, I really
like the bit where the galleon is being fired at .... and where the pirates
in the gaol are trying to get the dog to bring the keys over ... AND I
remembered that someone had said you could see hair on the pirates leg who sits
on the bridge above the boats .... so I had a good look up his trouser leg, and
sure enough, there it was! We had a delay at the end so we were looking at the
last scene of the room with all the 'treasure' in, for quite some time. It's
amazing how much you miss, even if you've been on it a few times before.
Does anyone share the same temptation that I do? (!) .... when you go around
these rides, and you see areas where it would be SO easy to get out and walk
around the figures and scenery .... the temptation to do it is STRONG, I
nearly leapt out and whipped the keys out of the dog's mouth, so that I could
throw them to the locked-up pirates ..... knowing Disney, they'd probably
get out too. But as we hadn't been in that long, I didn't want to get thrown
out myself, so I resisted the temptation. I wonder if it's ever been done,
and if so - what happened to the guilty party that did it? 9 out of 10 for
the pirates hair.
The stomachs began their all-too-familiar rumbling, so we went into the
Adventureland Veranda for lunch. The food was pretty grim and definately not
worth the money, I had egg fried rice and shrimp lo-mein. The others had
chicken sandwiches of some description which were apparently not bad. I then
went next door to try the now famous (thanks to this file), Dole Whip. Well I
think that all I had read about it probably gave it too much of a build-up. I
DID find it refreshing, but not quite the ultimate experience I had been
expecting - having said that, I would probably make sure that I had another
one next time I go, perhaps it's addictive??
We gave the Swiss Family Treehouse a miss as it's one of those 'seen once,
don't bother again' attractions - and we went off to try the Jungle Cruise.
This was the ONLY queue of our day ... over 30 minutes to get on. Now, I really
think this is not worth the wait, the cast member's spiel was naff and no-one
on the boat paid him much attention .... it was embarassing for him really
when he kept ducking down in a 'panic' to avoid the 'dangerous' animals that
lurk the river-bank. Do they ever change these routines I wonder? .... it
seemed the same as last time to me. I quite enjoy the trip and the scenery, but
I don't think I'll ever bother to wait 30 minutes for the privilege in the
future, unles I'm with some-one who's never been before. 5 out of 10 for
the scenery.
Addie was adamant that we go back and try Space Mountain .... being a notes-
file-trained expert on such matters I was against it, telling her that there
would be an enormous queue by now .... but I was out-voted ... and then made
to look a complete & utter plonker as we walked in, and straight to the front
of the 20 person queue! Now I wasn't too thrilled the last time I rode this,
but this time I thought it was GREAT. We decided to visit again later on,
I thought it was the best ride I'd ever had on it and was keen to go straight
back on, but there was obviously much more to see. 9.5 out of 10.
From SM, we walked across to the Carousel of Progress. I really couldn't
remember this one at all ... I thought I'd covered everything on my previous
visits, but this was a new one on me ... I'm sure it's not new, I guess I
just can't have bothered before. Well, it's not exactly as fast as SM, but I
thought it was marvellous ..... don't really know why, I think it's because
I'm just fascinated by Audio-animatronic figures ... especially the dog that
wags it's tail and whines. I like the different scenes from the different
eras .... and it's clever how they have the end of the stage light-up to show
another member of the family ... then it goes dark again ... then ANOTHER
light, and this time a DIFFERENT member of the family appears, in a totally
different room. Now how do they do that then? I know I am but a simple,
backward Brit, but I didn't hear any machinery turning the scenes around,
and I couldn't see inside the curtains when it was dark. Anyway, it is a
bit outdated when you get to the last, most modern scene ... but I found it
a relaxing & enjoyable 20 minutes or so. 8 out of 10.
Next stop was Dreamflight, this was a new one on me and I can't say that it
thrilled me to the bone. The worst part was that it broke down as we were
going through the bit where there is a sort of rotary strobe light effect
that makes you feel as if you are spinning around. After the Captain EO pre-
show film at EPCOT, this gets my vote as the most nauseating effect in WDW.
It's probably ok in short bursts, but being stuck there for several minutes
put me in dire danger of seeing my shrimp lo-mein again! I was VERY relieved
when it cranked into life again and we got out of there. 6 out of 10 for
this ride, a bit disappointing for something so new.
We went down to watch the character parade for a while, we got a front-row
spot on the hub ..... as I mentioned earlier, I'm not exactly a devotee of
most of the characters, and the rest of the party weren't too fussed, so we
thought it was an ideal opportunity to go back and ride Space Mountain again!
It was virtually deserted this time and all we had to do was walk in and
wait for our 'rocket'. I sat at the back this time ... and found it to be
the seat with the most jpm (jolts-per-minute) .... if you like it rough, ride
the back! 9.75 out of 10.
For the benefit of Addie & Paul, the 1st-timers, we went into Mission to MArs,
this is another see-once-and-forget-it rides IMHO, surely it's ripe for
replacement (sounds like it is if the re-planning of Tomorrow Land happens).
5 out of 10, and that's only for the seat moving!
We left SM and walked back into Fantasyland ... stopping at the Mad Tea Party,
this is where I found out that I have a high tolerance for being spun around
at high speeds .... and that the rest of the people in my cup didn't. There
were 3 of us in each of two neighbouring cups ... and I threw down a challenge
that I could get our cup going faster than theirs ..... well you can forget
all your aerobics and iron-pumping, jogging etc ... tea-cup spinning is THE
most exhausting exercise known to man .... I got that thing going like the
clappers ..... but because I was concentrating so hard on making it spin
fast, I didn't spend too much time looking around. Those that weren't operating
the wheel, just felt sick ... when it finished, most of us couldn't walk
straight, and a little sit-down & rest was called for. 8 out of 10 for making
other people ill.
Next stop was the Magic Journeys 3D film, but it wasn't due to start for 20
minutes, so we went across to the Carousel, beacuse the girls wanted to ride
it - then back to MJ3D ... but according to the cast-member it was STILL 20
minutes 'til kick-off, so out we went again and down to Peter Pans' Flight.
I lied when I said we only queued for one thing - this was another queue,
about 20 minutes, by which time I was thoroughly sick of hearing Peter Pan
shouting "HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I guess I must've heard it over
a 100 times as we queued 'snake-fashion' for what is a very short ride. I
enjoy the sensation of the ride, but it's not amongst my favourites. Fanatsy-
land is obviously aimed at the wee-ones and although some would say that 3
years is just about my mental-age, I don't find much to enjoy in F-land. Having
said that, PP's Flight is the best ride there. 5 out of 10, it would've been
6, but for hearing that bl**dy phrase so many times.
Back to finally get in to the 3D movie, I really enjoyed the pre-show 3D
cartoon, it was much better than the film itself. One annoying thing was the
amount of people who ignored the cast-member's request to NOT sit-down in
the pre-show auditorium ..... perhaps there were a lot of deaf people there
that day.
The actual film was pretty content-free, although some of the effects were good.
I don't know if anyone can answer this question, but where was the start of
that film, filmed? Where the kids run through a blossom orchard and down to
the sea ... anyone know? It looked a nice spot where ever it is.
We had had enough of the attractions by now and started to walk out, stopping
at some of the shops on the way. We took the monorail back to the TTC and
strolled over to the car.
We decided not to go back to the house, instead we'd find the nearest Denny's
(we hadn't tried one of these yet), and then go back into EPCOT for the
Illuminations show. Denny's was good, Helena our waitress tempted me into
trying the chocolate-pie, which just shows how easily led I am. We ended-up
paying $70 for six meals.
The drive back to EPCOT began at around 7:45 pm, so we had plenty of time to
get settled before the Illuminations started. We parked up right near the front
and sauntered in at about 8:05. We decided to go into the Living Seas pavilion
as we didn't do it the first time. There were us and another 18 people in the
auditorium when the film began. I didn't remember too much about this one from
my last trip, and I didn't even realise there was a ride portion to this
attraction. It just seemed weird having so few people with us .... normally
I'm used to being part of a much larger crowd. I find the first bit of this
show to be quite dull, but I enjoy looking around the Sea Base Alpha part.
The marine tank is very restful and gentle to watch, after the long day we'd
had, I sat on the side watching the fish sail by ... and nearly dropped off
(to sleep that is). My favourite part of the attraction is to watch the gentle
and graceful manatees ... but by this time it must have been past their bed
time, because the lights were off in their tank - but if you put your face
right up to the glass you could still see them. I'm undecided about seeing
animals in cages or aquariums, no matter how large they are ... and the tank
for the manatees looked a little small to me. I console myself by the thought
that they are well looked after there, away from the boats that I understand
cause them such damage, out in the 'real world'. 6 out of 10 for the Living
Seas, but 9 out of 10 for the manatees.
As it was now about 9:35, we thought we'd go out and find a spot to watch
the excellent Illuminations ... we took the loooong trip on the Hydrolator,
up to the surface .. came out of the attraction and started to walk towards
the lagoon .... and that's when we heard the fireworks ........
Mr. Careful-planning had got it wrong again. Because WDW was now on an off-
season timetable, the Illuminations began at 9pm ..... the inevitable verbal
asault from the rest of the party was not long in coming ...... I think I'm
beginning to enjoy being humiliated!
Home for yet ANOTHER night of Old Milwaukee consolation, and off to bed at
around 12:30am.
Day 15 - Sunday 9th September - MGM Studios
*******************************************
As we had now decided that the theme parks weren't going to be crowded anyway,
we took our time getting to MGM, stopping at Sizzlers YET again - but for their
breakfast buffet this time.
Arrived at MGM just after 10am and went straight in and onto the backstage tour.
The one and only other time I had done this, we waited over an hour ... this
time we walked directly to the area where you board the tram .. and we were on
and away within a couple of minutes.
I enjoy the tour, but one difference I noticed was that Herbie the car didn't
'rear-up' on his back wheels as we passed the houses, has he retired?? I was
impressed again by Catastrophe Canyon ..... the effects are excellent and the
two of us who hadn't ridden it before were suitably surprised by the explosions.
I also saw the colourful Dick Tracy street scene for the first time, as the
tram took a slightly different route than it had the last time I went.
The bit I REALLY like about the tour, are those 'toon boxes that make the noises
when you open the lids ..... I could play around with those for ages if I was
allowed. We took the usual pictures of us with Jessica , and also being
'crushed' under the steam-roller. We then strolled out and caught sight of
those Ninja Hero Terrapins again .... this time they were demonstrating their
skill at dancing and singing with a young lady, bizarre indeed! We took some
video & camera shots, so that we could prove to Wanda's nephews that we HAD
in fact met these green items in person. They sure attract the crowds, wish I'd
thought of the idea.
The walking part of the tour is probably a 'do twice, but no more' attraction
for me. I don't think I'll ever do it again unless we go with someone who hasn't
been before. I do enjoy looking around the set of the Bette Middler film though
and it seemed particularly appropriate as we were in the middle of that 100
million Florida lotto fever at the time. 8 out of 0 for the 1st part, 6 out of
10 for the walking bit.
Next was the Great Movie Ride, which is one of my real favourites. I like the
look of the building, I like the interior and I like watching the movies while
you wait in line (we had to wait about 20 minutes for this one). Thanks to this
conference, I was now aware that there were two scenes on this ride, depending
on which line you took. I've ridden it three times before and always got the
cowboy side .... this time we were entertained by the gangsters. I think on
reflection I prefer the cowboy scene because of the explosion, which frightened
the life out of me the first time I went through. It seems that the gangster
ride follows the other one around, as you could still feel the heat from the
fire as we went through the cowboy scene. I would ride this attraction every
time I go ... and I don't think I'd get tired of it. Definately 9 out of 10.
Onto the Superstar Television, another first time for me. I was typically
British and tried to hide behind other people while the 'host' was looking
for suitable victims to use inside. Luckily I was successful, how come you
always feel he's looking at you, when you're trying to hide??
Well, I wasn't expecting too much of this one, it just didn't appeal to me when
I read about it .. and we almost left before the start. I'm really glad we
didn't because I thought it was a grin! The scenes were very well done, I liked
the Lucille Ball sketch particularly and the Cheers skit around it being every-
body's birthday was hilarious. The 'fake' actors all did a good job and all of
us thought it was brilliantly done. 9 out of 10 (but I bet it could be naff if
you get some weirdos volunteering .... anybody seen any?)
Now we finally got to what I'd been looking forward to most - Star Tours. This
is infinately better than Body Wars, as everyone else seems to indicate. The
actual walk-up to it is impressive, and also the walk-through, past R2D2 and
C3PO et al. Again we were happy to find that we went straight in, just as the
previous people were leaving the other side of the simulator. The ride itself
was very impressive, it certainly gives you the impression you're moving quick!
The film seemed more co-ordinated and it had much better graphics than BW. The
sensations on this ride make it a not-to-be-missed attraction, even real
'queasies' should try it once ..... it won't hurt you. Having said all this, I
think that Star Tours and Body Wars are both bettered by the simulator-type ride
in Universal (which appears in later paragraphs). 9 out of 10.
A quick bite to eat in the Backstage Lot restaurant, we had planned to go into
the Prime Time caf�, but decided we didn't want to take that long to eat, and
anyway, we can try it next time. Off to see if we could get into the Indiana
Jones Stunt Show, but it was crowded and there were no good seats left - so
we toddled-off to do the Animation Tour. Again this was a first time for me,
and it will be the last ... I thought it was yawn-inducing in the extreme.
Robin Williams & Walter Kronk-thingy were quite amusing at the start, but
the rest of it was dull. good if you're fascinated by how they make cartoons,
boring if you're not IMHO. 4 out of 10.
Back to the IJSS ... and no problem getting in this time. The seats still
weren't the best, but good enough. I was mightily impressed by the sheer scale
of this show, particularly when they move the original screen back. The only
thing that spoilt it for me was the innane banter that went on between 'takes',
I'm sure they could come up with something more original than that. The fight
scene was a fitting final� and the show gives you many chances to get some
great pictures. I'm a point-and-shoot man myself, I don't understand all the
intricacies of f-stops and apertures etc ... but even I got some good action
photos with my newly-acquired Olympus 330AZ. 8 out of 10.
Overall MGM has some excellent attractions, but it IS too small. Universal is
better (or will be when they get their act together), Disney will have to
develop and extend this park in order to compete - which will be good for all
of us I hope.
We had decided that we would make sure we got to EPCOT in time to see the
Illuminations show, so we left at 5:30 and drove over. We hoovered-up the
attractions we missed before, including the Land which was MUCH better than
I remembered it. I think it was down to the guy who 'drove' our boat. Last time
we got a bit of a wally, this time he was slick and amusing. He made the subject
matter interesting, even I learnt something, well-done that man. It is also
worth mentioning that we had a good-value tasty meal in a Disney restaurant at
last! It's a personal gripe of mine that the food in the Disney parks is
very over-priced and not of startlingly good quality. I had a seafood handwich,
and followed-up with a HUGE hunk of carrot cake which was superb. Large amounts
of great nosh for $5, well worth it.
This time we weren't going to get caught out ... we went for position A, in
front of the lagoon. We got there at about 7:45pm ... which was WAY too early
as other people didn't start arriving until about 8:15pm. We were happy enough
sitting down there, watching the daylight disappear around us. It's a pleasant
experience to look across at all the countries as it gradually gets darker.
We did have the added bonus of seeing the MGM firework display at 8pm - they
appeared over the top of Morocco. I've never seen the actual show from MGM,
but they didn't seem to last very long. Anyway, Illuminations was as good as
ever, it was the first time I'd ever seen it from this position, but to be
honest I think I'd probably elect to stand a little way to the right or left,
in front of either the 'Disney Traders' or 'Port of Entry' shops. I found it
a little hard and uncomfortable on the posterior (even with my ample padding)
and also - as mentioned before in this conference - not being able to stand
up, meant that I was peering through the railings, which again wasn't ideal.
There was a refreshingly easy stroll out of EPCOT afterwards, thanks to the
light crowds. I stopped to take some shots of the Geosphere with the laser
projection of the map of the world on it, for our fellow-noter Karen Campbell
..... these did not turn out too well unfortunately as I am not a camera buff,
but as Karen says .. it gives us BOTH an excuse to go back and try again!
We went home for a midnght swim - and also to feed the cat that had adopted us
during our stay - I hope someone is looking after it now that we've gone.
Emergency at the house ... only a few beers left, we managed to scrape through
on what we had, plus some gut-rot red wine we hadn't drunk yet, but it was
a close shave.
On reflection, EPCOT is even more definately my favourite. I like those 'sit-
on' rides more than anything and although it lacks that indefinable 'magic'
of the MK, I just find it more absorbing. MGM is way behind these other two,
although the quality of its' good attractions still make it worth visiting
each time I go.
Day 20 - Friday 14th September - Last Disney Day
************************************************
Time to go back and re-do the favourites, and also collect the ones we missed
before. We started at the MK - didn't bother with MGM - and finished up at
EPCOT.
We got to MK at around 9:30, and took the monorail in, we got chatting to a nice
Welsh couple who were over visiting their daughter who was working in the UK
country in EPCOT. It sounded from their stories, like she was having the time of
her life - lucky blighter! After breezing into the MK, food was again the top
priority, so we headed for the Crystal Palace restaurant. I was really impressed
by this place - their scrambled eggs were gorgeous, as was the rest of the
buffet-style breakfast. For the second time this holiday, I didn't begrudge
paying Disney prices for the food - perhaps I'm going to have to re-appraise
my opinions on the VFM of their food. One other nice experience was the jazz
band they had strolling around there. As only 5 or 6 tables were occupied, it
wasn't long before they came to us - we'd heard them at other tables, and the
guy singing did a great Satchmo impression - but we have a certain song that
for various boring reasons, is one we like to sinagalong to (it's Roger Miller's
King of the Road - I know it's not exactly hip, but we have our reasons).
