| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 290.1 | A great time was had by both | VERGA::F_MCGOWAN | | Thu Jan 23 1992 06:51 | 58 |
| This will a bit sketchy, but:
We arrived Orlando mid-afternoon, Jan. 7. Delta Orlando hotel, on
Major Blvd, directly across Kirkman from Universal Studios. I never
got to Universal, but my wife went with her stepmother; said I hadn't
missed all that much (I played golf with her Dad instead - and I
"missed" a lot [mostly putts]). I also managed to miss all the crazies
on I 4 (just like being on 128).
The afternoon we arrived, we drove directly to EPCOT and bought 5-day
passes - something of a commitment, not to mention a risk, if the
weather got messy. Went right into EPCOT, which neither of us had seen
before (my wife had been to Magic Kingdom a few years ago, when she was
a travel agent - a 1-day "fam" trip). Rode Spaceship Earth and the Trip
into Energy, where we found the dinosaurs entertaining, but overall it
seemed like a 20-minute "infomercial" for Exxon. Eventually got over to
the World Showcase, and spent a lot of time in "Mexico": had dinner,
shopped, and took the boatride, which was fun. Wandered around a while,
until it was time for "Illuminations," which was spectacular. Left
the park at closing - had our only "crowd" experience waiting for the
shuttle back to the parking lot (no, we didn't have any trouble finding
the car - the Disney folks make a big point of reminding you to write
down which row of which parking area you're in *before* you take the
shuttle *into* the park).
To make this short (it's threatening to become War And Peace): We used
all 5 passes - three for EPCOT (managed to visit all 11 countries, had
dinner at Mexico, Italy and Morocco, with a snack at Japan - best
dinner was Morocco, but all were very good); one at MK (I loved Space
Mountain, but my wife refused to go with me - she still hasn't
recovered from the ride she took on her first visit!); and one for
Discovery Island and MGM. Discovery Island is marvelous. We burned two
rolls of film photographing the scarlet ibis, roseate spoonbills and
other exotic creatures. We also went through a lot more film at MGM, at
the Indiana Jones "Stunt Spectacular," which was good hokey fun.
I also got in a round of golf at the Magnolia course, with Sue (I can't
go on using the generic "my wife") riding shotgun in the golf cart,
getting photos of my more spectacular shots (didn't need too much film
for that!).
We also managed to get in visits to non-Disney places (I hope this is
okay to mention in this Notes Conference), which were enjoyable: Sea
World and Cypress Gardens.
For me, the entire experience was much more fun than I could have
believed - it was Sue's idea to go, and she had to do a little arm-
twisting (okay, not a lot) to get me to agree. We picked a week when
things weren't crowded (the only ride we "bagged" was Thunder Mountain,
which had a 20-minute wait). Highlights were (for me): Space Mountain,
Trip to Mars, Star Tours, the China and Canada 360 degree movies,
amazing our waiter at Alfred's by conversing with him in Italian, A
Small World (yes, I loved it), and a 7-iron that landed 3 feet from the
pin...
I know I left out a lot, but that's it for now.
Frank
|
| 290.2 | WDW 1/12 TO 1/20 WORK & MINI VACATION | USMFG::RMATTIOLI | | Thu Jan 23 1992 16:58 | 145 |
| Here is my trip report on WDW from 1/12 to 1/20.
I flew down on Sunday 1/12 in the p.m. to attend training from 1/13 to
1/16. On two of the evenings I went to Pleasure Island with some
friends and we had a blast. I enjoyed XFR Rock & Roll Club and checked
out the Neon Armadillo, Cage (different type of club than I'm used
to), The Adventurer's Club (just strolled through on our way to the
New Year's Eve show and want to spend more time here on the next
trip,) and Mannequins Dance Palace. The music and show at Mannequins
was unreal and after the initial shock (lights, loudness, atmosphere)
I got used to it and have decided that this is my favorite.
The weather was cool for most of the week with most days in the high
50's/low 60's.
On 1/16 I agreed to spend a little time at EPCOT with a friend who had
never been. We did:
* SPACESHIP EARTH - no lines. * JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION, CAPTAIN EO,
* WONDERS OF LIFE - "Body Wars", Cranium Command
* Shopping at Disney Traders
* Lunch at THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE
* NORWAY - MAELSTROM - skipped the movie because we had a bus to
catch. There were no lines and few people in EPCOT this day.
My wife flew down with a friend on Thursday 1/16 and then picked me up
at my hotel for our stay at Port Orleans. After checking in we
decided to have dinner at Bonfamille's Cafe. My wife had Prime Rib and
I had Chicken Creole. We both enjoyed our meal and the bill came to
$20 because of 15% off for ordering before 7:00 p.m. Not a bad deal.
Friday 1/17 friends picked us up and we went to Universal for $22 each
because our friends got the Florida resident rate. ET was not
operating due to refurbishing.
* We went on "BACK TO THE FUTURE" twice in a row, no waiting. We loved it.
* EARTHQUAKE (not bad - 10 minute wait)
* KONGFRONTATION (fair, 25 minute wait)
* Saw BEETLEJUICE DEAD IN CONCERT featuring the GHOSTBUSTERS - neat
show.
* NICKELODEON STUDIOS TOUR - Nicely done, at the end of the tour one
gets to sit in on a so called pilot for a new show where kids
participate.
At the end of the show they ask the kids if they enjoyed the show,
if it should be on TV and what changes should be made.
* PRODUCTION TOUR (We liked MGM's Backstage Tour much better)
* "MURDER SHE WROTE" MYSTERY THEATER which is similar to MGM's Monster
Sound but you go through three separate rooms/theaters. We enjoyed
this.
* Checked out the Hard Rock Cafe - This place is huge.
* WILD, WILD, WILD, WEST STUNT SHOW - This was well done and quite
enjoyable. Prior to the show they had three guys dressed up as
the Marx brothers and they played around with the crowd.
They pulled a man, a woman, and two kids from the crowd, all
unrelated, for a family photo - it was a riot!
We then did a little shopping and then headed back to PO.
At PO we had pizza at the Sassagoula Floatworks And Food Factory.
Not bad.
We decided to use the Jacuzzi and spent quite a while soaking our
tired muscles and aching shins. We had some nice conversations going
with some of the other PO guests. This was a relaxing end to a busy
day.
Saturday 1/18 two other couples (who had never been to MGM) joined us
for the MGM visit. One went with us in the a.m. and the other couple
joined us later on in the a.m.
*The first thing we went to was "VOYAGE OF THE LITTLE MERMAID"
(reference note 4.161).
* We then saw THE MAGIC OF DISNEY ANIMATION where there were a few
Saturday workers working on Disney's 31st Animated feature
"Aladdin". Looks like a winner from what I saw.
* STAR TOURS
* Lunch at the SCI-FI DRIVE-IN DINER. This was a lot of fun and we
all had plenty to eat.
* The GREAT MOVIE RIDE - We had the Cowboy this trip
* MONSTER SOUND
* Saw the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST show at the THEATER OF THE STARS.
This was well done and is a must see!
* SUPERSTAR TELEVISION - They had a "Be Discovered"
contest whereby they chose a number of people from throughout
the day's MGM crowd to see who the semifinalist should be for the
4:00 p.m. show. This was the show we attended and we got to vote via
an applause meter who we thought should go to Hollywood to be cast
as an extra in a film or TV show. Also the finalist got to have her
handprints etc. put in cement in front of the GREAT MOVIE RIDE.
* MUPPET VISION 3D - We had not seen this last April so we decided to
give it a try. We enjoyed this show, it was very well done.
* INDIANA JONES STUNT SPECTACULAR - This show seemed to be a little
bit different from the last time we saw it (1989).
We all headed back to PO because everyone was tired and the other
two couples were going to go to Pleasure Island later on.
After chow at the food court we all headed for the Jacuzzi.
All three of us guys also tried out the pool which was at 82 degrees.
Nice pool with a giant Sea Serpent slide that kids would enjoy.
Sunday 1/19 was Epcot day and one of the other couples flew home.
It was raining, high in the 50's.
* WONDERS OF LIFE: "Body Wars", Cranium Command, "The Making of Me"
(This was well done with Martin Short as the main character),
Frontiers of Medicine.
* WORLD OF MOTION
* NORWAY and MAELSTROM.
* Lunch at Alfredo's - Two of the crew had salad, Manicotti and
desert. Two of us had Minestrone soup, Ravioli, Salad, Peroni Beer
Canoli's, Espresso and/or Capuccino. It hit the spot given the cool damp day.
* The American Adventure - This was the first time we got to see this
and we came away impressed.
* Shopping in the United Kingdom.
We headed back to PO and rested. We then hit the Marketplace for some
more shopping. Grabbed something to eat at the PO food court and then
hit the sack.
Monday 1/20 was travel day. We slept in and had a nice leisurely
breakfast at Bonfamilie's. I had the French Toast and sausage.
It was rather tasty and it filled me up for the trip home.
We did some shopping at the Belz factory and then headed for the
airport. The flight home was uneventful except for a minor hold
over Providence.
Comments/Observations:
* We had a great time on our mini vacation.
We got to see some things that we didn't or couldn't see with our
three young sons last April and we did not have to worry about
them.
* Although the weather was warmer than here at home I would not
plan a family vacation in Orlando in January because of the weather.
* The crowds were not much to speak of.
* Port Orleans is a very nice facility and had a relaxing atmosphere.
However, the rooms seemed to be noisy as we could hear the other
rooms bathrooms and kids running around outside the next level up.
* Next trip we hope to stay at the GF again.
* Pleasure Island was enjoyed immensely.
* We will take the kids to Universal to see Nickelodeon etc. next
trip.
* The Back to the Future" ride is one of our favorites.
* Received a Disney Vacation Club book with some nice pictures in it.
The DVC construction is coming along as is Dixie Landings.
* One of the bus drivers said that Christmas and New Years the place
was packed and that they were turning people away. He also stated that
given that the 20 tax free years are up he expects the ticket prices
to go up!
Ron
|
| 290.3 | 1/12-1/20 TRIP ADDENDUM | USMFG::RMATTIOLI | | Tue Jan 28 1992 11:36 | 17 |
| Here are a couple of observations and cautions that I should have
included in my trip report.
* Per one of the bus drivers, Disney Security now runs radar and
writes tickets. Has this been discussed in here before?
I witnessed a Chevy Suburban Police/Security type vehicle on Disney
property just past one of the sets of lights at one of the four way
intersections writing someone up. Redlight violation?
* Sheriff Department Mustangs sitting in the median strips awaiting
speeders. Observed one of the Deputies pull out into the highway
traffic, lay down a good 15 feet of rubber and catch a violator
in quick fashion.
So, please watch your speed etc. You don't want to spoil your
fun by getting a ticket.
Ron
|
| 290.4 | WDW trip, 16-Jan-1992 to 20-Jan-1992 | KAHALA::PRESTON | | Fri Jan 31 1992 15:25 | 327 |
| I used to wonder how people could write these loooong trip reports...
Now I know! All I did was keep writing a little each day as I had time,
'til I covered all the cogent points of the trip, and, yikes, 300+
lines!
My wife and I just came back from a 4-night trip to WDW as part of a
Delta Dream Vacation package thru Delta Certified Vacations. We used
Thomas Cook (formerly Crimson Travel) as agents.
On a personal note, I had two heavy final exams the Tuesday night before
we left, both of which required lots of preparation, so I had little time
to build up much anticipation before we left...
Our flight left Logan at 8:25 Thursday morning, which meant we needed to
get up and get going early. We dropped of the car at Park and Fly, taking
their shuttle bus to the airport. I think we were in the Delta terminal
less than 10 minutes after locking the car - not bad!
The flight down was uneventful, and we arrived on time in Orlando to
sunny but cold (for Florida) weather. Delta has a terminal building all
it's own connected to the main airport complex by a nifty above-ground
shuttle which bears a boxy resemblance to the monorail at Disney.
Once we picked up our baggage, we had the daunting task of finding the
Alamo rental shuttle, since there is no clear indication of where they
pick up their customers. Turned out that the shuttle bus shows up where
all the other shuttles do. Hey - so we're not experienced at this, but we
learn fast.
Once at Alamo, which is in the boonies several miles east of the airport,
we discover that there's quite a few others waiting to pick up cars, too.
TIP: Get in line right away. If you dawdle for a few moments, any number
of others can get in line in front of you, potentially adding several
minutes to your wait. No, don't push or cut people off, just don't blow
any time taking in the view of the waiting room. I looked back just a
minute or so after getting in line and saw 15-20 people behind me...
Alamo impressions: They are set up for high volume, with a waiting which
snakes thru a course marked off by ropes. Whoever's at the head of the
line goes to the next available agent. This saves you from the frustration
of choosing a line that looks short but ends up stalled in place for some
reason.
Alamo takes full advantage of this captive audience by showing a non-stop
video on overhead monitors extolling the benefits of renting thru Alamo
and the pros and cons of the various optional charges connected with
renting. They point out that while the Collision Damage Waiver is
optional, if you should decline and the car is damaged in a collision,
you may end up financial dog meat, since you will then be liable for the
full cost of the automobile if the collision is a total loss.
The video also talks up your responsibility for returning the car with a
full tank, and points out how long, tedious and potentially costly is to
return the car in need of a fillup. But, Alamo to the rescue! They offer
an optional service, which must be purchased in advance, of a fixed-price
fillup based on the cost of filling the tank from dead empty at a reduced
per-gallon rate which is (whoopee!) a few cents less than the average
per-gallon cost of fuel at a self service station. The catch is that in
order to make this service pay off you have to return the car with an
empty tank, because you've paid for a complete fillup in advance and
there is no refund on unused gas. Nifty, huh? Good deal for them.
We used $5.25 worth of gas in 5 days. I guestimate taking this option
would have cost us around $20, meaning that the gas we used would have
cost the equivalent of around $4 per gallon. Another nifty arrangement
for Alamo. I wonder how many people fall for it...
We pick up the car and head to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Before we get
halfway there we have already paid two tolls of $.50 and $.75. These
tolls merely herald what has become a seemingly endless stream of taxes
and fees which have sprung up in Florida, especially in the last few
years, but on to Disney...
Around 2:00 we arrived at the Customs House (read: check-in area) at the
Caribbean Beach, the sense of "being there" starts becoming real. Each
window at the check-in counter had its own line, and we headed for the
one that looked most promising. Guess what... yup, it was actually
slooooow! Both parties in line ahead of us seemingly had a quadrillion
questions for the clerk, and we watched people who came in after we did
leave long before we ever got to the window. I had to keep reminding myself
that we were finally at Disney and that real soon we'd be walking the
streets of the Magic Kingdom again. This helped a little, but I was tired
and a little cranky (part of my nature I guess), and I struggled to not
get worked up over one more delay.
The girl at the window rattled off a well-worn routine explaining
check-in, check out, available services, our passes, parking, opening and
closing times, etc, etc, etc, and asked us load of questions, such as
what airline we flew on, did we have a rental car, our home address and
phone number - a lot of stuff. Finally she asked our preference for
smoking vs non-smoking accomodations. We said non, of course, and
requested Martinique 2256 as suggested in this conference. She said it
was already occupied, and that it was a smoking room anyway. Horrors! To
think that the room touted as the best at the Caribbean Beach Resort was
a smoking room! Then I asked if we could get a room with with a king-size
bed. No. I was out of ideas for tings to request, so we took what they
gave us: Barbados 1328.
She also told us that Typhoon Lagoon was closed until February. Bummer.
Well there's always River Country... (Hah! It so happens we landed in the
middle of the coldest cold weather streak of the year. Maybe we could
skate at River Country!
Barbados 1328 turned out to be (to me) in a semi-glum little inside
corner of a courtyard with a "stunning" view of trees and shrubs. This is
"deluxe?" Maybe someone made a mistake. I called the help hotline and
asked for a clarification. Apparently "deluxe" means "can't see the
parking lot." I was informed that prior to January 1 there were two
classifications: standard and deluxe, at $79 and $99 respectively, and
that a deluxe room might overlook the spacious expanse of the beach and
lake, or merely a bit of shrubbery. They now have three categories at $85,
$99 and $104, denoting parking lot views, courtyard views and lake views,
respectively. I got the impression that this change was the result of
complaints about the wide variation among deluxe accomodations, but
nobody actually said it. Well, at least we weren't being gypped...
The room itself was nice, plenty of space for two adults though not
exactly expansive. I immediately looked for the Micky Mouse soap and
shampoo, and sure enough, there they were! (Everybody neat and pretty?
Then on with the show!) Each day the maid left fresh soap and shampoo, so
we dutifully stowed away the extras to take home. No, we left the towels!
The cable TV in the room carries a couple of local network affiliate
stations, a shopping channel of some kind, and four dedicated Disney
channels: two non-stop overviews of the attractions at WDW, one
semi-videotext channel with updated announcements or "Turn to channel 5
for previews of WDW attractions," and the regular Disney Channel.
In spite of this lengthy description, we actually went straight to the
Magic Kingdom rather than spend time settling into our room. After
parking and riding the tram and monorail, we set foot in the Magic Kingdom
around 2:50, just before the afternoon parade began - a good way to start
our Disney experience. The weather was bright and sunny but unseasonably
cold for Florida, so we absolutely needed our jackets. (Must be that
global warming!)
The parade was pure Disney, very lively and fun, with large floats, lots
of characters, and the usual host of costumed performers, including
dancers, jugglers, and costumed stilt walkers. The theme was Mardi Gras,
with appropriate costumes and dancing. Although the parade was nifty and
fun, I remember the 15 year anniversary parade as more impressive and
elaborate. For the 20th anniversary, they didn't seem to have a theme
song like they did for the 15th. If they did, it couldn't have been very
memorable, because I didn't even notice it.
After the parade we went to the Main street bake shop for a snack and
something hot to drink. The line was LONG, most likely due to the post
parade crowd, but we got a whopper of a frosted brownie which was quite
good, and just what we needed at the time.
After this we did Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Robinson
Treehouse, and yes, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, first time for both
of us. My wife approached this with considerable trepidation, since roller
coasters are definitely not her thing. After the ride she rates BTMR
as a thumbs up, but says that's about as much excitement as she can handle
on a ride. I enjoyed the steeply banked curves and the balance between
buildup of anticipation and relief that you really *aren't* going to be
thrown from the car! For anyone who enjoys the thrill of a fast ride but
can do without the feeling they've left their stomach 100 feet them,
this ride is ideal.
Our first evening meal at WDW was at the Old Port Royale dining complex
in the lounge area (I forget what they call it). The menu was limited.
We ordered a Pina Colada to share (OK, so we don't drink much). My
wife ordered a chef's salad which she said was pretty good. I ordered
lasagna which turned out to be awful. The pasta inside was way overcooked
and had the consistency of mush. No texture at all. (Maybe the cook never
heard of "al dente".) I put down my fork and pushed the plate away. The
waitress came by a minute later, looked down at my plate and said,
"You're not done, are you?"
"Yes."
"Don't you like it?"
"No, it's way too mushy inside."
She took it away and asked her manager if they could take it off the
bill. They did. I munched a little of my wife's salad and sipped
our pina colada (which was delicious, by the way).
Next day we did Epcot, arriving at 8:40 and discovered that the main park
is roped off until 9:00. Until then you can eat at one of the indoor
fast-food type eateries (don't recall the name, but it's on the left of
the roped off area), and you cane queue up for Spaceship Earth (I assume
the ride operates at that time, but maybe everyone was just getting in
line - sheesh, what a way to start the day!)
After they dropped the rope we headed to the World Showplace, straight
through Canada, England, etc and straight to the pastry shop in France
for breakfast! Yum! We both had the almond/chocolate croissant, which had
lots of almond paste but very little chocolate, and was quite rich.
It was here I first noticed the ubiquitous colorful paper plates with
pictures around the edge of Mickey thinking about what to do or what to
eat. The cups are similarly adorned.
We continued our procession through the countries until we arrived at
Germany. Since I took two terms of German last year at school (but barely
passed), my wife put me on the spot and insisted that I speak German to
somebody there. I was actually nervous!
We walked into the first shop, and there was a young lady, oops, I mean
Fr�ulein, behind the counter. I gathered up all my courage and said,
"Guten Tag!" (great start!), stumbled through another sentence or two,
then told that my wife had wanted me to speak German, but that I was way
out of practice and hoped they had a few books on German to refresh my
memory. She showed me what they had and we later returned and had quite a
nice little chat with her, both in English and auf Deutsch, I told her,
"Meine Frau, sie ist Schwedishe." And the Fr�ulein said to my wife, "Oh,
you're from Sweden?" Oops! I didn't know how to say that she is of
swedish descent. Later I realized I could have said "Ihren Gro�eltern
kommen aus Schweden" (Her grandparents came from Sweden), but at the time
I was without a clue. Oh well, it was fun anyway!
Most of our breakfasts were light: just grab a donut-type item and
coffee/hot chocolate, and for the most part this was satisfactory.
We hit Starring Rolls at MGM early, and for some reason I had great
expectations for their cinnamon rolls, which turned out to be no better
than overgrown grocery store rolls, and the big blonde guy with glasses
behind the counter sure took his time waiting on people. Starring Rolls
gets one star.
Comments: Most of the baked goods were way overpriced and mediocre at
best. Donuts - mostly cake type (yuck), tho the glazed weren't bad.
Rolls - big and filling, but bland and almost tasteless. Danishes - ok,
but overpriced at about $1.25 ea. Croissants - overpriced but looked
good. We only tried the almond croissants at the France pavilion. I refuse
to pay $2.25 for a chocolate croissant when I can get the same thing at
Dunkin Donuts for $.69. My advice: fill up on 50 cent donuts, or get one
of those whopper frosted brownies at the Main St USA Bakery.
Exceptions: The baked goods at the different countries' pavilions looked
pretty good. No, we didn't try everything, but we can vouch for what we
did try at the Norway and France bake shops. Yes, they were expensive.
Coffee everywhere we had it was good. $.74 and $.96 for reg or large.
Oh, if you're in the least bit inclined, be sure to try the dark
chocolate bars with various fruity fillings they sell at the English tea
store.
Lunch for us was often what was most convenient. We did hot dogs in the
Magic Kingdom, and split a chef's salad at the art-deco style Hollywood
and Vine cafeteria at MGM. Try the chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert.
We did make reservations for lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which,
for someone just old enough to remember the 50's, was a lot of fun. A lot
of the stuff they have hanging on the walls looked real familiar! We made
the mistake of both ordering turkey club sandwiches. Good sandwiches, but
BIG! Next time we'll split one. We were there long enough to notice the
TV show excerpts start again at the beginning. Maybe it's to keep people
from lingering to watch more TV. I don't remember the "I Married Joan" TV
series, maybe they got that one for free. I wish they'd had a few clips
of the 50's Mickey Mouse Club. Now THAT I remember!
We tried a couple of the lunch offerings at the Mexican restaurant
adjacent to the lake. Not bad, and that's from someone not always a
big fan of Mexican food. Try the watermelon drink. And don't feed the
birds!
On the day we set aside for Epcot we made reservations for afternoon
tea at the Rose and Crown. We developed a liking for the tradition of
afternoon tea while on our honeymoon in England, and we really wanted to
try it at the Rose and Crown. It was everything we expected: Fancy
English china, scones and jam, finger sandwiches, and cakes to finish. The
tea was excellent. The cut leaves are brewed loose in the pot, which
are strained out with a little strainer you hold over your cup. Apparently
the strainers are popular, Twinnings Tea Shop was all out of them.
Our first evening meal was at the Biergarten in Germany. We were still
pretty full from the English tea, so we restricted ourselves to the
Kartoffelnpuffer mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes with applesauce). The
other dishes we saw looked quite hardy, ideal for someone with a big
appetite. My wife noticed that our waiter looked disappointed when we
ordered cheapo dishes, so I beefed up the tip to make up for it.
The show was fun to watch, though we were seated way in the back on the
highest level (right up against the railing, for those who've been
there). I can tell you that not all the performers are German nationals,
because I spoke to at least one who was an American of German descent,
though he spoke German fluently.
Another night in Epcot we had dinner at the Norwegian Akershus Restaurant.
This is a hot and cold buffet, with distinctly Scandanavian dishes (I
know, because my in-laws put on a big Swedish buffet every Christmas).
Excellent!
We also did the Sci-Fi Drive In at MGM. The food was good but not great.
We both ordered big burgers. The atmosphere, though, is remarkable!
Highly reminiscent of the drive-in's I remember. When I was little my
parents would take us to the local drive-in - sometimes in our pajamas -
and we'd watch the previews, cartoons and main feature, plus all those
nifty drive-in ads for the snack bar. Eventually we fell asleep in the back
seat. Lots of fun, the kind we'll never see again...
I was relieved to see that the "tables" were not made from real cars
after all. For some reason I thought that maybe they'd bought up old 50's
cars and chopped out the middles to make the tables. Nope, it just looks
like it! Again, like in the Prime Time Cafe, the movies on the "drive-in"
screen cycled back to the beginning before we left. I actually remember
some of those flicks from the weekend "Creature Feature" type TV shows that
were so popular in the 60's and 70's. Boy, were those films BAD!!
We also saw the Little Mermaid stage show. Excellent, especially for the
kids. Good use of lasers and falling water, enhancing a highly condensed
version of the movie.
HINT: Don't expect short lines for this one, even if you arrive when the
park opens, because the first show doesn't start until something like
10:30, more than enough time for a huge line to form. Expect at least an
hour's wait, unless you're lucky enough to be there on a slow day or
something else (like heavy rain) keeps the lines small.
We got a rental car as part of the trip package, and I think it was a big
bonus to be able to get around from place to place so quickly.
Oh, we rode in the front of the monorail once, too. Lots of fun seeing
where you're heading. We learned that it takes six days to train as a
monorail driver. I guess the turns must be tough...
I won't bore you with other parts of our trip, but, next time, we take
the kids..!
Ed
|
| 290.5 | Beach Club Resort | NYEM1::MAK | | Mon Feb 10 1992 13:37 | 47 |
|
My father, stepmother and 3 brothers (14, 13, and 9) went to WDW for
the Christmas/winter break from school.
Max, the husband, and I couldn't go for a few reasons all of which
disappeared right before Christmas. By then we could not get
reservations. I was very upset. I missed my family and wished I could
share the experience with them. I am 13 and 16 years older than my
brothers, and really wanted this special chance to "play" at WDW.
Anyway, we settled for borrowing a car from my Dad to help relieve the
schleping during the holiday time.
The day after Christmas, we went to repark the car (Alternate-side
rules), BUT....the car was gone! STOLEN!
I offered my father money to help replace the car! He wouldn't take
any of it, but then he said...."Why not see if anyone cancelled their
reservations and come down here thru New Years? That is just the
pick-me-up we all need!" WHAT A GUY! HE'S GREAT!
We were lucky enough to find a plane with openings that very afternoon!
We found a room in the hotel, my family was in -- finally, luck was
with us.
It was great! We stayed at the Beach Club Resort -- five minute walk
to EPCOT!! My family was on the World Package from the Disney Club.
That includes all meals and most recreational facilities, plus a Beauty
and the Beast Lithograph through '92 and a large basket of goodies with
a large Mickey stuffed toy. Paying for the meals up front made a great
difference! They had a ball with it. The boys could order anything on
the menu, it really became a dream vacation, because they could do
anything they wanted. Water-skiing, horseback riding, golf....they
made sure they got their money's worth. In fact, I think they "did"
more than they spent. My step-mother figured out that it would have
been hard to spend less if they had not gone with the World package and
knowing up front what the total cost would be made it easier to relax!
Even though Christmas is supposed to be so busy, we didn't have as bad
a time with the lines as we expected. I guess I imagined something
worse than the reality. Max and I didn't have time to see everthing
anyway, so our theory was, Hey, More to do next time!
Moral of the story is... Next time you borrow something and loose it,
don't let it get you down! Go to Disney World!!!!
|
| 290.6 | Jan 28 - Feb 3 Trip | CIVIC::RANUCCI | | Wed Feb 12 1992 13:41 | 65 |
| Here's a few notes from my recent trip:
We flew Delta. The kids are catered to on this flight. They get all
the "gifts" and much better meals than the adults. The food was so bad
one stewardess made a comment. I ate off of my nephew's plate.
The poly was not as impressive as it was 6 years ago. It looks old as
does the contemporary (from the outside). Our room was neat and clean
but, nothing special. The bathroom was interesting. I won't get into
that. We could hear the Television from the next room. It was on all
night. Oh, the check-in process was much too slow. The person at the
reservation desk was so bizarre. We didn't receive Disney dollars as
our package indicated. They do something else instead. I won't give it
away.
The weather on our first day was humid. I did pack shorts and wore
them. We had one more day like that and the rest was sweatshirt weather.
The lines at MK were short except for Saturday. It was packed.
Dumbo's flight line was wrapped all over the place. Luckily, we had
gotten there early and headed straight for the attractions my nephew
liked on previous days. If you want to see the characters, my
suggestion would be to get on the Train and head for Mickey's starland
when the park opens. All the characters were standing around. They were
chasing Matt for attention. We also went straight in to Mickey's
dressing room to see Mickey. We were all alone. Matt had the chance
to take pictures with all the characters but, only wanted to be with
Mickey. Another note on the MK - If you are bringing a small child
(Matt is 4), beware that Snow White's adventure and Mr. Toad's wild
ride is scary and by no means cute.
I had never been to DW with a child before but, seeing it through his
eyes I felt there wasn't alot for him. Probably, is the reason for
Mickey's Starland. Alot of the attractions are loud. Matt had his
hands blocking his ears during the 3:00 parade and many rides. I
even thought the sound could be turned down a notch or two.
I think MGM was the most fun for all. We saw the Little Mermaid show.
It was worth the 45 minute wait. I enjoyed it - not just for kids. The
mermaid's singing voice sounded exactly like the one on the movie.
Muppet 3D was fun. We saw the Ninja Turtles. The first show is at
10:30 and it creates a crowd well in advance. I had to put Matt on my
shoulders to see. He loved it. Worth it. We also saw the
Dinosaurs from the TV show. This was a big waste. We started standing
near the area where they do their show. As time went on we were
cramped and irritable. Matt wasn't thrilled about another loud
performance so, I took him to get popcorn and said forget it. Well,
The dinosaurs come out and we can see them perfectly from the popcorn
stand and with just the right amount of sound. They perform on this
float-type thing that has them above your head. This float moves
and here they come right pass our park bench. I was even blown a kiss
by one of them. The moral of the story is don't waste your time
getting frustrated trying to get the perfect seat or location. With
this attraction and others - there are no bad seats. Anyway, the
peformance was brief and nothing to speak of.
Typhoon was closed "for our future enjoyment".
The perfect ending to our vacation was seeing Mickey and Minnie at
the airport. Matt was able to say goodbye to Mickey one last time.
This isn't a full report but, just a few comments that I mentioned to
others planning future trips. If you want more info let me know.
Susan
|
| 290.7 | February Trip Report | FPTVX1::ABRAMS | Mickey said to say hi! | Tue Feb 18 1992 13:48 | 269 |
| -----------------Trip Report February 8-14, 1992----------------
This is a trip report for my brief visit, alone, on a part business/part
pleasure trip to the World. I stayed at the Radisson Lake Buena Vista.
I spent two days in the parks to visit my personal favorites, and some
other time wandering around the hotel properties.
Before the play by play, some general announcements:
Hotel: The Radisson was conveniently located just outside of the
entrance to Disney Village on Palm Parkway East of Rte 532, just north
of Crossroads plaza on the right. It has a good corporate DEC rate of
just $52 per night plus 5.20 tax. The restaurant is open only for a
typical buffet breakfast. There is a decent pool, jacuzzi, water slide,
and a lounge. The gift/news shop was open sporadically.