To our disappointment, the gravel-voiced one told us they 'didn't do that one'.
Didn't do it??? .... I thought everyone knew that one, but he was a big-lad,
so we didn't argue. They instead did an excellent rendition of Moon River, which
was the only other song any of us could think of when put on the spot. It was
marvellous stuff though ... a really enjoyable and civilised way to have our
breakfast.
Next stop was the inevitable Space Mountain ... and I believe we rode it 4 more
times during the day, all making sure we tried every permutation of seats, to
see which one was best (I reckon you get more sensation in the back seat, but
most of the others - apart from Wanda who didn't like it at all, but was game
enough to come on each time - preferred the front seat). Whichever seat you
choose, SM is a real classic attraction - I pity those that won't try it out,
they don't know what they're missing :-)
We tried to ride BTMR one more time, but it was surprisingly busy - guess we
just picked the wrong time.
Back to the Haunted Mansion for another trip, I was disappointed by some of the
crowd going in. There was an elderly lady in a wheelchair who came in with us,
just as you exit the 'sinking/strecthing room' the walkway funnels into quite a
narrow area. Now there was not a big crowd there, but for some reason everyone
seemed to want to rush-on. The elderly lady took quite a buffeting from some
of the 'guests' and I just felt it was a bit un-necessary. Don't know what the
compulsion is to rush through like that, if you take your time, you see more.
We did quite a bit of the stuff along Main Street. I wrenched my arm in the
Penny Arcade - they have one of those machines where you grab the handle and
squeeze for all your worth. Because Wanda's sister was watching, I decided to
make a real effort, or suffer the inevitable saircastic comments. I DID manage
a respectable rating on the scale, but I think I pulled a muscle I didn't know
I had.
More time spent in the various shops down Main Street, they'd changed it around
since last time and I couldn't find the place that used to sell loads of sweets
(candy), I bought a huge bag of Disney lollipops last time, which I brought back
for my group here at work. This time the choice was much more limited, so they
had to make do with a mixed bag of candies from K-Mart instead.
Back for yet another couple of trips on Space Mountain - when there are no
queues, and you can just come out and go straight back in again, it's worth
taking advantage of the situation.
We next walked through to Mickey's Starland, on the insistance of the girls, who
still hadn't collected MM's autograph yet. I gritted my teeth and sat through
the 'TV special' show ...... not my cup of tea, but I have to confess to
singing along at the end. I hadn't ever heard of these Gummi Bear things
before, but they seemed to be the stars of the show.
A little time spent at the Petting Farm, and then back towards the exit via
Fantasyland. I've never been in It's A Small World, but because I'd heard so
much about the tune - I thought I'd better try it this time. Well, I have to
admit that I quite enjoyed it, much to my surprise. I seem to like most of
the rides that include 'floating' around in a boat, and because your eyes are
bombarded with so many colours and so many different scenes, it's quite a
pleasant way to spend 10 minutes. Technically it's not exactly startling, but
I can understand why the kids would enjoy it so much.
The tune didn't stick in my head though, every time I think back to the trip,
it's that music from the Mexico ride in EPCOT that comes to mind.
As it was now early afternoon, we decided it was time to wend our way across
to EPCOT. I always enjoy that last lingering look of Cinderella's Castle, but I
wasn't too upset at going as I knew that I'd be back within a few months (I hope
to be going back at least twice a year for the foreseeable future, and as long
as the money-pit doesn't get exhausted).
We caught the mono-rail to EPCOT, as I enjoy the circuit of the park it does
before arriving at the station.
Once again, queues were light, so we walked onto Spaceship Earth for another
trip - this is one attraction that I would really like to see with the lights
on. As you make the steep descent back down and you travel through the 'outer
space' section, I'd like to see how big the thing really is (perhaps I'd be
rather disappointed?).
We spent a lot of time in the Communicores, and went through Backstage Magic
to see what UNISYS were trumpeting about. Not bad, slow for those of us that
pretend we know a bit about computers, boring for those who don't, according
to the rest of our party. There were several Digital terminals and workstations
on view when we were in the seated portion of this attraction - but I didn't
see any larger machines on view, unless they were disguised. I thought someone
else in this conference mentioned seeing a VAX or a large PDP? Maybe my eyes
weren't keen enough to make it out.
We pottered around the exhibits for an hour or so (including a 'trip' to
London, taken from one of the Travelport booths in Communicore East - this was
amusing as it mentioned the "friendly & welcoming Londoners, who will always
stop to pass the time of day" ..... ! ..... must be a different London to the
one I know).
The girls were intent upon buying one of the Bonzai trees from the Japan shop,
but I wanted to go on a few more of my favourite rides - so they went off to
take the boat across the lagoon, while I went to the East side of Future World.
I had time to re-do Horizons and World Of Motion, and then went back into the
Wonders Of Life pavilion for another mooch around there. Body Wars was the
first stop, in and out in around 15 minutes. It seemed tamer this time, perhaps
because I had lost any first-timers anxiety feelings.
I also had the un-interrupted freedom to watch the Goofy About Health cartoons
to my heart's content. This is funny stuff! There weren't that many other people
watching, so I had to keep my rather 'distinctive' laugh under control - but I
would highly recommend this as a cure for any temporarily depressed visitors.
There are also some very interesting booths in the Met Lifestyle Revue, where
you can learn about how all the things you like to eat & drink, are bad for
you (as if we didn't know already), and it's well worth spending some time at
Coach's Corner, watching the live coach giving people hints on their golf swing.
You get to see yourself on video straight afterwards ... then the coach punches
something into a computer, and a golfing celebrity pops-up on a video screen to
give you a few tips also.
I watched a guy from Texas, when he mentioned where he was from, the coach went
to her keyboard again, and Nancy Lopez appeared on the screen. She is from Texas
and I think they try to match-up the home state of the punter with the
selection of stars that they have, as I saw a guy from Illinois get matched
with another star from the same state (although I didn't recognise that one).
I could have watched this thing for much longer, perhaps I might even have got
some tips that would help me to understand baseball - but it was time to meet-up
with the bonzai-buyers, back at Showcase Plaza. I got there just as the double-
decker bus was picking up the characters after their greeting session.
We spent a little more time wandering through some of the shops in Communicore
West and then made our way to the exit. A depressing trip on the mono-rail back
to the MK, as I realised that this was it for at least a few months.
We drove out of the car-park at around 6:30pm and went straight to the Indian
restaurant (the name of which escapes me now), along the 192. We are all
devotees of Indian grub - it seems to be much more popular here in the UK, than
it is in the USA. Despite asking for my Prawn Dhansak to be made hot, it wasn't
particularly, but very pleasant nontheless. The only criticism was of the
papadoms, which were soft. The meal was comparatively expensive - around $11 per
person - but it was enjoyed by all.
Home to finish off the blueberry muffins that I'd bought from Goodings and bed
at the usual time of around midnight.
|
| 183.46 | Trip Report | AKOCOA::BHAMILTON | | Tue Nov 27 1990 17:25 | 121 |
| Trip Report - Barbara & Scott Hamilton
Oct 27 - Nov 3
This was our second trip together (first was our honeymoon) and my 5th
time. Let me say first the weather was absolutly fantastic, it was low
80's and sunny everyday. It rained one night that we were aware of. It
was comfortable walking weather, but you could still jump in the pool
for a dip.
The parks were not dead, but we walked onto just about everything. I
don't know if this is because we followed the notes file and started
from back to front but something worked.
I'm not going to give an a day by day description but just tell you
what we liked and did not like.
Carribean Beach Resort - You cannot beat it for the price! We had
stayed at the Polynesian on our honeymoon, and we prefered the C.B.R
over it. We stayed in Jamaica and we could see the "Golf Ball" from our
window. We only used the pool once, but it was not crowded. We had
drinks at the lounge and made friends with the Bartendars, very
friendly and interesting stories.
Transportation - We were concerned being away from the monorail, but we
found the bus system to be no problem and very well run. I heard a few
people complaining, but as far as knowing where the bus was going it
literally spelled it out for you. We did not feel like we were always
on the bus and we got around smoothly. This may be do to the fact that
it was off season but we waited no longer than 5 minutes for a bus.
We did ride the monorail quite a few times and rode 3 times
in the front (of course I didn't have my camera at the time)
Magic Kingdom - This is my favorite, maybe because it was the first
park that I had gone to when I was seven. We rode Space Mountian 4 or 5
times (One time early in the morning they only had one side open so
this formed a 1/2hr line). Thunder Mountain twice (better at night)
Haunted Mansion twice (walked right in), Country Bear Hoedown which I
had never seen before (enjoyed it!), Small world (walked right on) and
I think everything in Futureworld, Pirates of the Carribean, and I got a
nice picture of the sunset from atop the skyway to Fantasyland. We ate
at the Crystal Palace which was decent ($20.00 for two) and just some
fast food.
MGM - Enjoyed very much, wasn't sure what to excpect but was not
disappointed! Walked right onto Backstage Tours twice! I enjoyed Star
Tours (and did not feel sick). We were told there was standing room
only for Indiana Jones, but one of the cast members said we could find
seats to the left, which we did! Right in front. We both enjoyed
Animations and the Great Movie Ride was good, but not what I expected.
We took in the Streetmosphere and ate at the Hollywood and Vine for
Breakfast (nothing to write home about). We enjoyed Prime Time cafe but
felt it was overpriced for lunch.
EPCOT - I will only mention what we had not seen before and my absolute
favorites. Body Wars I enjoyed (my husband felt sick on this and Star
Tours), Cranium Command was amusing. Malestrom was good, but I think I
expected more. We had not previously gone into the Circle vision
theaters and did this time which was interesting. We really liked
American Adventure. My favorite is Horizons and my husbands is The
Land. We ate lunch in Italy, the best lasagna I have ever had, but my
husband wasn't thrilled with the veal for $19.00! Overall very good
though. We watched Illuminations from Mexico, we didn't enjoy the fast
food, but I enjoyed the Margierta (sp?). We had food in China (lunch
another day) which was standard. I want to note that we did do
everything in Epcot in one day! We got there at 8:30 and left at 4:00
only missing Universe of Energy. This was due to no lines and good
timing (for the movies). But by the end of Future world everything
started to look the same! We were tired but pleased.
Typhoon Lagoon - Only stayed for 2 hours, but went on everthing at
least once. Would have like to gone again, but we ran out of time.
Pleasure Island - Went 5 out of 7 nights! Enjoyed the atmosphere and
New Years. They had improv at the Comedy Club which was okay, just not
my type of humor. Adventurers club was not for us. We either watched
the band outside or went into Xfers. I wish they would change the set
up, I know that it used to be a roller skating rink, but I would have
like to had a table near the dance floor instead of walking downstairs
everytime.
We had excellent Buffalo wings at the Fireworks factory, and happy
hour was from 4-7. (we never go there in time)
Golfing - We just went on the Executive Course - I through my clubs by
the 5th hole, need I say more! (Bring your own golf balls this cost us
more than renting clubs!)
Food outside the parks.
Polynesian - Tangora Terrace, excellent dinner (waited 10 mins) and
very good breakfast.
Contempary - Concourse (?) Breakfast was excellent
Disney Inn - Excellent breakfast buffet
Dolphin - Had lunch in a 50's type cafe, enjoyed the atmposhere and
food was good.
Chef Mickeys - Very good Breakfast, we wanted to go back for dinner but
never made it.
Hoop De Doo Revue - I know I'm going to make a lot of enemies, but we
didn't feel it was worth the hefty price (35/pp). The food was good and
we drank a lot of beer, but we'll pass the next time. Sorry!
Expect to pay a lot for the meals, we basically had a big breakfast
and a late lunch. We also spent a lot on drinks (average 5.00/drink)
towwards the end of the week we started ordering pitchers of beer (6.00
which gave about 4 or 5 beers).
We spent about $900.00 on food and drinks (we drank a lot). We got the
super passes which was worth it for us.
We won't go any other time of the year again (honeymoon was in June).
We also flew Delta, which we paid a lot for (296/pp), but we at two great
flights so we didn't mind it.
I can't wait to go back!
|
| 183.47 | trip report | BIG::SCHOTT | | Wed Nov 28 1990 12:30 | 31 |
| I just discovered this notesfile. My actual trip there was in August of 1989,
yep, that's right August. It was about 95 and HOT every day. We didn't
purposely plan on going in August, but a 50th Wedding Anniversary for my
grandparents who live in Tampa put us in sunny Florida.
WDW had excellent facilities for babies, as we found out. We had our 11 month
old who absolutely had the time of her life, even with all the heat. We had
to take her crying into the hospitality areas they had set up to cool her
(and us!) down and get some liquids into us all.
We went to Busch Gardens as well, and MGM Studios. The Star Tours was
just large promo sign, nothing open yet. Evidently the Indiana Jones show
has changed since then as well. It seemed like a lot of things were under
construction, but it still filled out whole day nicely.
No tips, or anything like that to report besides going when it a bit cooler
out.
The one thing that I will never forget however, is when we ate lunch in
the Prime Time Cafe (50's set-up restaurant). I had my video camera with
me and after we sat down I noticed someone sitting at the next table who
I was sure was Jim Henson. Low and behold, the waitress came back and I
asked her and she said he just put his hand prints in the cement to and
finish the Muppet deal with Disney. I couldn't believe it. Jim Henson
sitting within arms length of me. I took some video of him as he got up
to leave, shook his hand, and that was it. It was a real tragedy hearing
of death not long after, and a spooky feeling as well.
Eric-who-might-go-back-this-spring.
|
| 183.48 | Overdue September Trip Rept. | TARKIN::BOUTOTTE | | Fri Nov 30 1990 15:14 | 238 |
| Trip Report from Diane & John Boutotte
Dates: Sept 20 - 27.
September 20, 1990
We flew out of Logan (Boston) airport on time on a United 1-stop 12:00pm flight
to Orlando. The 40 minute stopover was in Washington Dulles Airport.
Due to good flying conditions, the pilot was able to get us into Orlando
15 minutes earlier than scheduled so we were on the ground at 4:15. We
quickly found the baggage claim, grabbed our luggage (which was the 5th and
6th pieces off the plane --- AMAZING ! --). Then we went downstairs from where
the baggage claim area was to pick up our rental car from National. So far,
everything was going smoothly and at about 4:45, we were on our way out of the
airport and on our way to our final destination -- the Polynesian Village.
We arrived there at approximately 5:30 and were able to quickly check-in. We
had the Vacation Holiday package from MKC so the check-in person counted out
everything which was included, checked and rechecked it. Once we received
all of the informational material they provide, our guest passes and the
meal tickets etc which came with the package, we were off to the Maui
longhouse (feeling 10 pounds heavier from everything we received at check-in).
The rest of the evening we spent having dinner at the Coral Isle restaurant
and taking a walk around the grounds. We originally wanted to have dinner
at the Papeetah Bay Verandah restaurant but due to the Mosquito warnings,
they moved the Luau inside to this restaurant. Sooooo ... we had an O.K.
dinner at the Coral Isle ... nothing spectacular but it was fast. I'd
say we were in, seated, served and finished eating in about 45 minutes although
we really didn't feel rushed. At about 10 minutes to 9, we went out to the
beach to see if the electrical water pageant was being held but it wasn't
also due to the Mosquitoes. We didn't see any mosquitoes while we were there
but somehow my husband managed to get bitten twice on his back, through his
shirt one evening while we watched the MGM fireworks.
Friday, September 21
Magic Kingdom Day. I managed to get my husband up and off to
the TTC by about 8:15 on this day. We took the ferry over to MK because
we weren't really in a rush and I figured we'd have ridden the monorail
many, many times before the end of the trip but may not take the
opportunity to go on the ferry again. The day started off HOT and a
bit humid. We went to the Crystal Palace for a quick cafeteria-style breakfast
and were just finishing up when they opened the rest of the park. We watched
the river of people flow into Adventureland and then were off. We
originally planned to go on Space Mountain first but decided to let
breakfast settle a bit first. So, we walked through the castle and in to
Fantasyland. We walked right on to Snow White, Mr. Toad, Peter Pan and
Small World and then took the Skyway over to Tommorrowland. From the
skyway you can see 20,000 Leagues completely drained and in the
process of being reconstructed. Kinda neat to see. Then, it was off to Space
Mountain ... 5-10 minute wait because they were only letting a group of people
into the building at a time. We finished up Tommorrowland by doing Carousel
of Progress, Dreamflight, People Mover, and American Journeys. We bypassed
Mission to Mars, Star Jets and Grand Prix Raceway. It was about 11:30 now,
so we decided to walk over to Liberty Square for our 12:00 lunch reservations
in the Liberty Tree Tavern. This was a nice relaxing, cool lunch. The food
was very good and it's a nice change from the fast food you find elsewhere
in the Magic Kingdom. I'd definitely recommend it ! Once finished with lunch,
we walked right onto Haunted
Mansion, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents
(10 minutes wait for next show). Then we decided to call it a day ... it was
about 2:45. We went on Pirates on the way out and stopped briefly to see
the beginning of the parade. We wanted to watch it another day when we had
the camcorder with us. Went back to the Polynesian to relax for a few hours
and then get ready for dinner at Fisherman's Deck on the Empress Lily. This
was one of our best meals. We had a cajun tuna which was out of this world ...
it was the special of the evening. The service was great and the waiter very
friendly. Be sure to make reservations here if you plan to go. We had
reservations but the wait without was about 1.5 hours at 7:00.
Saturday, September 22
This was our MGM Day. There were a few people on Hollywood Boulevard but once
we walked down to Star Tours, the place was deserted. We walked right on
and even paused for about 5-10 minutes to watch some of the droids in the
pre-show area. This was excellent. (Now having done Star Tours a few times
and Body Wars once, I have to cast my vote with Star Tours being the better of
the 2.) We, too, pretty much followed the touring schedule layed out in the
Unofficial Guide which someone in here also typed up in another note. It worked
out very well. In the afternoon we chuckled at the line to get into the
Great Movie Ride and Star Tours because we had gone into the line-forming
attractions early enough in the morning to avoid all of that. In the afternoon
we did Monster Sound Show, Superstar Television and Indiana Jones. Someone
was quite right when they talked about how many people are able to get in to
each showing ! It took us a good part of the day to see MGM but we were able
to see everything. We left and went to Pleasure Island's Portobello Yacht
Club for dinner and then back to MGM to see the fireworks. They were
EXCELLENT ! They serve an incredible garlic bread ... actually a whole
garlic which is prepared in such a way that it isn't too garlicy but has an
excellent flavor. They instruct you to put some butter on a piece of bread and
then a clove of garlic. I was a bit hesitant at first but it was excellent
(and addicting !) (Oh yeah, we could use our FF card for the discount here,
too). Now, back to MGM. A hint for those of you wanting to get
a good seat for them.
Sit/Stand(until show time) facing The Chinese Theater. We sat where the O is
in my diagram and ended up being in the front row after the security people
told the others they were too close. They usually rope off from the 1st
two lamposts and back.
Theatre
----------------------------
-----------------
/ Garden \
\-----------------/
---------- --------------
| XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX O|
| |
| Hollywood Blvd. |
Anyways, the fireworks are a Not To Be Missed if they are having them any night
during your visit.
Sunday, September 23
This was our 1st Epcot Day. We were up rather bright and early and were off
by monorail to Epcot. We got into the park
and were right at the rope when they opened the rest of the park. With a
semi-brisk walk, we went down to Journey into the Imagination and were the
first ones on to the ride portion. The cast member at the ride commented,
"That's what I like ... people who know how to avoid the crowds." You
certainly get to enjoy the hands-on exhibits much better when there are only
about 10 people in the room as opposed to >100. We lingered there for a bit
and then checked on Captain EO. The next show was scheduled for 20 minutes
later so we left and went to the Land. After the exhibits/ride in the Land,
we went to World Showcase, starting with Mexico and then Norway while the crowds
were sparse. The Maelstrom is a neat ride and I found it strange to be in 2
parts. We took in a few of the other countries before we left to go to the
Contemporary for Sunday Brunch which was excellent and the view from the 15th
floor is quite breathtaking ! I'd recommend this as a special treat to break
up part of your touring day. There was not a thing I could think of that was
missing at the brunch and the champagne was quite free-flowing. The only thing
that might have been better, though, is to have planned out touring for
the day at the Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot in lieu of the time spent/wasted
traveling from Epcot to the Contemporary and back.
After brunch we went back to Epcot and went into most of the Future World
exhibits and attractions. Epcot is still my favorite of the Disney Parks !
Dinner was in the Chefs de France. Excellent meal and service although the
restaurant itself was quite crowded in terms of table spacing. This was
another of our free meal coupons. I tried escargot for the first time and
found it quite good. The food was excellent including the desserts !
This night we watched it rain for 15 minutes while we were in eating
dinner. It was the only rain we saw all week.
We watched Illuminations this night. It's still as good as I remembered.
We had a great spot on the fence right at the entrance of World Showcase,
facing American Adventure.
Monday, September 24
This was our Sea World day. In spite of all the things to see and do in WDW,
I still find Sea World worth a day in your schedule. I won't go into
detail about this day. If you do go here, check out the Sting Ray feeding
and petting area. The sting rays are a riot when they know you have fish
and they want some ! We got splashed quite nicely as they tried to get
our attention !
We got back to the Poly in time to relax for an hour, shower and change for
dinner. This night we went to Victoria and Albert's. The meal and
service were impeccable. The harp in the outer room is a nice touch, too.
We were fascinated by their old-fashioned coffee maker which brews on your
table between the cheese and dessert courses (?). All-in-all a nice
evening finished off by a stroll around the Grand Floridian grounds at night.
The GF is a beautiful hotel if you can (or want to) pay the price for it.
Tuesday, September 25
We went back to Epcot this day to finish up the countries we didn't see and
to go to the Wonders of Life Pavilion and a few other Future World
attractions we had missed. I enjoyed the hands-on exhibits in Wonders of
Life. We went to the Land Grille for an interesting
and tasty lunch. Being on the lower tier was nice ... you could really feel
the heat of the desert !
This evening we ate at the Firework's Factory (and used our Delta FF card for a 20%
discount). They had good barbecued food and the price (in comparison to
the other prices around Disney) wasn't too bad. They have a nice selection
of imported beer if you're into that type of thing. The atmosphere was very
nice, too. After dinner, we went to Pleasure Island. We watched a live
band for a bit and then got into the first Comedy Show. After that we went
to the Adventurer's Club ... Fascinating !! ... I could have sat there all
night ! We stayed for "New Year's Eve" and then being exhausted from
Disney-ing called it a night fairly early. (12:30)
Wednesday, September 26
This was our last day on our passport. We decided to finish off the MK this
day. We overslept and didn't get as early a start as we would have liked
(probably because we hadn't gotten in from Pleasure Island until 12:30ish).
This set the tone for the whole day. We still had 3 breakfast/lunch
coupons left and only 2 days so we went to the Tangarou Terrace for breakfast
(and waited 10-15 minutes to be seated because of the hour). We got started
in MK at about 10:30 but had planned on Narcoosee's for lunch so we left
there at 1:00 to head for the Grand Floridian. My husband had ordered some
sort of chicken which required additional cooking time (we found that out after
we had ordered and waited for a few minutes) so that shifted our
schedule off again. We wanted to get back to the MK for the 3:00 parade.
Anyways, we left Narcoosee's at about 3:00 and ended up only seeing the last
3 floats in the parade. It would have been nice to have videotaped a bit more.
Then we finished off the things we hadn't seen on the previous day and
finally said good-bye to MK.
We had dinner at the Coral Reef. Nice restaurant and very good food. We
got out of dinner later than we expected so we didn't get as good a spot for
Illuminations. Of course, this was the night we were going to videotape it.
The tape came out decently anyways but could have been better.
After dinner and illuminations, we followed the river of people out of Epcot
and left the turnstiles for the last time on this trip. <Sniff>.
Thursday, September 27
This was our last day. We were going to go to Typhoon Lagoon before
our flight left at 6:45 but decided instead to just relax and enjoy the
Polynesian for the last day. We went to the Grand Floridian's Narcoosee's
for lunch again and used one of our free lunch coupons. This is definitely
the place to use one of those ! Their jumbo shrimp cocktail was out of
this world ! I also enjoyed the iced tea ... I was the only one drinking it at
out table yet they still brought out the whole pitcher to sit on the table.
We easily ran up an $80.00 bill here and it felt very nice to be able just
to sign a coupon and be done with it. This day of relaxing and soaking in
our last bit of Florida for awhile went by too quickly and before we knew it
we were on the plane heading back to Boston.
Overall Observations: September is an excellent time to see the World ! The
lines were short all around and the weather was quite nice. We saw 15
minutes of rain our entire week there. The Disney service was excellent as
usual. With MGM, MK and Epcot, we easily used our 5-day passes and SeaWorld
took another day. That left us only our last day there for enjoying some
of the hotel activities. Next trip, I'm going to plan at least 10 days there
to soak up more of the Disney experience. We planned to eat 90% of our
meals at sit-down Disney restaurants (there were so many possibilities that it
was hard to decide which to go to). Although relaxing for lunch in the
middle of the day was great, it also made our touring more hectic. If we had
more days in the park, we could have spent 9-3 at a given park and then gone
back to the hotel to crash for a few hours before having to change for dinner.
We did this on the first day in the parks but somehow didn't manage to do
this again. So many things to see .... Wish we had more time to enjoy.
|
| 183.49 | A quick stop by... | TOOLS::ADTSHR::SUTTON | Pushin' a rock... | Mon Dec 03 1990 17:21 | 104 |
| We never thought for a minute that we'd be back to WDW twice in a year,
but who am I to refuse the opportunity??
We stayed at the Sheraton Lakeside on November 17 and 18, then headed
south to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws.
Day 1 -- 17-Nov-90:
Travel day. We'd been in Tampa on business, and didn't get checked
out until arounbd 10:00. Headed east on I-4 for the 1.5 hour trek.
There must have been a big game that weekend; we saw _lots_ of Florida
State University supporters -- flags flying from the antenna, signs in
the windows, you name it. We had no problem with traffic, though. We
decided that we'd see the Magic Kingdom first, then go check in. The
parking lots were far from full (especially for that time of day, from
what I've seen in the past!), and we boarded the tram to the TTC. We
had a left-over day on our 3-park passports, but decided to save them
for the next day. Three one-day/one-park passes, and hop aboard the
Monorail to ride to the Kingdom of Magic.
After picking up a couple of carriages, we headed to Adventureland and
grabbed some Dole-whip! After the snack, we checked out the line for the
Jungle Cruise. We headed over to the Pirates of the Carribean instead (-:
and got on after about a 5-minute wait. Next up, we headed over to
Tom Sawyer's Island (in all the times we've been to WDW, we'd yet to
see it!) We spent a while here, checking out all there is to see.
Which isn't all that much. Before heading back to the mainland, we
picked up a quick snack at Aunt Polly's Restaurant.
We headed to Fantasyland next, taking in Cinderella's Carousel, Snow
White's Scary Adventures, and Small World. As we headed past Magic
Journeys, we saw that the next show was in 00:30 -- so we dove in.
The kids enjoyed this (Deanna more than Timmy, but he wanted to keep
the glasses...), then we went off to Tomorrowland. There we rode the
WEDway people mover, and were checking the entertainment schedule for
what to see next. It was almost time for the show in Mickey's
Starland, so off we went. Here, we saw what I'd thought was a petting
zoo, but the animals are securely away from any guests. I got a
picture of the cow with the Mickey markings -- unusual! We toured
Mickey's house, then saw the production number with the characters
from the Disney afternoon shows. This show lets out into what is now
a gift shop/minor attraction; you can take pictures of yourself in
scenes from notable cartoons, play with noise boxes (open a box and
hear horns, screeching brakes, etc.) or be on TV, projected into the
middle of a cartoon.
Once we left this shop, it was time (according to the entertainment
schedule) for various characters to be out and about. We saw Tigger,
Gideon, Pluto, Goofy, and one of the mice from Cinderella (Perla?).
Deanna got autographs from all.
The kids were starting to wear out, so we called it a day. Headed out
to 192 to check in and go get some eats. The MK closed at 7, so we
didn't get back that evening.
Day 2 -- 18-Nov-90:
Up and out not too terribly early, this was a multi-park day. We'd
seen the World Showcase of EPCOT in March, and decided to take in the
Future World exhibits. First was Spaceship Earth, with a 5-minute
wait. Next we headed to the Living Seas, where we spent a bit of time
watching the activity in the aquarium. The kids were fascinated for a
while (we have a small tank at home), but when the appeal wore off we
left and went over to The Land. The wait for Listen to the Land was a
lot longer -- maybe 1/2 hour -- but it was something we'd wanted to
see last time and wouldn't pass on this opportunity. Again, the kids
enjoyed this attraction. Next up was Journey into the Imagination,
and the jumping water. Who could miss it? We stayed here for a
while, but wanted to catch the parade at the MK, so headed out to
catch the 'rail.
We timed this well, but I messed up on the place to go -- I went over
the bridge to Adventureland, not to Liberty Square. Whoops --
backtrack, and by that time we couldn't use that bridge, so we had to
go through the castle and in the back way, coming out right by the
Hall of Presidents. Parked there and had good seats (stands?), Tim
rode my shoulders and Deanna sat in the front row. Timmy didn't want
to see some of the characters, so he used a 'unique' method of
avoiding having to see them -- he 'steered' me by twisting my head
until I was facing the opposite direction. After 3 or 4 floats,
though, he was OK.
The kids had wanted to go on the Grand Prix cars, so we walked over
and rode once. Of course, I had to pick up the ears for my project
team, so while I waited in the Mad Hatter's shop, Laurie and the kids
went over to Small World for one last ride. I met them at the exit
(they'd virtually walked on), and we all headed toward the exit.
The 'rail looked busy, but the lines moved quickly. We were on in
about 5 minutes, and boarded the tram to the Goofy section. Hmm, two
out of two times, parked in the Goofy section. Telling me something??
Off for a bite to eat, then back to EPCOT to catch what we hadn't
seen. We rode the Imagination ride, played a bit in the hands-on (and
feet-on!) exhibits, then found that some &*&^*&^% had made off with
our strollers. Back to the main gate area to get two more, and by
then it was time to get places to see IllumiNations. Deanna: "It
looks like Christmas!"
We took our time leaving, dropping off the strollers, then walking to
the car. We probably won't be back for a couple of years now )-:, so
we wanted to make the most of it. Well, if we go in '92 for our tenth
anniversary....(-:
|
| 183.50 | it only looks long... | AYNRND::REILLY | Pull my finger... | Mon Dec 10 1990 15:35 | 180 |
|
Trip Report
Sean and Liz Reilly
October 30 - Nov. 8, 1990
TRIP:
Really relaxed going down. Rented an Avis Geo Prizm with 9,000 miles on it
for 15 days unlimited mileaged for $289 and drove down from Shrewsbury, MA.
Spent three nights on the road. Hit the Skyline Drive in Virginia. The
trip was in honor of our 2nd anniversary (our last trip was our honeymoon).
Zoomed our way back with one night on the road.
WEATHER/CROWDS:
Perfect - 80� during the day, slightly cool at night, hardly any rain
at all. Pretty much walked on all the rides in all the parks. The only
thing I ever really waited for was the family tube ride at Typhoon Lagoon.
DISNEY INN:
Stayed here for the first 4 nights and was pleasantly surprised! This is
probably the second cheapest (after Carribean) place to stay, but the rooms
were second only to the Grand Floridian (haven't seen Swan/Dolphin or
Beach/Yacht yet). Very secluded place, relaxed and slow-paced. We
regularly had deer and other wildlife grazing outside our patio. The
Garden Gallery restaurant was oustanding. 2 nights were MKC discount,
2 nights were Stockholders discount.
CONTEMPORARY RESORT:
We stayed here for the last 5 nights. Pretty nice, excellent view, and one
of the most convenient resorts (Poly has a walkway to TTC, but Contemp has a
walk-way to MK), and definitely the one that most makes me feel like I am
staying at Disney (maybe that's because I first stayed here as a kid).
Don't like all the new "convention hall" construction going on here and
at the Grand Floridian. The best video arcade in The World! All 5 nights
were at Stockholders discount.
TICKETS:
Well, for 10 days, it turned out the best deal was to get season passes
w/ add-ons for everything. One thing Liz and I like to be able to do is
go to *any* attraction on *any* day and not be relegated to planning which
days we are going to do what. This is our third long stay (way more if you
count times we didn't go together); consequently we prefer not to pressure
oursleves into rushing around and seeing *everything* - we like to play it
by ear and weather. Since we couldn't afford the Grand Plan this time :^(,
the only way to accomplish this was to buy two Super Passes or one Season
Pass (MK, Epcot, MGM) w/ add-ons for the rest. Which worked out good, for
instance a season-pass MKC add-on for Pleasure Island is $16 (vs. $9 for
one regular person for one night) - not bad. 3-park MKC season pass was
$165 each. We made out on everything (two trips to Typhoon Lagoon, 3 nights
at Pleasure Island, 2 days at MGM, didn't count on Epcot and MK - lots of
half days and stuff there).
EATING OUT:
Me and the wife decided we were going to take chances this time and go to
some new places that we hadn't been before. The only good ole stand-by we
hit was Narcoosee's at the Grand Floridian. For plain old fun I'd recommend
the 50's Prime Time Caf� (MGM) - great Brady Bunch decor and some good home
cooking. Brown Derby had great food, too, but was pretty pricey. At Epcot
we hit the Norwegian Buffet which was exceptional - one of the good surprises
we got. Big hot and cold buffets, pleasant waitpersons, and best of all one
of the few places at Epcot where they didn't cramp or rush you - loved the
medieval castle decor. I also liked the Portabello Restaurant out near
Pleasure Island, lots of good garlic-y meals. Other bright spots - Garden
Gallery (Disney Inn), Chinese restaurant (Epcot), 1900 Park Fare breakfast
buffet (GF - the best since they stopped the Top of The World one), & the
midnight pizza I room-serviced at the Contemporary. Low points - most fast
food places - still dislike 'em, and its all you get out at Typhoon Lagoon
and 90% of MK. Btw, we got *great* seating for our entire stay, which was
pretty good for the orignal we-have-a-seat-for-you-right-by-the-kitchen-door
couple.
MGM STUDIOS - FIRST VISIT:
Pretty good. I liked it for the reasons I like all the other Disney parks -
its cleanliness, architecture, magic, etc. But the rides themsleves were
only so-so. Great Movie Ride was a real dissapointment. Star Tours was
much more smooth and controlled than Body Wars (BW made me wanna hurl).
The Animation Tour was very enjoyable, but I can't imgaine trying to see
it in big crowds. Okay, Catastrophe Canyon was cool, too. Wish there were
more "movie" things to buy - they mostly just had stores full of more
"Disney" things.