Car: AVIS DEC Rate rental, $187 for one week.
Air: USAir three week advance, round trip $343.50. Change planes at
Charlotte.
Passport: Bought a 4 day since I had to split my visit. I used
two days and the other two are my incentive to come back again
soon! That, and the five rolls of film I took!
Schedule:
Sat 2/8 Travel, Kennedy Space Center
Sun 2/9 EPCOT Center
Mon 2/10 -- Wed 2/12 Training Seminar
Thu 2/13 Magic Kingdom & MGM
Fri 2/14 Relax and Movie, travel
All Week: Surveyed New Hotel Properties, wandered around,
learned and mapped the roadways of the world.
Weather: A bit cool early in the week, I needed a jacket
all day Sunday at EPCOT. Warmed up enough to use the pool
in the evening later in the week. Friday was stellar: Sunny
and upper 70's. Dangerous fog in the mornings causing lots
of auto accidents.
Crowds: Quite light. Most everything was walk-right-in. Only
exceptions were high-draw, such as Space Mountain, Imagination, and
Voyage of the Little Mermaid show.
20th Anniversary: Very low-key compared to the 15th anniversary.
They must be saving it for the big 2-5. There's some decorations
but that's all. I remember at the 15th there were prizes (a car given
away every day -- we saw one winner!) and a song blaring out all
the loudspeakers (Fif-teen years... and we're havin' a party!) and
a big birthday cake sculpture at the entrance to each park. I was
expecting much more!
Saturday 2/8---------------------------------------------------------
Arrived an hour behind schedule, in the rush of arriving vacationers.
Waited 30 minutes (no joke) for luggage to arrive at claim area. Got
into a 45 minute car rental line. Usually I am reserved express, but
since I was using an upgrade certificate I was told I had to do a
regular check-in.
They lied.
20 minutes into the line, I got someone's attention and told them I was
usually on the express list. I was. My car was waiting, with the
contract already prepared. It took two minutes for them to pick a
better car (my upgrade) and I was off in a big ol' Cutlass Ciera.
Down the overpriced Bee Line Tollway to Cape Canaveral and the NASA
Kennedy Space Center. Saw the IMAX film "The Dream Is Alive" for about
the sixth time. Bought the VHS tape, but I know it won't be the same.
I saw a couple in the gift shop with name tags on that said "Rochester,
NY" so I said hi. They said they were really from a small town east of
Rochester, and I said so am I -- turns out they live a few miles up the
road from me. The area we live in is just a couple of very small towns.
What are the odds?
They have a life size mockup of a shuttle you can walkup into-- totally
cool, far out, maximum extreme neato. The info desk said a launch of
an Atlas rocket was planned for that evening, so I went to the
recommended viewing site but the launch was not to be that evening (see
Kennedy topic). Drove back to Lake Buena Vista to check in.
Sunday 2/9-----------------------------------------------------------
Up early, and to EPCOT parking at 8:30am. I noticed special "Green
lots" which appear to be set aside for National Car renters. Anyone
know about these? They're at each of the theme park areas.
Bought my passport, and waited for the rope to drop at 9am. Went
straight back to world showcase to have breakfast in Norway. Then, a
highlight tour of the park. Norway, China (The Wonders of China Film),
a walk through Germany, Morocco, Italy, Japan, then France (Impressions
de France Film). Considered the Canada Film, but it was 20 minutes till
next one. So I decided to be impatient and move on (Hey, I'm on
vacation alone, I can be impatient if I want.)
Out international gateway for my first look at the Beach and Yacht Club
Resort. Outstanding job! Applause, applause. I think this is the best
they have done on a resort yet. The variety of facilities and the common
areas, especially the pools, are spectacular. There is a also a Health
club with really reasonable rates.
Back into EPCOT to see my favorites in FutureWorld. Some people waved
to the monorail as it passed overhead, and it honked back! Did you know
it had a horn? Overheard from a family that didn't buy the Birnbaum
Book, trying to interpret the guide map: "Where does it START?"
To The Land, for the "Symbiosis" Film (in case you haven't figured, the
films are my favorites) and then to Body Wars, and my all-time favorite,
Horizons. Walked through Communicore exhibits; played computer games on
UNISYS computers (my wife works for UNISYS). Had lunch at Sunrise
Terrace, which has been transformed into a Pizza & Pasta place. One
slide, salad, soda for $7.50.
Up to the lagoon to stake out a spot for the afternoon show of
"Surprise in the Skies." Great show! I waited 30 minutes to ensure I
had a primo camera spot on the bridge by Mexico for a 15 minute show,
but it was worth it. For an unusually undignified picture of Mickey
Mouse, wait around a few minutes and keep your camera trained in the
USA Plaza across the lagoon...
A final walk around, and trip through Spaceship Earth, and I'd had
enough for the day. I've seen Illuminations plenty of times, so I
decided to seek dinner elsewhere.
Monday - Wednesday 2/10-2/12-----------------------------------------
These days I was in my DEC seminar on Advanced C Programming and Data
Structures. Good course, but the weather kept getting better and warmer
... I spent evenings driving the roads to see what's new and learn my
way around like I lived there. Some restaurant plugs:
The Crab House Palm Parkway just north of Crossroad Plaza, turn
right on Palm Parkway go to the back corner of this plaza.
Try the garlic crabs!
PortoBello Yacht club On pleasure island in WDW. Outstanding!
Narcoosee's On the waterfront at the Grand Floridian in WDW.
Best Iced Tea in the world. Best place to watch a
thunderstorm. Best place to run up a huge tab if you're
on a Disney Vacation Meal Plan!
Charlie's Lobster House In the Mercado Plaza on International
Drive, exit I-4 just north of the Bee Line. Crab legs
in huge portions!
Thursday 2/13--------------------------------------------------------
Up early, off to the Magic Kingdom. Parked at EPCOT since EPCOT closes
later and I figured I would return there for the end of the day. Parked
at 8am to be in the second row of cars, walked to Monorail and went to
TTC, then to Magic Kingdom. Spaceship Earth was shrouded in the dense
morning fog -- A spectacular sight. I hope the picture comes out.
I was the third person admitted to the MK other than the pre-admitted
vacation plan breakfast! It's now 8:30. I tooled right on up to the
Crystal Palace, the best place to catch breakfast in the MK before they
open the ropes to the themed areas. I lolled over coffee and fruit
while everyone else formed a mob at the rope. Just as they release the
rope I waltz out of the Crystal Palace. Kind of makes you feel like you
own the place when you know the routine!
Off on a circle of highlights. I visited Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain
RR, marveled at the almost done Splash Mountain. I was there a little
over a year ago and there was nothing. Now, a mountain. Almost done,
at that. They're moved the Railroad Station to the north, and build
splash mountain where it was. The train goes through a tunnel in splash
mountain. Then to see the ORIGINAL COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE! Yay! It was
great to see it again! C'mon, everybody, you know the words...
Remember Gomer, Wendell & Henry, Liver Lips McGraw, Trixie,
Swingin' Teddy Bara; Bunny, Bubbles, and Beulah; Big Al, and
Sammy the raccoon hat? And the band: Zeke, Zeb, Fred, Ted, and
a bear named Tennessee!
"We wrote the lyrics and we also wrote the words..."
"I got a woman, she got me..."
"Mama don't whoop.. little Beuford, mama don't stomp on his head...
Mama don't whoop.. little Beuford, I think you should shoot him
instead!"
"Tears will be the chaser.. for your wine.."
"... All the guys that turn me on... turn me down..."
"Y'all come up and see me..."
Sorry, got distracted.
Then off to the Haunted Mansion. I tried to count the 999 spirits (but
there's room for ONE MORE...) they say haunt the place, but I lost count
at 978.... yeah right. In case you decide to become the 1000th spirit,
note the "Intrusion Detection" system at the exit. It's the first panel
you see as your ghostmobile reaches the moving walkway.
Okay, onward. Peter Pan is closed for refurbishment, for your info.
Trounced into Tomorrowland, waited 45 min for Space Mountain. Ack!
Everything else was walk-on! Then the WEDway (I want one of those!) and
finally the Carousel of Progress. Sing along! Trivia: I can't remember
the phrase marked with a "?"...
Now is the time, Now is the best time,
Now is the best time of your life!
Life is a prize, live every minute,
Open your eyes, and see how you win it!
Yesterday's memories may sparkle and gleam,
Tomorrow is still but a dream.
Right here and now
?
The world's forward marching and you're in the parade!
More trivia: can you remember the names of the four dogs?
Went and got the Camera from the lockers, rode the Railroad back to
Frontierland to take pictures of Splash Mountain under construction.
Got my Citrus Swirl, and perused main street. Something
new: Fresh Fruit Stands here, and at the other parks!
Aside: Visited the vacation club visitor's
center, got my name added to the computer list to
get more info. I like the idea, but it sounds as
though the minimum investment will result in more
points than my wife and I along can use in a year
since we travel in the low seasons. By my
estimate, it would give us 3-1/2 weeks of studio
time. We couldn't use it! Now off to...
MGM. Monorail back to EPCOT to change film and drop off my jacket.
It's warm now. Bus to MGM. Again, a circle tour of my favorites: Star
Tours, Great Movie Ride, Animation. Animation is working on "Aladdin"
now. In the film intro with Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams, Robin
claims his favorite Disney movie is Peter Pan. Long before they cast
Hook, too! My favorite line: "Hey everybody, I'm a corporate symbol!"
The best new thing since my last visit to MGM is that food sources have
been greatly expanded. The Soundstage, Commissary, and Sci-Fi Drive-in
are all new since I was there in Fall '90.
Tried to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid but the line was TWO shows
long, at least 45 min. I saw a part of the Beauty and the Beast show;
it's basically a reenactment of the movie. Since there was no Sorcery
in the Sky show, I decided to boogie back to EPCOT. I took a last walk
around World Showcase, ate dinner, and watched the sun set. All in all,
a great day.
Friday 2/14 Valentine's Day------------------------------------------
It's a good thing I'm coming home today; it's bad enough I'm on vacation
without my wife!
Got up late...like 9am. Packed, checked out. Went to breakfast buffet
at the Olive Garden on the corner. Drove over to the Beach & Yacht Club
parking area, found a nice people-watching spot and relaxed and read my
book. About 1pm, went over to the Pleasure Island Cinemas to catch an
opening day show of Wayne's World, the movie. Silly, inane, and very
amusing. Nice cinema... takes credit cards if you're bringing the whole
family, and the seats' armrests have drink holders in them!
A slow drive back to the airport, and a late lunch which claimed to be
pizza from the airport food court. Off to home... Now let's see...
where should I go on vacation in September...
Regards,
Bill
|
| 290.8 | WDW February 1992 | NSCRUE::WILABY | | Thu Mar 05 1992 17:51 | 41 |
|
My husband, three-year old daughter and I flew from Colorado
to Orlando on the 13th of February. This was our first
visit to WDW.
Did not rent a car, instead we used Mear's Motor Shuttle to get
from airport to the Grand Floridian; cost for this shuttle was
about $30.00. Although we did not utilize them for a return trip,
they will pick you back up and take you to the airport when your
stay is over.
Checked into the Grand Floridian early that evening. What
a spectacular place. The service and attention of everyone
from guest services to the bell"men" was terrific. All of
WDW was so clean, but the Grand Floridian seems to take it to
another dimension.
While at the G.F. we enjoyed the wide range of choices to eat at
the hotel; everything from quick food at the game room, to fine
expensive dining. Lots of Disney characters walking around the
place for children's autographs. Especially liked the $1500 house
account set-up for us and the GF charge card to go with it. The
only place I found that did not accept the GF charge card was a
pastry shop in Norway in Epcot.
From the 13th through the 19th (the last day of our stay) the
weather was in the 70's, no rain. The crowds were light; no more
than 10 minute wait for anything we wanted to do. The most crowded
place, outside of Pleasure Island, was Typhoon Lagoon. But only
5 minute waits for the different slides.
We had 5-day passes. Staying at the GF allowed us to split the day
between 'lands'; for instance we spent one morning in Epcot, napped
at the hotel just after lunch, and then did MGM or MK in the afternoon.
One time we even returned to Epcot in the evening for Illuminations.
Spectromagic parade was very well attended. People, us included,
were staking-out their curbside places two hours in advance. We felt
it was well worth it.
|
| 290.9 | EuroDisney - Sneak Preview | NEWOA::PALK | | Mon Apr 06 1992 10:43 | 51 |
|
Just got back form a preview look at EuroDisney . The park was only
open during the evening from about 7.00 - 12.00 and so we had to
rush around to try to see everything (impossible). Please bear in
mind I know very little about Disney and the structure of this conference
The outskirts of the park are not yet complete, much of the golf
course is mud and the roads were still being finished . However
once we reached the hotel area everything looked superb . We
stayed in the hotel Cheyenne which was a whole western town, each
seperate building being a collection of hotel rooms . The bar was the
red garter saloon, a real spit and sawdust place complete with lasso
racks and gun tooting staff. At 45 Francs for a JD and Coke tho
it was a little expensive.
The hotel rooms themselves were more than adequate, perhaps about
four star standard, although we had no room service and the mini
bar was unavailable.
There was a frequent bus service to the park itself or it was about a
ten minute walk. I recommend the walk, that way you get to see the
amazing Newport Bay Hotel and lake, and the Santa-Fa buildings.
Outside the park were various attractions, restaurants and bars
and many souviner shops. From there after a few minutes walk under the
Disney hotel and turnstiles we entered the main street of the park. The
whole place was just so clean and detailed, it really was like visiting
a dream land . Not once did I see anything that looked out of place .
At the end of main street was Sleeping Beauty's castle and the other
side of that lay the three seperate lands , FantasyLand,Frontier Land and
a futureland.
I won't describe in detail what we discovered there, I couldn't find
the words to describe it adequatly but suffice to say the rides were great
and visually stunning, Thunder mountain was terrifying and the procession
was great.
If anyone is thinking of going I thoroughly recomend it, but it will
be expensive, my hotel room will be over 100 quid a night and a day
pass is 23 quid. Souviners are also extortinate and the bars just out
of the park are not cheap (30F for a bud.)Also when the park actually
opens to the public the queues will be incredible.
The specially set aside queuing areas are massive.
But don't worry about the cash , just go you'll never forget it.
If anyone wants a photocopy of the map and guide to atrractions let me
know and I'll mail it to you.
Chris.
|
| 290.10 | Trip report EuroDisney | UTROP1::SCHUURMANS_H | | Fri Apr 24 1992 08:39 | 50 |
| Short trip report on my visit to EuroDisney on April 20th thru 22nd.
All attractions used in the advertisements were operational.
Rides (in my favorite order and I took them all several times):
- Big thunder mountain
- Pirates of the Carribean
- Star tours
- Peter Pan
- Phantom Manor (=Hanted Mansion)
- Captain EO
- Snow White
- Pinnochio
- Visionarium (360 degrees projection)
- It's a small world
- Keel Boat
- Autopia (small railguided cardrive)
- EuroDisneyland Railroad (not spectacular though very funny thru the
announcements from the (taped) speaker.
Be sure to visit the park at least TWO days. There are less attractions
than at WDW and/or WDL but the queues are MUCH longer. After 11.30am
waiting time can be as much as 1.30h!! (this goes for ALL the rides!!)
The hotel area, situated next to the Park itself is worthwhile
visiting.
Have a look at Hotel Cheyenne (western style) and Hotel New York ("New
York" skyline).
Also take a short look at "Festival Disney" opposite the entrance and
take a walk thru this assembly of shops and restaurants to "Lake Buena
Vista". Then enjoy the sight of the Newport Beach Hotel.
My personal recommendation is a stay a the "Hotel Cheyenne".
A dinner at the "blue lagoon restaurant" is another must (located
inside the "Pirates of the Carribean--order the blue lagoon sampler:
delicious!
Statistics:
3 days passeport: 525FF
1 mickey icecream: 15FF
Blue Lagoon Sampler: 150FF
Mickey character in Disney store: 125FF
Present # employees: 7200 (50% of desired staff)
Visitors on monday 20th: 62.000
Opening hours: 09.00am - 09.00pm (weekends 10.00pm incl fireworks)
Enjoy your stay!!!!
Hans
|
| 290.11 | DECWindows warning | SALEM::BERUBE_C | Where do you think you are? WDW!! | Wed May 06 1992 08:10 | 11 |
| Ok All, here's the report I promised.
I went, I saw, I did, I enjoyed, I came Back, that's all
Ok I'm haveing fun with you all, this reply is merely a warning for you
DECwindows Notes type, the folowing reply is some 640+ lines long.
enjoy
Claude
|
| 290.12 | WDW - April 25th thru May 3rd '92 | SALEM::BERUBE_C | Where do you think you are? WDW!! | Wed May 06 1992 08:12 | 646 |
|
Berube Family April 25-May 3rd WDW Trip Report
WHO: Elaine, Gregory and Claude Berube
WHERE: Port Orleans, Bldg 5 courtyard view.
HOW: USAir, Manchester NH to Orlando
DISCLAIMER #1: The expressed views herein are those of Claude Berube
the individual noter and not those of Claude Berube Disney.Note
Moderator or those of any other Disney.Note Moderators. ;^)
DISCLAIMER #2: If you are a new noter about to go to WDW for the first
time and thought you could use my trip report as a guide on efficient
use of the 5 Day Super Pass, DON'T. As you'll see from reading this
report I did rather little of the MK, and little of World Showcase at
Epcot, but do use any hint/tips I place in the report. For the most
part we did a casual walk from ride to ride, and didn't follow any of
the itineraries found in the various guides, any appearance of is
merely coincidental honest. I was more tired writing/reading the trip
report. ;^)
OK now on to the gory details;
Day 1 - Saturday April 25th
Woke up with the alarm at 4 am, meet the in-laws and headed over to the
Manchester Airport (they offered to keep our car at their house while
we were gone, saving on airport parking fee)
Got at the USAir counter at 5:30am, got another surprise when I
mentioned I had a refund coming, turn out the person in Syracuse NY put
me down for the wrong fare, $310 vs the $260 I was quoted for, so my
refund wasn't as large. I'll be writing to them to see if I can get
anymore out of them, after all it doesn't hurt. Even though I was glad
to get a refund after all, I was quoted $260 (it's the principal you
know)
Other than that, the flight was rather uneventful, with a slight 20
min. delay leaving Philadelphia. We arrived at Orlando, got the bags
and the rental car from Avis and was on our way by 12:30pm. Was able
to catch about an hours worth of sleep on the plane.
Why is it that the favorite color for rental cars in Florida is White?
with the Chevy Corsica a favorite among them? Didn't take the Berube
family too long to solve the problem of finding the car after a long
day in the park and doing the Comedy Warehouse routine of searching for
it. HINT I'm not telling what I did ;^), so that I'll still be able to
find my car the next time I go.
Headed over to Kennedy Space Center, Did the 2:15 Red Bus Tour, saw the
Endeavor out on launch pad 39B being readied for its maiden flight on
May 4th and the 4:25 Imax theater presentation of 'The Dream is Alive'.
KSC is well worth the side trip if you can afford a half day or so away
from Disney. HINT: Do it early in the morning and head over for
Daytonna for the afternoon and make a day of it.
After doing the Bus tour and Imax, along with the museum while waiting
to do both, decided we had enough of KSC and headed back to WDW, got
stuck in a traffic jam on SR528 just prior to Orlando International
Airport. Finally arrived at Port Orleans @6:45 pm, checked in, had the
bags brought up to the room and went over to Bonfamille cafe and had
supper. Especially liked the Chicken Breast Creole, the house salad
was superb. After supper Greg and I decide to take a late evening swim
in the pool while Elaine decided to sleep off the day.
Day 2 - Sunday April 26th
Woke up early and did the food court at PO for breakfast. Drove
through Dixie Landings and CBR to check them out while we had some time
to kill prior to heading over to MGM. Both DL and CBR are spread out
the only difference is that CBR is around a lagoon while DL is on both
sides of a canal and DL has a sit down restaurant while CBR doesn't.
My preference of the three would be PO, followed by DL then CBR.
Got to MGM at 8:30 and was entertained by Sarge and Sid. Sarge is one
hell of a riot, while Sid does some impression of Bing Crosby, George
Burns among others.
Did Star Tours first thing, rode in the back (longest line of the 5
times Greg and I did Star Tours was 10-15 min. throughout the trip),
this is one of my favorite rides for the trip.
Muppet Vision 3D was next (hint don't be afraid to look at the back of
the theater when you here Swedish Chef, great routine). Overall a
great 3D movie and well worth the trip. Can't really add much to this
that hasn't already been said, except don't be afraid to check out the
pre-show area, some of the things are rather cute and no so obvious,
like this end up, being on the bottom (I won't tell you where this is
you'll just have to find it on your own)
Went over to Honey I Shrunk the Kid movie Set Adventure and had a
blast, a lot of older children were having fun if you know what I mean.
Next onto Inside the Magic Special Effects and Soundstage Tour, they
were in the process of redoing the set for Mickey Mouse Club. Great
photo's of the volunteers in the water tank sequence of special
effects. I won't say what happens just in case one of you gets picked
;^).
Next was the Backstage Studio Tour, had to change rolls of film just
prior to Catastrophe Canyon and threaded the film wrong and missed out
on pictures (don't fret did it again on another day ;^)). Got to see a
portion of a set used in the making of Honey I blew Up the Kid.
Next was the Great Movie Ride, (right side/western). Overall this was
your typical Disney Audio-Animatronic ride, with the Wizard Of Oz scene
being the exception. The Wicked Witch of the West was just great, so
this is version 3 or whatever it's called of the AA's and one of three
in existence? I couldn't get over the fluid movements of the Witch
just superb. Follow the yellow brick road....
After GMR we waited and did Beauty and the Beast stage show. This show
is well done and Elaine couldn't get over the costumes for it. I think
it was mentioned here before, but this appears to be the only show at
Disney were you can have a bad seat, stay away from the right side in
the back or you'll have a portion of the show being blocked by a tree
and the shop next to it.
Left MGM and headed over to the Grand Floridian for the afternoon
break, rented water sprites for the 3 of us and toured Seven Seas
Lagoon and Bay Lake. Hint: if your going to do this I suggest scoping
out the lake first notice which color water sprites are going the
fastest and head over to that hotels marina and rent one there. I got
stuck with a slow one while Elaine and Greg had faster ones. Swam for
a while at the GF pool and had some Pina Coladas. Disney makes some of
the best frozen drinks (alchohol or non) I've tasted.
Headed over to Narcoocee's for supper, Elaine and I had the T-bone for
two while Greg had swordfish, both were excellent.
Off to the MK, Did Pirate's, Country Bear (Blood on the Saddle, Yeah
the old show is back and alive, hated the Vacation How Down they
replaced it with). Did someone say Dole Whip? we all had to have one
for desert.
Checked out Splash Mountain, they had water in the ride and where
testing the logs (empty) over the main drop, later in the week they had
drained the ride and had the main drops tracks taken apart and were
doing work on it. Asked around and all I got was will open later in
the Summer/Fall (didn't sound all that promising for Mike's birthday
bash this summer), one cast member said they had a lot of fine tuning
left to do.
On to Haunted Mansion and then decided to wait around for SpectroMagic.
I thought that SpectroMagic even though the Music wasn't as memorable
as ELP, was slightly better than ELP as far as the floats went. GOD
I'd hate to be one of them butterflies with them battery packs!
Went back to PO and swam prior to calling it a night.
Day 3 - Monday April 27th
Did breakfast again at PO food court, headed over to MGM for 8:30. Did
Star Tours for the second time was just as good this time around, sat
in the middle.
Over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, that's a nice shirt you have
there fella (you'd have to be there to understand this). Now this show
was rather well done, however my camera was faked out by that damn
overhang they use to protect the audience in inclement weather and the
shots were underexposed (can't see the faces). HINT: if you have a
zoom lens and have manual capability zoom into the set get your reading
and used that meter reading for your shot and you'll do better. I know
this being a somewhat camera buff but being enthralled in the moment
forgot the basics damn!!
Over to the Monster Sound show were the participants did a great job of
screwing up there parts, thunder when the chandelier falls and all
that. Liked the short film with Martin Short and Chevy Chase.
Did The Magic of Disney Animation tour were Robin Williams was a
Corporate Symbol. This tour is a definite must do just to caught
Robin's add libs to Walter Cronkite. Especially take time to see the
various departments and pay attention to the screens describing them.
Robin Williams has some rather great lines as the lost boy from Petter
Pan. Especially take time entering the theater at the end of the tour
to see what Robin's character does/say as everyone is rushing in. ie.
Walk like this Bop Bee De bop, Boom Boom Boom, Wait until the theater
comes to a complete stop, Select a row ....
Over to the Great Movie Ride did the left side (Gangster) and enjoyed
the Cast member participation more so than yesterday (Cast Members have
a great deal in whether you enjoy their piece of the show or not)
Over to Superstar TV, this was well done in how they took clip of shows
past and inserted the audience into them. This is were I notice that
Florida was indeed being invaded by those damn English folk from across
the pond, 1 of 3 picked for all the various audience participation
shows at Disney/Universal I swear were from the United Kingdom (Oh Hi
Mike B ;^)). Everyone got a kick out of the Voluptuous Woman scene
from Cheers.
Left MGM, went over and checked out the Yacht and Beach Club resort.
Very nice, would definitely stay if I could get the Annual or Stock
owners specials, otherwise I'd go back to PO in a minute. After we
went over to the Village and did some shopping at the Character shop,
pick up a few shirts etc, and headed over to PO for an afternoon swim.
Headed over to Epcot and parked at the Swan, took the tram over to
International gateway and went over to Norway for our 4 pm dinner
reservation, thought the buffet was excellent and would do it again.
After Dinner did the ride and checked out the shops.
Headed over to Future World to do some of our favorites, did World of
Motion, and over to Wonder of Life. Did Cranium Command, Hey you
Lunkhead where do you think you are Disney World? Attention, left
face, select an aisle and proceed all the way......
The Animation sequence prior to the actual show of Cranium Command was
a riot, hence my new personal name for the time being for Disney.Note.
Having just eaten a hour prior Elaine and Greg weren't sure if they
were ready for Body Wars, so I was elected as the guinea pig, while
they did some of the static displays. I ended up liking Body Wars as
much as Star Tours, in fact even though the ride is somewhat bumpier
that ST, I felt the story was better that ST (my opinion of course).
So we all proceeded to do Body Wars.
Off to Spaceship Earth, then over to World Showcase Lagoon to find a
spot to view Illuminations, ended up selecting a spot to the left of
United Kingdom. Illumination was all that I remembered with the
addition of the added lights on the countries since I last saw it.
Took the tram back to the Swam and checked out the Swan and Dolphin
hotels. Hmmm I'll just say they seem out of place if you know what I
mean. I'd sure hate to have paid big bucks at the Beach Club for a
water view and have to stare at these monstrosities. Went back to PO
for our late night swim which ended up being a ritual with Tuesday
night the exception they were expecting record lows Tuesday night.
Day 4 - Tuesday April 28th
Got up at the usual time, decided to try the Olive Garden in Lake
Buena Vista off of SR 535 for breakfast but turned out to be open for
Dinner only. Decided to do Burger King instead. Turned out the one on
I-drive is open for Breakfast.
Headed over to Universal Studios. Unlike Disney/MGM, Universal doesn't
provide any cast member entertainment to those waiting for the park to
open. Only rides not working was Ghostbusters, with Jaws slated to
open in '93 after they decide how they will revamp it to make it
worthwhile. (apparently US was unhappy with the outfit that did Jaws,
and how it worked so it's back to the drawing board). US did open at
8:30 but we were only allowed several hundred feet inside were we
waited until the park opened at 9 am.
We headed over to Back to the Future to get it done and out of the way,
turned out to be smart move, since the lines were rather long the rest
of the day. What can I say about BTTF that hasn't already be said.
Overall I would hold it up one notch above BW and ST based on the
technology involved, but felt that the overall story/flow of ST and BW
were slightly better that BTTF. With all the time jumping and all I
got a little confused as to what was happening.
Went over to Earthquake the Big One, without the pre-show with
Charlston Heston this would of been a waste, but with the pre-show on
how some of the special effects were done for Earthquake, the Subway
station would not of been worth the 20 minute wait. Don't get me wrong
the effects in the subway were rather convincing for someone who had
never experience a west coast quake, but to have stayed in line for 20
min., for the 2 min. of subway effects, I'd of been rather upset.
Went over to Kongfrontation only to find out it wasn't running just
yet. So off to the Funtastic World of Hanna Barberra. Same basic
technology as BTTF, only instead of each car having it's one little
IMAX type of screen all the simulators are in one big room watching one
large screen in front of the room. We enjoyed this ride as well.
Took the Nickelodeon tour, they were in rehearsals for Clarisa. This
reminded me of the Soundstage tours over at Disney/MGM.
Headed over to Kong which was now up, waited in line for 30 min.
(longest line we had all week in all the parks). Was rather
disappointed in this one, two rather quick encounters with Kong. This
one need more theming or a pre-show or something to make it more
worthwhile. Too bad Disney didn't have the rights to this one!!
On over to E.T. Adventure, now this one reminded me of how a ride
should be done, wonder if they had any help from Disney Imagineering on
this, since we all felt we were in a Disney ride attraction/show. This
one is worth the wait. maybe the Kong ride designers could take hints
from the ET designers?
The Gory, Gruesome & Grotesque Horror Make-up Show was next, it was OK
but felt it was rather short, should of been longer with more make-up
tricks instead of the film clips. While waiting in line for this one
we listen to the 50's singing group out front of Mel's dinner from
American Graffiti.
On over to Hitchcock 3-D Theater, I don't know, I have mixed feeling on
this one, for that short (15 sec) 3D clip, they should leave the 3D out
of the title. The second part of the show were they do the shower
scene was good, reminded me of the audience participation shows over at
Disney/MGM.
Well by this time it was around 4 pm and the Berube's had enough of US,
back to PO and the pool for a cool dip prior to going over to Pleasure
Island for the night.
Took the water shuttle over to Pleasure Island. Note to any of you
staying at either Port Orleans, Dixie Landing (and Disney's vacation
Club I believe) as you go past the Treehouse Villas, there is only one
that is out in the open, that the one I stayed at back in '84 and is on
the postcard for the Treehouse Villas. Also talk to the driver and it
turns out that in the previous 2 weeks they had to take out 5
alligators from the canals between DL and the Village. Turns out the
gates you see are merely for flood control only, Disney does absolutely
nothing to keep the gators out, except to move them when any of the
boat drivers sees one (that's another reason why they are constantly
scanning the water/shoreline, they are looking for gators). Oh BTW the
shuttle was running from 9 am to midnight while I was there.
Ate lunch over at Portobello Yacht Club which specializes in Italian
cuisine. This turned out to be the best and costliest eating
experience while we were down there. The food was excellent and the
service was superb. I had #19, which was thin sliced veal over angel
hair pasta, while Elaine had #18 a Seafood Medley (shrimp/lobster etc)
over spaghetti and Greg had #39 which was Shrimp over Spaghetti, which
we all enjoyed. For desert we all shared a Gaputo Cupachino which
turns out is especially made for this restaurant, extremely tasty and
rich and should be shared by 2 people at least unless you have a
bottomless bit for a stomach.
On to Pleasure Island did XFR's which we all like (they had a private
party 'till 9:15pm over at the Adventurers Club). Went over to
Adventurers club at 9:30. Note that the cast we had this night plus
the audience reactions to the library show (9:50 Mandora's Cabaret
Show) and new Member Introduction, didn't live up to the expectation I
had developed from reading past trip reports from the file (later to be
redeemed however - see day 5). They were doing New years at 11:00pm
during the week so we saw that show (with all the hype around PI and
New Years Eve every night I expected more from this) and afterwards
went over to Comedy Warehouse and caught the 11:15 improv show (well
liked by all).