PLEASURE ISLAND - FIRST VISIT:
Wow!!! Radical! Loved it. Thought all the clubs were state of the art,
and loved the ability to just bop around the different themed ones. Our
favorite part was just hanging out in the street drinking and people-
watching and listening to the Tower DJ (who always followed New Years
Eve with and ear-pumping Janet Jackson's "Rythym Nation." I don't know
how they got the sound so good in the streets or how they separated it
so well from the stage up at the front. Went on Halloween night (great
costume viewing place to be) and saw Sweet, which was great, 'cause I
love all that old 70's stuff! Comedy place was okay, but the improvisation
must be really variable - you know, some nights they're hot, some not
(we got not). Liz liked XZFR, I liked Cage and Armadillo. Was really
nice to see that although locals could go, I didn't start getting too
pick-uppy until after 11:30 and no one seemed to get out of hand. Up
until 11:00 I saw parents/kids/senior citizens at all the clubs having
and enjoyable time - Fun place, but still Disney, in my opinion. Wish
Mass. had something like this.
TYPHOON LAGOON - FIRST VISIT:
Fun! Beautifully landscaped. Rides were metz-a-metz, but it was just
so pleasant to be there. One thing I was concerned about and glad
to notice, though, was that this place didn't eradicate the need for
River Country. I thought it might, but they compliment each other.
MK:
Fun as always. Even did Small World twice (okay Liz dragged me). Still
love this place most of all after dusk. 20,000 Leagues was closed, and
in my opinion, should just be scrapped along with Mission to Mars.
Nobody noticed Mickey Moo, the cow with the natural Mickey spot, over
at Starland. I mean they saw him, but didn't notice he was there because
of the spot. Weird. Pirates/Haunted House still rool! I have never
done, in 6 trips to Disney the Race Cars, Rocket Ships, Tea cups, or
Dumbos. Probably never will. One side of Mr. Toad is better than the
other. Still plenty of rude parents who send their kids running up to
ride lines and they when they finally arrive say "Oh, can I just get in
there with my kids?" ARGHHHHH, that bothers me. Notice a lot of rides
are no longer sponsored (No "RCA" Space Mountain, no "GE" Carousel of
Progress). Space Mountain changed the cars to seat 3 in a car with
their own seats rather than putting a pair of pairs per car.
EPCOT:
Took it real slow here. Leisurely rode the rides, slowly strolled through
the World Showcase and bought lots of additions at Morocco for Liz's
camel collection. I always liked the Epcot poll. I talked to the guy
and apparantly this is the most poorly attended attraction in the World.
I think this kind of interactive information taking is fun, and its fun
to see the results so quickly. Oh well, the guy said until they get a
sponsor and some money, they will always do bad. Which started me to
thinking - how dependent are the rides on their sponsors? He made it
sound like extremely so. WDW doesn't make enough money to support
unsponsored rides with lots of cash? Strange. Heard a lot of people
talking about how the American Adventure is their favorite attraction
here. Me and Liz always gag on that - we think its basically a dog
(like the show and all, but the building and fast food really kill it),
except was flabbergasted to see an *Ayn Rand* quote amongst the many
emblazoned in gold in the hall (she's my favorite!). Mexico is still so
cool (wish I could eat there, but Liz hates spicy stuff). Most expensive
gifts for what you get - Norway. Cranium Command over at Wonders of Life
was a riot! A must-see!
PICTURES:
Bought 2 kinds of film. Ektar 25, which took phenomenal pictures even
at night (long exposure time, but worked well with some moon shots,
fountain shots, and even Illuminations). Great TL pix too. Also brought
some 1600 speed film, to try to get inside the rides without a flash.
Didn't really work :^). Flashes still bother me - why don't people listen?
SNIPPETS:
- Transportation is getting a little bad. As more stuff goes up and
the monorails become more useless, you have to rely on buses, which
are okay, but not great. WDW used to really be on top of this, but
I think they are over their head and need to imagineer something better.
- Alocohol is much less scarce than it used to be, but they ID to the MAX.
- They are building a new Corporate headquarters that has most of the
building in the shape of a huge sundial.
- the little water sprites you can get are in great disrepair. I'd say
4 out of 5 rentals turn out to be duds, now. Really disappointing
when one of you gets a rocket and the other gets like a paddle-boat.
- t-shirts are getting better and better
- for such a class act, WDW has the pukiest stuffed animals, really chintzy
- we mostly had very pleasant treatment from cast members.
- a lot of cast, though, do not have a clue - as to operations, prices,
where to go for things, etc.. I see a real lack of training lately.
- I WANNA GO BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEAN/BEER=LABATTS and Liz
|
| 183.51 | 9th to 19th Oct 90 | 42653::WARWICK | | Tue Dec 18 1990 09:21 | 624 |
|
Trip Report 9th to 19th October 90
Introduction
The Cast - Chris (me, Project Manager but I am on holiday)
- Sally (wife & planner)
- Joanna (9 year old)
- Jonathan (5.5 year old)
The Plan - 12 nights in Orlando, staying in the Holiday Inn
Maingate East. (This was chosen as being good for the
kids, as one of the options within the package). In
the event apart from sleeping there, we only used the
pool twice, this was due to a variety of reasons; one
being the transformer problem, more on that later.
Planning - My planner found the following sources most useful:-
- Disney Notes File
- Steve Birnbaum's Guide to Walt Disney World (89 & 90)
- The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World & EPCOT by
Bob Sehlinger, published by Prentice Hall. This is
most useful for rating of rides and most important
the queue time information, we found this more
accurate than Disneys. A one page summary for all the
rides planned was invaluable.
Rest Rooms - My son seemed to need to visit almost everyone we
passed, we put this down to the excitment of the days
events. It soon became an established routine and
joke.
Tue 9th Oct
Our first day, after arriving the night before. We stayed in the Hotel
until mid morning, then to Florida Mall for some shopping and lunch.
The Transformer saga, I needed a transformer to step up 110v to 220v so
that my single voltage 240v battery charger would charge my battery
belt. I was told this sort of thing was "freely available" in the USA.
After 4 referrals to other shops, and about 3 visits, (they were out of
stock) I eventually got one from 'Bentleys' in the Florida Mall.
For those who might have a similar problem, this was a FRANZUS -
REVERSE ELECTRICITY CONVERTOR Model FR-22, rated at 50 watts (110v ->
220v) and priced at $14. Franzus Co Inc. is at Benson Road, P.O. Box
#1191, Middlebury, CT 06762.
15:00 Shopping at CrossRoads for provisions, an excellent place!
16:00 Dropped into the Disney Village Market Place, looked in the shops
and admired the Empress Lily. Saw our first Mickey Mouse outside "Chef
Mickey" (briefly) and felt the holiday had really begun. More shopping
then on the off chance my planner walked in to enquire about an evening
meal. We got a table almost immediately but not before the kids were
entranced by bubble blowing machine in the reception area. The food was
superb, it was good value and fun. The menus for the kids press out to
become a standup cardboard Mickey, Mickey came around all the tables
and posed for photos (you will need flash or a very fast film). Back to
the hotel to prepare for Wed.
Wed 10th Oct
Our carefully constructed plans go wrong immediately when rain is
forecast the night before, and it comes (welcome to sunny Florida!).
Hence, instead of going to Magic Kingdom, we went to EPCOT. Arrived a
little before 09:00 and bought 5 day Passports (this gave unlimited
access to Typhoon Lagoon, River Country, Pleasure Island in the first 7
days from date of purchase).
First to Imagination, straight onto the ride with no queuing, which we
all enjoyed. Then onto Image Works, which again was enjoyed by all.
A short queue for Captain EO (whilst previous showing ended). My son
was scared, my wife enjoyed it, my daughter thought it good but scary,
I thought it was noisy and over-rated!
We exited this to find the jumping fountains, which were imaginative!
(Note for camcorder users, this area was very humid and I got a 'Dew'
warning, this seemed to be quite commonplace from what I overheard in
one of the camera shops).
We then caught the ferry to Morocco, glanced at Japan, and then took
shelter at the Liberty Inn at about 12:00, when torrential rained
arrived. Snack lunch (plus battling with the American phone system re
Reverse Converter).
The rain finally stopped and we toured the east side of World Showcase,
Italy pausing to look at the fountain, Germany a brief visit to one of
the Gift shops.
14:00 found us in China where we waited 17 mins (whilst previous
showing ended), mainly because it was pouring again.
We were entertained by a flautist in the foyer, then into our first
Circlevision 360 show, which we all enjoyed.
14:45 at Norway, waited 10 mins to get onto the Maelstrom ride. The
ride was good but the film at the end was less memorable.
Booked an evening meal, then went on to Mexico. Looked around the
Bazaar then onto the boat ride (River of Time?), not very good, rather
corny and simple in comparison to the best of Disney rides.
Drinks in the cafe opposite, then onto Wonders of Life.
16:00 a 15 min wait for Body Wars, which was very good, exciting etc.
all survived but my son was convinced we had been shrunken as per the
script. (If its getting too scary look away from the screen at your
feet, this ride relies on visual stimuli).
We exited and went into Cranium Command, this was more restful, the
pre-show cartoon was excellent as was the show itself, everyone enjoyed
it.
After this we found long queues for the fitness centre, so with
protesting kids we left.
17:15 found us at Spaceship Earth, where we walked straight on to the
ride. We all enjoyed this.
Back to Norway for dinner, which was good but the most expensive meal
we had in WDW!
Back to hotel at about 20:00.
Thu 11th Oct
Non WDW day but using the transport information phone number got all
the character voices talking me through the tone selection, meant to
get the kids to listen but forgot...
Fri 12th Oct
08:00 at EPCOT, having parked the car, we caught the first monorail to
Magic Kingdom (we were going to end the day back at EPCOT to see the
Illuminations).
08:30 got to Magic Kingdom, picked up an Entertainment Show Schedule,
booked the Diamond Horseshoe Revue for lunch (at Disneyanna
Collectables - the new name).
Then breakfast in comfort at the Crystal Palace, whilst the crowds
stood waiting for the rope to go up at 09:00.
Walked slowly (bedazzled by all we saw) to Big Thunder Mountain at
09:20. We 'queued' for 5 mins, in fact most of this was us looking at
photographing the view out of the left hand side watching the train go
round. On to the ride... WOW! with one parent per child we made the
mistake of trying to film as we went round, dont! This was not a good
first ride, all of us were flung around, my son was tall enough but the
safety bar didn't secure him properly, he was quite scared. It
certainly took all our breath away. I managed to hang onto the
camcorder all the way round but the picture broke up in a couple of
places going to monochrome due to the accelerations pulling the tape of
the drum, I guess we were lucky it still worked at all after that!
09:40 having recovered our breath and removed the wobbly leg we arrived
at the Pirates of the Caribbean, no wait quite a good ride.
10:00 we had planned to do the Jungle Cruise but signs indicated a 30
min wait, so we caught the WD Express from Frontierland to Mickeys
Starland. (This was a change of name, formerly it was Mickeys Birthday
Party).
The kids got lots of autographs as soon as we stepped out of the
station, consequently we missed the 10:30 show. We had a brief look at
Mickeys House plus one of many rest room breaks and then into the 11:00
show "Mickeys Magical TV World". This was excellent, everyone enjoyed,
I videoed the whole show from the back of the audience. (In retrospect
a monopod would have been a good idea, more stability and easier on the
muscles).
We exited through the left-hand door but were confused to find
ourselves in the tentshop (I guess we missed an announcement), we
should have gone straight through the tent and out into the open, into
"Meet Mickey Mouse". As a consequence of being a bit slow in doing this
we had about 100 more people in the queue ahead of us and an extra 20
min wait. Note you dont have to see the show to meet Mickey this is
accessible to the public paths near Mickeys House.
Note that from 13:30 to 16:30 there were no characters, and there were
no shows at 15:30 and 16:30 probably due to the Parade but check the
weekly schedule.
20,000 leagues under the sea was out of commission for refurbishment,
so we then walked back through the castle and briefly listened to the
World Band in Liberty Square, again excellent, before making for the
Diamond Horse Revue at 12:15.
The doors opened exactly on time and the Revue took 1.5 hours, with
taking the orders, eating the food (sandwiches and cookies in our case)
and watching the show. The jokes were corny, the songs ok and the
dancing superb. We sat upstairs and thus didn't get 'involved' as those
downstairs did. A thoroughly enjoyable entertaining break, the
auditorium was just a little too cold for comfort.
At 14:00 we had a 15 min wait for Peter Pan which all enjoyed with the
exception of my son who didn't like the dark.
Then we went straight onto Cinderellas Carousel which was just loaded,
the ride was brief but pleasant.
After this we waited 20 mins for Dumbo, we knew this was going to be a
slow loader but my son was insistent. The ride was nothing special but
I had a happy son afterwards.
We raced back to get in position for the parade. Our carefully chosen
spot was at the end of the parade route between the Frontierland
Railway Station and Big thunder Mountain. The Parade route crosses the
public pathway and goes into a non public area, people were allowed to
cross the parade route up until the parade started, it got quite
complicated! It was crowded here but had the advantage that each
tableau stopped in the non public (but visible area) to greet the
celebrity of the parade who had been at the head of the parade.
I videoed just each float in turn as I was not sure how much battery
capacity I had left. My son had sat on my wifes' shoulders to get a
better view, so afterwards we stopped at Pecos Bills, for a rest and
for drinks.
At 16:00 we took the Liberty Square Riverboat, a good quiet sit.
16:20 saw us at the Haunted Mansion, this was clever but not scary or
fun, perhaps we had too high expectations of this.
We then waited 20 mins to take the Skyway to Tommorrowland (I didn't
appreciate just how much queuing room there was under cover and hence
how long it was going to take). However the kids wanted to do it, and
the enjoyed both the ride and the view, the parental feelings were
mixed, you saw how everything related to each other (but you can see
that on a map) we also saw the flat roofs of everything, the
attractions are clearly designed to be seen from ground level.
We walked through Tommorrowland to the exit at 18:00 leaving early to
avoid the end of day crowds (at 19:00). It took 30 mins to get to EPCOT
via the monorail. (Note the monorail from the Ticket and Transportation
Centre to EPCOT goes round FutureWorld before stopping at the station).
We had dinner at the Odyssey Restaurant (about twice as expensive as a
comparable McDonalds).
At 19:55 we walked onto the World of Motion ride with no waiting, a
good entertaining ride with a lot of humour.
We then bought some fast film and waited for the Illuminations in the
World Showcase Plaza. The Illuminations had apparently only just
restarted (cancelled due to the mosquito problem). We had to sit down
to watch (on the ground) this gave everyone a chance to see. Although
we were back from the railings we were actually quite close to a
loudspeaker for the music.
WELL! WOW! fireworks will never be the same again! You can tell we were
quite impressed.
Finally we walked backed tired but happy to our car parked 14 hours
earlier, it was so close we didn't have to wait to catch a tram.
Sat 13th Oct
Shopping again in Florida Mall, then off to River Country, which we
thought would be better (than Typhoon Lagoon) for my son. We felt
rather dumb when we found out it was closed for refurbishment (it was
actually printed on the 5 day passports but in very small print).
Ever flexible we headed at 15:30 to Typhoon Lagoon. We thought that the
Wave pool would be too much for my son and that only Castaway Creek
would be suitable, we were wrong! The kids loved both, and we
determined to return to take advantage of our 5 day passports.
Back to Chef Mickeys for dinner (having booked it this time), there was
a Boat show on and we had to park a long way away. We could have parked
closer using Valet Parking but didn't fancy it.
The dinner was again superb; the food was good, Mickey came around
twice, once for photos and then to sign the popout menus, very
attentive service as well. My son decided that Mickey couldn't be doing
the cooking as he was always out front with the customers!
Sun 14th Oct
The MGM day, we arrived at 07:30 not having had any breakfast to find
that this was the first day of the new week and the opening was an hour
later than we thought! We retreated to a local McDonalds for breakfast
and returned just before 08:30.
(Note Magic Kingdom is the only park where you can get partially in, to
eat breakfast, before the park officially opens).
MGM opened at 08:30 and by 8:45 we were going straight onto the Great
Movie ride, (we did the gangster option, although I am still not clear
how we could do the other option). The ride was good and I videoed some
of it. The kids have videos of the Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins so
they enjoyed those bits.
At 09:05 we joined the Backstage Tour (including Catastrophe Canyon)
with no wait. The most exciting part was Catastrophe Canyon, (I was
nearest the flood but the camcorder was inside a large plastic bag and
only the lens got wet). We broke off after the tram ride to see the
Indiana Jones Stunt Theatre.
However we met the Turtles at the end of the stage act on Mickeys
Avenue (my son is a fan). We stopped to get the autographs (three of
the four plus April). (This put my son several levels up when he got
home because we dont buy him the toys, but he now has the autographs
and photos).
09:45 we got into the Indiana Jones Stunt Theatre, seated at the back
(every one was under cover). I videoed the 30 min show, which was
tiring (no wall to lean on, no monopod). The show was good, including
the humour. I particularly liked watching all the logistical manoeuvres
in the background moving the various bits of scenery around.
10:40 we had drinks at Starring Rolls, opposite the Theatre of the
Stars.
11:30 Theatre of the Stars show "Hollywood, Hollywood" having seated
ourselves earlier to get seats at the front. This was out in the open
but it was not too hot. The kids were entranced, we all enjoyed the
show.
12:10 Magic of Disney in the Animation Building, a 10 min wait, there
were very few employees working on the Sunday so it had a deserted
look, nevertheless we enjoyed the films. We found that there were 2
repeats of the Video monitors before you got caught up in the next
tour.
We left after this and drove to EPCOT, parked took the monorail to the
TTC and then the ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
We had a late lunch at the Crystal Palace (14:15), the food was again
good and there was a quartet of strolling players, playing requests
while you had lunch. Magic!
15:00 the Jungle Cruise only a 10 min wait (whilst the Parade was on).
My wife and the rest enjoyed it something about being out in the open,
rather than in the dark of other rides.
16:15 a 10 min wait for the Country Bear Vacation Hoe-down, corny but
good, memorable too for the pre- show announcement "remember folks move
Allllllllllllllllllll the way down'.
We thought a quiet break on Tom Sawyers Island would be a good idea but
my son tired himself out running around.
Back on the 'mainland' a 5 min wait for Snow White, very disappointing,
it seemed to concentrate on the nasty aspects of the story.
Then on to Magic Journeys. We had to wait 15 mins for this (while
previous showing ended), then I and my son slept through this. The
female section of the family said it was good but too long.
18:45 caught the monorail to EPCOT.
19:15 The Livings Seas didn't stay long as we were hungry and tired.
20:10 Farmers Market in The Land for food but most things were shutting
by then. There were no queues in The Land but by then fed but still
tired we left for the hotel at 20:45.
Mon 15th Oct
Arrived at Typhoon Lagoon mid morning, got a map of the layout from
Singapore Sal's (not from the entrance), and studied the layout.
Various members of the family were videoed/photographed prior to lunch
at the Leaning Palms.
Three of us went on part of Castaway Creek. My son went to Ketchakiddee
Creek (he was too short to go on any of the individual adult rides); on
slides, inflatable rings and just messing about with jets of water etc.
This was really good but we nevertheless kept an eye on him. My
daughter and I went on one of the individual rides, to be recorded for
posterity by my wife.
An adequate lunch followed by ride on the Gang Plank Falls (a family
sized inflatable raft), again exhilarating.
Finally back to the Surfpool (where the pattern changes every hour,
surfing alternating with normal up and down sea motion).
We left just before closing time at 18:00. We were very impressed with
everything we saw, wonderful attention to detail, especially the number
and rotation of Life-guards plus the humour, one of them stopped my
wife dead by making the usual Disney "... no videoing or flash
photography allowed..." when he saw her getting ready to video the
Surfpool.
The Unofficial Guide says Typhoon Lagoon is equivalent to Wet-n-Wild
but is landscaped, I would guess this is true.
To Crossroads for dinner (at McDonalds because TGIF was too busy).
Tue 16th Oct
To Kennedy Space Centre, where it rained a lot. Highlights were the
IMAX film and watching Discovery return from Edwards atop of the 747.
The Space centre can take a full day. We then went to Coco Beach to
paddle in the other side of the Atlantic.
Wed 17th Oct
Another visit to MGM, we were waiting as it opened at 08:30 (half an
hour earlier than published).
08:40 saw us boarding Star Tours - what a way to start the day. This
ride is very similar in concept to Body Wars but was more amusing.
There was no wait, we walked straight on and thus missed all the little
items designed to amuse the queues.
On the way to the Backstage Tour, we met a load of characters by the
Studio Gate Arch, there were lots of them, all clowning about, probably
the best encounter we had, I finally got a photo of my wife with
Mickey.
09:05 Backstage Tour, again. In Catastrophe Canyon my son was more
scared the second time because he was closer to the heat (I was on the
dry side this time).
On the way to the start of the walking tour we stopped again to listen
to the Looney Bins, then onto the Backstage Plaza for the Turtles show,
they turned up on time but just signed autographs, then made off (it
turned out later to do a TV special for Christmas). The area was very
crowded so no more autographs.
10:30 delayed by Turtles and me getting separated from the rest of the
family, we wait for 15 mins for the Backstage Walking tour to begin.
(We couldn't get to the left-hand door this was being used by people in
wheelchairs.)
This took an hour and was quite interesting, it was surprising how
interested the kids were, we all liked the joke about the Mickey Mouse
watch at the end. Best bit for the adults was probably the making of
the Bette Midler film - The Lottery.
11:30 saw us sitting at the Starring Rolls enjoying a well earned rest
and drink, from here we watched part of the Dick Tracy Show. The view
was not as good as from the auditorium but we were free to get drinks
etc. and it was in the shade.
About 12:00ish we exited and drove to EPCOT and caught the monorail to
Magic Kingdom. We plucked up courage and asked to sit up front with the
driver, it was great we felt like VIPs (thanks Notes file).
Arrived at Magic Kingdom at 13:00 and ran into another set of
characters in the Town Square (and finally met Minnie). autograph books
carefully pocketed we made our way to the Crystal Palace for lunch to
be serenaded by the Quartet again, very enjoyable.
14:00 up the Swiss Family Treehouse (some interesting views from here
if you peered through the leaves).
Then across to Tommorrowland whilst the Parade was on. My son was not
tall enough/brave enough for Space Mountain so he and my wife went on
the Wedway People Mover whilst my daughter and I rode Space Mountain.
Surprisingly for a fairly tough individual this was my sons favourite
ride, very gentle but nevertheless very enjoyable.
Meanwhile at 14:45 my daughter and I tackled the Mountain, WELL it was
very scary, I had to sit up front, with my daughter behind me, and try
to appear not too afraid, it is very bumpy, and being in the dark you
can't see which way the track goes, also I haven't done any
rollercoasters before, except Thunder Mountain. All of this is to
explain I had slightly wobbly knees on exiting from the ride, swearing
never to do it again. Whilst on the ride I was literally in two minds,
the objective one telling me that Disney hadn't killed anyone on this
ride, whilst the subjective was telling me it was about to happen.
The two halves of the family re-unite to do the Dreamflight at 15:05,
there were no queues (Parade time), averageish ride the period touches
on the Flying Boat were good.
At 15:10 we planned to do American Journeys but there was a 20 min wait
(whilst previous showing ended) so by way of contrast to Space Mountain
we all do the Wedway People Mover, very gentle.
Back to American Journeys, the CircleVision effect is beginning to wear
off, also it is tiring for my wife to hold my son up so he can see, and
my daughter is too heavy to hold up and hence cant see too well.
16:00 we exit for EPCOT, (another ride up front on the Monorail but its
raining this time).
17:00 sees up in World Showcase Plaza, where we bumped into more
characters doing a greeting/show.
Then we made some mistakes, we wanted Ice cream, which we should have
bought in the Plaza, instead we caught a bus to Italy. We were tired by
this stage as we meant to go to France but got off too early). So we
walked to France looking for Ice cream all the time, none to be seen.
Instead we had a snack in the Boulangerie in France which was good but
very expensive compared to prices in the real France).
Still rather jaded by this time, we ignored the U.K. and decided we
couldn't take another CircleVision so we also passed Canada.
18:50 saw us in The Land watching the Kitchen Kaberet, very simple but
he kids liked it.
Ice cream in the Farmers Market!, then at 19:45 a 12 min wait for
Listen to the Land, not up to the best of Disney or our expectations
from reading write-ups.
Then at 20:15 Symbiosis, we cant remember much about this.
20:45 we walked into Energy and did the ride (there were very few
people about, we didn't realise they would start it so close to the
21:00 finish time). We in fact exited from this at 21:15, obviously
still jaded as, I couldn't see the point of this, it seemed to be
concentrating on fossil fuel).
21:30 we left EPCOT very tired and then walked rather than trammed to
the car since all the crowd from the Illuminations were leaving as
well.
Thu 18th Oct
Went to Sea World a bit of a let down, rather second rate in
comparison.
Fri 19th Oct
Favourites Day at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, doing all the things we
liked most again!
Parked at EPCOT caught the Monorail to Magic Kingdom, and breakfasted
at the Crystal Palace.
My daughter and I did Big Thunder Mountain whilst my wife and son took
the WDW Express to Mickeys Starland.
Big Thunder Mountain is quite easy if all you do is hold on! We then
caught the Railway to Mickeys Starland to rejoin the other two.
On their arrival at Mickeys Starland, they had met a lot of characters,
and there were not many other people around. My son then looked at the
Farmyard and played in the Playground, a happy son but a bored mother.
Two trains later we meet up, and take a longer look at Mickey's House.
Then we meet Cinderella (my daughter favourite autograph, as she was
human and thus talked).
Then through to Fanatasyland and the Mad Tea Party. This was new and my
wife and kids rode whilst I videoed it. When it finished there was one
dazed mother (the kids were controlling the rate of spin) and two
amused kids.
We then walked back to the front of Cinderella's Castle for the 11:00
Disneymania show. We arrived early, and I reserved a space under the
trees on the 'hub', whilst the others rode a car down Mainstreet to the
entrance in the reverse direction to the crowds. This filled in some
time, there was no queue, and it was only a 5 min walk back. Along the
way they got drinks from the Refreshment corner, which we consumed
during the show.
I videoed all 30 mins of the show there were a large number of people
who just walked right in front of us. It might have been better in
hindsight to have stood on the right-hand spoke path leading to
Tommorowland Terrace but there would have been no shade.
11:40 we rode Peter Pan my son was not scared this time.
At 12:15 we left the Magic Kingdom, having failed to find somewhere
quiet to have lunch, on the way back to the entrance.
We caught a different Monorail from a different platform to go
anti-clockwise to go to the Contemporary Resort.
We ate in the Concourse Grill, it was quiet,the service was very
sympathetic, and we had a quiet table away from other people. The food
was superb and very good value, we could see the Monorail going through
- highly recommended. (Note meals cost less at lunch time than dinner
and break the day up.)
Refreshed, we took a lift to the 15th floor and went through the Top of
the World Lounge, out on to the Observation Deck. Impressive views of
the Seven Seas Lagoon, Magic Kingdom and Bay Lake.
We then left for EPCOT arriving at 15:00.
We walked straight onto Spaceship Earth, then to Imagination, which was
spoilt by others using Flash photography and some of Image Works.
Then to Wonders of Life; Cranium Command and some of the hands on
exhibits plus Goofys show - fairly average.
Horizons beckoned (new) as there was no wait but we wouldn't repeat
this out of choice.
Re-did World of Motion, with the kids in one car and us in another. Saw
"The Bird and the Robot" in the TransCenter, for the first time, very
amusing.
18:45 tea at the Odyssey, we entered just as a character show was
ending.
19:20 saw us at World Showcase Plaza, with only one spot left up by the
railings, for the Illuminations at 21:00! we reserved some floor space
with bags whilst I sat in my spot by the railings. My wife took the
kids to the Rest Rooms, identifying herself to the Disney staff as they
exited the roped off area (this was a good idea since they probably
wouldn't have been able to get back in, the numbers were carefully
controlled).
When the Illuminations ran, I managed to set the camcorder to point
straight ahead at the 'globe', which recorded the main display whilst
photographing the display with the stills camera. This worked out
pretty well, the only problem being the music was a bit faint as we
were in front of all the loudspeakers.
The wait was a bit tedious, the only time when there was no
entertainment, both my wife and I read English children stories to the
kids surrounded by a multi-lingual crowd.
The only entertainment besides us was the Disney staff giving
permission to the crowd to lynch or throw in the water anyone who was
not sitting down 10 mins before the Illuminations began!
The Illuminations were as good as ever, a fitting climax to our five
days.
We walked out slowly with much regret....
|
| 183.52 | December interlude... | POWDML::OSEASOHN | | Wed Dec 26 1990 13:43 | 48 |
| This may be one of the last 1990 reports -- and probably one of the
shortest! My husband, sister, and I were in Diney World Dec 5-10. Too
short, of course. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort, which was
GREAT. Only mistake -- should have asked for no-smoking rooms; my
sister's room was particularly stinky from a previous occupant. We
were in Jamaica -- I think it's the NICEST colors -- yellow, with blue
roofs -- and very conveniently located directly across Parrot Cay from
Old Port Royale. We found the buses very convenient -- never waited
more than 5 minutes, and almost everything was very direct ( except
Discovery Island to Typhoon Lagoon, but that's really asking a lot!)
We spent the first day in the Magic Kingdom. Disappointed that the
Haunted Mansion was closed; loved Big Thunder Mountain Railway as much
as ever; and really liked the 3-D film that was moved here from Epcot
when it was replaced there by Captain EO. Dinner that night at Epcot
in Italy (Alfredo's) -- very nice. Caught Captain EO between dinner
and Illuminations, which was great, but meant we saw Illuminations from
the end of the lagoon, over people's heads -- not a good idea.
Second day to MGM (this was our first time at MGM). Loved it. The
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was (spectacular); the Animation place
and Backstage Tour were super. Lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe' -- I
loved the old TV clips, but my table mates found them distracting.
Dinner at the Portobello Yacht Club (great service, OK food) and
evening at Pleasure Island -- really enjoyed the Comedy Warehouse and
the Neon Armidillo.
Third day to Epcot; did everything; saw EO again from further back in
the theater (makes the 3-D work better, for me anyway). Dinner in
Morocco, with belly dancer (sincere but not very skilled). Good food.
Fourth day back to MGM to re-do almost everything, and see the
fireworks there that night. Fifth day breakfast at the Grand
Floridian, then to Discovery Island (wonderful birds) and a quick trip
to Typhoon Lagoon (it was sunny but still pretty cool). Then home!
(boo-hoo).
Tips -- they just put mini-bars and Mr Coffe coffee pots in the rooms
at the CBR while we were there. Bring some ground coffee, filters,
creamer, and mugs, and avoid paying $2 for the coffee-in-a-filter bag
sold in the mini bar. Also, we saved 20% at all restaurants in the
Disney World hotels (and the Portobello Yacht Club) by showing our
Delta frequent flyer card (good only between Thanksgiving and
Christmas). It also saved us $5/nt at the CBR.
Thanksgiving and Christmas).
|
| 183.53 | | TLE::FELDMAN | Larix decidua, var. decify | Sun Mar 17 1991 20:11 | 409 |
| I'm so embarrassed. This must be a new record for delay in posting a trip
report. I wrote up the first few days from my notes soon after we got
back, but with planning for a second major trip that year, and changing
projects and offices, I let this slide. So the tail end of this report is
from my memory (which seems to be pretty good, given that it's over nine
months ago).
Trip summary:
Flew down to West Palm Beach on Fri. 18 May, 1990. Drove to Walt Disney
World on Mon. 21 May. Drove back to southern Florida on Fri 25 May. Flew
back to New England on Mon. 28 May.
Had a great time, drove past Universal but didn't go in, can hardly
wait to go again.
Best ride: still Space Mountain
Best new ride: Star Tours
Best food: Norway
Scariest ride: The plane landing in Pittsburgh
Fri. 18 May
Talk about hectic. Our flight was for about noon. I awoke at 5:30.
You'd think that was plenty of time, right? Wrong. I had to knock off
some letters to local newspapers, announcing a meeting of the recycling
committee (one body, four addresses, easy but time consuming on my
Mac). I also had to pack. As we pulled out of the driveway, we
decided that having our ladder propped up against the side of the
house, extended most of the way, was a bad idea for a ten-day vacation.
So we got out of the car, and put the ladder into the garage. 32-foot
ladders are clumsy.
We got to the Worcester airport about 10 minutes before the plane was
scheduled to leave. I stood by the gate entrance while Bob parked the
car. My big concern was that he wouldn't find a spot; I couldn't see
any from the terminal (which is slightly uphill from the parking lot).
He somehow managed to make it, after passing up one dubious looking
spot.
We were flying US Air, which meant Worcester to Pittsburgh, and
changing planes to continue to West Palm Beach. The snack on the plane
was essentially a cold Reuben -- corned beef and cheese on rye, with
dressing, but not cooked.
The landing into Pittsburgh was the scariest of any flight I remember.
As we came in, from the northeast, the plane would periodically drop a
few feet, causing that nauseous feeling of weightlessness. Knowing
that microbursts are strong, sudden bursts of wind aimed down, and that
they're a leading cause of plane crashes, and that this wasn't a Disney
special effect, made the landing tense. For what it's worth, it wasn't
the pilot. A colleague of mine flew from Manchester, NH to Pittsburgh
the same day, also on US Air, and had a similar experience. So it was
the weather.
We were early, so we had to idle until our gate freed up. We toured
the airport a bit (not much to see). The connecting flight left late,
due to a maintenance write-up. (Now my confidence is really shaken.)
Yet the flight was uneventful. It was an MD-80, which is a new version
of the DC-9; the window shades even said DC-9. There was a choice for
lunch. Stuffed shells or minestrone and salad. Next time I ask for a
vegetarian lunch.
When we finally landed, I told Bob that if he could survive the flight,
he should have no qualms about Body Wars.
The West Palm Beach airport tries to make sure you know you're in the
Palm Beaches. It's very elegant. We also learned that travelling with
a partner is most efficient. I took care of the paperwork on the car
while Bob got the luggage. We finished at about the same time, with an
extra minute for Bob to sign as the second driver. We got a Dodge
Shadow from National, at the reserved price, with no hassles, and no
pressure for extras. The only problem with the car is that it was
burgundy, which is too dark for that part of the country. I'm glad to
see that American manufacturers are putting the little extras, like
remote trunk releases, into their no-frills cars; they didn't used to.
Interlude: Sat. and Sunday.
I won't bore you too much with these days (if I haven't bored you
already). We discovered that all the outdoor recreation places in the
area where my mother lives (Deerfield Beach and environs, halfway
between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale) had closed down. We also
decided that the rental cars could get some great advertising if they
would give away a car sunshade (one of those cardboard affairs) with
every rental. We wound up buying a pair, for front and back.
I also lost my sunglasses on Saturday, which had me most upset. I
bought a new medium-priced pair on Sunday, but they're not the same.
The good news is that my mother has since found them, so I've got them
back (yea!).
Monday, May 23.
We left for Disney World at 8:44 AM. It went faster than the last time
I was there, now that the speed limit has gone up to 65. I missed the
first cross-road to get to the turnpike, proving that even Florida can
have lousy road signs. There was just one speed trap that we could
see, south of Kissimmee, but they do things big down there -- three
police cars pulled out at once. We made one pit stop, without eating, and
arrived at the Customs House at the Caribean Beach Resort at 12:15.
There were many lines available, so it seemed busy, but we got lucky
when they opened a new line and called us over.