Took the bus back to PO and called it a night.
Day 5 - Wednesday April 29th
Time to sleep late today, woke up at 8 am vs 6 am ;^). Did breakfast
at PO food court.
Now we were to meet the Young's (fellow DECies) and another family from
Goffstown at Typhoon Lagoon but due to the Weather reports from the
previous day (they were predicting record lows for Tuesday night), they
decided to cancel and do TL on Friday. We however decided to give it a
try since the report said it would be in the low 70's. Turned out to
be the wisest decision we made all week. The weather turned out
beautiful, 74 degrees by 11 am and we felt we had the park to ourselves
since everyone was scared off by the reports.
Well having the park to ourselves we waited no long than 5 minutes max
for anything (how was Friday's line Steve? ;^)). We started off with
the various raft rides, went over to the storm slides (enjoyed the
middle one with the dark tunnel) and I did Humunga Kowabunga (Elaine
and Greg chicken out on this one).
Then off to Shark Reef, now in order to not scare Elaine thereby
causing her into not trying the Shark Reef I decided to trick her. I
took her through the observation area first paying more attention to
the side not being used (due to the light crowds) and pointed out the
sand shark was on that side (didn't mention about them being on both
sides), then proceeding to get our gear and get orientated by the Life
Guard. Checked out the gear and off we went. Elaine almost had a
heart attack while screaming after spotting the sand shark (Gee Honey
why do you suppose they call it Shark Reef for? ;^)). She admitted
afterwards if she had known she would not have gone, Greg and I still
laugh thinking about it, both Greg and I heard her through the
snorkels, I imagine the life guards had a chuckle as well.
Then on to the river and then the wavepool. Since we had the park
almost to ourselves we did all the slides and a majority of them twice,
along with the river, reef and wave pool.
After sunning on the lounge chairs for a while went back in the
wavepool to cool off and then headed back to PO around 2 pm.
Elaine and Greg went swimming at the pool or did the hot tub, while I
took care of Laundry and joined them in between (as I mentioned in the
PO note, the laundry is very conveniently located next to the
pool/bar/hot tub)
For Dinner we went over to Papatee Bay Verandah at the Poly and had
another wondrous meal.
Then took the bus over to Pleasure Island around 7:15pm, Adventurers
Club had another private party going on till 9:15, so we did the Neon
Armadillo and had a drink and relaxed while listening to the Country
Band (great music/band for listening or dancing) while waiting to do
the 8:25 show of Comedy Warehouse. Went into in the Adventurers Club
around 9:00pm (party must of finished early), they had a different cast
tonight and caught the 9:10 show in the Library (Balderdash Cup
competition) and the AC redeemed itself tonight, what a difference a
different crowd/cast can make, Kongaloosh!! Also did the 9:40 Maid
dusting of the treasure room (OK how is that head trick done anyway?),
then the 10 pm Mr. Brownes Lecture in the Mask Room, what a riot,
check out the mask while waiting for the show notice anything funny?
Caught the bus back to PO and took a swim before calling it a night.
Day 6 - Thursday April 30th
Drove over to the Poly for breakfast with Minnie and the gang, good
buffet.
Over to the MK, did Dreamflight (kind of lame if you ask me), Grandprix
raceway, Check out Mickey's Starland but didn't feel like waiting for
the show. On to Magic Journeys (glad they found a place for this,
always a favorite). Then on to Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Small World and
the Haunted Mansion again.
Was getting around noon time, so before we left decided to take the
train around the Park. The train now goes through Splash Mountain and
that part of the ride is working, but you don't see any of the logs.
Went back to the pool at PO, and rested for a spell.
Went to MGM and did SCI-FI Dinner for dinner, Even thought the food
wasn't all that exceptional, the cast members and the film clips make
up for it. No smooching in the Back seat you two.
After we did Star Tours again, then did some shopping along Hollywood
Boulevard, followed by GMR (right side, this time a lot better).
Finally caught the 6 pm show of Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This is
one popular show, we kept passing up on it because the lines were so
long, but for some reason after coming out of the GMR got in line told
6:30 show but actually was able to get into the 6 pm show. This show
is well worth it, they do a good job of blending in the Animation from
the Film, the various puppets and live actors, the lasers and the water
mist were great. Elaine felt this was the best show of all, just a tad
better that Beauty and the Beast, which was great also.
Well we were getting tired so back to you know were PO and the pool.
Day 7 - Friday May 1st
We decided to wake up late this morning 8 am, did some swimming at the
pool while waiting to go to Fort Wilderness for the trail ride.
We originally had made 1 pm reservations but because we decided to take
the morning off from doing the parks was able to move it to 11:30am
instead.
Now they tell you when making reservations that you should wear pants
and the trails may be dusty. What they don't tell you is that it is
REALLY DUSTY.
HINT: don't wear any light colored clothes, they will be black by the
time you come back. Also no cameras are allowed so as to not scare the
horses. You will most likely need to take showers afterwards and will
be surprise how much dust you'll be coughing up. Now I know why
Cowboys always have bandannas, to used them as face mask in order to
breath on the Dusty Trail.
The trail ride itself wasn't all that exceptional, just a trail off the
left of the main road into FW out behind the rental trailers. Turned
out the horse I had Skip, was a trick horse originally trained and
slated to go to Euro Disney to be part of Wild Bill Coty's Wild West
Show, but due to some changes Skip was never sent over there.
Went back to PO and did laundry Gee wonder why :^), and ate lunch while
waiting.
Headed into Epcot around 3 pm this time parking at the Beach Club and
walked it in. Did Captain EO, Journey into Imagination, Living Seas
and check out baby Chester (The Manatee born last year). Then on over
to Wonders Of Life. Did Body Wars Again and Cranium Command and more
of the static displays. Also caught the Making of Me which I felt was
a well done moving on how to...well you know what I mean ;^). Bet
there was a lot of explaining going on that night, a heck of a lot of
4-9 yrs old in there.
On over to Canada and went to Le Cellier for a snack, love that Maple
Syrup Pie, then on to the 360 degree movie Oh Canada.
Well it was now around 8 pm decided to leave and scope out the Beach
Club some more, then on to the PO for a dip in the pool before calling
it a night.
Day 8 - Saturday May 2nd
Another day of getting up late, went over to Typhoon Lagoon for 9:45,
they were letting the people in but holding off the beach, since the
line was so big, it went into the parking lot and was interfering with
the Bus Unloading.
Since the crowd was much larger than on Wednesday, we decided to skip
the slides and primarily do the river and wave pool. Greg and I also
did a couple of trips at the Shark Reef. Otherwise the slides had like
15 min. waits or more to go down.
Left Typhoon around 1 pm, headed over to MGM, was able to make a 3 pm
reservation for 50's Prime Time Cafe, while waiting redid the Backstage
Tour, this time getting several shot of Catastrophe Canyon, then we did
the Animation tour again, had to get one last look at Robin Williams in
action.
Time to go to 50's Prime Time Cafe. This was by far our worst eating
experience to date. The food was bland, and our waiter sucked to high
heaven, no interaction like the others there (actually only about half
of them seemed to do any real interaction with the quests), and you had
to wait a long time to be served or asked how things was going.
Otherwise he was to busy standing near the kitchen and watching the
other Waiter/Waitresses do what they were supposed to do, and that was
to interact with the customers, as well as provide service with the
Meal. Even though part of our problem was the waiter, we felt the food
wasn't up to par and wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Go to the
Brown Derby or Sci-Fi or eat at one of the sit-down restaurants at the
resorts.
After our lousy meal, we did Star Tour twice and then on to Muppet
Vision again.
It was now around 5:30 and we had just about had it, so we went back to
the hotel. Elaine and Greg sleep for a while, and I later went back to
MGM and caught the last show (7:15) of Indiana Jones prior to 8 pm
showing of Scorcery in the Sky. Hmmm fireworks while it's still light
out? Oh well not a bad show but seemed awfully short, would of liked
to have caught it in the dark.
Went back to PO, caught up with Elaine and Greg, had a snack Key Lime
Pie and swam prior to calling it a night.
Day 9 - Sunday May 3rd
Bummer Man, time to pack and go home!!, woke up late 8 am, packed, did
express check out, ate for the last time at PO food court, then off to
the Character shop at the Village for last minute shopping. Bought
another shirt, finally picked the watch I wanted as an anniversary
present from Elaine (Mickey Skeleton) and picked up a Mickey self
portrait poster (the one of Mickey drawing himself and a portrait of
Walt) then off to the airport to check in.
The flight home was rather uneventful, no bumping (I was hoping to get
bumped for a possible voucher for a later trip, but no go ;^()
Landed in Manchester at 5:40pm
SUMMARY:
OVERALL WEATHER: Saturday was warm, Sunday started off warm but got
cool (high 60's low 70's) by evening jackets/sweat shirts were
required. Monday & Tuesday was cool and long pant/jackets were needed
for most of the day. Tuesday night they were predicting record lows,
but with warming on Wednesday. Wednesday thru Sunday it was either in
the high 70's or low 80's no jacket/sweat shirts were required. It
never rained while we were there, which was rather unusually, since on
all my previous April/May trips it rained at least every other day for
about 15 minutes or so.
CROWDS: although the crowds seemed heavy at times our longest line was
a 30 min. wait for Kong at Universal, otherwise it was anywhere from
walk on up to 20 min. waits (usually shows like Superstar TV, Beauty &
the Beast or Little Mermaid). When we saw that a show didn't start
right away we went on something else and came back later. Plus we
never were in the parks from 1-4 pm to get away from the crowds.
TICKETS etc.: Of the three days I went into the parks for 8:30 and the
2 days I entered Typhoon Lagoon at opening they were checking for
Signatures on the multi-day passports, and were causing you to sign
them prior to going in, so make sure you sign them prior to going in so
as to not SLOW DOWN THE DAMN LINE. Of the 3 times I used the bus, I
was ask once for an Resort ID/Passport. The one time I took the water
Shuttle I was asked for my resort ID. Every time I had asked for a
towel I was ask for my Resort ID.
CAST MEMBER/CROWD PARTICIPATION SHOW/ATTRACTIONS: all the
attractions/shows at Disney that rely on Cast Members to pull it off
will depend heavily on those Cast Members performances as well as
audience reactions, on whether you'll like it or not. The first time
we did Adventures club we were somewhat disappointed, but the next
night the cast was different and we caught a different show in the
library and enjoyed it immensely. So things like The Great Movie Ride,
Adventures Clubs etc. if you don't like it the first time and you have
a chance to see it another day/night by all means do so, chances are
that you have a different cast and might enjoy it this time.
Overall we enjoyed MGM more so than Universal (Back to the Future and
E.T. and Hanna Barberra the exceptions), we felt that MGM although
smaller was better themed and the rides/attractions stories etc were
better thought out than Universal.
BEST/WORST EXPERIENCES:
Best Eating: Portobello Yacht Club at Pleasure Island
Worst: 50's Prime Time Cafe
Best Ride: Tied between Back to the Future, Star Tours, Body
Wars, ET Adventure and Funtastic World of Hanna
Barberra.
Worst: Had to be Kongfrontation
Best Show: Voyage of the Little Mermaid with Beauty and the
Beast a close second.
Worst: Didn't really Have one here, they were all good.
WHAT NEW/COMING:
Oh yeah according to the complementary copy of the Mickey Mouse
Magazine in the room, here is what slated for WDW in the coming
months/years.
Splash Mountain opening in '92 (no month/season mentioned)
Alien Encounter (no date given)
Plectu's Fantastic Galactic Revue, a musical variety show (no date
given)
New 3D movie to replace Captain EO for Epcot's 10th Birthday, by George
Lucas and Walt Disney Studios (no Date given)
Soviet Union which will include a thrill ride (no date given)
Sunset Boulevard at MGM with (all with no dates given)
ToonTown Adventure - flight simulator ride
Benny the Cab Ride
Baby Hermans Runaway Baby Buggie Ride
Mickey Movieland, a recreation of Walts first Studio.
Twilight Zone Tower of Doom (1994 according to poster at Disney/MGM
Studios entrance)
Disney Boardwalk Resort in '93
Resort on the Drawing Boards, a Greek Islands and the great wooden
lodges of the Rocky mountains
|
| 290.13 | Euro Disneyland 12-13 April | MIACT::WARWICK | | Thu May 07 1992 09:01 | 538 |
|
Euro Disneyland Trip Report
Introduction
We went to Euro Disneyland for opening and subsequent day. We had
previous experience of WDW in October 90 see note 183.51. The Cast list
was much as before:-
- Chris (me)
- Sally (wife)
- Joanna (10 year old)
- Jonathan (not quite a 7 year old)
Although the main reason and timing was Euro Disney we combined it with
a side trip to Paris on the two preceding days.
Planning aids
We used the Following:-
- Michelin Map �2.25
- Various Disney publications
Just before we went my wife found the Harper Collins Guide to Euro
Disneyland 1992 (�7.99, $13) which is similar in content to Birnbaum
and is very comprehensive.
Whilst we were there I noted that the Michelin guide to Euro Disneyland
is now available (at least in French).
Both Harper Collins and the Michelin guide cover Paris and the
surrounding countryside to some degree.
Prologue - Evening of 11th April
We drive along motorway from the Novotel, Collegien, to exit 14 the
Disney turnoff. We drive up to the Parc entrance, past the Newport Bay
Hotel and the backs of the Sequoia Lodge, Santa Fe and Cheyenne Hotels.
There is a turn around just before the Parking Lot entrance. We turn
around and get petrol and park at the nearby Esso garage. This allows
me to walk back for photos/video of the entrance. Back at the garage
the rest of the family have discovered Disney Ice lollys for sale.
There is little wind and it is warm. We finally retrace our route to
the Novotel, and later watch some of Grand Opening on French TV.
Day 1 - April 12th
We set off at 07:30 and having practised the route the night before we
speed the 6 miles or so down the motorway, holding our breath expecting
any moment to run into a stationary queue of cars for the exit. Nothing
happens and at 08:00 we arrive in the car park of the Hotel Cheyenne. I
stay with the car whilst my wife goes to check-in. Check-in is very
slow, there are a large number of guests checking out! These were
special guests invited for the Grand Opening Ceremony the night before.
A little galling since we had sent many letters to see if the hotel
would be open the night before.
09:00 sees us waiting for a Bus to take us to the Parc. We arrive
de-bus and walk in through the entrance and up to the Disneyland Hotel.
The Hotel is spectacular to look at and includes the Mickey Mouse
clock, overhead the Renault airship flies around (used the night before
for the views of the Parc). Here we find that we still have to queue to
change our commemorative passports for the magnetic cards that actually
allow entrance through the turnstiles and the commemorative lapel
badges.
The queue did not look long but it is 10:30 before we are in Main
Street. We decide to wait for the first parade at 11:00. Whilst waiting
the Jonathan and Joanna filmed by Japanese TV. To our untutored eyes
Main Street looks broadly similar to WDW.
11:00 Parade
The Parade proper is proceeded by the All American Marching Band, we
queue with some of these for Big Thunder Mountain the following day
(they have done London, Paris and three days of rehearsals and are
hence a little tired on the Monday). The sunshine starts to fade as the
Parade proper starts. By then we have had our first experience of
"nudgers" people trying to worm their way to a good view not having
waited the last 30 minutes to get a good view, more on this later. The
Parade runs from Fantasyland to Main Street ie in the opposite
direction to WDW, (and to the film clips of the parade shown on the
Saturday night prior to the first day), this allows the film crews on
their specially built podium to get shots of the parade with the castle
in the background. The parade is every bit as good as WDW with
different and new floats (Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid,
Maiden/Knight/Dragon, etc.). We decide to give the castle a miss when
the Parade is over and so make for ...
Its A Small World
We didn't do this in WDW as no one seemed to rate it. The parents
understand why but both children liked it. The ride is a boat trip
through the display, both queuing and boarding are outside but
undercover. Afterwards there was a Post show where the children and
some adults could walk through a miniature town looking in through the
windows of the houses at what looked like small TV displays depicting
various scenes.
Mad Hatter's Tea Cups
This was subtitled "Sally's Revenge" by us as in WDW I let the children
take her for a spin whilst I videoed the action. This time it as my
turn to feel dizzy. The daughter reckoned that the control wheel was
stiff thus not allowing a high rotation speed. This ride had an ornate
glass roof in comparison to the solid one in WDW. By now we were hungry
(13:00) so we stopped for food.
Cafe Hyperion
This is in the same building as Videopolis (this has the old fashioned
airship as one of its most prominent features) and we chose it for the
variety of different foods on offer. The banked seating gave us a fine
view of the multiple video projection screens above the stage. (This
was where Cher did her number the night before).
Autopia
We had avoided the Grand Prix Raceway in WDW as we thought Jonathan was
too small/young but we reckoned we couldn't duck it this time. We thus
queued and went off in 2 separate cars, with the children more-or-less
steering? and the parents controlling the throttle/brake. This was all
out in open, and harder than it looked (I suspect we were going too
slowly and thus the steering corrections required were too big).
Orbitron
This was new but is functionally similar to Starjets in WDW.
Aesthetically interesting with the various globes spinning around. A
slow loader with 2 seater craft and a short ride with an up/down
control. Also similar to Dumbo. The cold was beginning to take effect
so we sought something indoors.
Star Tours
Probably the longest queue we experienced that day (25 minutes) but
under cover/inside. The queue gave us a chance to appreciate some of
the queue entertainment features. The same as WDW with bilingual
announcements, the actual ride was all French, so you need to know some
of the script! We all enjoyed this although our rough tough son had to
pause on the way out to catch his breath! It was warm inside but as we
walked along the exit corridor we began to feel cold again so another
indoor ride was required.
Le Visionarium
This consisted of a French language pre show plus translations (via
text lines) to left of screen, we then went into the Main show a
Circlevision film about Jules Verne and time travel etc. In here there
were telephones with English, German, Italian? translations. Quite a
good film with a number of international stars taking part. Finally we
thought we had better take a look at the castle.
Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant and La Taniere du Dragon
Yes there is a Dragon in cellar, which moves it head and various limbs
etc., very effective. Upstairs the inside is very beautiful with lots
of detail however I personally thought that the outside is best
feature, more variety of colour and of course you get to see glimpses
of it almost all the time.
Les Voyages de Pinocchio
This is a new ride and is based on based on tale/cartoon film, quite
enjoyable.
Peter Pan's Flight
Almost exactly like WDW but 4 seaters "ships" rather than the 2
seaters. This was Jonathan's favourite from WDW.
Alice's Curious Labyrinth
The parents were getting tired now and the prospect of getting lost in
a maze didn't appeal. However our daughters pleas won the day, so we
entered. This is new, based on the cartoon film of the story. It is
basically maze with a number of photo opportunities plus simple
Audio-Animatronic characters that spring up from time to time and hurl
abuse at you in French! It also has some jumping water fountains
(copied from Imagination in WDW), which you walk under as part of the
maze. At the end you reach a mini castle/tower complex from which there
are good views. Down from the tower is a helter skelter slide which my
son enjoyed (we were at the bottom waiting for him but where was the
daughter ... a slightly embarrassed Joanna arrives via the stairs
having learned she was too big to go down the slide! We were tired and
I guess we didn't take all this in, so when my daughter announces she
knows the way out we dutifully follow. 5 minutes later we retrace our
steps to the tower and exit in a minute.
Euro Disneyland Railroad
We catch the train from Fantasyland station to Main Street as an
alternative to walking back to the entrance.
Hotel Cheyenne
A beautifully warm Renault bus takes us back and at 18:00 ish we arrive
at the Hotel Cheyenne. It still took too long to check in (get room
key, charge cards etc.). There are lots of details in the Reception
area and elsewhere but we just want to get to our room. Finally we get
to the room, great for the children with lots of western detail but
smaller than Novotel we vacated this morning, (the bunk beds save
space). We have dinner in Chuck Wagon Cafe, which has a very large
dinning area, which is quite noisy as it is now crowded. Back to the
room for a change to warmer clothing and then back to the Parc.
Electrical Parade - 21:30 to 22:30 ish
We wait in Main Street for the Electrical Parade scheduled for 21:30
which is about 10 minutes late. Whilst waiting two incidents occur,
someone violently pushes from the back to get a view, he is picked up
by the scruff of the neck and told to P... O.. (he speaks in French). A
fight threatens and then he and his friends move off, only to return
with a Disney official. He is obviously trying to make out we are the
wrong doers, as is on cue half a dozen fingers are pointed at him from
the crowd and the incident fizzles out. Just before the parade begins
another French speaking male walks down the street and stands his three
children in front of us on the street, we occupy the curb. He is and
his offspring are moved on about half a dozen paces and he then gets
into an argument with a female Disney official for being on the street
rather than the pavement. He doesn't accept this and so a male official
is summoned, I still don't think he moved but the parade had started
and so I lost interest. Finally someone else with a camcorder is
pushing and poking my daughter and wife, my wife finds an umbrella
close to his nether regions is an effective deterrent. This Parade is
new to us as we didn't see in this in WDW (it wasn't running in
October). It is astounding and the music is running round our heads
long after it has ended.
Afterwards we wander up to and around the castle and then watch the
Fireworks with the castle acting as a foreground. This looks great on
video afterwards and we were near a loudspeaker so the sound is good as
well, we leave at about 23:00.
Walk back through Festival Disney
The rest of the family catch a bus whilst I explore briefly Festival
Disney. It is beautifully lit up, the lights above (strung between the
columns) give the impression of a ceiling of stars (at night). Overall
very modern and American. It takes me about 10 minutes to walk back via
the Buena Vista Lake and the Hotel New York and then along the banks of
the Rio Grande to the Hotel, all beautifully lit up ...
Day 2 - April 13th
Frontier Fort etc.
A leisurely start sees us exploring the Frontier Fort and tepees, the
plan is then to stroll over to the Sequoia Lodge and sample the
breakfast there. All the grounds are immaculately laid out and a joy to
behold. However we arrive at 09:45 to find that they have finished
serving breakfast. A backup plan is developed and we decide to try for
food at Festival Disney.
Festival Disney
Annettes Diner beckons (a replica of a 1950s Diner) as from yesterday
we have determined that there is nowhere in the Parc that serves
breakfast. This is initially a pleasant experience as a roller skating
waitress conducts us to our table. After that however it goes downhill,
having taken the order the delivery is very slow, (45 minutes, the
order got lost) and they have a power cut. We finally get the food with
just about everyone checking that we have finally got it and that it is
okay. It is also expensive, I don't think you will save money by coming
out of the Parc to eat in Festival Disney! Whilst all this is going on
I rush over to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, to check that the change
to the reservation that wife phoned through to the London Booking
Office has been made. It hasn't and the clerk admits that they have had
some problems with downloading from the central computer system. In the
end I leave the booking for the 21:00 performance instead of the 18:00,
and having finished breakfast we finally get into the Parc at 11:00
Big Thunder Mountain
We decide that we should do this before the queues get any longer, we
have about a 20 minute wait. Here we witness some blatant queue
jumping, climbing over adjacent railings to shortcut the queue, and
subtle, sidling past us to get ahead. We share opinions of the queue
jumpers with some of the All American Marching Band. Under cover the
queue split into 2 lines, the left hand side is quicker than the right
hand side although this has a better view of the scenery. The ride is
better than WDW, there are 3 dark sections where it twists and turns
(evoking memories of Space Mountain in WDW), 2 of which are under
river/lake to get the ride onto the island. However I think there was
less interest on ride, in terms of scenery, ie old mine workings etc.
Swiss Family Tree House
This is very similar to WDW (and not quite like film according to
daughter who has watched this endlessly). Very cold water splashing
from the bamboo buckets doesn't have the same effect in this climate as
Florida.
Adventure Island
We explore Adventure Island, looking at the Wrecked ship, walking
across the suspension bridge, wandering through the caves and look at
views through telescopes placed at viewpoints. Then we retrace our
steps but go over the barrel bridge through the wrecked ship to look at
Captain Hooks ship. We then warm ourselves with drinks at Captain Hooks
Galley, at about 13:00. The tables beside Captain Hooks Galley are out
in the open, in one of the illustrations I have seen this area has
"sails" acting as awnings.
Pirates of the Caribbean
In to the warmth! This ride is conceptually the same as WDW, although
it has benefited from better Audio-Animatronics. At the start of the
ride, the boats pass in front of the Blue Lagoon Restaurant, the food
looked quite nice from the menu outside, and the setting looked good, a
bit like Mexico in WDW. This ride also had a couple of downhill
sections ending in water splashes. One of the best, complete with the
haunting tune.
Fantasy Festival Stage
Not long after we had emerged it began to rain, as we were near the
Fantasy Festival Stage we stopped to watch the show under cover. My
wife recognised some of the dancers as those who had been to Birmingham
on a pre opening publicity tour. The usual professional Disney show.
15:00 Parade
We wandered off when the show ended and by chance found ourselves near
the Fantasyland entrance where the Parade was starting from. So we
watched the Parade! This one didn't have the Marching Band but it was
significantly warmer than the 11:00 parade the previous day. Again very
enjoyable, I got to see this one for real instead of through a tiny b&w
monitor!
Star Tours
As we were close, we decided to do this again, (also to warm up again).
This time there was no queue at all and we literally walked straight
onto the ride. My wife thought that it was not so effective second time
around but we still had to pause whilst my son recovered his breath,
(it is sometimes difficult to tell when he is acting but I think this
was a genuine reaction).
Captain E.O.
This was at my wife's request, exactly as per WDW (they were hardly
going to re-film it). Once again the 3D effects were good but the story
line leaves me unmoved, it was cold coming out into the open again.
Cable Car Brake Shop
As we were dinning later we decided a snack was sufficient we selected
the Cable Car Brake Shop on Main Street because it would offer our
favourite snack hot chocolate, brownies and chocolate cookies.
Unfortunately there was a limited number of seats to sit down, and
there was an outbreak of "sitters before getting fooders" ie people
reserving tables before they had purchased the food!
Euro Disneyland Railroad
Quite a long wait (20 minutes) to board this to ride from Main Street
to Fantasyland station. Less atmosphere mainly because there was no
music on train, resulting in rather restrained atmosphere. The speed
also seemed to be slower although this might have been an illusion. The
Grand Canyon Diorama was an unexpected and pleasant surprise and
started almost as soon as the train goes into the tunnel after leaving
the station. There were a few teething problems on the train and at one
point we came to a complete halt and a driver/fireman was seen to leave
the train to walk forward to do what? The illusion broke down a bit
just before the Fantasyland station where you go into another tunnel.
Here late 20th century poured concrete was in evidence!
Dumbo
Finally we couldn't avoid it any longer, we had to ride Dumbo (at my
sons insistence). As per WDW but much more ornate. At WDW there are
just basic arms that the cars go up and down on. Here the arms have
little windmills, underneath is a moat into which fountains play. A
slow loader entirely out in the open.
Le Carrousel de Lancelot
We did this just to be complete, nothing special.
Orbitron
We had to do this again, for my son again! By this time we had given up
trying to explain that this was just like Dumbo, (which shows how well
the magic works on the children). My daughter in contrast was looking
forward to giving her mother a bumpy ride having previously subjected
me to one.
Casey's Corner
A little bit of shopping in one of the shops (getting a Mickey Mouse
tie which wasn't available at Festival Disney). Then making our way
back to the entrance just time for a drink on the opposite side of Main
Street, just hot chocolate this time.
20:00 Parade
Almost by chance we are making our way out, walking down Main Street
behind crowds as the Parade comes to an end. A magic moment for my
daughter as Cinderella waves to her. A fitting end to our visit to the
Parc.
Buffalo Bills Wild West Show
Onto Buffalo Bills Wild West Show at Festival Disney. Having already
bought the tickets we arrived a little after 20:30, and were welcomed
and given straw hats with coloured bands. The show lasted from 21:00 to
22:30, included was a fixed menu:-
- Cattleman's Chilli
- Trailside Breads
- Barbequed Roast Chicken
- Ranch House Smoked Ribs and Sausages
- Genuine Corn on the Cob
- Roasted Potatoes
- Granny's Apple Cobbler with Ice Cream
- Draught Beer or Coca-Cola
- Campfire Coffee
The Beer or Coke was topped up very frequently, almost as much as you
wanted. Seating was on benches with a bench top in front for food
(rather like choir stalls). The evening was introduced by the Mayor of
Paris? who introduced his good friend Buffalo Bill. Announcements were
bilingual (French then English). The show was modelled on the show that
toured Europe in the previous century. There was very good audience
participation, the coloured bands on the hats, indicating boarding
sequence to auditorium, and also splitting the arena into 4 (by
corner).
Our show had two chuck wagons pulling into the arena and setting up
camp/cooking. Then sharp shooting demonstrations by Annie Oakley, not
too convincing this, given that the arena was 80% full (capacity 1000)
surprising the bullets didn't hit someone. They also had lassoing cows,
surprisingly by a single rear leg. At some point the buffaloes came in
and wandered in subdued lighting through a mist (carbon dioxide?) very
effective this.
The main part of the evening was a contest between the 4 corners of the
auditorium, which had everyone yelling at the tops of their voices,
there was a team for each corner in the ring. There were various
events, and each team seemed to win at least one event. Finally one
team was the winner, the prize a chest full of gold, a number of the
audience from the winning corner were selected to accompany the gold on
a stage coach. Predictably the coach was attacked, the thieves fall out
with each other and the cavalry comes to the rescue! There is enough
gold for everyone and as the food was cleared away, each of us got
"gold" coin. After the end of the show was announced an equal number of
mares with foals came in to roam around the arena, a magical moment
this.
No Photography or Video was allowed, although I did see some people
videoing the foals.
All in all very entertaining, there was so much going on, it was
difficult to devote time to eat!
Walk back to hotel
We then walked back to the hotel via Festival Disney repeating my route
from the previous night.
Day 3 - Morning of 14th April
Breakfast
Although we have finished with the Parc, we still have a morning before
we start the homeward journey. We get breakfast this time, at the Chuck
Wagon Cafe, the dinning area is pretty full so we go outside under a
covered area, this is nice but the temperature is cool. We then check
out, again there are delays, only about half the possible clerk space
is occupied by clerks, in contrast to the opening day when it was all
occupied!
Play and Photos
Bill settled, room vacated we have a good look around the Hotel. The
children play in and around wagons and around the streets (each of the
blocks of the Hotel was a building on a street). While parents
photograph the buildings, the children pretend to rob the bank.
Shopping at Festival Disney
The big shop at the Disney Store (10% discount on production of a Magic
Kingdom Club card). There are also also Movie Magic and Team Mickey but
we didn't bother.
Lunch
Finally a snack lunch at the Sports Bar, again very expensive but by
now I was past caring.
Back to car and home ...
Epilogue
Other Minor details
My daughter first noticed that the Disney staff were wearing two
badges, one of which had at least one national flag on it, these
indicated the languag(e)s spoken in addition to French.
The detail in the Disney maps wasn't very good those in the Michelin
Map were superior.
Summary
Something will have to be done to stop the Queue jumpers/pushers.
Disney has adopted a rational approach to the weather, broadly for
outdoor attractions you queue in the open, for indoor you at least
queue undercover, if not inside. Having said that, it was cold but will
obviously get better towards the summer. This will probably only be
seen as a disadvantage by those who have experienced Florida or
California, others wont know any better.
I don't think we queued for more than about 15 to 20 minutes and like
WDW everything is less busy early or late in the day.
The "detail" is excellent better than WDW if you compare it with the
Magic Kingdom, they have also done a good job on the Hotel Complex, it
is compact yet all blends together and it better themed than WDW?