We wound up with connecting center courtyard rooms in the Jamaica
complex (the yellow ones). We had one room with a king sized bed, and
one with two doubles. One of the rooms was at the corner, which meant
two large windows, and twice the view. For those interested in decor,
the rooms had yellow-beige walls, blue carpeting, blue stenciling at the
ceiling, and multi-colored pastel quilts.
We lunched at Old Port Royale (our only full meal there). Adequate,
but nothing to write about.
We next went to get my mother's Four Season Florida Salutes pass (Bob
and I already had ours, from the local Disney Store), at the Disney-MGM
Studio's gate. See my note 166.65 for details on the pass.
The cast members at the station where they photographed my mother for
her pass were at their extra-friendly Disney best. They took an extra
four-way shot of my mother and myself, for us to have as a souvenier.
I was surprised at the arrangements here. We went through the guest
relations office into an outside area, which I believe is between the
offfice and the back of Sid's antiques. We were guided by rows of
potted trees into a trailer that was set up for photographing guests
for passes. Somehow, I expected something more permanent.
We didn't go in at that time, as we had dinner reservations and didn't
feel like spending such a short time at the park. When we got back to
room, I remembered to make reservations for the next two days. I was
surprised to find out that at 2:30 Monday, both the Prime Time Cafe and
the Coral Reef Restaurant were fully booked for Tuesay lunch and
Tuesday dinner, respectively. It turns out they only hold back 10% of
the seating space for the advance reservations by Resort Guests. So I
made a dinner reservation for Chefs de France, and figured we'd take
our chances on lunch.
We used the free time to go to Disney Village and spend money. We made
90% of our purchases here, using the MKC card. Watching the robots
making the airbrushed T-shirts was the highlight of this visit.
For dinner, we went to King Henry's Feast. See note 116.48 for a review.
Our conclusion about King Henry's Feast is that it was well worth the
$25/person ($23/person with our discount coupon), and that we would
recommend it to others, although it's not the sort of thing we'd want
to see a second time.
After dinner, we drove around International Drive. At about 9PM, we
were able to find the entrance to Universal Studios, which had opened
for their soft opening that day. This was closing time, so we didn't
even think about going in. From the outside, it looked most
impressive, and we added it to our list (for the next trip). The
spinning globe which is outside the gate is small, but really nice at
night. The long palm-lined drive to the parking lot from the road is
one of those extra touches that reminded me of Disney's concern with
details and first impressions. We believe that this place has real
potential, once they get the bugs worked out.
Tuesday, May 22.
This was our first big day, and of course I was excited enough to get
up at 5:30. I made my way to Old Port Royale, and was pleased to see
that they were running the sprinklers at this ecologically sound hour
(later in the day, too much water would evaporate without benefitting
the plants). This was too early for OPR: the bakery opened at 6, the
pizza place (which had cold cereal and some other standard breakfast
fare) opened at 6:30, while the rest opened at 7. This seemed silly to
me, since they were making such a big deal of letting guests into MGM
at 7am. Anyway, I brought food back for Bob and me, took my mother's
order, and had time to make a second trip. We drove to MGM, since we
wanted to have the car handy for later.
We arrived at MGM around 7:15. After renting a wheelchair for my
mother, we went to the Prime Time Cafe and had no trouble making
reservations for 12:15 lunch. Taking the advice of the Unofficial
Guide, we proceeded first to the Monster Sound Show. I got chosen for the
Foley box (the only time any of us were volunteered). In spite of the
sparse audience (maybe 20-30 people), this was fun. For those of you
who don't know, Foley boxes are used for various footsteps. This one
had wood, concrete, crushed stone, and one other surface. In spite of
wearing sneakers, the sound came out clearly, and sometimes it was even
in synch with the movie.
Next stop was the Great Movie Ride. Again, attendance was quite light;
we were in the back car, while the front car was sent out empty; I
don't remember whether they even bothered to put a driver into it. We
waited a while in the car while "the orchestra got their act together"
before the ride started. We had a trainee driver, with another cast
member riding in the car, taking notes. She did a good job, especially
when we were ambushed, although it was difficult to hear her at times.
The ride was quite enjoyable, although it didn't live up to my
expectations, which had been set too high. I got the biggest kick out
of seeing the props from Casablanca in the lobby.
Next was the studio tour. This was a reasonable time to go, because
much of the staff was at work (remember, it's a real studio), although
they don't seem to do any filming in the mornings. The costume and
wood shops are impressive. The neat part of Catastophe Canyon for me
was noticing that they even blow hot air at the guests, to increase the
sensation of the fire. It wasn't real though -- who's going to believe
an earthquake in Florida? They should have done a sinkhole.
At the midpoint of the tour, we spent a fair bit of time examining the
details of the New York City scene. The work is incredible. Some of
the masonry seems so realistic, even to the touch. You have to knock
on it to realize that it's fake. The perspective at the end of the
street is also wonderful, and it isn't ruined by going close up (as
close as they allow). I was disappointed by the joke shop at this end
-- they didn't have very much original merchandise.
For the second half of the tour, the walking part, we were in Al's
group. If you get a chance, volunteer for the water effects part at
the beginning. It's lots of fun, and you don't have to worry about
getting wet (much :-). We were cheated on the rest of the tour because
only one of the Warren Beatty video segments was working. Fortunately,
the tour guide made up for it. (Who's group are you with? AL'S
GROUP!) The other video effects (the Bette Midler film and the Honey,
I Enlarged the Bees) worked fine. We got to see the stage for Let's
Make A Deal, when they were testing the lighting. It looked pretty
complete at the time.
We finished the backstage tour at 10:45. We took a break at the
Soundstage Restaurant. It's worth going in here, just to see the set
from Big Business, even if you're not hungry. We next proceeded to the
Animation Studio, where we met the first line of the day, which seemed
to be about 15 minutes long. We bypassed the line, however, because of
my mother's wheelchair. We felt guilty about that, since there was no
reason we couldn't have waited like everyone else, and by this time, my
mother was getting restless enough to want to do some walking, but now
felt obligated to stay in the chair. The Animation Studio was very
enjoyable, and we spent some additional time in the store at the end.
Lunch was served by big brother at the Prime Time Cafe. See note
39.118 for my review.
After lunch we got on line for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. The
problem with going to these things after a large lunch, not to mention
getting up at 5:30 in the morning, is that both my mother and I dozed a
bit during the show. Still, I managed to take in most of it. They had
a running joke with one of the guests who volunteered to participate,
and at one point it seemed as though he was a ringer, although I'm now
convinced that they just substituted a stunt double for the guest for
one scene. Again, they used heaters or hot air blowers to increase the
sensation; we were seated all the way in the back, and there's no way
the heat from the flames on stage could have reached us that quickly.
The Guest of Honor for the week was Gary Burghoff, who was scheduled to
appear for the 3pm parade. These guests must get real tired of putting
their hands in cement once a day for five days, since he seemed to have
pulled stings with Father Mulcahey. A downpour started just as his car
reached the end of the parade route, before he got out, ruining the
cement, sending him back towards the main entrance gate, and everyone
else to the nearest shelter. We took this opporunity to go to
SuperStar TV.
I found the rapid-fire pace of Superstar TV to be a bit much. I think
they try to fit too many scenes into each show. Nevertheless, it's an
enjoyable show, especially if you can recognize many of the scenes. If
you think abou it, it's a truly impressive directorial effort -- moving
cameras back and forth all over the stage, switching the currently
active camera, directing all these amateur stars, and so on.
Last stop for us was Star Tours. We advised my mother not to go on it,
because of her heart condition, at least until we had tried it.
Amazingly, there was no line. We got middle-front seats, and really
enjoyed it. On exit, I told my mother that I thought it was perfectly
tame enough for her and that she should go on it. Bob disagreed, and
my mother followed his advice (but she made up for it the next day at
Epcot). I'm sure she'll go on it next time she's there, and she'll
love it.
That just about exhausted MGM for us. We headed out, after making a
brief stop at the Antique store, and returning the wheel chair,
remember to get a receipt to use at Epcot. We took the bus from MGM to
Epcot, figuring we'd have time for one or two attractions before
dinner.
At Epcot, we spent time at the AmEx travel videotex systems, and the
Exxon energy exhibit, being sure to contribute to the relatively low
opinion of oil companies when it comes to caring for the environment.
We then headed for Horizons, where we first learned how poor Epcot is
at handicapped access. They kept the wheelchair at the entrance, and
we had to return there (by staying on the ride, if my memory is
correct) to pick it up. Horizons hasn't changed for as long as I can
remember - pleasant, but bland.
Dinner was at France. In going here, I broke my rule about not taking
my mother to French restaurants. She doesn't appreciate French sauces.
She lived up to expectations, and I won't break my rule next time, even
if it means eating at Alfredo's twice. We both ordered the salmon -
mine with the tarragon sauce, my mother's with ketchup. Bob had the
duck. Food and dessert were very good, although the ice cream souffle
isn't nearly as good as it sounds.
We went to Spaceship Earth after dinner. Again, the arrangements for
the handicapped are poor. People in wheelchairs have to go all the way
around to the exit, where an attendant escorts them to the ride (when
he isn't busy directing people off the ride). This ride has enough
fine detail that it's enjoyable again and again. I had forgotten the
dome at the top, and the steepness of the ride.
Afterwards, my mother was ready to hit the sack. So we went out, found
the right bus for her to head back to the CBR, while we headed back to
MGM. We found out later that my mother had trouble finding the room,
which upset her, but she made it back safely.
We got back to MGM around 9pm. We went on the Great Movie Ride again,
in order to be able to get the other act. We had no trouble getting
seated in the front car, with an excellent driver, Jason. The
wild-west gunslinger who took over the car at the shoot out was a
little less believable. Sitting in the front car, we were much closer
to the Wicked Witch at the Wizard of Oz scene. The witch is a very good
effect, but it still isn't lifelike.
We went on Star Tours again (still no line). We hung back at the
entrance, in order to listen to all the patter from the droids.
Definitely the best pre-show entertainment. The ride was so empty that
the cast member who boarded us announced that the back corner seats
were the roughest seats, and that we were free to move back there if we
wished. I took him up on it, as did some teenager who seemed to be
trying to set a record for riding Star Tours the most times in an hour.
They attendant was right -- the motions in the back corner are
definitely greater than in the center.
We stayed for the fireworks, and then headed out. Our car, which we had
parked in the very first row early in the morning, was one of only two
or three cars left in that row at the end of the day. All in all, it
was a long, wonderful day.
Rest of trip:
Here's where I stopped transcribing my notes. They're probably around
somewhere, but after nine months, I'm not going to worry about finding
them.
The short of it is that we continued to have a great time. Wednesday
was Epcot day. My mother went on her own for most of the rest of the trip.
She was tired of the wheelchair, her feet were holding up well,
and she felt guilty by holding us back. She had no problems for the
rest of the trip.
She did go on Body Wars. She enjoyed it, but didn't think it was anything
special. For all her ills, she's one tough customer (and the rest of
you folks who got upset on this ride are all wimps, so there!). I
enjoyed it too, but the entertainment value wasn't as good as at Star
Tours. We spent significant time at the entire Hall of Life exhibit.
The ride at Norway was too mild. I'll start my nephew on it next year,
to see how he reacts, but if he's like his brother was at that age,
he'll be ready for Big Thunder Mountain. We did get some useful
information from their tourist office, which helped us decide to change
our plans for our trip to Scandinavia later that year. (We went to
Bergen instead of Trondheim, in case anyone's interested.) Lunch at
the Norway restaurant was excellent. Judging by our later experience,
it was authentic (though the only smorgasbord we got to do was in
Copenhagen).
Unfortunately, we were too late to get a good spot for Illuminations,
but we managed. Next time, we'll do a better job of planning.
Thursday was Magic Kingdom day. We had breakfast at the restaurant
just inside the park. Service was slow, and there was something else
about the food that I don't remember, but was wrong. Next time, we'll
look for something better, or else go earlier.
We went to Tom Sawyer's island; I think it was my first time there in
all of my visits. Lunch was disappointing; the only choices were
ham&cheese (which I won't eat) and peanut butter & jelly, at prices
that were too high for the meal. On the way back to the mainland, the
castmember controlling the raft was talking with another castmember
about how the rotation policy they were supposed to have wasn't being
implemented. I can sympathize with them -- it's rough being out their
in the hot sun for several hours, and part of the problem was that
people were getting training, and hence there weren't enough staff to
properly rotate the people on the rafts. I don't suppose that many
guests on the raft noticed or cared about this conversation, but after
reading this notes file, my expectations are higher.
After doing a lot of hunting around, we were able to find and enjoy
some Dole Whip. We also checked out the "custom woodwork" shop, and
were disappointed. We were hoping to find something interesting to
mount over the doorways of our kitchen, but instead all they had were
the typical custom-carved name plaques that you can find at many
shopping malls. I also checked out the kitchen store at Liberty Square
to try to find a Mickey waffle iron (that's another story), but no luck
there.
Dinner was at the Fireworks Factory at Pleasure Island. The food was
excellent, except that they put salt on the outside of the baked
potatoes, which ruined it for my mother (who can't have the salt, and
who prefers the skin to the innards). After paying a reduced entrance
fee for Pleasure Island, we wandered around and found our way to the
Adventurer's Club. Definitely the best attraction for our tastes. We
stayed through two shows in the library, two lectures, and one drinking
event in the main hall. Some of the effects in the side halls are
superb, especially given how close they let you get. This is on our
must see list.
We made it over to the Comedy Club in time for the second show of the
evening (around 10, I guess). Good, but not great.
Friday was repeat day. I don't recall much, but I do remember spending
my last bit of cash on Jelly Babies at the UK pavillion at Epcot.
(Fans of Doctor Who will know about Jelly Babies, but the hostess there
didn't seem much interested.) Dinner was at Alfredo's, my mother's
personal favorite. We drove back to my mother's home that evening, and
enjoyed our memories.
Gary
|
| 183.54 | Joan & Dan Rubin Trip Report - 9/24-10/4/90 | VCSESU::SKLENAK | | Wed May 15 1991 14:31 | 360 |
|
I'm off to a DEC sponsored educational program in two weeks which
is forcing me to read and discard most of my files. If there can
be a bright side to cleaning, this is it. I discovered my half
finished Disney trip report. The first half of the trip is
reproduced here in gory detail, the rest is in the synopsis at
the end. Sorry about the seven month delay!!!!
Here goes!
First of all, I want to say that this was my first trip to the
World and it was wonderful, magical and a fantastic way to get
away from reality for two weeks. I'd also like to extend a
collective thank you to everyone that has contributed notes and
ideas in this file. I think I would have missed half the fun in
the parks if I hadn't had your help.
Now for the trip report:
September 22 - Wedding ... it was kind of hard to think past
the wedding and reception to Disney World. Spent the night
at the Hyatt in Cambridge. Recommendation: If you're on
your honeymoon, tell everyone. We were upgraded several levels
of room all for the same weekend getaway rate.
September 23, Sunday - Dan and I had a 12:00 flight out of Logan.
United Airlines, one stop in Dulles. Both legs of the flight
went out on time and we landed on schedule. Realized as we
picked up our baggage that we had no idea how we were going to
get to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Checked outside with the
taxi and Mears shuttle and figured it would only cost about
$5 extra to take a taxi directly to the resort. It's our
honeymoon, so what the heck! Now when we walked outside it
was hot .... I mean hot! I figured it's take a couple days to
get used to the temperature.
We arrived and checked in at the Caribbean Beach. Ended up with
a corner room, first floor in Aruba. I'd go back there in a
minute, but definitely request a second floor room to avoid noise
from above. We checked in for only one night. In customizing
our trip, I think we confused everyone at central reservations.
The plan went something like this:
Sunday night - Caribbean Beach
Monday night - Contemporary
Tuesday AM thru Sunday PM
- Contemporary on World Vacation Plan
Sunday night - Contemporary
Monday night - Grand Floridian
Tuesday, Wednesday night
- Red Roof Inn in Kissimee
In retrospect, I have no idea why we split it that way. I know
it was important to have the first night at the CBR. We wouldn't
have much time there and we figured it wasn't worth the extra cost
of the Contemporary. The last night we wanted to try the Grand
Floridian. It was well worth it ... for one night. But more about
that later.
One HUGE recommendation: we had specifically requested non-smoking
rooms throughout the entire trip. I have bad headaches when I'm
exposed to second hand smoke. Without fail, every room we were put
in (except ironically, the Red Roof Inn) ended up being a smoking
room. They don't have a line for that in your special request area
yet. I was a little bit upset that I needed to go through the
hassle of them searching out a new room for every new reservation.
If this matters to you, reconfirm the non-smoking part a couple
days ahead to avoid hassles when checking in.
Anyway, since we were only staying a night, we didn't bother to
unpack. We jumped on a shuttle bus to the Magic Kingdom. Now it
was night and the park was closed, but I just wanted to see what
it looked like from the outside (first time, remember?).
After I got that out of my system, we returned to the room and
wandered over to Port Royale for dinner. There was a decent
crowd gathered on one of the foot bridges. Looking over the railing
you could make out the head of one very small alligator. I guess
it is actually almost 4 years old and very docile. The life guard
said the park will move it when it gets big enough to threaten
people, but right now the concern is that the people will harass
the gator too much.
September 24, Monday - We woke up to a day that felt like fall in
New England. At 7:30 it was about 65, clear and dry. Stayed
absolutely beautiful all day, reaching about 85 in the mid
afternoon. We packed up a backpack with the essentials (camera
and sun screen) and had a porter come to move our bags over
to the Contemporary. Disney sure makes your life easy when you
change hotels.