I think you need a minimum of two days to see all/most of the Parc, if
you do so you will see little of your Hotel or the other Hotels or
Festival Disney. If you are staying for longer you can afford to be
more leisurely and see the other things (or repeat some of the rides).
With the Parc open, the option of side trips to Paris is a possibility.
The centre of Paris is about 30 minutes by train from the Euro Disney
station. My personal preference would be to stay at Disney, rather than
in Paris, mainly because I don't like the thought of the 30 minute
train plus whatever else at the end of a day in the Parc. The other
reason is security there were a number of guards in the Disney Hotel
car parks, our car was broken into outside Torcy railway station, on
our first day going into Paris.
- what else?
|
| 290.14 | 2nd Hand Trip Report | WOTVAX::BATTY | Well, I wouldn't start from here! | Thu May 07 1992 10:12 | 102 |
| Trip Report on behalf of Mike and June Smith (non-Deccies, but
since they have benefited from info in this file, they wanted to
pay back a little.)
Last night I spoke with Mike and June, who have just returned from
a weekend in ED. They are seasoned Disney visitors (4 visits of
2-3 weeks long in WDW and 1 of 1 week in DL), so I respect their
comments.
They flew from Manchester (UK) to Charles De Gaulle, landing at
10am Friday 1st May. There is a shuttle bus from the airport to ED
which is supposed to run every half hour, but they waited for 1.5
hrs for it to turn up. Every enquiry was treated with a gallic
shrug and the reply "It will be here soon. When it comes it
comes!" Arrived at ED 12.30. No problems or hold-ups at check-in,
by 1.30 they were unpacked, tickets purchased and at the Blue
Lagoon Restaurant within the Pirates of the Caribbean for lunch.
General impression - It's absolutely beautiful, the colour
combinations are stunning, and the castle blows away it's
counterparts in WDW and DL. There seems to be more detail, if
possible, on everything, and themeing is more consistent. They
liked the way all the hotel complexes seemed to blend together.
Weather dry and warm for their two-night stay, mid 60's to 70, so
didn't pay much attention to the 'weatherproofing' within the
park.
Merchandise stock is low and not very varied. June (She tends to
be OTT on Disney!) was wearing full regalia - Ears with gold bow,
Minnie ear-rings and watch, Minnie sweatshirt, Minnie cycling
shorts, Minnie socks and shoes with Minnie faces on the bows
(You're right, she's rather fond of Minnie!!) They saw nothing
similar on sale, and she was always being stopped and asked where
she got them (and did she want to sell them!!). All the brochures
and books still only had artist's impressions or photos from WDW,
not actual pictures of ED yet.
It's very expensive - lunch for two at the Blue Lagoon cost them
�35 (around $60) for three courses of average quality.
It's very noisy - everyone seemed to shout, even if they were
standing side by side.
It's understaffed, undertrained, and chaotic.
Lines and crowds were not as bad as they expected. Apart from BTMR
(see below), 15-20 mins was average.
Details.
Generally everything felt very familiar to them, so
they mainly mentioned differences.
The ELP enters by Small World, near the castle, and runs
down Main Street (opposite of WDW). There were no crowds near the
start. By the time it reached the end of Main Street, crowds were
three or four deep. No schedules were available for times of shows
etc. (They'd unfortunately run out!!), so the parade and the
fireworks probably took most visitors by surprise.
Fireworks on the Friday were impressive. On Saturday, they
were cancelled with no announcement or reason!
They stayed at the Newport Bay Club Hotel. Identical in
style and furnishing to WDW's Y&BC. They reckoned a 15-20 min
stroll round the lake, so didn't use the transport system. (On
their return walks each night, they were challenged for Resort
ID's as they came out of the Festival Disney area to continue to
their hotel. It seems that the "Ladies of the Night" are already
plying for trade from hotel guests!!!)
Phantom Manor was similar to HM, but spoiled by noisy,
undisciplined crowds, shouting, throwing things, jumping up in the
cars and trying to surprise people behind them. They couldn't hear
the commentary on the speakers, so have no idea what language it
was in! Youths were trying to touch the displays, and one even got
out and stood with some skeletons!!
Big Thunder was much better. Longer, faster, but with less
of the abrupt peaks and dips on the rails. The only snag was speed
of loading. Once people were in the 'loading pens' they constantly
changed places and lanes, and even got up and moved round once
seated in the train! WDW's BTMR would have loaded 2-3 trains in
the time it took to load one. This ride consistently had the
longest wait, at 45 mins throughout the day and evening.
Overall, they enjoyed it, but felt that many more, experienced,
assertive cast members were required. Queuing and discipline in
lines was non existent, and cast members were unable or unwilling
to control it. Wherever ropes were put up, the crowds didn't just
duck under, they unclipped them and took them down. They saw a
small child on several occasions through Saturday evening with one
of the ropes coiled and slung over his shoulder, but none of the
cast members challenged him.
Verdict. Has great potential, once the cast members are up to
strength and have some experience under their belts. Newcomers to
Disney will enjoy it, but 'seasoned hands' may be disappointed in
comparison to DL or WDW.
Mike B.
|
| 290.15 | What I did on my Disney vacation! | SALEM::NELSON_D | | Wed May 13 1992 09:21 | 91 |
| After being threatened with harrasment in the work place if I didn't
enter a report, I will now do so 8^)
Day 1 Mon. May 10th.- Me and my new wife were picked up at our house at
6:15a.m. by limo and taken to Logan IA to catch our 8:30 Delta 757
non-stop flight to orlando. The flight was uneventfull. (at this time
I would like to thank the makers of XanaX for getting my wife through
the flight 8^) Arrived in Orlando at 11 and rented a car from dollar.
Thanks to our travel agent we got an upgrade from a Hundai to a Dodge
Dynasty.
We arrived at the CBR about 12:30 and headed to the Custom house to see
when we could check in. Although the Custom house was very crowded we
waited only about 5 minutes to make it to the desk and were surprised
and happy to find our room was ready and we could check right in.
I liked the CBR. The room was plenty big enough and clean. We stayed
in the Martinque section, second floor corner room overlooking the
water. Building 26, which is next to Port Royale. We didn't eat much
at OPR except for the pizza and beer which we had several times at 11 p.m.
in the Tavern after a long day. Pizza good, Beer cold, we were happy.
After checking in we took a ride around and ended up stopping for an
early dinner in Red Lobster at the Crossroads. Finally, got to eat in
one after seeing all those commercials. It was good. We spent the rest
of the night driving around and checking things out, and then back to
the room. (after all, It was my honeymoon 8^) )
Day 2- Took advantage of the early admission into the MK and got in
about 8:15. Already to late for the Diamond Horeshoe show, the line
for that was longer than for any ride all week. we then proceeded to
to hit most of the rides we wanted to do by 12:00. Just about walked on
all rides except the Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan. Had a quick lunch and
more rides then back to main street. Left about 4 and went to The Olive
Garden for dinner. Then to the hotel for a shower and off to Epcot. I
fiqured we could walk around for awhile and go on a few rides. WRONG.
We hit them ALL except for the Land. Were gonna wait for Illuminations
but were to tired and headed back to the hotel about 8:30. Watched
illum. from the beach, then off to the pool bar for a couple of night
caps.
Day 3- Back to Epcot and the World Showcase. Spent most of the day
there. Favorite Countries, U.K., Morocco, U.S.A, Mexico.
Also spent about 2 hours at Typhoon Lagoon.
Went to Morrison's for dinner back to the hotel and yes...The pool & bar.
Day 4- MGM, I had never been there before and really enjoyed it. We
both thought the Muppet 3-D show was one of the best things we saw all
week. My wife got on the Super-star show as part of the person-on-the-
street scene from the Letterman show. She loved it, what a ham.
This was probably the biggest crowd we saw all week, but still wasn't
that bad at all. It also was the worst weather we had all week. It was
drizzly and cold (about 70). Left MGM about 4 and went back to the
Olive Garden again for dinner, My wife loved this place. At about 6 we
parked at Epcot and took the monorail over to the MK for a couple of
hours to go on some of the rides again and then monorailed back to
Epcot to see Illuminations. We got a table right on the water at the
Pub in the U.K. and watched the show while enjoying a couple of Bass
ales. We thought the show was great.
Day 5- My wife reminded me we were on our honeymoon and we decided to
take this day off , relax, and enjoy the hotel. Spent the day at the
pool, rented a paddle boat, and played volleyball on the beach. It was
nice to relax. Got dressed about 7 and took a tour of most of the
hotels. We were really impressed with the Floridian and stopped in at
the lounge. At 9:30 we went to the Polynesian for the Luau, The H-D-
Bar. was impossible to get in to so we decided to give the Luau a shot
against most of the opinions expressed here. Although we can't compare
it to the other dinner shows we both liked the Luau and thought the
food was pretty good.
Day 6- We spent our last full day in MGM and Epcot seeing the things
we had missed earlier at a nice relaxing pace. Had lunch at the Sci-Fi
Theater in MGM and dinner at Perkins. We also hit Old Town for a couple
of hours and spent some time in the lounge of the Empress Lily.
Spent our last night at Pleasure Island. I though this place
was great. went to all the clubs and saw a good band at the outside
stage.
Day 7- Checked out of the hotel about 10:30 had breakfast and headed
down 192 to Gatorland (my wife really wanted to go see some Gators)
Then off to the Airport for the flight home.
Summary- My 5th time to WDW but my first in about 4 years, Things sure
do change fast there. It was my wifes first time in WDW and she loved
it. It always impressed me how they can run things so smoothly and
friendly for the amount of people that they handle there. The trip
was great!
Well the honeymoons over, But we're going back in march. My folks have
a place rented for a month down there. I can't wait.
-dave-
|
| 290.16 | April 2 - April 9 | 56649::TOHOKU::TAYLOR | | Thu May 14 1992 14:12 | 524 |
|
My brother and his wife joined the Navy and both families decided to
go down to Orlando to see the recruit graduation. After looking at too
many options we decided to do the 3 day Delta dream vacation staying
at the Quality Inn on International Drive, followed by the 4 day
Disney Vacation plan at the Yacht Club. The Delta plan included an
Alamo car - a GEO storm, that we extended for the rest of the stay
for $25+tax.
Thursday April 2
5:30 I go get doughnuts and muffins for the ride to the airport.
MaryAnn, my wife, has already made the champagne and OJ.
5:45 limo arrives early
6:00 phone parents and brother about pickup times and leave house
6:30 My brother's fiance can not go, so he talked a friend into going.
Despite my calling, my father calling, he is still not packed.
6:45 go pick up parents
7:30 arrive airport
The plane is overbooked and Delta is looking for people to bump.
After about 15 minutes, my mother talks my father into volunteering.
Another 15 minutes, then my brother and friend volunteers. Another
15 minutes, MaryAnn, my mother and I all volunteer. Meanwhile,
a band with 200 teenagers shows up and gets on the plane. [1]
My father, brother and friend get bumped, but they only needed
3 more people so MaryAnn, my mother and I get on the plane. But
they gave our seats to someone else and the teenagers are all
sitting next to their friends, not in their seats. The band
leader is yelling sit down. The stewardess are yelling stand up.
I get called to the front of the plane, and was told to stand over
there. Shortly, MaryAnn and my mother wander up too. Then they
tell us to stand stand closer to the door, next to the door,
then outside the door, oh the heck with it take the next plane.
They give us boarding passes for the next flight, coupons for a
free flight, and $5 each for breakfast. We go eat at the airport
cafe and watch our original flight taking off one hour late. My
brother and his friend say goodbye and head into Boston to say
goodbye to his fiance again, and leave the free tickets with her.
Fortunately he makes it back in time for the flight. Our actual
flight left on time and was mostly empty. I stretched across the
center 5 seats and took a nap. Arrived and picked up the bags. No
waiting since the luggage came in on the earlier flight. We find
the Alamo bus and pickup car. Follow father to the Quality Inn
on International Drive. Suitable room on the third floor making it
easy to come and go. The room also had a lock box in the wall.
The tub/shower was a bit small.
We clean up and head over to the naval training center (NTC) to
meet my brother and his wife. The timing was great. We had planned
to go to US after we arrived on the early morning flight, but we
would not have made it. See a USO show, say hello and get something
to eat. Leave NTC and stop at the Red Lobster for dinner. (reasonable)
Friday April 3
7:00 Breakfast buffet at Quality, terrible even at $4.50 each.
Drove over to the NTC for the 'Pass in Review' ceremony.
This was the 1st integrated (men and women) in same training group
and the Secretary of the Navy was speaking.
12:00 Lunch at NTC with the gang of 11.
My father and mother, my brother and his wife, brother's wife's
parents, friend of that brother, my other brother, his friend,
and MaryAnn and I.
1:00 We leave NTC no knowing where the others are going.
1:30 Arrive Universal Studios
[email protected] $62.00 - 10% discount + tax == $59.16 + $4 parking
Mega lines at ET (>1�hr), looked at Bates motel house, Hard Rock
Cafe mobbed
Joined the Back to the Future (BttF) line ~ 45 minutes ??
Earthquake ~1hr line
later ET, Kongfrontation, and Earthquake broke down
Around 3:00 there was big surge in the size of the BttF line.
This might have been caused by one of the other riding breaking,
or it might be that the high school across closed for the day.
My brother was on EQ when it broke. they tried several times to
restart it before having everyone leave. As they left they gave
everyone a coupon to go the head of any other line in the park.
Nice touch.
6:00 Closing time, meet parents, brother and others at front gate.
MaryAnn and my mother complained at guest relations and were
given complimentary passes. The US employee said this the first
time in a very long time that 3 rides had gone down in one day.
After some discussion we agreed to meet at Pasta Lovers on
International Drive for dinner (2 cars, 7 people). I hit a
little traffic but make it out ok. Father, on the other hand,
hits mega traffic and arrives 30 minutes later. Nice Italian
dinner. They have a morning buffet also. My brother and 2 others
tried the next morning with the discount coupons that the waiter
gave us, but he arrived late. The buffet was almost empty but they
cooked more and they were happy. We chose the Pasta Lovers
because it have a big sign that the drivers of both cars
remebered seeing before and therefore had a good chance of
finding again.
22:30 Decide to play Congo river golf on international drive with
mother. The sign says "more than a game its an adventure" and
it was. I lost my first shot into water more than four ft deep.
Both MaryAnn and my mother sent balls into water, but we found
their balls or others and broke even at the end. The couple behind
us were down 2 balls. This place had two 18 hole courses, both up
the side of the man-made concrete hill. One hole had an open hole
into a stream with a 10 ft waterfall, so without someone standing
in front of the hole, goodbye ball. (Mom won.) At the end you
get a scratch card and we won a prize: $1 off next game.
Saturday April 4
6:30 wakeup call
7:30 leave with father to pickup brother at NTC
8:00 arrive and begin search for brother
He and his wife settle the confusion over where to eat
We head back to the at Quality Inn and pick up mother and wife.
character breakfast at Poly with the gang of 11.
After a wait at the poly we are seated a two tables, one for 9
and one for two. The characters come by and pose for pictures
with the sailors and we all have a fun time.
12:00 We leave the poly to use the comp tickets for Universal Studios.
The others have not yet decided what they will do.
1:00 Arrive at US
animal show
wild west show
ET, Kongfrontation, BttF, ....
Murder she Wrote Mystery Theatre
Nickeleon Studios Tour
Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
Ghostbusters
I forget how many times did we did each, but we went each thrill
ride multiple times. ET and Kongfrontation were only good for 1
ride each. MaryAnn called ET 'it's a small alien world'.
The lines were much shorter than yesterday.
I got 2 hot dogs (2.35ea = $5.30) while we waited in line but
they opened the doors before we were done. While they stopped
us at the door with dogs in our mouth, they did let us in if
we put them in our pocket. (We did)
Mel's Drive-in $10.10 chili dog & hamburger + drinks (ok/good)
9:00 lagoon show -- they do a practic run through then do the actual show
with the fireworks, nice action.
9:30 stop for a tee-shirt $16.17, letting the crowd beat us to the parking
lot so there was no traffic by the time we left. Stopped at
fudge shop for sugar fix.
10:00 Casa Gallardo on international drive for dinner $23
opinion: ok Mexican food
11:30 crash back at Quality Inn
Sunday April 5
8:00 check out of the Quality Inn
9:00-9:30 check in at the Yacht Club. They had a room ready so we moved
in Large bright room, but at the far end of the hotel. Since there
was only one set of elevators, and no unalarmed stairs, this meant
walking a fair distance to the middle of the hotel to leave.
I prefer the multiple unit hotels better.
10:00 Brunch at the Contemporary for the gang of 10.
They gave a choice of tables; all together up against the
brunch table or two tables next to each other. We took two
tables, but that limited conversion a bit. The food was
plentiful and good. Sami (a 15 year veteran of WDW) was our
waitress, and was very good. Sat down, told stories and had fun
with us. Slow day. The total bill was $300.
12:15 start to leave brunch not wanting to eat again ever.
Stop to talk with Sami about other places to eat, and
lost the rest of the group. We walked over to the MK.
1:20 sitting in space mountain car
haunted mansion
big thunder mountain
country bear review
(people would not move down even when told directly 'you move')
New Railroad station next to splash mountain is much nicer than
old one. Lots of line room and rope holes for splash mountain,
looked like a possible 4 hour line outside. Also has rest area
that most patrons have not yet discovered.
pirates of Caribbean
jungle cruise -- same corny lines but trimmed some trees and
I found it much brighter
Repeat above until lines too long.
5:27 Snack break time at Pinocchio's $4.63
We like to sit at the window and wave to the people on the
boats entering it's a small world?
then it was our turn on small world (once each trip)
and we waved at the people waving at us
haunted mansion
space mountain
It was getting chilly, so we get our coats from the Main St lockers
ride the railroad to
big thunder mountain
8:21 Pecos Bills $12.72
We decide to sit down and wait for the parade at the rope
outside Pecos Bills and across the street from the road to BTM.
Don't you love pushy rude parents that encourage their kids to
elbow up the rope. I did have to catch one child from going
into the street and under a float.
suffered from inhaling dry ice fumes, but enjoyed the parade
As the parade ends,
we go across the street and walk up to BTM for 2 quick rides.
9:30 Park closes
Stop to buy another tee-shirt
get lost driving back, stop at Dixie landings and walked around
the food court and pool
arrive back at the yacht club.
Decide to try the pool but the big pool is closed and we can not
find the other smaller pool.
Monday April 6
8:00 Buffet at the gallery (hotel restaurant)
nice selection of breakfast items, wife enjoyed the sticky buns.
9:30 walked over to the back door of Epcot
rode Mexico -- it is a small Mexican world (I like it)
Norway -- cute water ride skipped the movie again
never have seen the movie
both were walk-ons
10:30 finished world showcase
The easy access to Epcot would be a big advantage to the YC&BC
if you want to do Epcot every day. For me, it is a pass.
Kodak Imagination - walk-on - nice ride and we like it
The Land - kitchen cabaret - walk-on to the front row center
This is a cute but corny show. A housewife in fishnet stockings?
Living Seas - no line - tour/elevator and walk around
- saw the baby manatee
11:30 Spaceship Earth 15 minute wait
walked across to MET building
Body Wars - 15 minute wait - far less bumpy then BttF
Where you sit makes a big difference, with the far rear
corners having the most movement. I still think the 30 seconds
of blood vessel is a red version of ST's gray asteroid tunnel.
Cranium Command - walk right in
watch at the end and see George Wendt kiss the butterfly
also at the end watch the lower corner monitors for other
interesting stuff
Horizons - GE Carousel of progress at Epcot with 1 minute
simulator ride -- nice enough
Skipped the Exxon dinosaurs and GM motor exhibits
2:00 We tried to eat at the living seas, but the vacation plan
coupon was not good for lunch only dinner. They were very nice and
offered to let us use a dinner coupon which was good.
(In hindsight, maybe we should have done that.)
We walked to England Rose & Crown to have a beer and
wait for lagoon show along wall.
$4.50 for a beer, $1.50 for a soft drink for great seats is
good bargain.
3:30 back to hotel
The vacation package gift basket was in the room. In a nice change
from fruit, it was filled with chips, pretezels, cookies, etc.
A large disney 20th Anniversary photo album was also included.
Eat lunch at Beaches & Cream
2 turkey burgers with Malt/Sundae $17.44
went swimming in the pools with the sand bottoms,
and tried the water slide. The slide is nice, but short.
5:30 Shower, change and head over to Pleasure Island for dinner with
with my parents.
7:00 Portabolo at Pleasure Island
Nice meal, but the beers were expensive.
$83.37 on the vacation plan coupons. My parents meal was smaller
and less expensive. [2]
9:00 Said goodbye to parents (they went shopping) and we went to see
Woody Harrelson (Woody on Cheers) do a concert at the end of PI.
Yes, He can sing. His co-star from 'white men can't jump' was
also in band and Woody claims he always wins the roundball
when the games are for real. It is really amazing to see teenagers
get excited about a Beatles song. I guess the only way to irritate
your parents who prided themselves on being different is to be
just like them.
11:15 While standing in line for the comedy club we missed the 11:00 new
year excitement. The comedy club was so-so and they dragged out one
particular scene far, far too long.
Sometime in here we stopped into the adventures club, always a fun
time.
Late crash back at the room.
Tuesday April 7
6:30 wake-up call
7:30 Catch the bus outside hotel door for the vacation package
early entrance to the MK.
7:45 MK train to Mickey's Starland
breakfast at Tommorrowland -- reasonable eggs with juice and coffee
This was our chance do the fantasy land rides -- Mr Toad,
Snow White, the Carousel (Peter Pan was closed)
Most of the Disney characters were out signing autographs.
MaryAnn pointed out that Donald Duck was missing and he is the
hardest autograph to get. Most of the children were good,
waiting thier turn, but some parents should be shot.
8:45 While my wife went to get film I waited at the rope watching
a Disney person trying to keep people inside the fantasyland area.
He was polite but firm. Some attractions could have used him to
get people to move all the way down.
(35mm Film at Mickey's Mart is 7.75 + tax = $8.22)
Once the rope dropped, I joined the crowd running to SM. I
stopped to wait for MaryAnn, but once I saw her running toward
SM I rejoined crowd making it about 9th in line. Here again I
waited a little more for her before starting in and she caught
up. We ended up about 30th in line. Came out and right back in
for a 2nd ride. Came out and went back in for a 3rd trip. This
time it was about a 20 minute wait so we went over to the
haunted mansion and walked in. Came out and walked right back
in, only faster as the door was already open and the room half
filled.
Big Thunder Mountain looked like it had a line, so we went to
the pirates. That only a had 5 minute wait so afterwards we
headed back to BTM. Even though there was a line down the side
of the mountain the sign said only a 15 minute wait. There was
no line inside and we were seated in the train within 15 minutes.
From there walked around and rode the river boat. Later we passed
on the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, even though I had not
be on it in decades, because it had the longest line we saw all day.
12:00 take the boat over to Narcooses for lunch
This is always pleasant meal, if you have coupons, and we
really enjoyed this 2 hour meal from appetizer to desert. >$100
2:00 head for MGM
We arrived just in time for the start of the Indiana Jones
stunt show, but it was SRO (standing room only). But as the
person next to us said, 'we can stand for a hour and see the
show or we could stand for an hour waiting to see the show'. So we
stood at the back and watched. About 20 minutes in to the real
show it started raining (hard) and they cut the show in half
by eliminating the airplane scene. Since we were SRO, we were
the first ones out, and the first ones across the street to
catch the sound show as they closed the doors. It was still
raining when we came out so we took shelter in Endor for a 20
minute wait for Star Tours. It had stopped raining by the time
we came out, so we walked around and joined the long line for the
animation tour. We went very slowly though the tour and checked
out every toy each artist had surrounding their work area.
We made up for that earlier wait by walking right up to the
backstage tour tram, waited only long enough for a person to
yell at the other two tram loaders then hopped on the tram. Ok,
we broke stride, it was still a walk-on. Watched as the tour
guide said 'people on the right are going to get wet. So people
got up and moved left. Then she said 'but the people on the
left are going to get really wet' and then those same people
get up to swap places again. Personally I liked Earthquake at
US better. While CC's water rush is bigger, there are more
details to watch at EQ.
The crowd is thinning as the wet ones left, and the dry ones
got hot and tired of wearing/carrying the plastic ponchos so
they also left. Two walk-ons to ST, including one where we
didn't break stride until the door to the simulator
(and the clock was at less than 2 minutes to show time).
Tried Muppet 3D and it was lots of fun even without kids. I got
wetter here than at CC. Real bubbles?? We didn't turn around
to see the back of the theater but did see the walls repair
themselves at the end. Nice special effects.
Walked onto the GMR car on the gangster side.
6:45 MGM closed at 7 so we took the water taxi back the hotel.
Trying to decide where to eat was harder than expected since we
were still full from lunch. We called to make reservations
at Tony's and then took bus over to the MK.
8:30 Tony's was very rushed and meal was small and only so-so $34.14
This was the smallest meal we eat on the vaction plan coupons.
We could see some of the parade through the window.
Did the pool at the yacht club until it closed,
but we wanted more water time. After searching for the
yacht club's pool for some time, walked up to the front desk
at 9:45 in our swim suits and towels asking about the pool.
We were on vacation!!! We found it and did the jacuzzi till late
sleep....
Wednesday April 8
We take the water taxi over to MGM
8:?? Breakfast at Hollywood & Vine @ MGM $11.66
This was the cafeteria style with trays. The French toast were
1x5 inch strips.
Used the voice mail phone system to catch phone call from parents
and arranged to meet for lunch.
mermaid show
got wet again, man behind us remarked that you couldn't fall
asleep during this show
film, live actors, and puppets, great show
Caught 10 minutes of Miss Piggy and Kermit show. I thought my
wife wanted to go and she thought I wanted to go, ... walking and
looking, enjoyed the street shows
11:21 Drive-in theater for a snack (1 club sandwich and 2 shakes) $14.05
fun place I remembered most of the films
1:30 Lunch with parents at Colonel's cotton mill at Dixie landings.
It was like a mall food galley with several different types of
fast food. Went here because my wife thought the sit down restaurant
was open, it is not open at lunch. We then went for a walk around
the hotel.
As the parents headed for the airport, we headed for typhoon
lagoon. We changed, found two chairs to drop off the towels,
and jumped on tube in the creek. We laid in the tubes and rode
around the creek, twice. After checking out the slides we chicken
out of the big one and went down the medium slide, twice. Walked
around some more and enjoyed more water until closing at 5:00.
Finding where we left our towels turned out to be a challenge.
5:30 Back at the hotel for a shower and a little relaxing.
8:30 - 11:30 Victoria and Alberts
We took the bus over, and came back by taking the bus to PI (I
could not talk MaryAnn into staying for a while, she was coming
down with a bad cold but was lucky enough that it really didn't
hit until she was home) and then took next bus back to yacht club.
Welcome to Victoris & Albert's
April 8, 1992
Sauteed breast of california squab served on grilled eggplant
with daikon and carrot "pasta"
A chilled selection of imported italian meats and cheeses
with a seasonal mushroom salad
"Napoleon" of veal with layers of tomato, leeks and shittake
on a creamy vodka sauce
Seafood chowder flavored with pernod
Duck consomme with smoked duck and tiny honey mushrooms
Carved lion of spring lamb rolled in a fresh mint pesto and served
with cheesy polenta
North atlantic salmon with florida shrimp in a spicy coconut chili
sauce
Carved loin of new zealand elk with fresh morel and cabarnet sauce
Broiled breast of free range chicken on a caramelized spring onion
and chicken glace
Seasonal salad leaves with roasted garlic and black pepper corn
dressing
Royal stilton with poached pear
A trio of mousse in a florentine shell
Toasted coconut and praline souffle
Drambuie and orange blossom honey souffle
Fantasy of fruits and berries
Coffee, Friandises
I love the harp music playing in the background. The meal is
great and the service excellent. They have added a wine with
each course for $X extra, but I declined. The coffee is brewed
at the table and they now have printed slips with the name of
the coffee maker.
Brew-to-order Coffee Maker
Silesia Grill Machines Inc
4770 County road
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
813.544.1340 (local)
800.237.4766 US and Canada
This is an expensive meal, ($150+tax&tip) but less than my
mother spent on souvenirs in one day.
Thursday April 9
Breakfast at the hotel buffet again.
Check the room for unpacked items and used the express check out.
Head out for MGM.
At the last moment I look for the house keys and can not find
them. I panic and waste an hour looking through every suitcase
until I find them. This was the worst hour of the entire trip.
Back at MGM, we wander around and use the last lunch coupon at the
prime-time cafe $56.03. Maybe we had already eaten too much on the
trip but I wasn't impressed, but wife did eat most of the chocolate
car. One more Muppet movie and it is time to return the car.
The flight is not crowded, we arrive back home on time, and my
brother is waiting to pick us up.
Misc
[1] The band was on the plane the brother took home. He said they
clapped at everything. The plane taxied, they clapped. The plane
took out and they clapped. The movie started, the movie ended, the
pilot spoke, a snack was served, everything brought a round of
applause.
[2] My parents had dinner at Germany (my father's favorite Epcot
resturant) and were very disappointed. They said they were rushed
through the entire meal. The show was much shorter than they
remembered, and the price has gone way up. They have no desire
to return.
|
| 290.17 | Another Great Vacation!!! | AKOCOA::MYOUNG | | Thu May 14 1992 16:57 | 37 |
| My husband and I returned from Disneyworld yesterday and I already miss
it!
We went to Epcot on two days (my favorite!), Magic Kingdom, Typhoon
Lagoon, and Pleasure Island. Outside of the park we went to Universal
Studios and the Kennedy Space Center.
We had great weather all week. The first couple of days it was in the
70's (record lows) and by the end of our stay it was about 88.
Typhoon Lagoon is such a fun day. The large wave pool still amazes me.
The relaxing river which goes around the entire park is so relaxing!
We had a great time as always at Epcot. We had dinner at France (the
resteraunt located upstairs) the food was excellent and the service was
perfect. We also ate in Germany one evening and the entertainment was
great.
There were no lines at Epcot and we just walked onto the rides we
wanted to go on. The Illuminations program was bigger than it was two
years ago. It really is breathtaking.
The magic kingdom was fun and it was not overcrowded. The longest line
we waited in was 1/2 hour.
I had never been to the Kennedy Space Center before and I found it very
interesting. Universal Studios was great (we had been to MGM two years
ago) the rides were a lot of fun even though the lines were averaging
30 to 40 minutes long.
In the past we tried to do everything that Disney offered, this time we
took our time and relaxed. We saw plenty and had a lot of fun, only
this time I feel rested and relaxed - not exhausted.
Regards,
Mary
|
| 290.18 | Another LOONG trip report [you asked for it! :-) ] | DEMSUP::MACDONALD | I love March Madness!! | Fri May 15 1992 11:06 | 363 |
| Here's my Looong trip report! I've included my opinions about
attractions and shows [your mileage may vary :-)] and hints as appropriate.
WHO:
Family #1 - My family: Mr & Mrs Mac, Heather (age 9�), and Matthew (age 2�)
Family #2 - My brother-in-law's family: Mr & Mrs and 4 kids ages 11,9,7,6
Also with us for the first week were:
Family #3 - Friends of my brother-in-law: Mr & Mrs and 3 kids ages 9,6,5
Family #4 - My in laws: Mr and Mrs
WHEN:
Families #1 and #2 - Fri 4/17 to Fri 5/1
Families #3 and #4 - The first week only
HOW:
Families #1, #2, and #3 left WED 4/15 at about 7PM from our meeting
place in Foxboro Ma. for the drive down. Checked in to the Days Inn in
Savanah by 3PM on Thurs, and drove to Lake Buena Vista [Vistana Resort] for
our Friday check in.
Family #4 had driven down to Florida the previous week to visit other
relatives and joined us on Saturday 4/18.
TICKETS:
My brother-in-law works for Met Life and via him we all bought
vouchers for 5 day superpasses at a 20% discount! Families #3 and #4
used 4 days worth and families #1 and #2 bought the unused day from
them, giving us six days of Disney!! Also used the MKC discounts for
admission/purchases at Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Universal Studios.
What we did:
Fri 4/17 Checked into our rooms and checked out the pools
Sat 4/18 Family #3 went to MK (they only had 1 week and the kids
couldn't wait!) Fam #1/#2 spent the day at the pools
(super pool, kiddie pools, hot pool, slide pool etc.)
Family #4 arrived that afternoon. Also my birthday, what
a way to spend it!!!
After supper had birthday cake and everything!
Sun 4/19
Easter Sunday - got to MK at 12:30, took the train to
Mickey's Starland then walked to Fantasyland. The park was packed, which we
expected, but we'd come to see the Easter Parade. 40 minute wait for Dumbo
with my son, others went to Space Mountain, but the line was too long.
Camped out in front of the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree before 2:30 for parade
viewing and had ice cream while we waited. Got the parade on videotape from
this location. During the parade Cinderella's coach was stopped right in
front of us and I was able to see her perfectly through the oval window
of her coach. At this time she waved to the folks on our side and then
she blew me a kiss! It's great when watching the video, I just
say hi when she's waving, then I say how about a little kiss for me;
then she blows me the kiss! Another case of being in the right place
at the right time. Then headed to Epcot via monorail, as MK was too crowded!
EPCOT: Energy - was ok, Matthew thought the dinosaurs were too loud!
Wonders of Life - always a good take, kids could spend hours there playing
with the exhibits. Saw Cranium Command, very funny with a great cast!
Decided to wait on bodywars as the line was long and my brother-in-law
[who works for Met] could get us in another day via the employee lounge!
Dinner at the Stargate rest. (Communicore East) - Chicken, burgers, and salads.
To Imagination for the Figment ride and Captn EO! My favorite place in EPCOT!
Some of the older kids went upstairs to play while the rest of us saw EO,
(even Matthew!) Left at about 8:45
Mon 4/20
Left at 8 to drive to Tampa (75 miles) for Busch Gardens. Saw lots of great
animals and did lots of rides, too. The weather was perfect for getting
wet so most of us did the boat ride [even Matthew - he loved it!] and the
tidal wave [Matthew and mom sat that one out!] Left about 7 just as the
thunderstorm started. Contact me if you want more details on BG
Tues 4/21
MGM - Met my wife's uncle and aunt at 10:30 and visited the Monster Sound
Show - fun and funny - and Superstar TV - don't miss this, the shows and
audience participants are great!! [I didn't get chosen tho! :-(] Came out
of the show at noon to find it pouring! [had some ponchos with us and bought
some others] Met family #2 for lunch at Starring Rolls (next to the Brown
Derby) at 12:30. Now raining lightly, waited 20-25 mins for Muppet-Vision 3D
- THIS IS GREAT!! I love the muppets and the movie was super! This and
Mermaid are the best attractions in MGM!
HINT: 3D effects, while great from anywhere, are best if you sit near the back
of the theatre, that way the 3D effects reach out over the audience to you.
Snack and rest at the Studio Catering Company next to Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
Heather went with family #2 to the special effects tour, Family #4 and
uncle/aunt went to Great Movie Ride (GMR). We waited for the rain to stop,
snacked, rested, and visited the sound boxes with Matthew. Also saw the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) walking about and signing autographs, as
their regular show was cancelled due to the rain. Met up with everyone
outside GMR after 4, rain had stopped. Took kids to see TMNT show at 4:30,
it's short but ok, a must if your kids are fans or want autographs! Next
to wait for Indiana Jones stunt show, [5:00 Beauty & the Beast (B&tB) was
full and Mermaid line too long!] had ice cream while waiting. IJ Stunt Show
is good, all the live shows are great video takes! Dinner at commissary -
good variety of food a reasonable prices. Park starting to empty out now! :-)
Star Tours - almost no line, good ride but seemed short, not worth waiting
over 10 mins - see it early or late in the day. Waited and got into 8:30 B&tB
show. A must see, you will have to line up prior to show time as the outdoor
theatre is not that big.
HINT: get there early enough to get a bleacher seat for best video, also
the night show seems better for taping as the lighted stage stands out
more than during the day.
Next to the GMR (Mermaid lines STILL too long!!) had the cowboy ride
(right hand line - left get the gangsters) Parts of this ride are dark but
still come out on video, especially the end with Wizard of OZ!
Left the park about 10:00
Wed 4/22
Heather went with families #2 and #3 to Typhoon Lagoon - heard good reports!
We always bring our own lunches to all parks (sandwiches for all, juice boxes,
and lots of snacks!) and they had lunch early so the lines were short for
them while most everyone else was lunching. Get there early, 9-10 [especially
if it's a school vacation week!], it closes once capacity is reached.
Also closes dowm at 5PM for the day, heard it takes 6 hours to clean
and set up for the next day!!
The rest of Family #1 and Family #4 went to the Character Warehouse
and out to lunch. Good bargains but many items only in one size. Really went
to see what it was like, didn't buy anything this visit, but did later!
Great prices if you can find your size!
Thurs 4/23
Got to MGM early @8:30, in line about 8:55 for the 9:30 Voyage of the Little
Mermaid Show - don't miss this one! the music and effects are wonderful!!.
Then to the backstage tour (it's ok), ending up at H.I.S. the Kids again.
Had snacks saw the the turtle show again, then to Kermit 3D Movie - we all
loved it the 2nd time too!
Back to Vistana for lunch/pool/naps from 12:30-5. Had dinner at
Minnie Mia's Italian Eatery at Disney village on the way back (good food with
good portions for the price) then off to EPCOT - played around with the
communicore stuff on the way in, then to Mexico and Norway (did both rides -
if time is limited Norway is more fun, but also has the longer line!)
Staked out our spot along the lake between Norway and China at 9 for the
10:00 Illuminations show. School vacation weeks bring longer operating hours,
but also more people, so you must line up early for parades/live shows. The
show was great to tape, with all the lazers, fireworks, and inspirational
music! Anyplace on the lake is good viewing, some like the plaza but that
fills up first. Went on spaceship earth on the way out.
Fri 4/24
Off day - Pools etc. Went to the Disney village in the afternoon for
several hours for shopping and looking around as Family #3 was due to
leave that evening for their drive home. Too crowded for families #1 and #2
to shop, we waited to next week. Kids saw Capt'n Hook and Mr. Snee (Sp?)
there and enjoyed that. Family #3 left for the drive home after dinner,
so, with the grandparents babysitting, my wife and I and her brother and
his wife went to Pleasure Island. What a blast! Visited most of the
clubs (several with live rock bands) and shops. Got in line about 10:15
for the 10:45 show at the Comedy Warehouse and were entertained by this great
live band playing outdoors. They did a 60's set; beatles, steppenwolf, and
doors! The comedy show is really fun, mostly improvisational stuff with lots
of audience participation, in the form of shouting out ideas to build into
the routine. Got out at 11:45, just in time for New Year's Eve; that's right,
every night is New Year's Eve at Pleasure Island. The live outdoor band was
joined by a revue of dancers and then they counted down to midnight which
featured fireworks and tons of multi-colored confetti shot out all over
the crownds in the street. It was like a giant street party with live
music at one end and giant music video screens at the other. About 12:30
we settled in at an outside table had coffee and snacks and watched the fun!
Got home about 1:30.
Sat 4/25
The hottest day so far near 90 and more humid! Went to Sea World, saw most
of the shows and exhibits - penguins, terrors of the deep/sharks, otter show,
and of course, SHAMU! We were there from about 9 to 8, including shopping
on the way out! As with BG, let me know if you want more details on SW.
SET SOAPBOX ON: It was great to be at BG and SW as they serve Pepsi
of which I'm a big fan. I HATE COKE! but they have the Disney
business! :-( There, I feel much better now! SET SOAPBOX OFF!
Sun 4/26
Went to MK for the whole day - vacation week is over [except for NH!],
there are NO CROWDS!!! Got to mainstreet about 8:30 for the 9:00 park opening,
went right to tomorrowland, older kiddies (this includes me!) did space
mountain, others did everything else here. Then off to Starland! Characters
were everywhere! We saw/met Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Capt'n
Hook, Prince John, and the Sherriff of Nottingham. Never have I seen so many
characters in one place! Then off to Mickey's house, the Starland show (all
on video of course!) and to meet MICKEY!! Heather had purchased an autograph
book today, and got many of the characters' autographs here, including Mickey
and Minnie!
To Fantasyland and Small World - we all love this one, Matthew was
awestruck with all the sights and sounds, especially as he knows this song
as he attends Small World Learning Center in Nashua.
1:30 - 5 back to Vistana for lunch/pool/nap
5:30-9:30 MK - started in Adventureland and did Pirates! skipped the jungle
cruise as the 20 min. wait seemed too long! Also had Dole Whip of course -
a must in Adventureland!!! Then off to Thunder Mtn - I video taped this while
on the ride -it's shaky and dark in spots, but gives you a "feel" for the trip!
Also did the Haunted House (another must see - why do I keep saying that!)
and the Hall of President's. Lined up at 7:50 for the 8:30 Spectromagic
Parade and (as usual) had ice cream while waiting. Those Mickey ice creams
are great; be careful with those pink lemonade bars with the kids, they are
usually super cold and can cause freezer burn on the tongue if you're not
careful! Spectromagic was wonderful, perhaps the best thing we saw -
we watched the video twice later that week!
HINT: Here's my personal favorite video spot for the parades.
About 30 mins. prior (depending upon the crowds) sit on the stone wall which
is around a tree in Liberty Square, just to the left and in front of the
riverboat station. As you face the riverboat stop it's just to the left of
the stocks! When the parades comes along, stand up on this stone wall,
which is about 2 ft high, now you have a perfect view for taping, even if
folks are standing on the ground in front of you! From this vantage point the
parades comes into Liberty Square quite far away (so you can get it all in
or zoom in on a specific character) and moves towards you from right to left.
Then, as it gets close to you, it will turn from your left to your right
and move right across in front of you on its way to Adventureland.
After the parade we went back to Space Mtn again (some took the skyride),
then left via the ferry at 10
Mon 4/27
Universal Studios (decided to go here on Monday, as that's reported to be
the busiest day at DW!) Was cool (high 60's and breezy today!)
Park open 9-7, we got there at 9 and were advised to see the big 3 rides
(Back to the Future, Earthquake, and King Kong) first,so we did.
Time for the "Fortune of Misfortune Story" -
Started at Back to the Future, they have a baby swap set up where
you all get in line, one group (or parent) rides while the other waits with
the baby, then you meet up and the other group/parent gets on the ride
right away, without having to wait in line all over again. It's a great
idea, but got screwed up somehow. While I was waiting with Matthew and my
brother-in-law, the others got on the ride but came off on the other side.
We were still waiting on the side they went in, as people were exiting there,
too. Anyway, my sister-in-law found us and took Matthew, so we headed off
to the ride, figuring we'd meet my wife upstairs and tell her the others and
Matthew were now donwstairs. When we got at the ride, one of the employees
asked if I was Mr MacDonald, stated my wife had been waiting here, and
another employee had just taken her downstairs to find us! He asked us to
go on the ride and he'd meet us outside the ride and escort us downstairs
and get our party all together, so that's what we did. No one was ever lost,
but the staff felt very bad about getting us all mixed up, and once we were
all together outside the ride this staff member called down one of the senior
staff and offered us VIP tickets. She took out a simple ticket and wrote on
the back VIP Party of 10 with the date. Then she asked us where we were going
next, we said Earthquake and King Kong. So she wrote on the back of one VIP
ticket EQ and KONG and said we could use these to go right into those rides
without having to wait in line! She also gave us another VIP ticket for the
Hanna/Barbera ride and for ET! To make it even better, the other staff member
who had escorted my wife downstairs to find me had already given her two blank
VIP tickets that could be used to any rides! We never waited in ride lines
the rest of the day, which was fortunate for us as most lines were 20-25
minute waits! If it weren't for these tickets we would not have seen as much
as we did. We saw most (but not all shows), skipped Murder she Wrote, and
Ghostbusters was closed, and we still were going non stop the whole day!
>>>>> We now return you to your regular trip report, already in progress. <<<<<
Back to the future was GREAT!! The best ride in Orlando, similar in action
to Bodywars (which has been toned down quite a bit as compared to our November
1989 visit) and Star Tours but MUCH BETTER! Would have gone again if we
had had the time!
Saw Earthquake and King Kong with the VIP tix. Matthew was scared a bit
on EQ as it's dark and loud at times, but afterwards said he liked it. He
thought Kong was loud, too! [He's right - it's a short ride but a good one!]
Also used VIP tix for Hanna-Barbera, ET, Hitchcock 3D. Also went to several
shows: Animal actors show and wild west stunt show. Most rides can be taped,
but the shows are even better for watching later; tape both like I did! Some
went to the Gory Horror Makeup Show while I waited outside Mel's Drive In
(Where were you in 62?) to tape The Hollywood Hi-Tunes a capella fifties
quartet. Now there's the job I want to have!!! Saw the end of a parade(?)
and kids met and got some autographs from the likes of George Jetson, Fievel,
Fred & Barney, Woody Wookpecker, and Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle
[my personal favorites!] Heather also got a autograph from the Mae West
look-alike, but didn't know who she was! Then to the Nickelodeon studios tour
(kids loved it!!), shopping then off to Denny's for dinner and home!!
Tues 4/28
We set this aside as homework day, and it worked out great, as this happened
to be the coldest day we were there. Near record low's in the am 48-50, and
a high of only 68, well below the average high of 84. Took my brother-in-law
to the Character Warehouse, I found a Disney sweatshirt, grey with Mickey's
face on the front etc. and fleece lined (very warm!) Disney priced at $40,
mine for $17! Also picked up a stuffed Pluto [last year's model?] ($20
marked down to $6).
TRAFFIC ALERT!! Came home via I4 South, beware of the speed trap, it got me.
The speed limit until you get past Sea World is 55, there's an overpass just
before Sea World with some sort of radar mounted on it, the cruisers are
further down the road to pick you up!
Wed 4/29
MK at opening, Space Mountain, Grand Prix Race Cars [the kids really enjoy
driving these, but what a wild ride!!]. Then saw the Rap n Roll show at the
Tomorrowland Theatre, great music etc. with Goofy as Elvis [He IS alive!]
Kids also met/got autographs from Goofy and Pluto before this show.
Then on to Adventureland for more Dole Whip :-). Most of us climbed the
tree house then on to the jungle cruise [still a 20 minute wait!], the kids
liked it and the puns are great for the adults, but after seeing the real
animals at Busch Gardens it wasn't worth the wait for me! Did Pirates
again then had our lunch at Pecos Bill's Caf�. Thunder mountain next (about
a 10-15 min wait) then to my video spot to wait for the 3:00 parade. Taped
this, of course, the characters and ballons were great. Being a vacation week
there were also several high school marching bands and the old disney
caliope that came along prior to the parade to make the waiting more
enjoyable. Most went to Tom Sawyer's Island while I rested in front of
the Frontierland train station with Matthew, who was napping. Checked out
splash mountain next, NO! it's not open, staff still says the fall. The
water was running though, and they reportedly have 2 water cannons on either
side after you'd come down the big hill at the end. It was open for
testing that day but we didn't see any cars going. Heard it was a long
ride, too, like 10 or 11 minutes!
Off to Fantasyland for: P Pan, Snow White's 3D movie and teacups.
During this time I took the skyride to Tomorrowland for a skyride video
tour. Had dinner at the Plaza Pavillion in Tomorrowland; good variety and
good food. At 8, while others were lining up and later viewing the
Spectromagic parade, we made a blitz on the rides: 3 trips on space mtn in
35 minutes [would have been even faster but for the last trip they had closed
one side of the ride!] I think the left side is faster! Then off to race cars,
20000 leagues under the sea [it's better after dark], Mr Toad's wild ride [some
kids did this twice] and finally the carousel in Fantasyland, the only
ride still open. Park closed at 9:30, went shopping on Main St till 10:15.
Shops were supposed to stay open to 10:30, but closed early as the crowd
was so small. Left via ferry at 10:25, last one out turn out the lights,
that might have been us!
Thurs 4/30
Our final Disney Day :-( To EPCOT at 10AM, Bodywars, live show, some did
Cranium command again. Left to meet/get autograph from Figment and Dreamfinder
outside the imagination ride. Lunch at Sunrise Terrace Rest. (Communicore
West) then off the to 1:55 character show at the world showcase plaza. Short
show but a good one, they take about 15 minutes in the middle to sign
autographs, giving Heather time to get some missing ones; D Duck, Chip, and
Dale!. Missed Roger Rabbit, the line was too long! Then did the world
showcase for the afternoon from Mexico all the way around to Canada. Heather
got one of those world showcase passports (about $8) with sets of stickers
for each country, and when you visit each country pavillion they have a
special register where you can have your passport stamped and they write in
a special greeting, often in the native language. Heather got all 11
countries; I recommend this for older children, it keeps them interested and
provides for a great souvenier too! Saw Roger Rabbit and Mickey outside the
USA pavillion and kids got Roger's autograph there, also saw the USA show
and checked out many country shops along the way. Several countries had
live music and/or live shows along the way, too.
Went on the Figment ride (again - had to tape it this time) and got
to the Land for dinner at about 7. Good variety and plenty of seats downstairs
at the Farmer's Market. Finished upstairs at Imagination, went on spaceship
earth just before closing and visited the big Epcot store (Centorium in
Communicoare East) before exiting about 10.
Fri 5/1
Check out day @ Vistana, went to Char Warehouse for many bargains!
Tee shirts, jerseys, kids stuff, nightshirts, necktie, kids wallet etc.
Average saving of the regular Disney prices was 45 -60%. Then, back
to the pools for lunch, swimming, vegging out, and soaking up the sun!
Dinner at Shoney's at 8:30, Matthew slept at the table, he was one tired fish!!
Hit the highway at 9PM, shared the driving on the way home [mostly 95 all
the way] arrived home in Londonderry at 12:10AM Sunday. Trip home took
27 hours which is good time for multiple food/bio/fuel stops.
Total mileage this vacation 3258 round trip!
Next Disney Trip planned for Families #1 and #2 is Thanksgiving time 1994!!
Mac
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| 290.19 | DECWindows Notes warning long reply to follow.... | FDCV14::YOUNG | Steve Young DDD/M16 DTN 264-4335 | Mon May 18 1992 13:21 | 8 |
| This is a warning for our DECwindows Notes readers. The next reply is over
600 lines long.
It is the trip report for the Young family trip to WDW from April 23 - May 4.
sorry it's late, but I only had a couple of days to get some real work done
before I had to go to Atlanta on a business trip.
Steve
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| 290.20 | The Young Family report for April 26 - May 4 | FDCV14::YOUNG | Steve Young DDD/M16 DTN 264-4335 | Mon May 18 1992 13:24 | 668 |
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Trip Report for the Young Family Trip to WDW
April 23 - May 4, 1992
WHO: Kathy, Beth(10), Adam(13) and Steve Young
WHERE: Fort Wilderness, Spanish Moss Lane, Site 2056
HOW: Driving pulling our Pop-up from Goffstown, NH
(Also going with us were our neighbors Tom, Debbie, Jeff(10) and
Chris(8) Cobb who were also pulling their pop-up.)
Day 1 - Thursday, April 23
Took day off from work to finish packing and hook up the camper. Drove
out of the driveway at 3:00 PM sharp. Ate sandwiches we had made ahead
of time for supper. Not much to say about the trip down except to say
that we drove and drove and drove.... We had borrowed a couple of CB's
from a neighbor and this made the drive a little more enjoyable. We
could communicate between cars and didn't feel so alone on the road. We
were also able to hear the truck drivers talking which helped a great
deal. We were warned of several accidents and traffic jams that we were
able to avoid.
My wife and I switched off several times and we found it a little
easier this year than in the past because my son and daughter took
turns staying up with us so one of us could sleep without worrying
about the other like we have in the past.
We were slowed a little bit when Debbie drove their car, because she
had never driven while pulling the camper before and was very nervous
as well as very tired (her stint was from midnight to 3). I had a hard
time keeping her at 55 even when the limit was 65.
Day 2 - Friday April 24
We finally stopped driving somewhere south of Richmond (forgot to write
down the town) to have some breakfast, grabbed a quick lunch at a
Burger King, and kept driving and driving and driving....
Hit the Florida border at a little before 5:00. (Everyone was looking
forward to this until I explained just how much further we had to go.
My wife kept looking at the map and adding the numbers up to prove me
wrong.)
We stopped just outside of Daytona, before getting on to I-4, to grab a
pizza at Pizza Hut.
We arrived in Orlando at 8:00 PM and spent the night at the
International Gateway Inn, just off International Drive.
Day 3 - Saturday April 25
Left a wake-up call for 7:00, so we could grab showers and breakfast
before heading off to WDW. After breakfast at Denny's and having a
friendly Hotel manager retreive our car keys from the roof of the
4-story hotel (DON'T ASK!! If you have a 13 year old you don't need an
explanation and if you don't you'll never understand anyway), it was
off to WDW.
(Quick side-note for you adventurous types. The new "thing to do" on
International Drive is Bungee jumping. We saw at least 3 separate
cranes set up for this. They take you up in a small "elevator" car by
crane and you jump off. Just out of curiousity, we asked the hotel
manager what they charged for this honor. Sixty bucks per jump. Makes a
day at Disney look inexpensive.)
Check-in time at FW is 1:00 PM so we had intended to get there and do
an early check-in, park the cars and campers in the parking lot, and
head for TMK, then come out around 3:00, and set-up grab a quick supper
and head for MGM (to see the Sorcery in the Sky show).
When we got to the check-in area, our sites were ready and we could go
right in, so we were setting up by 10:30 and decided to grab a quick
lunch then go to MGM.
Mis-read the bus schedule so we thought we had to go to the TTC to get
a bus to MGM (realized after that there is a direct bus from FW to MGM
that is much more efficient and used that the rest of the week). While
at the TTC I bought the 5-day passes for the kids and the Annual Passes
for Kathy and I (at this time of day there were no lines and
no-waiting. Although the cast member taking the photos was in no
hurry).
Got to MGM at 2:40 and Tom realized he had left his camera sitting on
the bench at the TTC. He went back to get it, while the rest of us did
some shopping on Hollywood Blvd. Just as we were supposed to meet Tom,
we noticed the BatB show was just getting out, and decided to get in
line for the next show which was starting in 30 minutes. We stood in
line for about 15 minutes while they were cleaning up from the
previous show. Tom caught up with us just before we went in. While
waiting in line, we saw the Dinosaur family in a parade down Hollywood
Blvd. on their way to a "Special On Location Shoot" in front of the
Chinese Theater.
Beauty and the Beast was a very well done show and the only "R-rated"
attraction we saw at WDW. (My son and wife actually saw one of the
dancers in the "Be Our Guest" number fall out of her costume twice, I
just never seem to be looking at the right place at the right time ;^)
).
Then it was on to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular which was
just seating. The kids really enjoyed this show. My daughter in
particular was startled several times. Especially when the truck blew
up and turned over, and the star didn't come out of it. My wife and I
both noticed that the "director" was the same person who played
Six-bits at the Hoop-de-doo on our last visit.
Next was the Little Mermaid show, which was our longest wait of the
week, (aside from waiting for my daughter in the gift shops :^) ),
about 30 minutes. The way they used the lasers and mist to make you
feel like you were going "Under the Sea" was very well done. It was a
fun show. The creatures used during the big dance number were a riot.
Then it was on to the Backstage Studio Tour. Didn't get to see the
pre-show here because there was no line at all. This was to be our
experience the rest of the day. There was a group of students from one
of the colleges that was shooting on the Residential Street when we
went through. Catastrophe Canyon was great. Very realistic. Walked
through the "Loony Bin" and had a great time opening the various
"sound" boxes. "Close the box!"
Went to the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area and had a great time
identifying the various props. Kids of all ages had alot of fun here.
It was hard to get some moving. We started to look for someplace to eat
at this point, because we were all getting hungry. Checked out the
Studio Catering Co. just outside the play area, but they didn't have
real "meals" just snacks.
Wandered the New York streets for a while and stumbled onto the
"Muppets On Location". At this point I think most of us would have
passed this up, but Chris was very intertested, so we stuck around for
the end of the show. Saw an ad for Mama somebody's restaurant (an
Italian restaurant on one of the New York streets, not yet on any map)
and thought that sounded good so went looking for it. When we found it,
there was a sign saying they had closed early for the day, so we
trudged on.
Went to the Muppet*vision 3-D next. Saw most of the pre-show, thought
it was great. Good use of the TV monitors. The movie itself was
excellant. Kids were particulary thrilled with the "holes" in the walls
from the cannon balls.
Wandered into the Studio Showcase as we headed to the nearest
restaurant. An intersting place, they keep alot of props from previous
movies in here. Also had alot of the props used in "Honey, I Blew Up
the Kid", including the miniature house set.
Passed up Star Tours to eat at the Backlot Express (guess that shows
how hungry we were by that time). This proved to be a good place to get
burgers and dogs, etc. I was pleased to see that Disney was now
offering the sandwiches with either French Fries or fruit. They also
had a "topping bar" where you could put your own toppings on your
burgers, similar to Fuddruckers. They had a large selection of toppings
too choose from; lettuce and tomato, onions and peppers, barbecue
sauce, Nacho cheese sauce, etc. Also glad to see that the diet soda
they offered was caffeine-free.
After filling up, it was back to Star Tours. Walked right on with no
wait. We really enjoyed this ride. Kathy was even laughing and having a
good time (she doesn't care for any kind of "thrill" ride) and only had
to close her eyes once, during the first "drop".
Tempted to go back on, but decided to push on since it was almost time
for the "Sorcery in the Sky" show. Got over in front of the Chinese
Theater and decided we had time to take the Great Movie Ride. Got in on
the right side for the western scene. The ride was a lot of fun, but I
think a lot of it was lost on the kids. They just weren't familiar with
most of the old movies.
Picked a spot in front of the Theater for the "Sorcery in the Sky"
show. The show was really fantastic. Everyone left remarking about how
"Nobody does it like Disney.". We really didn't see how the fireworks
display could be topped.
Back to the camper for a good night's sleep.
Day 4 - Sunday April 26
Today was our day for EPCOT. We had decided the night before that we
weren't going to set an alarm, because we needed to catch up on our
sleep. We got to the park about 11:00. (I know, I know this is when we
should be thinking about leaving the park, because of the crowds, but
this was to be our pattern for the week. We were just too tired to push
the kids (yeah right) that hard in the mornings.)
By this time the crowds were moving onto World Showcase, except for
Spaceship Earth, so we stayed in Future World and decided to work
clockwise, because it would get us to the Wonders of Life quicker.
First on the agenda was the Universe of Energy. Then onto the Wonders
of Life.
Body Wars was our first stop. Enjoyed this, but no where near as much
as we did Star Tours. The ride was much jerkier and the story was too
hard to follow. The scenes shifted so quickly that it was hard to know
where in the body you were at any given moment. If you have someone who
is leary about these rides, be sure to go on Star tours first. If Kathy
had gone on this first, I don't think we would have gotten her on Star
Tours at all.
Next was a show by the Anacomical Players. A group of improvisational
comedians who used very bad puns and skits to teach some simple health
facts. Very entertaining. Skits included a take-off on The People's
Court with a person vs. his stomach, a 3 round wrestling match between
a cold virus and a body using an audience member as the host body, and
two professors who share a brain (one has the left-half the other the
right-half) and answer questions from the audience by alternating words
of the answer (a funny piece of improv as they try to work each other
into a corner).
The line for "The Making of Me" was fairly long (over 45 minutes) so we
passed it for now and went to Cranium Command (inside the mind of a
12-year-old, what a scary thought). This is a hilarious show, but you
don't want to miss the pre-show. If you get there and have just missed
the pre-show, wait for the next show. It's worth it. I don't know if
this show impressed me so much because I have a son in that age group
or what, but this was my favorite attraction in EPCOT. It's obvious
that the Imagineer that came up with the hypothalamus was a fan of
Marvin the Robot, of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame.
We took a break at this point and had a picnic lunch of (Shhhh don't
tell Mickey) peanut butter sandwiches we had made up at the camper.
This is when my son realized he left his hat on BW. He went back and
someone had turned the hat in but had removed a couple of his souviner
hat-pins in the process :^(. By the time we cleaned up and got the
back-pack back in the locker, it was time to head for the "Surprise in
the Sky" show at the World Showcase Lagoon. It was a good show, but not
as impressive as the original one that we attended back in '87. The one
in '87 had much more elaborate boats (the ones pictured in their "20"
reasons to visit ads and pictured on the front of the EPCOT Guidebook).
The '87 show also had somewhat of a plot with good guys and bad guys,
rather than just the show. It was a little windy, so they didn't have
the para-planes flown by the characters take part in the show, no
announcement of this, they just weren't there. If you didn't know they
were supposed to be you would never have missed them. Handled well I
thought.
Back to do Horizons (finished with the "space" scene), then World of
Motion and Tanscenter. Debbie went outside to get some sun while we
went through the Transcenter (she just couldn't understand what the
attraction was there).
Onto Journey to Imagination, still no waiting just waked right on.
Spent quite a bit of time in Image Works (quite a bit of upgrading was
done here since our last visit) and somehow lost the Cobb family here.
When they went to leave and go to Captain EO, they couldn't find us and
assumed we had left without telling them. A while later we assumed the
same thing when we couldn't find them, so we went on to EO (neither of
us could understand why the other just took off without saying
anything, figured we must have said something wrong. We must have been
of the the "musical lights room" or something). I'm always amused by
the pre-show here when they sing about making memories by taking
pictures, then every attraction you go to you are "Not allowed any type
of photography, including still, flash, or videotape."
We went on to The Land and caught the Kitchen Kabaret, then to the
Listen to the Land boat ride. We saw the Cobbs while standing in line
and sorted out what had happened at Journey. Since they had
reservations at the Coral Reef Restaurant and we were going to eat at
the Farmer's Market, we arranged to try to meet just before
"Illuminations". I felt that the research they were doing in "The Land"
was more impressive and more "realistic" than it was in '87. Kathy made
the comment to me, that she thought they weren't doing as much out
there as before. Just goes to show how different perspectives can be.
Caught the SYMBIOSIS movie on the way out.
Stopped for some shopping at the Centorium in Communicore East on the
way to Illuminations. Had agreed to meet the Cobbs on the bridge next
to Mexico between 8:30 and 8:45, figured they would be late because of
their 7:30 reservations at the Coral Reef, but looked for them anyway
when we got there at 8:50. Couldn't find them so moved to our right a
little and managed to grab a spot just to the right of the boat dock,
right next to the area they have roped off for handicapped guests. This
was a good spot. The only countries it was hard to see were Mexico and
Canada. Left here saying, "Boy, I didn't think they could top last
nights fireworks, but they sure did."
Back to the camper for some much needed rest.
Day 5 - Monday April 27
This was the day for the Magic Kingdom. Everyone was dragging by this
time so we had to push some to get to the parks early (about 10:30
;^)). Decided to go clock-wise around the park, since there was more on
this side of the park that we wanted to see. By-passed the Swiss Family
Treehouse because of the long line and lack of interest. Got in line
for the Jungle Cruise although it was a fairly long line and we were
beginning to think we had made a serious mistake in not getting to the
park earlier. Turned out to be about 20-minutes.