I insisted on the Magic Kingdom for the day. Since we were
only doing 2 days in the park not on the Vacation plan, we
bought a single day pass. I felt like I was 12 again. We
disregarded all the information in Birnbaum and headed straight
for Space Mountain. No more than a 10 minute line. I had heard
so much about this ride that I had almost psyched myself out
to the point of being nauseous. It wasn't that scary. I think
Dan enjoyed watching my reactions more than riding the rides (he
had been here twice, back in the late 70's). We got off
Space Mountain and bolted for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Not
a smart idea ... I think those to rides are as far away from one
another as you can get in the park. I don't even want to know
how far we walked that day. We managed to ride/see about
2/3 the attractions during the day. Had lunch at Peco Bills (?).
I was surprised at how (relatively) reasonable they were.
Basically a standard fast food chicken sandwich, fries, fruit
and soda for two for under $10.
We left the park a little before the 7pm closing time and headed
back to the Contemporary to check in. This was our worst
experience on Disney property. They assigned us a North wing
lagoon view, 3rd floor like we requested. The room had a very
strong stale smoke smell. The whole north wing is in dire need
of renovation. I was really devastated. I had heard so many
great things about the Contemporary and this was no different than
a run down Sheraton. We called the desk and asked if we could
upgrade to a tower room for the length of the stay (3 separate
reservations). Turns out they had plenty of rooms, but none
at Magic Kingdom Club rates. We watched tv for about 10
minutes and I decided I just couldn't stand more than a week in
a room with recirculated smoke smell. Dan humored me and
called the from desk again asking for a room change. After
a LOT of flack from the front desk, they found us a lagoon
view on the South side, 2nd floor that we could have for the
duration of our stay. We lugged our bags over (we'd already
paid porter's twice that day) and started to unpack. Funny
thing, even though we'd turned the temperature down, it wasn't
getting any cooler. I gave it ten minutes and called, very irate
to the front desk. The person I spoke with should not be in the
service business. She implied that she really didn't want to
be inconvienced again by moving us and someone would be by
"later tonight to see if they can fix it". Now 85 may not
be too warm when I'm outside visiting a park, but it's too
hot in my room. I stormed off to dinner cursing under my breath.
When Dan & I got back to dinner, the air conditioning was fixed.
The south wing had been just renovated, so it was much more
pleasant looking. It turned out to be a very nice room for
a week; enough space so we didn't feel too claustrophobic.
Next time though, a tower room!
September 25, Tuesday - We started the plan. Or should I say
THE PLAN. If you don't plan on slowing down at all for your
stay, want to eat like kings and play like the wealthy, this
is the way to go. Dan and I were racking up $500-600 worth
of receipts each day. They call it the gold key card ...
we referred to it as magic plastic. Started off with buffet
breakfast at the Top of the World. Buffet breakfast was the
way to go if you could be there when it opened. Very quick,
good meal.
This was EPCOT day. Both Dan and I (me especially so) are very
type A. We went into the park and were immediately totally and
completely overwhelmed. I couldn't find the lockers, I couldn't
find a map, it was so HUGE .... I stressed. Dan calmed me down,
found the lockers and found the information area. While I
looked at the information guide (maps do wonders for my stress),
he made reservations for lunch at the Land and dinner at Coral
Reef. We went over to Wonders of Life first off. Straight on
Body Wars (no line). After all the notes in here, I was
convinced I'd toss my Mickey pancakes. I thought it was great.
I'm walking off and I turn to look at Dan. He's green and
covered in sweat. He composed himself very well, but simulators
just didn't cut it for him (same thing happened later on Star
Tours). We spent almost 3 hours taking in Wonders of Life.
This is where I started stressing again. I want to try everything,
and we've spent almost three hours in one building ... how
an we possibly cover the entire park in three or four days.
Fortunately, none of the other buildings we as extensive.
There was time before lunch to do the GM and GE rides.
Lunch at the land was excellent. I had prime rib and Dan opted
for the steak. Took us a little more than one revolution to
eat. This was the beginning of eating until you can't move.
We were in a bit of a rush because we had to get over to the
Disney Inn for a 3:00 tee time on Magnolia. We were talking
about lunch on the bus ride over and I mentioned to an that
the rotating didn't make me feel too comfortable while I was
eating. He felt the same way. I'd be curious to know if
they rotate faster at lunch to ensure that customers get a full
rotation over an abbreviated meal.
Presented our magic plastic at the Disney Inn and viola! a
cart, clubs for two and golf shoes appeared. Not bad! We
managed to get in 16 somewhat leisurely holes before they
closed the course down (6:30, mosquito alert time). Never
saw a mosquito during the entire two weeks, but they are taking
the encephalitis problem very seriously. It only really
hindered us from tennis in the evening.
We headed back to the Contemporary for a quick shower and then
off to Living Seas for dinner. The whole vacation we planned
things a little too close together and ended up about ten
minutes late to everything. Thank god they hold reservations
for 15. Dinner was good, not great like I expected. I'm not
a big seafood eater and there was almost nothing on the menu for
me. I ended up with grilled tuna steak; tasty, not exceptional.
Dan went for shrimp appetizer, followed by stuffed clams, followed
by a 2 1/2 lb lobster. After that many courses, we didn't make
it back to our room until late.
September 26, Wednesday - I'm getting a little verbose, so I'll
trim back some. Another EPCOT day. This time reservations
are for Italy for lunch and Victoria and Alberts for a 9:00
seating for dinner. Journey into Imagination first. I finally
figured out what all of those Figment hats were. Captain EO
was enjoyable. The biggest waste of time was Exxon. I guess
I'm still bitter about the oil spill ...
Lunch was excellent. Once again, enormous quantities of food.
It think my stomach is starting to stretch. We had another
3:00 tee time, this time over on the Palm course. Flash the
magic plastic and be rewarded with cart, clubs, the works.
This time we only played nine holes. It gets awfully
hot out on the golf course. Disney was gearing up for a
string of tournaments, so these two days were the only
available for guest play. We headed back to the Contemporary
and had enough time to take out two sprites for a half an
hour. I got an incredibly slow boat. I guess they have trouble
with the Contemporary boats, not because of their age, but
because of the weeds in Bay Lake. The weeds hang up in the
motor, regulating the speed that you can travel. Oh well.
We wandered to the game room for a little while. The pin ball
machines are often used by kids that don't understand that they
can win free games. Dan did really well at playing out games
left on the machine after the kids had left.
Victoria and Alberts for dinner. This was just plain an
experience. The packet that comes with the Vacation plan
says the gold card can't be used here, but a phone call to
the hotel confirmed that indeed, it could. The menu was a
bit exotic, so Dan and I ended up with the relatively safe
beef medallions. They were excellent. You could literally
cut them with a fork. Of course, we were presented with the
complementary menus to take as well as a rose. It wasn't worth
the $185 bill that the two of us accrued ... unless you aren't
really paying for it.
September 27, Thursday - We made reservations for the water ski
boat at 3:00 today, so we figured we'd stay close (Magic
Kingdom). Character breakfast again. We ate a lot since
we didn't plan on eating again until around 2. We managed to
ride the rest of the rides in the Magic Kingdom. The crowds
were lighter today. I think it was in part to the temperatures
(it was up into the mid 90's by now) and the day of the week.
We hit Space Mountain again. Discovered that it takes on some
of the thrill of a real roller coaster if you can get the
front seat AND you wear your sunglasses through the whole ride.
You really have no idea where the cart is going next. BTMR
had no lines, we walked onto the back seat three times in a
row. The only attractions we missed were Dumbo, the Teacups
(in both cases, I don't do circle) and Delta Dreamflight.
We had lunch a little before 2 at the Concourse Grille at the
Contemporary. I was impressed with the quality of the food and
the amount of food. They did an excellent job. Got changed
and made it over to the marina about a half hour before our
water skiing reservations. Took out the water sprites again.
Once again, Dan had a fast boat, I was stuck puttering around
Discovery Island. There's no justice!!
Water skiing was fun. I haven't tried it in almost ten years,
but the driver was sympathetic and able to get me up on the first
try. We had tried to get 2 hours in a row, but the boat was
only available for one. Good thing ... we both were a little
sore after the hour.
We made a quick trip back to Magic Kingdom for the bakery on
Main Street. They have delicious cookies that you can pick and
choose to make ice cream sandwiches. Well worth a try.
.....
This is where I stopped writing last October. We spent four more
days in Disney: one in the Magic Kingdom, two in MGM and one
at Typhoon Lagoon. Only made it over to Pleasure Island once
.... discovering then that I'd left my drivers license back
home in Massachusetts. They wouldn't let me into any of the
clubs without positive ID. We did Typhoon Lagoon on a non-World
Plan day. We used the resort id discount and then picked up the
free lunch from the Delta Frequent Flyer card. I had a blast here
and was a little disappointed we didn't have time for another
day here.
Our last night was at the Grand Floridian. Once again we had the
same problems with being placed in a smoking room. They had
to upgrade us (no extra cost) to accommodate out non-smoking
request. It was nice feeling pampered for a night, but Dan and
I spent so little time in our room that it wouldn't have been
worth it for the whole vacation.
We had many very nice meals. I'm not going to remember all the
names, but at EPCOT we ate lunch at Alfredo's and the Japanese
Steak house and dinner at the nice restaurant in France. Ate
at Narcosse's at the Grand Floridian as well as Prime Time
Cafe and the Brown Derby in MGM. Found that the Character
Breakfast at the Contemporary was the easiest and fastest as
long as you arrived early enough to be seated immediately.
The Concourse Grill served large, moderately priced breakfasts
and lunches and we ate there more than once. On the non-plan
days we were much more concerned with our meal costs. We found
the most reasonable place to be the Grand Floridian Cafe.
Even after we moved off property to the Red Roof Inn, we came
back for dinner and some atmosphere.
Our last three days were spent at Sea World, Busch Gardens and
Universal Studios. Dan runs the Employee Activities organization
over at GTE so he was able to get complementary tickets to all
three places. Universal had the best touch, the tickets had
Congratulations Dan and Joan written across the top.
Sea World was enjoyable. The shows are scheduled in an order
that winds you through the park and allows you to see all exhibits
in one day. I really liked Busch Gardens. It is a different
atmosphere than Disney, but it is also very well kept. The
emphasis on animals was something you don't get at Disney. They
had a six week old giraffe in the nursery area that thought
people were playmates. It wasn't afraid to be petted or touched.
It's amazing to look at this creature that's eight feet tall and
think that it's only a baby. We've got some great photos of the
giraffe resting it's head on our shoulders.
Universal Studios was the last day and I was extremely disappointed.
We'd arrive at a show five minutes early only to find that they'd
already closed the doors. It was hot outside and we found the
lines were not only NOT inside and air conditioned, but they
often were in the way of the afternoon sun. Unlike Disney (namely
EPCOT and MGM) there weren't things to entertain you while in
line (the film clips before the Great Movie Ride were the best
example of pre-ride entertainment). I guess there crowd management
bothered me the most. We got to Universal late but found the
parking lot almost empty. We parked our car literally right in
front of the main gate. Yet, we had to wait 15, 20 even 30 minutes
for every ride. I started to wonder if the management planned it
like this to guarantee that no one could make it through in one
day. Kongfrontation was a good ride, ET was enjoyable, the
street scenes were remarkably well done and I thought the
Hanna-Barbera simulator ride was excellent. Other than that .....
I had a blast and I'm looking forward to a return trip. In Disney,
on the World Plan, Dan and I were up at seven and didn't return back
to the room before 10PM. It was hectic, but we really tried to
take in as much as possible. We ate every meal on the plan, went
to at least on park a day and took advantage of the extra's: golf,
water skiing, water sprites and more. It was well worth our
money to have paid it up front and have the unlimited use of all
Disney facilities.
Joan (and Dan)
|
| 183.55 | The Lowells | VAXUUM::LOWELL | Grim Grinning Ghosts... | Sun Jul 07 1991 23:19 | 510 |
| Who: Ruth, Randy and Nicole Lowell
When: December 21 - December 30
December 21 (Friday)
--------------------
This was our first day of driving to WDW. We left Derry, NH at about 7:30AM.
The sky was overcast and it was misting out, fair driving weather. It rained
all day, varying from a light rain in Connecticut to heavy rain in New Jersey
which made the ride more tiring.
As this was the Friday before Christmas week, we expected to run into a lot
of traffic problems. Fortunately, most of our first day went smoothly. The
only problem we encountered was around Baltimore. Traffic was backed up for
a few miles due to an accident.
We drove until 11:30PM or so, stopping for the night somewhere in North
Carolina. As usual, we weren't able to get a room on our first try. We're
beginning to see the merits of stopping earlier.
Anyway, we had traveled about 800 miles in 16 hours. Not too bad, only 600
(about 12 hours) to go.
December 22 (Saturday)
----------------------
We were up and on our way at 8:00AM. Again it was overcast and was raining
lightly. This was an omen of things to come. About 30 minutes into our trip,
a jeep kicked up a rock and chipped our windshield. Fortunately the chip did
not develop into a crack.
Traffic was heavier this day and at times slowed to a crawl. Especially in
South Carolina. All it takes is ONE vehicle traveling below the speed limit
to slow traffic on route 95 to a crawl.
After much frustration on Randy's part (he does the driving), we finally got
our first view of Disney. It was Typhoon Tilly, lit up by spotlights. We
made it to the Caribbean Beach Resort around 7:00PM. At check-in we requested
a room in Martinique but there weren't any available. We ended up in Trinidad
II instead. This complex is furthest away from Old Port Royale. To make
matters worse, when walking to Old Port Royale, you either have to cross a
fairly busy road OR walk under it on a dimly lit walk way. I found the darkened
walk way to be quite intimidating at night (and during the day for that matter)
since it was also quite a distance away from the crowds.
December 23 (Sunday)
--------------------
Up at 7:00AM for our first Disney day! We headed over to the TTC to get our
pictures taken for our annual passports. We were the only ones in line so it
didn't take too long. We were on the ferry to the Magic Kingdom before 9:00AM.
Our general plans for the week were to get up early and enjoy the parks until
the crowds got too thick and the lines got too long. I was 20 weeks pregnant
and my patience for standing in line was nonexistent. And Nicole, being a
few days shy of three, had an equal intolerance. We figured we would head
back to the hotel around noon to rest and then would hit the parks again in
the evening.
This day our plans were to make lunch reservations in Cinderella's castle,
eat breakfast at the Crystal Palace and then hit as many of our favorite
attractions as we could before lunch. When we got to Main Street, cameras
were set up all over the place and people were sitting on the curb. Cast
members were everywhere so we asked what was going on. It turns out that
they were taping for the Christmas parade that day, starting around 10:00AM.
Our first stop was at Cinderella's castle to make our reservations. While we
were waiting in line, Bigger came over and tried to get the people waiting to
notice him. Nobody seemed to notice him but me so I had Randy take Nicole
over to see him. She had a lot of fun with him especially since he made a
point of hugging her doll, New Baby. Roger Rabbit showed up and hugged New
Baby too. One of them swiped our stroller. Unfortunately, we didn't get any
of this on video tape.
Reservations settled, we headed for the Crystal Palace. We got some sort of
breakfast deal which included eggs, sausage, juice, pancakes and probably
other stuff. The food was fair, not much flavor and lukewarm. We probably
won't eat breakfast here again unless we're in the Magic Kingdom before it
opens and need to kill some time.
After we finished eating, we headed out to watch the parade. We eventually
got a spot on the curb in front of the House of Magic, right in front of a
camera. We were surprised to find them taping the parade as we thought it
was shown live on Christmas day.
We had fun watching the parade. The director did all of her directing right
in front of us. It was neat to see the stuff they show you at MGM really
happening. Of course, at MGM they don't show the director getting really
frazzled AND they definitely don't show the director bending over, providing
a perfect target for a motorized Christmas tree to back into. It was great
seeing her go tumbling into the crowd. Later on, we met up with a woman who
told us they had been taping the day before too. I guess we saw a dress
rehearsal although portions of the Christmas day show are pre-recorded.
We were pretty thirsty after the parade ended so we got some drinks at the
Plaza Pavilion before heading off to Fantasyland to see It's A Small World,
less formally known as the dancing dollies. This is Nicole's favorite ride
so I guess I'm lucky that I don't mind it. Randy hates it but is willing to
suffer through it to please Nicole. Ah, the sacrifices parents make for
their children. To make matters worse, there was a line. Although I must
admit that it was funny to see the people clawing their way through the crowds
to get on the ride before us heading to the right side of the line. We
grinned at them as we headed to the empty left side. Nicole showed her true
parenting skills as she tossed New Baby into my arms. I overheard some people
making fun of me for carrying a doll, I guess they couldn't see Nicole
standing beside me. We all enjoyed the ride. New Baby was glad that I
pointed out the best parts to her.
Next we stopped at the Tinkerbell Toy Shop to purchase a Snow White bank for
my niece. It was time for lunch so we headed for the castle.
Randy and I got Cinderella salads which were quite tasty. Nicole got a hotdog
and fries. I got the punch in the souvenir mug which tasted like watered
down water. For dessert we got hot fudge sundaes. Again, they were a
disappointment. Adding to the disappointment, Cinderella was busy that day
so we were unable to meet her during our meal. Although we enjoyed seeing
the inside of the castle, we aren't likely to eat here again.
After lunch we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. The line was very short
since the afternoon parade was running. The ride was great as usual although
we were stopped for quite a while in the room with the woman speaking from
the ball and the stuff flying around overhead. Randy taped the ride to see
if it would come out - surprisingly, quite a bit of it did. Unfortunately,
Nicole was terrified so she spent the whole time cowering against me. I think
it will be a long time before we can talk her into going on this one again.
Next stop was the Pirates of the Caribbean so we could tape that too. Again,
most of it came out fairly well. Nicole is somewhat afraid of this one too.
She hates the drop at the beginning and gets scared at the end while waiting
to get off the boat.
At this point we headed back to the hotel. While Randy rested, Nicole and
I went swimming and then played in the sand for a while.