Then it was into the Tiki Birds without waiting for the pre-show, then
into the Pirates of the Caribbean with only a 5-minute line, so we felt
a little better. Splash Mountain wasn't running at all while we were
there, but it definitely looks like a great ride. Can't wait until
November.
Another 20-minute wait for BMTR, while Kathy and Debbie went off to
check out some of the shops, then on to Tom Sawyer Island. Let the kids
run around the island, while we tried to sit and rest some, but still
try to keep them in sight. Back from the island and into line for the
Country Bear Jamboree (the old show), while the "bad guys" and "good
guys" were staging a shoot-out right out front. Proved to be a good
move because the line got very long as soon as they were done and we
headed into the theater. It was good to see the original show again
(don't think the kids had seen it before), but it seemed shorter than
the Vacation Hoedown was.
Ate a quick lunch in front of the Hall of Presidents (don't tell Mickey
again, but we brought in tuna fish to make up into sandwiches), then
snuck into the Haunted Mansion with no waiting, just as the 3:00 parade
was starting. Jeff and Debbie stayed to watch the parade, because Jeff
didn't want to go on the ride. The parade was just finishing up as we
came out and everyone was making a bee-line for HM. Went to the Hall of
Presidents next. The older kids were a little more interested this
time, because they had studied more American History in school and it
meant more to them.
Moved onto Fantasyland and into the waiting area for "Magic Journeys".
Almost got separated from the girls here. The timer said there were 15
minutes to the next show and they decided to check out one of the shops
next door. As soon as they left, we were moved into the small theater
where they show "Working for Peanuts". But they were back before the
cartoon started, so didn't miss anything. I'm glad to see they have
found a place for this movie. I enjoyed it when it was in EPCOT and was
disappointed when it was replaced with Captain EO.
Then it was on to the dreaded "It's a Small World". I noticed that they
seem to have done away with the song lyrics in all of the different
languages. It was just the music until right near the end of the ride
when you could hear the words in English (am I crazy?). It was also
very noticeable that the maintenance on this ride was lacking. There
were very obvious scenery that was broken or pieces missing that hadn't
been fixed.
The lines were fairly long for all of the other rides in Fantasyland
and the kids really showed no interest in going on them so we decided
to move on. The Skyway was closed. In fact there were no gondolas on
the cable at all. Later in the week, the Cobbs were back in TMK and it
was running normally.
The Cobbs left to go back to their camper and have supper (they had
some food that was going to spoil if they didn't use it up), so we made
plans to meet them for the Spectro-Magic parade at our selected viewing
point and went on to Mickey's Starland. Beth spent sometime going thru
the petting farm, then we went over to Mickey's house to find that we
had missed the last show of the day by about 30 minutes. Looked around
Mickey's house for a while, then took the Railroad for a complete
circuit.
Adam and Beth went on the Grand Prix raceway while Kathy and I checked
out places to eat that were nearby. Collected the kids and had some
sandwiches at Tommorowland Terrace. Quickly did Space Mountain,
Carousel of Progress (I still enjoy this attraction. Maybe because it
helps bring back the memories of the 64-65 New York World's Fair), and
Dreamflight. then we rushed over to our selected viewing spot for the
Spectro-Magic parade.
Thought the parade was great. We have never seen the ELP, so can't
really compare the two. Although I must say the music from ELP was
rememberable and the music from SM isn't.
End of another long day.
Day 6 - Tuesday April 28
This was to be our day of freedom. Adam and Beth were off on their
"Wonders of the World - Entertainment" tour. More about that in the
"Wonders of the World" note.
After leaving Adam and Beth with their tour guide outside MGM, Kathy
and I took the bus to EPCOT. We made reservation for an 11:30 lunch at
Germany, then started our tour of World Showcase with Canada and worked
counter-clockwise. We figured that we would just go through the shops
and some of the exhibits today without doing any of the movies or
rides, saving those for when the kids were with us. There were
virtually NO people in the World Showcase area for the entire morning.
It was very windy and cold all day. We needed jackets and actually
wished we had something a little more. The wind off the water once we
got past the American Adventure was particulary strong and very cool.
When we got over to Germany, we couldn't find anything on the menu that
really interested us (we were really looking for Veinerschnitzel), so
decided to just continue on and hope to find something later. We
decided to eat in Norway at the Akershus. If you had asked either of us
to eat the things that were on the buffet ahead of time we probably
would have politely declined, but we both found that it was very good
and would do it again. The goat cheese and potato bread was delicious.
After lunch, we took the bus back to MGM. Since we had about an hour or
so before we were to pick up the kids, we decided to do some window
shopping. While we were in Sid Cahuenga's, Rosie (who looks just like
Lana Turner and must be a twin who was separated at birth, or so she
told me ;^)) chose me for some of her antics ("Did you see that guy? He
was sweating bullets. He thought I was really Lana Turner."). That's
what I get for standing under Lana's picture. We then went out and took
in some more of the streetmosphere in between checking out shops. We
found the antics of the characters to be a lot of fun. We hadn't
noticed any of this when we were in the park before, but it was going
on all afternoon pretty much continuously. Guess we were just too busy
before.
Picked up the kids and headed over to meet the Cobbs at the 5:00 PM
show of the Hoop-de-doo revue. Our seats weren't that good considering
we had reserved over 6-months ago. I think this was at least partially
due to our reserving for eight people. When I made the reservations,
they told me that they didn't have tables for eight and I told them
that 4 & 4 would be fine. When we got seated it was at a table for
eight, towards the back and way off to the right side.
The Cobbs had spent the day at Discovery Island, and looking over the
Grand Floridian.
Back to the camper for an early night.
They were calling for record lows in the 30's for tonight. Of course
when my wife had wanted to pack the heater for the pop-up I said, "Come
on! It's going to be the end of April in Florida, we are NOT going to
need a heater. It'll just take up room." Tom was having problems with
his propane tank, so he didn't have any heat either.
We were supposed to meet Claude at Typhoon Lagoon the next morning but
chickened out. I called and left a message for him on his voice mail
(boy, can't get away from that even at WDW).
Day 7 - Wednesday April 29
Actually got a fairly early start today, got to EPCOT about 9:30.
Headed directly to World Showcase, starting at Mexico this time. After
the boat ride, Kathy wanted Beth to help her pick out some earrings she
had been looking at the day before, but the shop wasn't open yet, so we
went on to Norway. "The Maelstrom" was a great ride alot of fun,
especially since Kathy was not happy when the ride started out by going
up an incline like a coaster and was never sure what was coming next.
When we got off, she decided that, "I can handle that kind of ride.
That's just my speed."
Kathy and Beth went back to Mexico to get the earrings while the rest
of us waited out in the sun. Then it was on to the movie in China. Then
Beth decided that she liked the gift shop in China. I thought she was
going to take up residence :^). We decided that we better tell the
Cobbs that they may want to move on without us. Their boys just weren't
as interested in the gift shops and it looked like we would be slowing
them up at each country. Beth ended up finding a very nice
Mother-of-pearl ring for only $2.50, so I guess the waiting was
worth-while. We then very quickly moved through Germany and Italy.
We got to the American Adventure just as the Voices of Liberty were
finishing their pre-show, just got to hear the National Anthem, and
then went right in to the theater. As we got out of the show and headed
to Japan to eat, we ran into the Cobbs, who had by-passed the American
Adventure, because they had just missed the show and figured they would
go back. Had lunch with them in the Japanese Garden at the Yakatori
House. The food here was very good, even all of the kids enjoyed it,
which was surprising.
The Cobbs went back to the AA, while we continued on with Japan,
Morrocco, and France. Crossed the bridge by the International Gateway,
just before the "Surprise in the Sky" show. They close this bridge
during the show. Did the shops in the UK and Canada while the show was
going on. They did have the para-planes today, caught a glimpse of them
as we were moving between countries.
The Cobbs had caught up with us by this time, but we split up again as
we went back to Future World. We went to get some ice cream at The
Land, then went to the Living Seas. We spent quite a bit of time here
seeing and doing all of the exhibits. We then went on to Communicore's
West and East, where the kids spent almost 2 hours with all of the
exhibits. Kathy sat at a nearby bench as did I for a while. We finally
had to pry the kids away so we could finish up the Wonders of Life. We
went directly into the Making of Me without a wait. This is a very well
done movie, quite funny in places.
We then went to do Cranium Command again. Just loved this show.
Then it was to Spaceship Earth, then onto the monorail just as
Illuminations was beginning.
Day 8 - Thursday April 30
Planned on going back to TMK to catch all of the things we had missed
today, but the kids really didn't want to. So we grabbed breakfast at
the Trails End Buffeteria (What a great deal $22.00 for the four of us.
Pretty much all you can eat buffet), then went to Discovery Island for
the morning. Headed for MGM in the afternoon.
Watched some of the streetmosphere, that the kids hadn't seen before,
actually we hadn't seen these particular scenes either. Ran into
another family from Goffstown that we knew and talked with them for a
few minutes. Then it was off to Superstar Television, where Kathy and I
were picked to be on Cheers (funny everybody was having a birthday that
day ;^)). Then onto the Monster Sound Show, cute movie, funnier with
the second set of sound effects. The 3-D stereo booths in the
Soundworks area were really something.
The Disney Animation tour was next. Robin Williams and Walter Conkite
were great together. What a pair. Then we decided to take the tram part
of the backstage tour to get us over to the walking part of the tour
that we hadn't taken on Saturday. We had some college girls on the bus
one of which started screaming and jumping around in Catastrophe
Canyon. If I didn't know better I would have thought that she was a
plant. Instead I think she was just a fruit ;^). The Special Effects
and Production tour was very good. We had a real small group, so there
was no pushing and shoving to get a good view. They were putting on the
finishing touches on the Mickey Mouse Club set, which is due to go into
production next week. They were also taking some publicity photos of
some of the Mouseketeers.
We had just enough time to do one more thing before the park closed at
7:00. Beth wanted to go back to Superstar TV to try and get picked, so
off we went. I was looking forward to seeing the show from the front
this time. Alas it was not to be, this time I was picked to be a
detective on the Golden Girls. Beth was picked for the part of Ginger
on Gilligan's Isle ,so she was happy. Adam was selected to be on with
Letterman. Kathy got to watch us all from out front. I think there were
only about 30 people in the audience, everyone else was selected for a
spot in the show.
We realized that we hadn't stopped to eat all day so decided to head
back for FW for some pizza, only to find out that they don't serve that
until after 9:00. We decided to head over to Pleasure Island so the
kids could get a look at it. (We had plans to go with the Cobbs the
next night. Adults only!) After getting our Annual Riders and fumbling
around trying to figure out where to eat, we found the City Diner? that
had pizza. Just what we were looking for. Headed for the Adventurer's
Club and spent over an hour there. Had a great time. The kids really
enjoyed it. Kungaloosh!
Back to the camper much later than we had expected, but at this point
was getting to be the norm.
Day 8 - Friday May 1
We were up late today and moving slowly. So the Cobbs who had sense
enough to come home at a reasonable hour took off to Typhoon Lagoon
while we were still rubbing our eyes. Went to the Trails End for an
Express breakfast, then off to Typhoon Lagoon.
We had to stand in line to get tickets for Kathy and I (sure wish they
had an Annual Superpass). By the time we got in there wasn't a lounge
or even a spot of sand to be had. (I know, Claude, we should have stuck
to plans and been there Wednesday. :^)). We found a very small spot
behind a plant to dump our towels, cooler, etc. The kids took off while
Kathy and I went in search of a locker. Instead of a locker, we found
Shark Reef with hardly any waiting. We watched people for a while then
decided to find a locker, try to find the kids , and then come back.
Instead the kids found us, and they went in to get their snorkeling
gear. I am not a strong swimmer so decided to just stand by and watch.
After a little of this I decided, well, it's not really that far. On my
way to get the gear, I ran into the St. Jean's (the other family from
Goffstown) again. Got my gear and went up to be with my family. Well, I
should have listened to my first instincts and not gone. I had to
struggle some to swim across the pool and really couldn't think about
looking at the fish. Beth had problems and my wife had to take off her
own mask to help her out. Adam had a great time. You should really be
a strong swimmer to do this. Kathy feels that they didn't give you a
chance to proctice with the snorkeling gear enough. She had a hard time
convincing herself that she could breathe while her face was underwater
and felt very closed in and panicky. She thinks a few minutes (10 or
so) of practice ahead of time would have helped greatly.
We got a locker, accidently ran into the Cobbs and moved all of our
stuff over to where they were sitting, then hit the body slides. From
there Kathy and I did Castaway Creek, that's the way to spend a few
hours. Most of the lines were only 10 minutes or so, and less than that
after 2:30. Our only real long wait of the day was in line for
"Gangplank Falls", the family tube ride. As we were getting close to
getting a tube a girl in line behind us fainted and hit her head. The
lifeguards on duty shut down the ride to take care of her and it was 10
or 12 minutes before they had other guards up to the ride and
re-started. I think they were getting a litter to carry her out, but
she insisted on walking down so they ended up assisting her down.
Left just before 5:00 to head back to FW and pack up some of the
camper.
We wanted to grab a quick hamburger or something on the way back. We
knew that Trail's End buffet didn't have anything we were interested
in, so we sent Adam to look at the menu for Crockett's Tavern to see if
they had burgers. He said they did, so in we went. Then we found out
its a full service restaurant, so much for a quick meal. Kathy and I
ended up with Steak and Adam tried their buffalo burger (yes real
buffalo meat. Not bad.)
We had planned to have Adam stay with the kids this evening and the
adults were going to Pleasure Island, but the Cobbs were ready much
sooner than we were, since we had stopped for a full meal. We told them
to go without us, and we might catch up later. After getting the camper
set to close down, I decided to go to PI and see if I could catch up
with the Cobbs. Kathy decided to stay at the camper and take it easy.
Went directly to the Adventurer's Club and looked around for the Cobbs,
didn't see them, so went into the Library for "Mandora's Cabaret". Had
seen this the previous night, but it was still fun. when we got out, I
found Tom and Debbie sitting at the bar. Stuck around for them to go
through initiation, then headed for the Comedy Warehouse. This was a
good show, but we were seated on the very top level near the door, so
the noise from outside made it difficult to hear all of the jokes and
skits. Headed back to the camper just before midnight, so didn't see
the New Years celebration.
Day 9 - Saturday May 2
Got up later than planned and was moving very slowly. Closed up the
camper and headed to Trail's End for breakfast. We didn't actually get
on the road until 11:40.
Couldn't get the CB in Tom's car to work, so the ride home was a little
more lonesome. It also made it harder to communicate needed stops. At
one point I was leading and suddenly realized I couldn't see Tom in my
rearview mirror. I slowed way down figuring he would catch up, but it
was a good 15 minutes before I saw him again. I was in the process of
trying to figure out how to turn around and head back, to see what kind
of trouble he had run into, without having him go by us in the other
direction. It turns out he had heard the safety chain on his trailer
fall off and had pulled over to reconnect it.
Stopped at the Comfort Inn at Exit 173 in South Carolina
(recommendation from this file) at about 9:30 PM.
Day 10 and 11 - Sunday May 3 and Monday May 4
Had breakfast at the motel. They have a continental breakfast of
cereal, toast, juice, donuts, etc. available in the lobby, that you
take back to your room. Made it easy to get a quick start. Got back on the
road about 8:30 - 9:00. The drive today was pretty uneventful. Stopped
for gas and food a couple of times.
Heard of a traffic jam on the CB around supper time so decided to get
off the highway and find a nice restaurant. After killing a little over
an hour, we got back on the highway and heard the traffic jam was still
there :^(. Dug out the maps and plotted a way around the jam on some back
roads. Glad we did. We could see the highway from one of the roads we
took and it was at a complete standstill.
We were pretty tired by the time we got to New Jersey, but Tom and I
kept saying "Well, why don't we get to Connecticut, then stop. That way
we'll only have a short drive in the morning." Neither of us were
looking forward to going to bed and facing another day of driving ahead
of us. Well, by the time we hit Connecticut, it was midnight and
raining, almost everyone else was sleeping (my son was sitting up with
me at this point) and we just kept driving. It was soooo appealing to
wake up in our own beds. We pulled into our driveways about 4:00 AM on
Monday.
Overall it was a great trip. Too much to do and too little time to do
it, but it was fun trying.
Costs for the trip (for my family of 4):
Gas $ 179.54 (2860.6 miles)
Tolls $ 42.75 (More than normal because of the trailer)
Hotels $ 363.58 (2 nights at motels; 7 nights FW site @39.60)
Hoop-de-doo $ 114.48
Food $ 428.88
Admission $ 773.40
Souvenirs $ 119.27
Other $ 34.40 (including drinks @ PI)
Wonders of
World $ 150.00
______
Total $ 2,206.30
|
| 290.21 | Lund trip report 3/26 - 4/5/92 | BROKE::LUND | | Mon May 18 1992 13:30 | 198 |
|
Lund Trip report - March 26th - April 5th, 1992
March 26th - We're off! Finished packing last night; the limo
picked us up at out front door at 5:00am. Today is also our
15th Anniversary! We made it to Logan at 6:10. No delays
on our flight; boarding will start at 6:45. Plane was loaded
and ready to leave on time. Not very full; this is a direct
flight by Northwest. They show videos; Today's was "For the Boys"
we didn't rent head phones. Since most videos are in the 2hr range
this occupies most of thhe flight. Flying time 2hrs 20 mins!
WDW Here we come! We landed about 10:15; alittle early.
Temperature is in mid to upper 70's. Luggage was coming off the
carousel as we got there. Orlando International Airport knows
how to do this! We had decided against the car; so we headed
for Mears Shuttle. $22/RT/each; they had two seats left heading
for WDW - on property. So we are off. They stopped at the Village
hotels first; then on to Dixie Landings. We checked in;
non-smoking; Sorry there are only 49 King-size Beds...we can put
your name on a waiting list if one frees up. We didn't bother;
as we didn't want to repack and move to another unit. Our room
is available; so we are shuttled over there. It's only 11:30am!
and we are all checked in and ready for the world; 6.5 hrs after
leaving the house!
I had stitches taken out of my left hand 4/24; and it still
wasn't healed; so still bandaged; "KEEP IT DRY and CLEAN" meant
no swimming. And even though I prepared for it; the quick
change from COLD (it was when we left) NH weather; to warm
slightly humid near 80 degree temperature; plus the plane ride in
the middle left me with a nasty headache. So we headed for Epcot.
Lunch at the Land; checked a few rides out and then headed back
to Dixie. My head is still pounding. So much for the first day!
See separate report under Dixie Landings about the resort. Pecan
rolls are good; still like the cinnamon rolls at CBR. We had the
chicken stirfry; without mushrooms. (The menu doens't list them;
but they appear in the stirfry; so if you don't like mushrooms
mention it!) It's a nice light meal. We also went and picked up the
schedules from MK and MGM, anc caught part of B&tB from near
Starring Rolls.
Now my choice of resorts to stay in are Yacht and Beach Club
(2nd choice is Polynesian) if there is a special; Otherwise my
ordering of places to stay at are Dixie Landings, then CBR; then
Port Orleans. I like quite and uncrowded. Dixie Landings was
quiet and peaceful, and spread out; except for the toilets :^).
CBR is spreadout; but crowded and noisy. PO seemed to be too
compact(Thats the city!)...
3/27 First full day; discovered that we hadn't packed all the essentials;
(like toothbrush, Stan's jacket and tie, etc... Oh well...
It's about 55 out; expected to be in the mid-high 70's and no
rain! We're off to MK; We went in got pictures of the Mickey/Minnie
20th anniversary topiary display in front of the castle. Then went back
to Tony's for breakfast. We spent the whole day here; taking our time
and enjoying MK. Having been in '89 to DL; '90 to WDW and '91 to WDW
we didn't need to hurry to get to anything. Went in/rode just about
everything that we wanted to do; including a couple of times on
BTMR. Staked out the place across from Liberty Square for the
Surprise Celebration Parade. This was good. I've got a bunch of
extra pictures if anyone is interested.
Then went off to The Grand Floridian for Dinner; we had the buffet in
1900 Park Fare -excellent buffet; Non smoking restauarant; ate around
5:00 so not very busy yet!
Peter Pan was the only thing closed for renovations while we were
there.
Went back over to MK and did some more rides; had some dole whip!
and waited for Spectro magic. This was a good parade; but the
pictures didn't come out that good.... I have some extras of these
too if anyone is interested in them... I posted info about Splash
Mountain back when I first got back. Headed back to Dixie Landings.
We went in to MK a couple more times for short periods on this trip.
It really wasn't that busy any day we were there. The Jungle Cruise
always seemed to have a line; so we didn't do that. I've done it
several times before so not worth waiting for along line to ride.
The only things not done in MK ever are :
Main Street Vehicles; Keelboats;
Dumbo; Fantasy Faire; Mickey's Starland Show; and Theatre;
Grandma Duck's Farm and the Grand Prix Raceway.
3/28
Spent today in Epcot. Nothing new since the last time we were here;
except for the Surprise in the Skies. Anyhow; had breakfast in the
Land; took our time and did most of the front half and many of the
countries. We took the time to watch alot of the street performers
Norway, Japan, Germany, Gr. Britain, France) etc. These are fun to
watch when you have the time. We did skip most of the movies (China,
France, Canada) since we've seen them a couple of times. We watched
surprise in the skies; it is quite interesting; I don't think you
can get a really bad spot for this. We had dinner at The Living Seas
Swordfish with Thai Curry Sauce! Excellent food; just a hint; it is
normally served over a bed of lentils; if you request the Thai Curry
Sauce on the side; then it was brought with steamed veggies and
some pasta/rice (can't remember). we had the chocolate mousse cake
for dessert; it was delicious! For two $67.24... Walked around for
awhile to help dinner wear off!
Again; there were almost no lines anywhere. I don't know of anything
in EWpcot that we haven't done on one of our trips. Again we ate a
late morning breakfast (about 9am) and an early dinner 5:30 pm; so the
restaurant was not very busy; and had no problems with smoke. I
think they tend to start seating smokers/non-smokers at opposite
ends of th restaurant and as it gets busier they fill in the adjoining
area. Since we eat early; there was never a problem.
Weather was the same as yesterday. High 50's first thing in the mornin
and then mid-upper 70's during the day.
3/29
OK; we headed for MGM today. Very light crowds. We just about walked
onto everything; and were able to do everything in MGM except for
The backstage tour; and that was our choice. Started with Indy.
Now we've seen this quite a few time over the past three years; so the
jokes and the loud shirt stuff is getting alittle familiar. We've seen
it from the center; from the far left and from the far right; and during
the day and at night; so have quite a few different views! Same with
TGMR, guess we've been going too often.... Got to wiat a few years and
let the magic build up somemore. Caught B&tB. Got quite a few pictures
here. I've got extras if anyone is interested. At the end of The
animation tour are some previews of upcoming films. Including Honey
I Blew up the kid.... Remember the end of Honey I shrunk the Kids and
the gigantic turkey.... well get ready for an 18 month old giant running
lose in the city. Should be a funny movie. Didn't catch the muppets on
location; thats ok with me; we're not Miss Piggy Fans and no little
ones with us.
Ate dinner in the Derby; Special was swordfish/with Lobster butter; Stan
had the Fettucini Derby. Another excellent meal. Can anyone guess what my
favorite seafood is?
3/30
Had breakfast at Boatwrights. It was good. The service was good also.
Interesting way they present your utensils. YOu get a tool box with
all the necessary tools needed for eating (silverware, crayons for the
kids, salt and pepper; etc). You take out what you want and they take the
tool box away.
Headed for MK for awhile in the morning; then over Fort wilderness;
checked out Disney Inn, and then back to Epcot for dinner. We ate at
the Bistro; and I had swordfish. Again it was excellent. We spent the
2 hours of rain eating at the Bistro. By the time we left it was
clearing up. Redid several of the rides and then headed back to
Dixie Landing for quiet evening.
3/31
Back to Epcot; Had breakfast at the land; and a late lunch at
Alfredo's Caught more of the street performers and the Voices
of Liberty a couple fo times; redid a few rides (like Norway).
Back to MGM for the late afternoon and redid some rides like
Star Tours; then over to MK to get some late pictures. While
Stan was getting pictures at MGM before it closed; I went over
to MK and got on Space Mountain; BTMR and the pirates again.
Met Stan and caught part of the parade again. Went to the
Concourse Grille in the Contemporary for a late night snack.
4/1
Started out by eating breakfast at the Polynesian ( Banana Stuffed
French Toast), then went over to Discovery Island. Enjoyed a good
part of the day here. Headed over to VIllage Market place for awhile;
then over to the Yacht Clubs Galley for dinner. We get around don't
we. Strolled thru EPCOT and then back to Dixie Landings.
4/2 Got stuff from the bakery and ate light; explored more of Dixie
Landings and then checked out. Caught Mears back to the airport;
and then caught the Premier bus over to Port Canaveral for a
3 night cruise to the outer Abacas. This was an adventure; a
disaster; and sort of ruined the vacation.... Details in a separate
note.
See note 41 for details of the cruise (will be posted in the near future)
note 289 for dixie landings info (will be posted in the near future)
We had a smooth trip home; and arrive back to NH to temperatures
in the 20's SIGH...
Not sure when the next trip will be; probably not for a few
years; But then the annual passes expire in late August;
A long weekend? Need to win Megabucks first!
- Annie
Now I can file my trip notes away and sleep at night, now that my
trip report has been entered.
We did not go into Pleasure Island at night; I was concerned if smoking
was allowed everywhere; or if the clubs had separate sides. From other
notes I can see that it is not separate like I suspected so It's off
limits.
We didn't do typhoon lagoon or river country... It's kind of hard
to enjoy your self when you cannot get your hand wet.
|
| 290.22 | DL - June 6th | MR4DEC::AWILLIAMS | Some imagination, huh?? | Mon Jun 15 1992 18:40 | 254 |
| Skip's Disneyland Trip Report
-----------------------------
WHO: Me
WHEN: Saturday, June 6th
I was out in Anaheim for a week to support the Digital booth and some of the
suites for the Design Automation Conference (DAC). I originally had Sunday to
myself and was planning on spending whatever time I could over in Disneyland
that day, but as things worked out, I had time on my hands Saturday night and
it didn't look like I'd have Sunday free after all so it was off to the park.
I stayed at the Anaheim Hilton, which is very convenient to the Convention
Center and Disneyland. They run a complimentary shuttle on the half hour, so
at 5 p.m., I hopped on the shuttle and was at the park in 5 minutes.
I bought a one-day pass; with my MKC discount, it cost $26.75. As I wandered
onto Main Street, my first stop was City Hall for a schedule of events. I
noted both on the schedule and the goings-on on Main Street that I had just
missed the Living in the USA Cavalcade parade. Poor timing, because it was
very crowded as the parade has just ended.
Once I got my bearings, I headed over to Critter Country, going through
Adventureland and New Orleans Square on the way. I wanted to check out the
line for Splash Mountain; it was posted as an hour and a half. No thanks, I'll
come back later. Instead, I went around the corner to the Haunted Mansion. It
was about a 20 minute wait. The Haunted Mansion has always been a favorite of
mine. For some reason, the DL version seemed "scarier" in the graveyard scene.
Maybe it was just louder...
Pirates of the Caribbean was my next destination, but it was temporarily closed
due to those pesky technical difficulties. The cast member said it might be
open in an hour or two so I would check back later. I took this opportunity to
stop upstairs and check out the Disney Gallery. I enjoyed seeing the early
conceptual paintings of the theme park and some later ones, too, like part of
the proposed re-fit of Tomorrowland. They have some animation cels on display
as well that are also for sale. Cels from "The Prince and the Pauper" caught
my eye as well as a few from the Disney Afternoon shows, but they're still out
of my budget.
Before I wandered to Frontierland, I checked with a cast member about the best
time to show up for the late, late show (11:45) of Fantasmic! and she told me
about a half hour before showtime. The first show (8:45) was at least two and
a half hours away but the ropes were already up (which made getting around
difficult at times) and people were staking out prime viewing spots for the
show. Yikes, definitely try to catch the late, late show if you can.
Anyways, into Frontierland and onto Big Thunder Mountain RR. A 25 minute wait,
and boy, do I hate kids who jump lines... But the ride is fun, even if you
don't like roller coasters. An older woman in a wheelchair was trying to
cajole her friend onto the ride, but had no luck. The woman though seemed to
have a great time. I made a mental note to come back after dark because so
many folks in this notesfile have commented how much better it is in the dark.
Fantasyland was next and I had a short wait for Pinocchio's Daring Journey,
which was new to me. It's a cute ride, but like Snow White, it seems to dwell
on the scarier parts of the film. After the ride, I wandered through some of
the shops trying to decide what to buy for my baby daughter at home. I also
took the walking tour of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. This was pretty neat; I
enjoyed the displays and thought they should have something like this in WDW.
But it also brought up the age-old question of why King Stefan's Banquet Hall
is in *Cinderella's* Castle in WDW...
I passed through the rest of Fantasyland because most of the other rides I was
interested in had fairly long lines. Peter Pan's Flight and Alice in
Wonderland were each posted as having 30 minute waits. So I continued onto
Tomorrowland.
In Tomorrowland, I toured some more of the shops and then got in lines for Star
Tours. It was posted as a 45 minute wait but was closer to 25. Being a big
fan of the Star Wars films, I've always enjoyed this ride. This time I sat in
one of the rear corners so I got tossed around quite a bit but I loved it. Oh,
and you haven't truly experienced Star Tours until you share a ride with about
20 8-to-10-year-old girls. They screamed at everything, but seemed to have a
great time. In fact, we all had a ball...
After Star Tours, I strolled through more shops. This time, down Main Street.
Gee, get the impression I'm a big shopper?? Not really, I hardly bought
anything. But check out the shop windows of the Emporium. They've set up
displays of different scenes from "Beauty and the Beast". Anyways, making my
way down the sidewalks of Main Street was an adventure because all the ropes
were up the Main Street Electrical Parade. I kept looking for cheese... :-)
Because my time was extremely limited, I decided to bypass the parade and Great
Moments With Mr. Lincoln and get back over to Critter Country for Splash
Mountain. I hopped aboard the Disneyland RR and got off in New Orleans Square
(ooo, long trip). The line for Splash Mountain was still an hour long, but now
I was hungry and grabbed a very disappointing turkey sandwich at the Hungry
Bear; it must've sitting in the fridge for a few hours because the condensation
had turned the bottom of the bun into mush.
It was now getting close to the first showing of Fantasmic! so I decided
to check out Pirates and then brave the line for Splash Mountain, hoping that
Fantasmic! would draw away the crowd. I walked right onto Pirates and it is
superior to its WDW counterpart. First, because of the two drops. Second,
there seems to be more put into the displays and they seem to go on longer.
Also, there were a few things in DL that I don't recall in WDW. I don't know
what it is exactly, but DL's Pirates made a greater impression than WDW's.
Also, I made a mental note to eat at the Blue Bayou sometime. It overlooks the
beginning of Pirates and looks like it has great atmosphere for a quiet dinner.
The first show of Fantasmic! had started by the time I got out and had quite a
crowd gathered. Now, it was time for Splash Mountain and the line had gone
down considerably. It turned out to be about a 30-minute wait. And I imagine
that it only went down from there. During the last show, it's possible that
you could walk right on. Don't know for real, didn't try it... But back to
the ride, as we're boarding, I notice that a family of four is up in the front
of the "log" and in the back, there's me. Hmmm... I think I'm gonna get wet...
The audio-animatronics based on "Song of the South" are cute but the real
reason you're there is to be dropped from high heights and get wet. And the
last drop certainly delivers on this aspect. I don't recall a flume ride that
drops from so high; it was great!! And at night, as you disappear into the
briar patch, between the mist and the darkness, you don't know when you're
going to hit bottom (as it were) and make a splash. Going at night really
seems to add another level to the ride. But alas, I did suffer a great
tragedy; I lost my favorite hat... :-(
Has anyone seen a white Jimmy's Grill ball cap from Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii
floating by whilst riding Splash Mountain?? If so, can you mail it to me...
On my way out of Critter Country, I wanted to stop in the Briar Patch gift shop
to pick up this great Tigger t-shirt I saw for my wife. It was 10 o'clock and
they were closing. Closing?? "Well, can I just quickly run in and get a
t-shirt??" "No." Grrrrr... But lady, I just lost my favorite hat on Splash
Mountain. She told me that the Start Trader in Tomorrowland or the Disney
Clothiers or the Emporium on Main Street would have the shirt. She lied. The
only place I could find this same shirt was in the Briar Patch gift shop but
they were closing and wouldn't let me buy the shirt.
Anyways, the first Fantasmic! show was over and people were waiting for
the second to begin so I went over and got in line for Big Thunder. A 20
minute wait and it was like a different ride at night. The people in the
notesfile *were* right (not that I had any doubt whatsoever). Pretty cool.
Now, I had some time on my hands before I wanted to scout out a spot for the
last show of Fantasmic! so I went to do the shopping I had put off earlier. I
bought an outfit for my daughter and tried to find that Tigger t-shirt. My
quest took me into Tomorrowland but still no luck. Also, I ran smack dab into
the Electrical Parade with no real easy way around it 'til a fairly large break
between floats. But now, it was time to stake my claim for a place to watch
Fantasmic!. I tried to head into Adventureland to get over to New Orleans
Square but ran into the throngs leaving the second show; Frontierland was the
alternate route.
Once in New Orleans Square, I tried to stand up on the bridge over the entrance
to Pirates but it was already mobbed so I moved on. I found a spot right down
in front just behind the rope for the sitting area so I sat down 'til it was
show time. I was generally amazed at the nerve of some people. A family in
front of me was "holding" space for others who hadn't shown up. Actually,
there wasn't any free space; when the rest of them showed up, they just
squeezed in making space tighter for everyone else and nearly stomped on my
hand to get by. My legs started to fall asleep and there were some cranky
(really, just tired) kids behind me. I knew there were going to have trouble
seeing around me so as the show was getting ready to begin, I offered my spot
to them and I got up and stood nearer to the back. It was only about 6-8 feet
back and I actually had a better view because I was standing and not relying on
the whims of the rude people in front of me. I had a good view of the show but
still feel the bridge over Pirates is the best place to watch it and it's
certainly one of the best video vantage points.
Anyways, so how was the show?? Ehhh, it was okay...
Just kidding, it was great, super, wonderful... it was... it was... well,
FANTASMIC!!! Someone had to say it.
Remember when you first saw the Electrical Parade or Illuminations and you
thought to yourself, "Boy, these Disney folks really know how to do it up
right!!" Take that feeling and multiply by ten and then, you'll have an idea
of how I feel about Fantasmic!. It's just a really great show. The details of
the show are elsewhere in the notesfile (in the DL note, I believe... duhhh...)
so I won't attempt to reproduce the show word for word, event for event, except
to say that the laser and fire effects work very well, as do the mist screens.
It's easily the biggest and best show the Disney folks have put on so far. The
music is great; the floats are great; the ships and the way they're used are
great; the pyrotechnics are great; the dragon is great; the whole show is,
well, pretty durn good...
And boy that Mickey Mouse changes costumes fast!! My favorite Mickey costume:
Steamboat Willie... in black and white yet. A very nice touch.
Sorry, Mike, but I didn't videotape the show though I wish I had. I made a
quick decision while packing to leave the camcorder at home. I was taking
enough stuff already. But I wish I had a video of the show to play over and
over and...
And before I knew it, the show was over and it was closing time. I joined the
masses heading out. I made a quick stop in the Emporium for a couple of
postcards and another look for that t-shirt. And then, I headed out the main
gate with the music from Fantasmic! running through my head.
I thought I had missed the last shuttle back to the hotel and was prepared to
hoof it 'til I saw the van out of the corner of my eye. A whole family of
eight or so got on with me and an older couple. One of the little girls was in
a wheelchair and it turned out that her whole family had come up from San Diego
because the Make-A-Wish Foundation had granted her wish of having her family
take the train up to Anaheim and spend the weekend at Disneyland. I suddenly
missed my wife and baby daughter very, very much...
It's so easy to take things like a trip to Disneyland for granted.
The shuttle dropped us off at the hotel. I went up to my room and fell quickly
to sleep.
Summary and Tips
----------------
I only had a limited amount of time (7+ hours) and it was a Saturday night so
it was fairly crowded. I'd be surprised if I hit 20% of the park. I didn't do
nearly half of what I wanted to do but I did the two biggies: I rode Splash
Mountain and saw Fantasmic!... Because of the crowds and long lines, I stuck
with the kinds of rides I knew I'd enjoy.
I enjoyed myself but would have preferred shorter lines and some company. My
next (real) trip probably won't be 'til at least '94 and I've now resolved to
go in the off-season, mainly due to smaller crowds.
The other thing I noticed, or rather, didn't notice, were the characters.
Aside from the parades and shows, I didn't see any characters around the park.
In any of the WDW parks, you could hardly go an hour or so without stumbling on
them. Maybe it was that I just in the wrong place at the wrong time or there
were fewer out and about because of crowds, who knows?? It just seemed...
different.
A few Fantasmic! pointers...
Go to the last show of the night if you can. If you do this, you
can get away with showing up 30 minutes before showtime and still
get a real good spot. If you go to an earlier show, you'll need to
be there at least an hour in advance, judging by what I saw.
If you're videotaping, don't get too close to the shore of the Rivers
of America. Many of the floats/ships travel close to the shore in
order to avoid the mist screen hardware, etc., so you could be too
close. To me, the recommended viewing/videoing spot would be on the
bridge over the Pirates entrance (which also seems to be everyone
else's first choice too).
Oh yeah, you get wet if you're on the shore (and beyond) but it's
just a strong mist. Even so, videographers have been forewarned.
You may want to use a clear skylight filter, or the like, to protect
your lens.
And please don't try to save a spot for anyone, even if it's for
your kind old grandmother. It's rude and inconsiderate of those
who have been patiently waiting around you. If you want to see the
show, get there early, sit down and wait like everyone else.
The best time to ride Splash Mountain seems to be during a Fantasmic! show,
unless you can run over there when the park opens. The later the show, the
shorter the line would be my guess.
Then, I get home and my Disney News with mucho pictures and articles on
EuroDisney is there waiting for me. And my wife is saying, "That Euro
Disneyland sure looks good..."
|
| 290.23 | DL - May 31st | BROKE::LUND | | Tue Jun 16 1992 09:35 | 190 |
|
Annie and Stan Lund
Disneyland trip report - May 31st, 1992
Annie - DL 1981,'89,'92
Stan - DL 1992 (first time)
Both - WDW 1984,'85,'90,'91,'92
Now this is my second trip report this year and the
third in 10 months! It was really tempting to pick
up a pair of plane tickets during the airfare
wars last week and show up at WDW before the annuals
expire in late August... :^) But we didn't.... :^(
Ok, we spent one VERY LONG day at Disneyland.
On May 31st we got up at 4:00 am; got ready and left
our hotel in San Diego for the ride north to Anaheim.
We left at 5am; and arrived in Anaheim about 6:45;
got the gas refilled so we wouldn't have to do it
late at night and headed for DL!. We were hungry;
But...
The parking lot was opened; and the park opened at 8
so we decided to go in.... Well you know how big the
parking lot is...; we had the 9th parking spot from
the canopies in front of the ticket booths. Ah, no
need to remember where the car is! We didn't have
tickets; the Disney Store in Pheasant Lane Mall doesn't
have them there; they have to order them, and it was to late.
We were second in line for tickets when the booth opened,
cost: $51 for 2 adult tix with MKC discount.. Then we got
in line at the main entrance..... We had hoped that it
would open 1/2 hr early so we could get on main street
and we could get a muffin at the bakery. When the park
opens at 8am; they don't open Main St. up early. Only
earlybird tickets (from hotel or packages) are let in
early. So we wait.
Park is open from 8am to midnight.
When the park opened we decided to head for Splash Mtn
first since it was not operating yet in WDW. Still hungry, but
breakfast can wait. Rode Splash Mtn twice; what the
heck, we were a little wet after the first time; might as well
get back and do it again before the crowds form. Basically
walked on both times. Then we headed for the Matterhorn
and rode that while there were no lines.
Finally we headed for Breakfast at Plaza Inn. B&tB as well
as other characters were there.
Ah, before I continue with the day's events; I wanted to
point out some changes in the souvenir guide. We were able
to pick up an "old" 1992 souvenir guide in one of the shops.
It didn't mention Fantasmic. At the entrance they give you the
"new" 1992 souvenir guide. The New Souvenir guide has a fold out.
On the front page is a night picture of the castle (which by
the way is much smaller then the WDW one)...
" As Night Falls
Imagination Rises...."
Open the first page and there is a flame on the page that says:
" Brace Yourself For
The Journey Into
Fright And Fantasy..."
Then you open up the foldup and it's got a description of
Fantasmic; with FANTASMIC! in bright bold letters and
pictures of dragons, the creature from "Night on Bald Mountain"
whale from pinochio, and Ursula, and Mickey as the Sorcerers
Apprentice, and others
Ok.. on to the day's events... after breakfast we headed around
to the Jungle cruise and rode that. A short 5-10 min. wait. We
had skipped this down in WDW the last 3 times because the lines
were too long to wait for. We skipped The Tiki Room and Swiss
Family Treehouse... We then headed to New Orleans Square and
did the pirates.... This ride is different then the one in WDW;
It starts with ride through an area like in Mexico(WDW-EPCOT)
there is a restaurant here called the Blue Bayou which over looks
the first part of this ride. The ending of the ride is different
also; The queuing lines are mostly outside. Had a short wait. Then
went on to the Haunted Mansion and got right in; later there were
lines. Went up to see the Gallery and then rode BTMR. After this
we took the RR over to tomorrowland. Star tours lines were long so
got on the monorail and headed for The Disneyland hotel. It was
about 11:00. Don't forget to get a handstamp. We spent
some time looking around over there and getting some DL souvenirs
there (accepted MKC card). Disneyland Hotel is listed as an area
in the DL guide with several attractions and activities and plenty
of restaurants and shops.
We then headed back to DL. And went and ate in the Blue Bayou for
lunch. This is a full service restaurant overlooking a Bayou; which
is part of the beginning of Pirates Ride. We had Monte Cristos ;^).
and it was nice and cool. After this we started around the park
from the Adventure land side looking thru the shops. Then onto
New Orleans Square and in the Gallery asked about the Balcony
for Fantasmic... Only VIP seating this night.
Then over to Critter Country. We went over to Tom Sawyers Island.
After this we walked into the Country Bear Playhouse for vacation
hoedown. We have been able to basically walk on every ride today;
with only a small wait 5-10 minutes. I think one ride we had a
20 minute wait. We take a break and get something cold to drink
and then we head out to check out the Big Thunder Ranch. Its
only mid afternoon... :^).
Most of the "selected weekends and seasonal periods only" restaurants
and refreshments were not open.
We then headed to fantasy land, we did Snow White and Peter Pan and
went through the castle; the carousel, and that enough of those type
rides for us. Took alook at It's a Small World Building; but didn't
ride it; Videopolis had been filming for part of a telethon;
then went back and rode the skyway over to tomorrowland.
Rode the wedway people mover and then headed for mainstreet to do
some browsing through the shops while the shoppers were light.
Then went and did another ride on he Matterhorn (about 20 min. ride)
At this point the congestion for the ELP and Fantasmic is starting.
Stan heads out to get jackets from the car; and I head around via
BTMR :^) to meet Stan at the Blue Bayou for dinner (only full
service restaurant open on 5/31). It took awhile and the crowds
were very heavy for the first Fantasmic. The lines all day weren't
bad; but this was. I think alot of locals were there; as 5/31 may
have been the last day of seasonal passports (it was).... I think
they had come in for the evening Fantasmic shows; as the park got
more and more congested. Had a very relaxing/enjoyable dinner.
Came out just about 9:30 and faced the exodus of the first Fantasmic
showing; and were able to get a place on the bridge... See note
8.167ish for more details on the crowds. We had about an hours wait
for the 10:30 showing. This is a very good show; we both enjoyed
it alot! It lasts about 1/2 an hour.... and here's some details;
but I know theres more I am not remembering. It starts with Mickey
as the Sor.App. coming out on stage (landing where the checkerboards
are on Tom Saywers Island). Then the witch(?) from Sleeping Beauty
comes out and instead of one person more beautiful then her; there
are three (Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Belle); then three barges
come along with each of these with their princes. There are also
laser shows on water (like is done in Epcot); then they go away and
then Ursula appears on a barge (looks very much like the Ursula
thats in Spectromagic at WDW). and then theres a battle scene;
and then the Columbia (the Sailing ship) comes and the battle with
Captain Hook?/Peter Pan takes place; and that goes away and there
are some more laser/etc type battles where the creature from
Bald Mountain appears and Ursula; etc; and then Mickey triumphs
and then the Mark Twain Steamboat appears with all the characters
on it.... Wow; I can guarantee that this is probably not in order
as to when things actually happened and there is alot things that
I have forgotten about.... We'll have to see what the pictures
look like when we get them back, (we have to send them out for
processing first!).
We stayed in our place for awhile until the crowd finally
started moving...
Well it was almost 11:30 by the time we got out to the entrance;
and we headed out....Tired but Had a great time...
Oh, in the daily Guide for DL:
"SMOKING. For the consideration of others, we ask that you
please refrain from smoking in line while waiting for an
attraction, and in popular open-air areas (parades, stage
shows, etc)."
and in the Safety Considerations in the Souvenir Guide; boldfaced.
"Smoking is not permitted in any attraction or waiting area.
We thank you for your cooperation and consideration."
Also the Souvenir Guide for DL has a section called "Healthier Foods"
and lists all restaurants and refreshments that offer healthier
items/entrees as well as vegetarian dishes like Vegetable Lasagna
(Plaza Pavailion); Chilled angel hair pasta primavera (Blue Bayou)
and Avocado and alfalfa sprout sandwich (Carnation Ice Cream Parlor)
plus there are more...
- Annie
|
| 290.24 | WDW April 25 - 8 heavenly days | RAGS::KUSCHER | | Sun Jun 21 1992 22:26 | 694 |
| First I would like to state that my wife has put the effort into
writing this trip report. The fact that this is late is my fault
because I have not done the editing that was needed to be done as
my wife is not computer literate and knows nothing of editors.
So, Mike blame me not Jackie.
Ken
=========================================================
Trip Report from the Kuscher family consisting of Ken (DEC), wife
Jackie, 23 yr. old son Nat and 13 yr. old son Brian.
April 25, 1992 Saturday
Up at 6:30 am -- an easy task as some of us so excited we were
sure we'd only dozed all night instead of sleeping. Limo picked us
up 8:30. That extra was so worth the money. Took away all the
anxiety we felt as we do not go into Boston at all so much easier
this way and much more reliable. Our 13 yr. old had asked for a
limo ride for a b-day present for years so this surely pleased him
- he played with the tv all the way down and just loved it. Plane
took off on time (10:55). Nice smooth flight. Arrived Orlando on
time (2:00). Rented an Avis car (Intermediate Chevy Lumina). This
turned out to be a real hassle with trying to fit luggage into
trunk going to WDW - almost impossible upon leaving WDW.
Checked into The Vacation Club (rms 1411,1412). WOW!! We never
expected such a truly beautiful place. In fact, all 4 of us think
of the Vacation Club very first when WDW mentioned as we just
loved it there so much. We were very fortunate as we ended up
getting a discount with the MK Card plus being Value Season so
brought it down from $305 to $227 per night. Our very 1st pleasant
surprise -- man more to follow. We unpacked and video taped the
rooms 1st before we made it "lived in". If any of you would like
to see the video we'd be happy to oblige. The whole decor down to
the smallest detail was truly Key West. We had the 2 bedroom. The
main condo was one large living, dining and kitchen area with a tv
and VCR in a kitchen island facing the living room. The kitchen
had everything you might need except food of course -- Fiesta
dishes also -- very pretty. Pretty sure the stove and dishwasher
hadn't been used - forgot to ask how many others had stayed there
before us as it was so so so sparkling clean it appeared that we
were the first. The maid service was excellent -- she even loaded
and ran dishwasher for us. Off of the living room was a good size
deck (Mickey ears on slats of course) with a white plastic table
and 4 chairs and from there could also enter our master bedroom.
The Venetian slats on all the windows were a beautiful heavy wood
-- worked just like ours here at our house!!Off the front hall to
the left was the door into the boys rooms. They had 2 queen beds,
table and 2 chairs and an armoire with TV in it -- off their
bedroom was their deck - same but about half the size of ours.
They also had a sink/refrigerator/microwave/coffeepot in a small
hallway to their bathroom. Their bathroom small but very nice.
Back to our entryway (left to boys room, straight to living room
kitchen area etc.) and to the right was a hall. First door on
right a laundry room complete with a full size washer and dryer,
an ironing board and iron and a box of laundry detergent. Straight
ahead was our bedroom/bath area (and we do mean area!).Our bedroom
was simply beautiful -- a king size bed, night stands, a chair and
an armoire with a tv in it of course. In the next area was a
Jacuzzi, a sink, a corner cabinet and a large closet with a safe
in one wall of it. Then on to a door which led into a beautiful
good size bathroom -- large shower stall, toilet and large sink
area. We are so happy that we had such beautiful accommodations as
we don't take any trips so for us this was a real 15th anniversary
treat. We did also appreciate the condo when we had rest time and
entertainment time there. All 4 of us just felt very happy and
relaxed at our place. It was so nice to come back to such a quiet
peaceful environment. As we sat on our deck we had such a
beautiful view to look at. The grounds were outstanding(pretty as
a picture) and part of the Buena Vista golf course (17th hole) ran
past us. We also had our friendly ducks that were fed so very
well as you can imagine!! Just an opening of the door to the deck
brought them running also with the birds that would come eat out
of your hand.
After unpacking and doing a lot of ohing and ahing we drove around
a bit. This being our first visit we got lost rather easily but
had fun. Ended up over at Pleasure Island eating at Portobello
(thanks to all of you who suggested this place in the notes
files). We just had another fantastic experience. It was the best
meal we had the whole trip there. What a way to start a vacation.
For 4 of us $128 (tip $16 included). Got back to condo around 9 -
ohed and ahed some more then Ken and Jackie out to find Goodings
to food shop. Thought the prices reflected who they were selling
to (people like us who had no alternatives so to speak!!).
However, their prepared foods we enjoyed. Basically crashed to bed
around midnight.
April 26 -- Sunday
We all up and had breakfast in our kitchen then off (drove car) to
Magic Kingdom. We met good friends (Paul and Suzie) who live in
Tampa there at 9:15. Yea, never actually made a park at 9 or
before except one day! We all chatted and Ken made reservations
for Diamond Horseshoe Review for 4:45. Boys took off right away
(forgot to firm up a time and place to meet later - UG - great
start). Good thing they are old enough that we were more angry
than worried.
So off we started -- walking up main street for the first time -
that is truly an experience that tops no other. The beauty and
excitement with all the shops and the happy people walking toward
the castle is really something so special - wonder just how our
faces really looked -- bet full of happiness and awe. We only
popped in and out of stores quickly as we knew we'd be back to
shop. We 4 started at the tree house - loved it - so clever and
fun -- shopped for hats which was fun but none of us actually
bought one. Next stop was the Tiki Birds. Know that the majority
of people told us not to waste our time - but ---- We had a great
time. This will go down forever as one of the very very happy
memories for Jackie. Jackie, Ken, Paul & Suzie sat in the back
thank goodness. Jackie and Paul are the laughers of the group - so
- we got started laughing and trying to hold it in - got
impossible. The jubilant singing of flowers; the ominous screaming
totem poles are a sight to behold as was the frenzied crescendo of
the Tiki birds totaling a very very very loud 225 noise makers. A
truly one time only experience for us.
Then over to do the Jungle Cruise - it was about 10:00 and the
line was just outside the building area so we walked and walked
and walked the (soon to become so familiar) roped areas weaving
back and forth. Took us no time to figure out this was the best
way to think the wait would not be too long. After all, would you
on your own walk up and down a room for a half an hour just to
make yourself feel better about lines and waiting?? We also
thought it was so much better than having to wait anywhere else.
They keep you amused and entertained as you wait -- different way
at different places but a sure bet so mood overall much better for
everyone. We loved the Jungle Cruise (Ken took very good video of
it) and had lots of laughs along the way - very entertaining and
clever.
Then on to the Pirates of the Caribbean. We really really like
this. Thought after one time through that it has to be done more
than once to see all of it - there's so much to see and it's so
clever that we found ourselves promising to make a trip back to do
it again. The song has now become a permanent fixture in Jackie's
head - popping out at the strangest times like baseball games.
Ken bought the cassette for Jackie with her promise not to drive
everyone craze singing it all the time.
Decided to go see Country Bear Jamboree (can't tell if its the old
show returned as our first time) and thoroughly enjoyed it - very
cute and worth doing (Suzie & Paul didn't do it - guess Tiki
experience enough for Suzie) - but thought they missed something
fun - their loss. Thanks again to all of you in notes file as
probably wouldn't have gone into it without your information to go
on.
Off to find the Monte Cristo Sandwich mentioned so often in notes
file. Tried Columbia House - no luck! So off to Haunted Mansion.
Absolutely no lines - walked right in (about noon). Loved it -
loved it - loved it. We did see many tombstones with some familiar
names on them. This was another we said we'd do again.
Time to give concerted effort to finding boys. Knew they were off
to Space Mountain so we decided to head further to that area at
this point. Pretty much a waste of time - no boys but did see
parts to either do or not do another day back. Getting hungry so 4
of us to Tonys in Town Square. Our friends P & S decided to treat
us so we did the tip. One very odd thing - we waited about 15
minutes for a table but we could very well see that there were
plenty of tables and plenty of wait persons to go around. When we
were seated our friend Suzie asked about this -- our waitress very
friendly and politely explained it to us -- made absolutely no
sense to any of us at all!! So much for people/table/wait person
ratio/rational. Our lunch was simply delicious and the desserts
out of this world (have forgotten dessert but will ask friends
going in June to check out for us). We 4 had but one problem only
- it was really freezing cold in the restaurant.
Our friends left after lunch just as the afternoon Surprise Parade
started. Ken videoed and Jackie started taking pictures but the sun
had become too hot for her (forgot sun screen as so cool in am) so
she went back up onto the front porch of Tonys and sat in the
shade watching this most wonderful parade. They had 2 high school
bands there that came in first and then the parade. It was so
colorful, big, happy and fun - a neat experience to see. After
parade walked back up Main Street browsing and taking photos on
our way to Hall of Presidents. We really enjoyed that. We are a
family interested in history and politics and Ken is from Philly
so he much wanted to try it although lots of folks nixed it. Well,
we though it was well done and interesting. The anamatronics were
fantastic as far as we were concerned. Remember folks - this was
our first ever for these type things and feel fortunate as we
enjoyed everything so so much.
Off to wait outside of Horseshoe Jamboree a while to see if boys
showed up - nope! So we went in to the 4:45 show. WE REALLY REALLY
LOVED THIS Ken taped this and we will probably look at this many
times. Fast moving, funny funny funny, clever and just plain good.
Do not have to have a lunch so had drink and a cookie.
By now decided we'd better bus back to Vacation Club to see if we
can find our boys. Took ferry over to TTC and then got car to
drive back. As usual hardly anyone on ferry and we sat by
ourselves and low and behold a family with a most obnoxious boy
sat right next to us. For any of you who will not go with Jackie
to restaurants because obnoxious kids are drawn to her will also
notice this same phenomenon occurred at WDW repeatedly - no way
would this not happen even in a fairyland. No wonder our boys made
themselves scarce. Got back to VC about 6:45 and found a note left
by boys that they had come back there, swam, played some tennis
and went back to MK - said they'd be in Town Square 7:30. OK some
fast turnaround necessary - hustled back outside to catch bus
which was really close to our place and got on at 7. Entertained
some young folks with little ones when we said we'd lost our boys
9 hours ago - such a look on their faces - yes, told them ages
after a few minutes - had some fun and good conversation with them
- they had little ones which were very well behaved which was
nice. Amazing as it may seem but we actually arrived in Town
Square at 7:30 and while looking for boys they suddenly appeared -
hooray. By the time we realized that time was slipping away, as we
had lots to catch up on, it was too late to go over to Hall of
Presidents to get spot for SpectroMagic so decided to just stay
put - standing right under railroad station. Family of children
and mom sitting on curb waiting. Anticipated mom would stand up
when parade started but with where we stood no problem to be able
to see. UNTIL THE DREADED LAST MINUTE RUDE FAMILY. Jackie is 5',
Brian 5'1". Behind us stood the tallest living white man and his
family including a senior citizen. Just as parade starts sure
enough they come up to us and try to push us aside. Jackie has had
plenty of years (obvious because of height) of training for just
such an event - Brian willing to let them push in - nope, not on
you life. Nat (our 23 yr. old) ever the ready to defend his mom,
later said it was rather amusing to watch as this man tried and
tried to push us aside but wonder arms was there - man gave plenty
of dirty looks and kept pushing his senior forward - it almost
ruined the parade to be quite honest but this parade so so so
fantastic that nothing could spoil it. This was definitely
Jackie's favorite and Ken videoed it all which came out very good -
watched several times since we've come home. Know people who have
seen both say this music isn't as good as Electric but for us
having only seen this we just loved the music. Won't spoil the
parade by giving details but if anyone wants more info let us
know. We were hoping to see it again but for some reason it never
was done again near end of week when we would have gone back. Ah,
the lights blinking, twinkling, blinking, twinkling was so
magical. Disappointed to find out that fireworks ended last night
and won't be done again till summer season - darn. Back to VC and
late supper there.
4-27 Monday
Nat and Ken up and off at 7:30 to play golf on the Lake Buena
Vista Golf Course. Jackie got up to see them off but Brian by now
exhausted so he dragged himself up around 10. Brian and Jackie had
a nice leisurely breakfast out on our deck - feeding ducks and
birds and taking photos. It was a nice time for us as we also did
some reading on WDW to try and plan for rest of week. We finally
got ourselves off on bus and went over to the Marketplace to
window-shop (Ken had MK card with him for golf). We ate lunch at
Minnies - lots of decent food and really good price. Got back to
condo and Ken and Nat had arrived back from golfing - they had a
great time (2 other men joined them) and were reluctant to tell
just how many balls they had lost but who cares - just having
played at WDW was the fun for them. The golf at WDW is just
outstanding, this is also a place to take a golfing vacation as
there are five different courses to play. Ken and Nat only played
the Buena Vista course. This is one of the courses used in the
Walt Disney World Classic Golf Tournament. Just think of it a
Golfing Vacation and on your days off from golf you can go to
Magic Kingmdom or EPCOT or MGM or....
We then all decided to bop back to Marketplace as we now have the
MK card. Decided to drive over as time running out and from our
place it takes about 1/2 hr. to get anywhere -- VC plans to get
its own bus in the near future so that will be nice for future
visitors. Did some shopping at Marketplace and boys went out on
the Sprites for 1/2 hr. They had a really great time - seems older
brother soaked younger brother but they were both laughing so for
once younger one didn't mind being on the loosing end. Back to
condo. Brian swam in pool - he did that a lot - that being one of
the major highlights of this trip for Brian. Other 3 of us napped.
Off to Hoop-de-doo for 10:00 show. We got another pleasant
surprise before the show. While waiting outside we suddenly heard
the most enchanting music and saw that people were walking over to
see something. So, ever the curious, we followed. We saw (and Ken
taped) the Electric Water Pageant. What a spectacular beautiful
sight - wow - luckily saw it again from Poly. We were surprised
again to find we had seats right down in the front at HDD. Thanks
to all of you who convinced us to do this even though we had 2
boys who were actually dreading doing this. The best part for us
was the fact that not only did we have a great time but both the
boys had a super time and Nat tells everyone that that was the
thing he enjoyed the most!! We all 4 taped the show as trying to
eat at the same time - found the food very good and our ribs not
greasy as some in notes files had had. An experience we will long
remember to bring smiles to our faces. Late to sleep - after
winding down about 1:30!!
4-28 Tuesday (cold and windy) (wind chill seemed -30)
Four of us bussed over to Epcot arriving about 9:30. Went and
stood in the wind tunnel (line for the Space Ship Earth) and froze
as the wind whipped us. Enjoyed the ride but saw no lines couple
of other days about 2 or 3 p.m. and wished we'd done it them.
First off through the Communicore West and into the Living Seas.
We really enjoyed this - in fact probably stayed too long but am
glad we did it then as probably time restraints other times would
have made us cut time there so worked out for the best. Then off
to The Land. The boys decided to go off on their own direction and
they ended up passing us leaving Figment as we were going in -
they really like it. We did a big weave to and fro at Land but
always kept moving and it wasn't really too bad (about 1/2 hr.)
and well worth the wait. Jackie thought this was the place she
learned more than any of the other things she did at Epcot.
Decided to do Captain EO at another time so walked over towards
World. Got on a bus (double decker) that drove us around via
Mexico way and got off at Italy and then walked to Japan to go
have lunch at the Tempura Bar. This was the 2nd best meal all
trip for Ken and Jackie. The room is very small and most people in
there were oriental -- we felt a bit intimidated at first and
hoped they'd let us use a fork -- sure enough, starting with a
nice warm hand towel our waitress was so very pleasant and nice we
soon forgot we were using the fork she gave us. We shared a
platter for two of several things. We were so clever watching what
others did before we got ours but alas our waitress so nicely
quietly instructed us as to what we were to do. A most pleasant
enjoyable and sumptuous meal - so glad we went there. After eating
went downstairs to the big shop and Jackie bought a Bonsai ($30
including tax) and had them send it up front to pickup. That is a
nice service Epcot offers but remember it must be no later than 3
hours before Epcot closes.
Had made plans to all hook up at the Land at 2:45 to see the
afternoon air show but it was so windy they canceled it (ended up
Ken only one of us who eventually saw it). We all decided to do
Captain EO - that was really quite fascinating, clever and good to
say the very least - would recommend everyone seeing it - only
drawback was the loudness - it really is terribly loud. We all
getting tired by then so back to condo. Brian swam in pool of
course (no matter how cold it was!). We had supper at our condo
and then Jackie called a friend in Tampa to tell her we just
couldn't get together (we'd already determined that there was no
way we'd be able to do even 3/4 of the things we'd wanted to do).
Then Ken and Jackie drove over to Epcot to pick up the Bonsai at
pickup. They told us at the gate to take the first right (that's
where the buses and campers and handicapped parking is) so Ken
basically lived parked and Jackie went and got her bonsai. We then
decided to drive around and check out some of the other hotels.
Went to Poly, Disney Inn, Floridian and Contemporary -- they are
all so different and interesting - just fun seeing such diversity
in such an enclosed area. Back to condo - asked the boys if they
wanted to go to Pleasure Island - they declined - a couple of
poops! So Ken and Jackie took the water taxi from VC at 8:30 over
to PI. What a fun atmosphere to be in. There are clubs lining both
sides of a street with music coming to surround you. There were
some truly great dancers (4) doing dirty dancing as a promo for
the larger dancing done up at the far end on the stage. They sure
can fit a lot of activity, fun, music, dancing, shopping etc. into
a small area. We walked up and down in and out taking it all in.