Around 6:00PM we headed to MGM. We taped The Great Movie Ride, doing the
western "side" so we would be as close to the witch as possible for the
Munchkinland scene. Again, Nicole was scared and cowered against me.
We then looked around for a place to eat. We couldn't decide what to get so
we headed over to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. I had a great
time, especially since the darkness outside enhanced the scenery. Of course,
Nicole was scared.
We finally decided to eat at the Studio Catering Co.. We all got various
sandwiches which we liked. We would definitely eat here again.
After eating, we wandered through shops until it was time to reserve a spot
for the fireworks. We watched and taped Sorcery in the Sky. This is by
far the best fireworks display we've seen at WDW. We loved the way they
coordinated the fireworks with the music - for example, the Olympic ring
style fireworks during the Chariots of Fire music.
We left the park after the fireworks so we could go to Old Port Royale to
have a drink and finish our last minute Christmas shopping.
December 24 (Monday)
--------------------
Up at 7:30AM in order to get an early start. We ate breakfast at Old Port
Royale. We got the breakfast special which included eggs, meat, etc.. We
tried to order a meal for Nicole but they strongly suggested that we just
get an empty plate and give her some of ours since the portions are large.
They were right.
We stopped at the Custom House to pick up our Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue tickets
then headed off to Epcot Center. We were in the park by 9:30AM.
Following advice from this notes file, we headed over to the World Showcase
area and boarded the boat to France so we could be among the first to see
the American Adventure that morning. We got there just as the people were
entering the theater. There were about 50 or 60 people there so we picked
a row and sat right in the center. We like this attraction but it was a bit
much for Nicole.
After exiting the American adventure, we stopped in the shop and bought some
candy before heading over to France to see the movie. We had about a 5 minute
wait before show time. And, the theater wasn't full so we picked a row near
the front and sat in the center.
We then caught a bus over to Norway so we could ride on Maelstrom. Nicole
hated this ride because of the drops. After getting off the boat, she cried
for us to take her out. Once the doors to the theater opened, we obliged and
skipped the movie.
From Norway, we walked over to Mexico. There was no line for the ride, and I
mean, no line. We got on right away and got to sit in the front seat of the
boat. Nicole was a little concerned about going on the ride due to the
darkness at the beginning. She soon cheered up due to the dancing dollies
portion of the ride. Prior to going on the ride, we saw Donald Duck outside
the pavilion. Nicole was thrilled when he hugged New Baby.
We then walked over to the Land pavilion for lunch. Nicole and Randy got the
kids meals (for the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). I got a baked potato
with bacon and cheese. We all enjoyed our meals. We really like eating at
the Farmer's Market. After eating, we saw the Kitchen Kabaret, another
attraction which Randy hates.
The next stop was Horizons which had a small line. We then headed to Wonders
of Life to see Cranium Command. The line for Body Wars was fairly long so
Randy opted to skip it.
We stopped to eat ice-creams before heading to Spaceship Earth. There was a
small line here too.
After leaving Spaceship Earth we decided to head over to Journey Into
Imagination to see Figment. On our way we ran into a bunch of characters
outside Communicore. We visited with Goofy and Chip who hugged both Nicole
and New Baby. By the time we got to Imagination, we decided the line was too
long (we later realized we should have waited anyway) so we left the park
around 5:00PM. This gave us plenty of time to rest up for the Hoop-Dee-Doo.
The Hoop-Dee-Doo was great. We enjoyed the food and the show, although we
must have had the worst seats in the house - table 201, on the balcony, just
above the stage. By the time the show was over, it had really cooled off
outside. It was about 40�F. We headed back to the hotel so we could get to
bed before Santa came.
December 25 (Tuesday)
---------------------
Some time around 2:00AM, Randy and Nicole woke up sick. By 7:00AM, Randy was
feeling fine and Nicole was doing OK. Since she was whining about going to
the Magic Kingdom, we decided to go ahead with our original plans for the day.
Since the Christmas parade was due to start at 10:00AM, we wanted to get to
the Magic Kingdom for 9:00AM so we could reserve a spot on the curb in front
of a camera.
After Nicole opened a couple of presents, we headed out. Traffic was heavy
and there were large crowds in the parking lot and at the MK entrance so we
didn't get into the MK until 9:30AM. Main Street was so crowded that we could
barely move. It turns out the MK opening time was not 9:00AM as we had been
told. Some people had been sitting on the curb since 7:30AM! There was no
way we were going to find a spot for viewing the parade. We were behind the
crowd where Regis Philbin made his announcement at the beginning of the live
broadcast. To make matters worse, Nicole chose that time to get sick again.
It took forever for us to get out of the MK. We managed to get back to the
CBR in time to watch the last part of the parade on TV. Although I can't
imagine the crowds being any worse than they were, the noon news showed aerial
views of the parking lots which weren't full.
We spent the rest of the day in the room. For lunch, Randy got some food for
us from Old Port Royale. In the afternoon, Randy did the laundry and I walked
over to Old Port Royale to get some Pepto-Bismol for Nicole. While I was out
walking, I stopped to take some pictures of the resort. For supper, Randy got
us some burgers from Old Port Royale. By this time we decided we hate the
food from Old Port Royale.
Around 7:00PM, Nicole got very fussy. I decided to call the doctors that
service the Disney hotels to make an appointment. Unfortunately they weren't
available and the nearest emergency room was miles away. We decided that we
would wait and see if she felt better in the morning.
Around 8:00PM I decided to go over to the Magic Kingdom to tape some
attractions. It was still very crowded. I went on the Carousel of Progress
only to have my battery die in the middle of it. It didn't matter anyway
since the ride transformed into the Carousel of Technical Difficulties. Two
or three times, the theater only rotated about 10 feet. It's a real treat to
listen to two sets of dialog at once.
The lines were still long so I headed over to Dreamflight (no line). I then
headed over to Fantasyland to see what those lines were like. The lines were
long. Here it was, about 9:00PM, cold (and I'm sure it was very cold by
Florida standards) and the Christmas parade was about to start - and the line
for Dumbo was at least 50 minutes long. I realized I wasn't going to get to
do much riding this night so I decided to wander around the park and people
watch. I stopped for an ice-cream along the way to ease the pain.
On a whim, I went over to the Haunted Mansion. Although the sign said there
was a 30 minute wait, there was virtually no line (5 minutes max) since the
parade was running. I then walked over to the Jungle Cruise. The sign
indicated there was a 30 minute wait. Since I had read about the virtues of
doing the cruise at night in this notes file, I decided to wait. I got in the
left line (as per advice here) and spent the next 20 or so minutes with a
video camera crammed in my protruding belly. To be honest, I think the ride
is better during the day.
I then headed toward Main Street. Everyone else did too since the fireworks
were now over. The shops were very crowded. I decided to brave them anyway so
I could look for any new video tapes that might be available. There weren't
any. For the heck of it, I stopped in the camera shop and had them clean the
lenses of my camera and video camera. I was going to head out at this time
but the Walt Disney Story caught my eye so I went there instead. I hadn't
seen the show in years so I was glad I took the time to see it.
I left the park around 11:30PM to beat the crowds which seemed to pay off
because I didn't have to wait very long for the bus.
Nicole seemed to be doing better when I got back to the hotel.
December 26 (Wednesday)
-----------------------
Nicole was still sick so I called the doctor. The doctor arrived around
9:30AM to examine Nicole. It turns out there were quite a few sick kids
(almost all from New England) at the CBR that day. Unfortunately, we had
to miss our 10:00AM breakfast with the characters on the Empress Lilly.
After the doctor's visit (and shot), Nicole fell asleep so Randy and I played
cards until she woke up. The doctor had told us to give her soup and crackers
to eat so we headed off to Old Port Royale for lunch. I got a ham and Swiss
cheese sandwich - pretty good. Randy got the day's special - 1/2 of a turkey
sandwich and chicken noodle soup. Nicole got the soup.
By afternoon, Nicole seemed to be feeling better and was fussing to go to the
Magic Kingdom so we decided to give it a try. We got there a little after
3:00PM. We headed over to Tomorrowland to do some taping. On the way I got
a frozen lemonade bar which we all thought was too strong flavored.
First we did the Carousel of Progress with no wait - and it no technical
difficulties so we got a good tape of it. Then we taped Dreamflight.
Nicole wanted to do Peter Pan but the line was too long so we went on It's
A Small World instead.
We then headed over to see the Country Bears. We had to wait about 20 minutes
but the show was worth it. Since we were in the area, we headed over to eat
supper at Pecos Bill's Cafe. While eating our hotdogs and fries we checked
out the construction for Splash Mountain. There wasn't much to see, just a
big pile of dirt with bulldozers on it.
We then headed over to Tomorrowland to ride the Wedway People Mover - so Randy
could check out the Space Mountain lines. The lines were too long so we
headed over to castle to watch the Christmas show. It was really good and I'm
glad we saw it at night. There is no way it could have been as good during
the day due to special lighting effects. Nicole fell asleep in her stroller
so we headed over to Frontierland to watch the 9:00PM parade. I got an
ice-cream on the way. It was interesting watching the daytime parade at night
but I think it was better during the day. Nicole woke up in time to watch the
fireworks. We were able to see Tinkerbell but were in a bad spot for watching
(and taping the fireworks). Oh well, better luck next time.
After the fireworks ended we rushed over toward Fantasyland so we could do
Peter Pan. On the way we noticed the line for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
was short so we went on that first - wait was about 15 minutes.
Then we finally got to go on Peter Pan. The wait was about 15 minutes, much
better than the earlier 45 minute wait. And of course, while we were in the
area, we did It's A Small World.
We then headed for the monorail along with lots of other people so we decided
to board the resort monorail figuring that we could get off at the Poly if
they didn't open our doors at the TTC. We got lucky and were able to get off
at the TTC.
Once back at the hotel we packed for our hotel transfer to the Yacht Club and
went to bed.
December 27 (Thursday)
----------------------
We checked out of the CBR at 9:30AM and headed over to the Magic Kingdom to do
the things we had missed earlier. There were tons of people waiting for the
monorail and ferry so they had buses going directly from the TTC to the MK
entrance. Fortunately for us, other people were avoiding the buses. We had
no wait.
First stop was Mickey's Starland. We visited Mickey after a 15 minute wait.
Nicole was again thrilled as Mickey hugged New Baby. Next we went in to see
the show. We didn't like it very much, Nicole seemed to be bored. We liked
the birthday show much better. We then stopped at the petting farm so I could
get a picture of Minnie Moo. Unfortunately, she decided to keep her spot
hidden so I didn't get a picture. Nicole played in the maze and then went on
the slides in the playground. She had a great time - until too many big kids
started playing too. She was inside the bigger playgym and was too intimidated
to continue up to the slide so I eventually had to climb in too. BUT, I
couldn't get back out. I didn't know what to do since I definitely didn't
want to go down the slide - don't get me wrong, the slide looked fun, but I
figured it might not go well with the pregnancy. Randy saved the day by
showing me the fire pole. And that's how I made my exit.
By this time we were hungry so we got handwiches at the Space Bar in
Tomorrowland. After lunch we took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian
so we could take pictures of the Christmas tree in the lobby which was the
most beautiful tree I've ever seen. That done, we took the monorail to the
TTC and headed over to the Yacht Club for check-in.
After getting settled into our room, we explored the resort, stopping at
Beaches and Cream for ice-creams. The ice-creams were OK but the service was
terrible. We figured it was because they were overwhelmed due to the newness
of the place and probably because they hadn't planned on 90�F weather. We
liked the look of the main swimming area but didn't try it. I was a little
shy about wandering about in public in my swimsuit.
That evening we headed off to MGM. First stop was to see the Ninja Turtles.
This turned out to be a waste of time for us. First, we had to wait forever
for them to arrive because their arrival was delayed until the ambulance
cleared out. I'm not sure where the emergency was but it looked like it was
at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. After the turtles arrived the
only did one song and then split up for autographs. Since we don't do
autographs, we were out of there. So, it truly was a waste of time.
Next we stopped to see the Muppets. We were only had to wait through one show
before getting in. We, especially Nicole, enjoyed the show. Too bad it won't
be around for long.
After the Muppets ended, we ate supper at Min and Bill's Dockside Diner. I
got the pasta salad, Randy got the turkey sandwich and Nicole got the peanut
butter and jelly. Randy and I liked our meals but Nicole wasn't interested in
hers and fell asleep soon after. I should have known something was up.
We then missed getting into Indiana Jones by a couple of minutes so we headed
over to see the Dick Tracy show but the theater was full. We wandered around
for a while and then got a seat for the next Dick Tracy show. We waited for a
long time. About 15 minutes before the show started, with no prior warning,
Nicole got sick. That was a real bummer. We took her to the first aid station
to get her cleaned up (as suggested by a cast member). Would you believe they
had nothing for cleaning up a sick child? They did have stuff for cleaning up
what hit the ground but nothing for washing up the kid. At least they had
plastic bags to put her messy clothes in. Once Nicole was a little cleaned up,
we left the park.
After we got back to the hotel and got Nicole cleaned up, I called the doctor
to get a prescription for her. So, poor Randy headed off to do the laundry
and pick up the prescription. He was unable to get a washer at the Yacht Club
so he went over to the CBR to do the laundry. To top things off, he got lost
while looking for the pharmacy. The good news was that the pharmacy accepted
the Digital PCS card.
While Randy was gone I saw a news report that said a 19-year old Disney
employee had drowned the night before at an employee recreation area that was
closed.
December 28 (Friday)
--------------------
Our final Disney day. Nicole seemed to be feeling OK again so around 9:30AM
we headed down to the Yacht Club Galley to eat breakfast. The buffet sounded
good but we decided to order off the menu instead. I had the blueberry
stuffed French toast - hint: put butter on it to kill the sweetness, then you
can add maple syrup and not get sick. Randy had pancakes and Nicole had an
egg with bacon, hash browns and toast. Believe it or not, there is no toast
listed on the menu, you have to make a special request. We enjoyed our meal
and would definitely consider eating breakfast here again. It was extra
special for Nicole because the waitress put New Baby in a separate chair and
gave her a menu to read.
After breakfast we walked over to Epcot Center, stopping to explore portions
of the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts on our way.
Once in Epcot, we headed for Journey Into Imagination so Nicole could visit
Figment. The line was too long for us so we decided to go over to the Land to
get a snack. The Farmer's Market was very crowded (no tables available, people
eating on the floor) so we went in to see the Kitchen Kabaret instead. There
still were no tables available when we came out, but we decided to wait around
until we could find one. Eventually we found a table and got our snacks.
Nicole and I ate the bread sticks and Randy got a fruit salad which we all
shared.
When we left the Land we discovered that it had rained. Unfortunately it had
rained enough to shorten the lines but not long enough to eliminate them. The
line for Figment was much shorter so we got in line. About 20 minutes later
we boarded the ride. This is normally one of our favorite rides but it was
disappointing this time since Nicole was not feeling well enough to get excited
about it. Oh, well.
From Imagination we headed to the World of Motion. There was a HUGE line
there so we skipped it and headed over to Horizons. Gad, there was a line
there too. We decided to go on it anyway. The wait ended up being about 10
minutes.
At this point we decided to head back to the hotel since we still had some
MGM stuff to do. We finished our Epcot shopping on the way out, stopping at
Centorium and at the Japan pavilion.
To save wear and tear on our feet, we took the tram from the World Showcase
entrance back to the hotel. After packing for our trip home, we headed down
to the Yacht Club Galley to eat dinner. I had the soup du jour (seafood
chowder) and the New England boiled dinner - both were quite good, although I
thought I'd be up all night suffering with indigestion from the cabbage and
turnip. Randy got a cheeseburger and Nicole got a kid's cheeseburger.
Around 9:30 we took the boat over to MGM so we could see the Dick Tracy show
and the fireworks. The Dick Tracy show was OK and ended just before the
fireworks started. We stood in the road just outside the show area to watch
the fireworks. After the fireworks ended we rushed out to the boat launch to
beat the crowds. We were able to get on the first boat.
When we got back to the hotel, we finished packing and went to bed.
December 29 (Saturday)
----------------------
We started our drive back at about 6:15AM. We stopped to get gas a short time
after. Good thing we did since Nicole decided to get sick again. If this was
any indicator of what the trip home was going to be like, we were in for a
rough time. (Fortunately, this was the last time Nicole got sick.)
By the time we got to Georgia, the sky was overcast and it stayed that way for
the rest of the day. We ran into rain in South Carolina but that stopped by
the time we reached North Carolina. We encountered thick fog in Maryland which
made driving really challenging. To make matters worse, we had trouble getting
a room again. We finally got one at a Knight's Inn in Elkton.
December 30 (Sunday)
--------------------
We started driving again at about 9:15AM. There was still a thick fog. The
fog persisted until we reached Connecticut where it finally cleared a bit.
Other than encountering some mist and an accident near the Tappan Zee Bridge,
the rest of the trip was uneventful. We got home around 4:30PM. After
unpacking all our stuff, we celebrated Christmas.
Final thoughts
--------------
I have been putting off writing this report because the trip was so
disappointing. It's not that we didn't have a good time, we really enjoyed
the good times, but it's the other stuff that got us down. It was really
tough dealing with Nicole being sick. Although we tried to hide our
disappointment, she was very aware that she was "messing up" the trip since we
weren't able to do a lot of things she had wanted to do. Even when she was
feeling OK, she still wasn't her normal self.
On the up side, we seem to have recovered now. I don't feel like crying when
we mention this trip, and, we are now planning to go to WDW (with my sister
and her family) for two weeks next December - which gives Nicole plenty of
time to be sick and still enjoy the trip!
The other plus is that Andrew James Lowell was born on April 20, 1991 and he
is very anxious to see "the World" soon.
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