Was disappointed when we got to the Adventurers Club (1 of 2
things Jackie had really planned to do) to find that there was
some sort of private party - the butler who greeted us was in part
and we had some entertaining conversation with him but the bottom
line was we just were not able to hear or get anywhere near any of
the main part. Decided to go do the Comedy Club. While waiting in
line outside we were right next to the stage and got a wonderful
earful of a very good band playing all types of songs very very
well - almost didn't want to go into the Comedy Club. The Comedy
Club apparently has different shows at different times. We had
hoped to see the one we'd read about in the notes files where they
do a lot of jokes about WDW. We saw the improvisational one. It
was very good with lots of audience participation. Of the 4 on
stage 2 were really very good while the other 2 were ok. After
that stopped into Neon Armidillo - Jackie had a most difficult
time seeing as the bar upstairs was about to her eye level - oh
well, music very good. Went outside for the New Years Celebration
- fireworks and confetti absolutely everywhere - seemed like it
continually fell from the sky! Decided to walk back down the
street and get some gooey dessert at D-Zerta. Sat outside at
tables they have set up and ate our delicious purchases and
watched people having fun. As it got later crowd got younger so
took bus back to condo and once again flopped into bed - once
again too tired to even use jacuzzi (ended up that all of us only
got to use jacuzzi once as we were either too tired and just
didn't have time -- unbelievable).
4-29 Wednesday (cool but sunny - 70 plus)
We were pleasantly surprised again!! Went over to the restaurant
at our place to have breakfast and entered into the magical world
of a Character Breakfast. Ken was the only one of the 4 of us who
wanted to stay - thank goodness he persisted because we had the
best time with Pooh and Tiger - have some simply great photos and
video of if. That's one time again when we were lucky because we
definitely had not planned on doing a Character breakfast. Yes,
it's sinking in now - just as everyone in the notes files had
indicated - yup, we were definitely in a magical place where it's
almost impossible to not have a good time no matter what you are
doing.
Boys stayed around our place doing their thing (pool, tennis,
Marketplace, etc.). Ken and Jackie took off for Epcot to forge
forth again. That place really is too big! Just walking from the
front entry is a hike in itself - seems like 1/2 hr. of walking
just to get to the place you want to be at (example: arrival to
Germany). We decided to do Universe of Energy - Ken like the dinos
- but we both felt we had wasted 45 minutes - didn't learn a thing
and it basically struck us as just a big ad. Then over to Wonders
of Life - we really enjoyed Cranium Command and wished Brian and
Nat were with us. It seems it would be a wonderful tool for
parents to be able to get through that tumultuous time frame.
Went into Kitchen Kabaret - cute enough. Took the monorail over
to MK - sat in the front. Easily done - all you have to do is name
the 7 dwarfs. Actually, all you have to do is ask the cast member
in charge and if there are others before you just wait till the
next one to come along - it's not a long wait by any means. We did
have a cast member who was enjoying his job (he was also studying
his book to become a pilot) and so determined that Jackie should
have to name the 7 dwarfs to be able to get a front seat - took a
little bit of time to come up with the 7th one but was able to
succeed - his next test was harder - wanted to know all the names
for the EPCOT logo we'd heard!
When we got to MK decided to take the train around - did 1-1/4
around to see it all then got off in Frontier Land. Went to
Liberty Square to have lunch at the Liberty Tree Inn. Well - there
it happened. The only disgruntled, disagreeable person in all of
WDW and it was truly annoying. This senior citizen Mary who was
the hostess with the leastess was our greeter at the door -
observed her with others as we waited to be seated and she truly
was just a dour sourpuss. We had been told by others that this was
a nice relaxing place to eat lunch - well, once again the Jackie
spell took over - sure all tired screaming kids at WDW were in the
same "small" room we were in. The sandwiches were delicious so
will remember the delicious food as the memory for Liberty Tree
Inn.
Went over to Future World and did Wedway (Jackie like ok, Ken
really liked it) and understand why people in summer find this a
very good way to take a nice cool break. Did Mission to Mars and
both of us didn't like it at all (a waste of time). Off to
Dreamflight - we both enjoyed that very much. Then we bopped back
over to Adventure Land to Aloha Isle for a Dole Whip. Yes,
everyone - thanks for the tip - it tasted delicious - wanted to
try the other one (vanilla) but never had the opportunity again -
darn. Went up to the Castle - the shop in there is definitely
interesting. Back to condo at 5. Boys had gone to MGM - they did
Indiana Jones and loved it, Nat got fooled at just the right time.
They also did Star Tours.
We all then off to the Poly to see the Polynesian Review. We all
enjoyed it very much (food was really delicious and had them bring
more) although don't think we'd do it again if we were lucky
enough to get to go back to WDW. Brian taped all of the show.
4-30 Thursday
Our friend Paul arrived about 8:30 and after showing him around
our place inside and out and having the last cup of coffee we took
off for Sea World. We were lucky as we had 5 free passes.
We first did Terrors of the Deep (shark show). All the men loved
it. In this place you basically walk through a glass tunnel with
sharks all around you. Then over to the Shamu Show (K taped) -
very good show but too short (1/2 hr.) and boys sat down front to
get wet. They were disappointed as they didn't get wet - not many
did - guess because the temp. on the low side. Ate lunch at
Tropical Reef (ok cheeseburgers fries type meal) and found the
only restaurant that any of us had ever been to that did not have
straws! No explanation - just no straws. Off to Sea Lion and Otter
show (J taped) - really a funny show - we 5 really enjoyed it a
lot. Jackie then dragged 4 guys off to see penguins (K taped) -
everyone enjoyed them also.
Left to head off to Belz Factory Outlet which Jackie had read
about in notes files. Guess she didn't read well enough as we
ended up all over the place trying to get to it (could see it -
but can't get there from here) and then when we finally got there
who knew it was so huge!! Now people are getting rather fed up but
still holding tempers. Jackie had to find the right place or else
- luckily found a lady who knew which building. For any of you who
want to know --- it's the Character Shop in Building 2. The
Character Shop is definitely definitely worth getting lost even to
eventually get there. True to form it really seemed a true outlet
- a rack of some type of shirt only in one size etc. But can get
some very very good deals.
Got back to Condo 5ish. We needed a rest so sat out on our patio
and had drinks and cheese/crackers for about an hour. We then
decided to head over to Yacht and Beach Club resorts to check it
out for supper and also to go to Beaches and Cream we'd heard so
much about. The Yacht and Beach Club resorts seemed rather formal
to us as we walked about - pretty as Disney is - but a bit formal.
We did end up having some awesome cheeseburgers at Beaches and
Cream - that place is a must do. The interior decorated in 50's
and a lot of fun inside - an arcade attached to it (played
pinballs a bit). The dessert we ordered to share was the Milky Way
Cake ice cream - to die for!! It was great. We only had one small
problem there - the worst family in the US was there. They were
unbelievable - 2 children basically acting like total terrors and
the amazing part was that they were so bad and so loud that
absolutely everyone (including employees) just continued to stare
at them. They apparently thought they were in their own private
plastic bubble as we could not figure out how they could possibly
not know the thoughts of everyone surrounding them - some brave
folks actually said very very rude things to this family but got
no response. It was really a shame because that was a nice fun
place to be and it did spoil it for all of us there at that time--
good luck to any of you who do go there - we feel it definitely
worth going to. Paul then back to Tampa.
5-1 Friday
Got up and out to Typhoon Lagoon (Ken Jackie & Brian) before it
opened at 10. Lots of people waiting outside. Then only one
entrance so feel really herded - then get in and another wait -
then everyone just about runs to get a spot (chair, lounging
etc.). This was quite a spectacle. We got 3 chairs under an
umbrella just to the right of the big wave so were set fine. Brian
got into the tube ride first and off he went. Ken went to rent a
locker for our stuff (that took him a good 45 min.). Ken walked
around the place a bit seeing everything and then Jackie did - it
actually isn't so very big so a trip around the place doesn't take
much time at all. When Jackie returned to chairs there sat Brian.
We'd been there 2 hours and Brian ready to leave. He feels he has
just as good places he gets to go to here back home so had done
what he wanted there and felt that was enough. Jackie happy as not
much to her liking and could think of other things to do
naturally.
Got back to Condo - had some lunch and then boys decided to play
some tennis and swim so Ken & Jackie rented one the boats (1 hr.
$20) to go exploring through the canals. That was a lot of fun.
They told us they will be making more canals in the future as
people seem to really enjoy doing this. There was lots of boat
activity while we were out from other places. We went over and
checked out Port Orleans and Dixie Landings. We have friends going
in June to Port Orleans so took video for them to see.
Unfortunately needed to get back so didn't get over to Marketplace
and PI by boat - oh well.
Jackie, Ken & Brian then drove over to Epcot. Ken & Brian did
Horizons which Brian had done and wanted to show his dad and then
Ken showed Brian Cranium Command which Brian really enjoyed.
Jackie went to England and spent a lot of time there (her
heritage). The show they put on in the town square was fun and the
crowds joined in and had a great time. Found some momentoes but
wasn't able to touch anything in Scotland (also heritage) as
prices a bit too steep. Then over to International Shops and
bought some things there. The gals there very nice as they
packaged up stuff Jackie bought there along with stuff bought at
England and sent it up to pickup. Headed over to meet Ken & Brian
at America at 5 and bumped into Nat coming out of Morocco. We (J &
N) spent some fun time there - the Moroccan group of entertainers
had themselves a lively group to join in (a group of about 8
teenage girls who joined in the fun) with their performing and
then waving the crowd in a bit - more entertaining - more waving
in - and on and on. Ken & Brian had gone over to France (B taking
French in school so was interested in seeing France). Nat and
Jackie sat outside America and watched a simply fantastic
performance by the International dancers and singers -- they were
awesome (1/2 hr. show) along with Goofy, Mickey and Minnie. We
all 4 met up at 6:30 in Germany for our supper reservation. Jackie
taped, Ken taped, Brian taped and Nat taped - had to as we tried
to eat at the same time as they did their performance. Show was
very good - very worth doing. Ken really enjoyed it as it is his
heritage and we sat at the same table with some other Germans so
had a good time.
We then down to Mexico to watch Illuminations - got there too late
to get a table but stood outside next to building and did enjoy
the show a lot. Last minute a group showed up with a man in a
wheelchair and gave Jackie (always her!) the look (make room for
wheelchair). Jackie no taller than man in wheelchair so once again
stood her ground - only to discover that upon turning around
during the show there was the man standing up just fine. What a
truly spectacular event that was. Thank goodness they turned off
those ugly things!! Ken taped it and it came out pretty good.
5-2 Sat (last full day)
Jackie Ken & Brian took bus over to MK (bus really crowded for 1st
time we'd seen all week) and got there 8:30. Main Street open and
a couple of rides we were not interested in (had we known that
would not have made it to MK so early). We waited by bridge in a
crowd to get into Adventureland. We did Pirates (one of Jackie's
favorites) as Brian hadn't done yet and then Ken and Brian did
Thunder Mtn. Ken did fine!! We then went into Haunted Mansion
again as Brian hadn't done that as yet also. Actually think Brian
only just liked Haunted Mansion as he'd hoped to be scarred even
though we told him not to expect to be. Jackie & Ken loved Pirates
and Haunted Mansion. Around 10:15ish so decided to go to Poly for
the infamous French toast with banana inside. Took monorail over
to Poly. Got in just before 11 and they were not letting in any
more after 11. Place was empty except for just a few tables.
Decided to get buffet and make just one order of French toast.
That worked out well as Brian took one look and decided too sweet
to even take one bit - Jackie had 2 bites without syrup - Ken
finished it off with syrup (he loved it and has made it here at
home now). We decided to go off our separate ways being the last
day so we could all do whatever we wanted either again or for
first time. Brian went back to MK, Ken to Epcot and Jackie back to
Condo to rest a bit (yup, feet and body beginning to wear down to
say the least).B back to condo about 1:30 and spent more time in
the pool.
Jackie caught a bus at 3 to meet up with Ken at 4 at Germany --
took Jackie exactly that 1 hour to make it at 4 -- and Ken not
there till 4:25!! (he'd gotten stuck in the show in America). Ken
and Jackie took some time to really look around and enjoy Germany
and got some goodies for our Xmas tree. We then went over to
America and listened to the singers inside which was excellent. We
then watched the international dancers as Jackie wanted Ken to see
- he did enjoy it as well. We then off to Norway to do Maelstrom.
That was great (wish the boys had been with us). Then off to
stake out the table at Mexico for Illuminations. Was that ever a
chore!! This is no easy task to get a table and keep it. We got
there and got some food and a table about 7. The tables by the
front already taken (most do not leave) so we got a table in the
back against the back of the building. Many many people try to
take tables and chairs already occupied. One lady at table in
front of us had to fight off a guy who came by quickly and grabbed
her husbands chair (he off to get some food) - they had a
tug-of-war going - unbelievable. By this time all of us had become
pretty much bonded so gave her applause as she hung on to win the
battle. Many people come in about 7:45 - they have been told as
they enter front gates that there are no tables left - and get a
little bit to eat and then try to make people move from their
tables - however we all knew they'd been told and didn't budge.
Employee comes by and puts down the umbrellas and we get excited
it's about to begin. Once again Jackie gets put upon. A senior
citizen couple decide to displace Jackie. GAD - why me all the
time? Jackie finally tells them (they are now directly upon her)
she's waited over an hour to see this and they should move
somewhere else. The only way we'd do that again is to know that
the show would be the same - yes, in the long run it was worth the
aggravation. Boys got there just about as show to start. We were
very slow to leave this night - such a beautiful atmosphere and
feeling it was so hard to leave knowing this was it for us.
When Ken had left from Poly he'd monorailed to MK, then to the
Contemporary and got off and looked around a bit -- not impressed
with the contemporary but it is definitely a sight to see the
Monorail go through the lobby -- then monorail to TTC then monorail
to Epcot. At Epcot went into Communicore West to see Robot
exhibit - he had Robot do a Pluto shirt for Jackie for Mothers
Day. He then did Circlevision in Canada. This was a very
interesting film. They use 9 cameras to film this and it gives you
the feeling that you are in an airplane with windows all the way
around. It is quite interesting to watch whats coming up and then
look to the the side and see it go by and then look behind and
see what you just went by. This really does give you the feeling
that you are traveling. Ken then went into England and
international shops and watched afternoon air show (Ken only one
of us to catch this) - The air show was a fun thing to watch.
This I would recommend for anybody with small children. then off
to America and then met Jackie at Germany at 4:25.
Our last night - we sat outside on our patio watching the green
strobe lights from PI, listened to the ever present Whip-O-Will
and talked about out fantastic week at WDW
5-3 Sunday
We all up around 8. Packed almost in silence as the depression had
started really setting in. Had one heck of a time packing our car
with all our bags plus all the stuff we'd purchased (had it been
that much?). Went into Hospitality House to ask if there may be
any way they could help - they offered that they could call Mears
and add one of us and bags if we needed just in case. Well,
finally got everything squished in with no room to spare (just 2
of us strapped to roof!). We then went over to our restaurant
(Conch Flats) for an early lunch. The cheeseburgers at our place
were definitely the best we'd ever had. Our waitress reminisced
with us about our week and the Character Breakfast we fallen upon
and loved so we ended up with smiles on our faces pretty much for
our last WDW meal. Got ourselves to airport in plenty of time
before our 2:00 flight. Easy flight home and very nice to have
limo waiting for us - all of us really quiet on ride back to
Merrimack. Our son Nat moved out to share an apartment with a
friend which we knew was going to happen but he did it as soon as
we got home. Probably for the best as we so exhausted no energy
for tears.
We end by saying to all of you who took time to put your trip
reports and notes into the file a huge huge thank you. The
information was immeasurable for us. This is really terribly long
and of course so much was not even put in but expect and look
foreward to anyone asking us for more infor and we will be very
happy to give details needed to help anyone.
|
| 290.25 | Disney World June 21-25 | AUKLET::MEIER | Where do the mermaids stand? | Wed Jul 08 1992 17:01 | 160 |
| My husband Bill and I recently came back from our longest vacation to date. It
was wonderful, and diverse in its diversions :-)
The following is a summary, including highlights and points of interest
for our recently completed trip to Orlando and Walt Disney World.
The purpose of our trip was to attend the National Insulator Association
convention at the Orlando Airport Marriott on Friday June 19 through Sunday
June 21, and bring with us our exhibit, to be displayed at the convention. This
meant we needed to drive. While in the area, we decided to spend some time at
Walt Disney World, with emphasis on seeing attractions new since our last
visit, in 1986, as well as the attractions we wanted to re-experience.
On Sunday, June 21 we left the insulator show and went off to the Walt
Disney World Dolphin hotel, run by Sheraton. We checked in, checked out our
surroundings, and ate dinner. Bill loved playing with the kiddie place mats
they had at the Coral Cafe; they were plastic with a liquid and little fishies
in them. Our room was located on the bottom floor, and we had a sliding glass
door that opened to a little patio. There was also water, which was used by
the boats connecting the Dolphin/Swan and Yacht/Beach Clubs to Disney MGM.
We could see (and hear, toot toot!) the boats, and we could see the trams that
run to Epcot. We hopped aboard the tram (from the tram stop, of course!) and
just rode it to Epcot and back, to check it out. It was amazingly quick, and
the trams came very frequently. They went over a boardwalk which will later
expand out to be the future Boardwalk "theme park". I saw bits and pieces of
the fireworks at Epcot, MGM, and Magic Kingdom from either the room (Epcot) or a
short distance from the room (having gone out the sliding door).
Moday we went to Epcot, going through the International Gateway, which is where
the tram let us out. (Note, we didn't get to any park either at or before
opening time). By the time we walked to American Adventure, the first of the 2
things we wanted to see at World Showcase, the heat was already getting to us.
We just missed a show, so we had to wait about 25 minutes for the next, and
relaxing inside was just fine with us! Slowly people trickled in but it was
nowhere near a full house...they didn't even ask people to "please move all the
way down to the end of the row", just three-quarters of the way down! We had
seen this show last time we were here, but I only remembered it vaguely, and
it was still good. When the show was over, we went to Norway for the
Maelstrom ride, which was new and highly touted. It wasn't crowded at all,
and it was lots of fun. Then we headed to Future World, and proceeded counter-
clockwise. Neither World of Motion nor Horizons had a long line (everyone else
was probably still on line at Spaceship Earth!). Sure we waited some, but it
wasn't as long asI "expected to wait, and by this time, as long as we were
waiting inside where it was cool, I was happy!! Our last attraction before we
broke for our lunch/rest break was Wonders of Life. All the people that weren't
at World of Motion or Horizons were in line for Body Wars, of course! We
joined the line and waited for maybe 45 minutes? I think it was the longest
time we waited for something, though waiting outside in shorter lines seemed a
lot longer! At least for the first part of our wait, we could watch the
people wandering inside the pavilion, and then they had monitors with "preshow-
type entertainment" and other stuff to distract you. The "ride" itself was
lots of fun. We also saw and enjoyed the other main attractions at the
pavilion, ate without feeling guilty :-) and left for our hotel. After our
break, we returned to Future World, and saw Journey into Imagination (ride and
movie), Spaceship Earth, and the Universe of Energy, all without much wait at
all! Then we headed back towards the International Gateway, found a good
viewing location, and waited about 20 minutes or so for Illuminations, which
was great. Then we rushed to the tram station and caught the first tram that
came along.
Tuesday we went to Disney MGM. We sort of accidentally found ourselves in line
for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, but it worked out well because we
saw and really enjoyed the show from good seats (near the middle and under a
fan!). It was good to know one of the spoilers I read here, because it
directed my attention better than it would have otherwise been directed at
several points. Oh, we saw this again at night (as recommended) and it was
interesting to note some differences. We then saw the Great Movie Ride. Here,
I experienced the thrill of "gee, the line's a lot longer now than it was when
we got in line!", and I also experienced a few of those things that I hope
I don't do when I have kids. :-) :-) Oh, and I think I read in here that when
the line splits, going left gives you the x scene and going right shows the
y scene. Well, it was the other way around, so either that person was mixed up
or the games they play with the ropes change this "outcome". I think when this
ride was over, we saw the 3-D Muppet Movie. It was a lot of fun. As a matter
of fact, we saw all 3 3-D movies (one per park) and they were all good. I
wore my contact lenses to the park just for the purpose of being able to have
depth perception for these :-) We went back to the room to rest up after the
show. I actually fell asleep, which means I was pretty tired! But now comes
the neat part...I woke up to a large clap of thunder, it was really storming
out there (again!). Bill and I then sat by the sliding door and watched a neat
lightning show from our room. And we saw a great blue heron walking along the
bank of the lake! We had our binoculars, so we could get a good view. Then
it stopped raining, and this gorgeous rainbow appeared outside. We went
out to see it better, and could see both "ends", and the beginning of a (very
weak) second rainbow above the first one. It was definitely an awesome
experience! In the evening, we went back to MGM. We took in Star Tours,
and were happy to be presented with a short wait. Then, after being presented
with a longer line than expected, and certainly longer than desired, we saw
Inside the Magic, the special effects tour. After that, it was almost the end
of the day, so we secured a prime viewing location for the MGM fireworks,
watched them, and went back to the hotel.
Wednesday we went back to Disney MGM to catch some of what we missed the first
time. We saw the Backstage Studio Tour (including the great Catastrophe Canyon,
which I wanted to see again and again as there was so much to see at one time).
Then we saw the Magic of Disney Animation, which, in my opinion, wasn't very
well managed as a guided tour. Before the last group of people (us) had
entered the area, the video had already started and was close to over. We
did have the option of hearing it repeat, but then ended up really out of
synch with the rest of the videos, and certainly well behind our group. They
do let you know that you can stay as long as you like in the area, and they
can one-better that by making it even less of a group-oriented tour. The fact
that there is a movie (actually 2 movies!) following the watch-the-animators
section helps keep people moving through. Then we caught the Monster Sound
Show. After that, we headed over to Epcot to check out "Surprise in the Skies"
from our prime viewing location :-). It was really neat! then back to the
hotel to rest up, before returning to MGM after nightfall, and heading to
Indiana Jones again for the night-time version. We made it there in time
to walk in and get a seat, and wait only a few minutes. After the show, we
again caught the MGM fireworks.
Thursday felt like the hottest day, and it was our last day. We went to
the Magic Kingdom, our first time on the bus (a major advantage to the 4
Epcot resorts). First saw the Jungle Cruise, after a long wait that really
tired us out quickly, then indoors for a while to see the Tiki Birds (I liked
it a lot better the first time, maybe cuz of the heat.) I then dragged Bill
to Pirates of the Carribbean, which was a great idea because the line wasn't
too bad, and it was so nice and cool in there, I didn't even mind waiting!
Then we went to Frontierland, and knew that we couldn't survive the wait at
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the sun (we put it on the come back at night
list). We got to the riverboat landing as the boat pulled in, and opted to
go aboard and just sit and see the sites; riding one of the boats was on my
do-this-time list. And, as we were there when it pulled in, we were able to
get chairs in the shade, and watch the other boats go around, and a family of
ducks. Sorry, but I couldn't imagine sitting in the sun paddling a canoe!!
The line at the Haunted Mansion was also long, and it was "that time", so we
headed "home" to rest and return after an early dinner. Well, the rain came
again, and didn't let up this time. We decided to go for it anyway, and Bill
got his coat (sort of raincoat-ish) and I got an umbrella (preferring to get
wet than to sweat to death, she recalls, shivering :-)). We took in Dreamflight
without any wait, and Magic Journeys (3-D movie). Space Mountain was a "short"
wait, but only comparatively. We stopped at the Mad Tea Party. The books say
this is just a midway ride, that you can experience anywhere, but I've never
seen one before...the Canobie Lake version doesn't let you spin yourself, and
that's the fun part. Last time we went on it 2 or 3 times in a row (well,
we waited in line a little, which was good! :-). This time, we were moving
so fast that we didn't know if the ride was going or not!! Remember, it was
still raining now, and full night (ie it was dark!). Somehow I managed to
steer us correctly towards Frontierland to find somewhere to see the parade
from. When I found the ropes (with lots of room to spare), I asked a woman
nearby if the parade went through there. She said "I just heard they cancelled
it". You can image the stunned expression on my face! We got official
confirmation, followed by the standard (so we heard) last minute PA system
cancellation message, but by then we were well on our way to Big Thunder
Mountain RR. The line was so short that we didn't have to wait out in the
uncovered area. A funny thing to relate is that while we were in line they
announced the following (paraphrased): "This is an outdoor ride. It is
raining. You and your belongings will get wet". It was pretty funny, like
we weren't all wet already! The ride itself was lots of fun in the dark, and
it was a lot longer than I expected it to be, much to my delight. After the
ride, we went over to the WDW Railroad station, and took the train, which I
had never ridden before but wanted to try, back to the start of Main Street,
and we went home. By the way, Splash Mountain was not open at all, from what
I could see, but we did see a few test logs coming down the hill.
Friday morning we checked out, left Disney and Florida behind, and headed back
north. We got home Tuesday night (took the "very scenic" route), and returned
to work Monday after the long weekend.
Jill
|
| 290.26 | tired but happy | TRUCKS::MILES_B | Extinction is FOREVER | Tue Jul 21 1992 05:27 | 15 |
|
Well .......................................
Just got back from our first visit to WDW :: 2 weeks in Orlando and
boy we really needed that extra week to recover in Key West.
What can I say it was FANTASTIC.
Epcote was the highlight of the trip especially the second time
around on July 4th.
When I have recovered and got my breath back I will try and put
together a coherent visit report.
gasp .......... Bob
|
| 290.27 | Birthday Bash Report | WOTVAX::BATTY | Der machinen goin' Floomy Floomy! | Wed Jul 22 1992 10:58 | 90 |
| The following is a totally factual(?) report of the events at the
Great Birthday Bash held at Pioneer Hall on 12th July 1992.
Attendees:--
Mike Scopa and Family (4)
Friends of the Scopa's (3)
Kathy Jette and Family - Just!! (3)
Jim Pappas and Family (5)
Mike Batty and Family (4)
19 in all, plus a few other groups that we let in just for the
crowd scenes.
We'd arranged to meet at 4pm on the porch of Crocket's Tavern. The
Pappas clan plus mine set off from the CBR to travel over
together, bus to MK, then ferry to FW. (We thought that the
copious pitchers of beer at the HDD might have a negative effect
on our driving abilities!!!) This took much longer than expected,
including a very hot 20 min wait for the DI/FW ferry to appear,
resulting in us arriving at about 4.25. The Scopa clan were all
ensconsed on the porch, sitting in rocking chairs, sucking
reflectively on their corn-cob pipes and occasionally stirring to
spit on the floor. All except Mike, who was already signing
autographs for his many fans. The line was longer than for most of
the MK attractions (except perhaps Space Mountain, but it was a
close thing!).
Dragging Mike away from the groupies, I ceremonially presented him
with the one object that I knew would make his day. Yes, a bright
red genuine Brazilian Tour Party T-Shirt! I could tell that he was
touched as his face ran through all the emotions from A to B, and
he was close to tears as he proudly put it on for a photo session.
After some discussion, we decided that the combination of his
natural charisma plus the T-Shirt would be too much, (He was
going to steal the show anyway!) so he reluctantly took it off,
and we returned to more pressing matters.
Where was Kathy Jette? It was approaching showtime, and no sign of
her and her family. Ms Efficiency (as she is popularly known)
would never be late without some good reason. Had Mike Eisner
delayed her with questions about how to run the parks? As she
strolled into view just as the doors were closing, all became
clear - She realised she couldn't compete with an actor of Mike's
ability, so she was going to make a grand entry to secure her
place in the show! Well, the plan failed, and not even the other
trick of hiding behind Jim Pappas, shouting "Don't pick me! Please
don't pick me!" had any effect. She missed her chance of stardom,
and was totally overlooked.
The show opened and then the food appeared, delicately served by
slamming down buckets of corn on the tables, to be dished out on
the finest quality tin plates. There was no food fight (Sorry
Claude!) because everything was prearranged. We'd had a quiet word
with the cast members and pointed out that our party was big
enough (in all senses of the word) to wreck the place if they
didn't pick on Mike, so we could enjoy the vittles without too
much interruption. There were the usual episodes of presenting the
birthday people with illuminated badges, and finding out where
people came from and then singing appropriately mutilated verses
of 'She comes from Alabama', though how they get Mass to rhyme
with a type of pack animal I don't know!
On to the main part of the show, using people from the audience in
key roles. Mike was of course selected, although at first we were
a little disappointed that he didn't get the part of the angel,
but we realised that it took talent to play the Indian, whereas
anyone can stand around in a tutu (Can't they Jim?). Chief Running
Scopa duly appeared to roars from his fans and proceeded to amaze
and delight the audience with his abilities. His facial
expressions as he was beaten to the ground were a joy to behold,
and when it came to the 'death scene', well, what can I say! The
audience was in tears (of sorrow of course!) as this honor student
of the Robin Williams School of Dramatic Acting stretched the
simple line "Oh, Please don't die" into 10 minutes of drama. He
was so carried away by the role that they are still filling in the
toothmarks in the stage, and the tactic of throwing himself full
length and having a tantrum successfully avoided the attempts of
the cast members to use the 'hook'. Motivated no doubt by
jealousy, they eventally silenced him by sitting on him, and the
show ran to a very anticlimactic conclusion.
After a few moments of appreciative applause, Mr. "Don't Give Up
Your Day Job!" Scopa returned to anonimity, and was last seen
guiding a party in red T-Shirts into Shuttle Atlantis promising
them that this was the new version of Star Tours.
Your Roving Reporter,
Mike (I'm not making this up!) B.
|
| 290.28 | A July 4th trip report | SOLVIT::JAFFE | | Fri Jul 31 1992 17:58 | 65 |
| I won't go into any great detail since other trip reports have
expressed the obvious so well. I will however state some more personal
impressions based upon taking a 6 day WDW vacation at the Contemporary
with a 12, and 9 year old and a spouse who is not 100% healthy
(terminal CA) during the July 4th holidays.
My first recollections of the trip were HOT HOT HOT.
Not unbearable, but Hot enought that we carved our days agenda based
upon the position of the sun. From 12-4 the only places to be were in
the water at the hotel or Typhoon Lagoon, or napping in the cool
airconditioning of the Contemporary. Night time was still hot and
somewhat sticky but who noticed with all those wonderful attractions to
attend.
As far as parks go, MK got old fast, even with my kids who have
experienced the MK 4 or 5 times. We all still get thrilled by the
coasters and had fun with the others, but not enough to wait in any
kind of line. Oddly enough, the shortest lines were on July 4th after
the fireworks between 10:30 and 1 in the morning. We rode Space
Mountian 5 times in 1 hour.
Epcot was also not t he big thrill it was 1st time around, but enough
has been added, ie the Journey through Life, that we spent more time
here than MK. WE LOVED JTL. The bulding was unique and different from
the others and very well done. The magic motion machine ride was 2nd
only to the FANTASTIC one at Universal for Back to the Future, and the
animated brain function exhibit was the biggest hit of all.
Other EPCOT adventures were spent in sampling the cullinary delights of
the countries, which we did often. We ate dinner in Italy, China, and
Japan, and loved all the meals. Side trips for pastaries in France etc,
were also wonderful.
This was our first trip to WDW with MGM studios. We all had an OK time
but just OK not the BIG WOW. The Muppett 3D movie stands out as a big
hit along with the all popular Star Tours MMM. There really is no
comparison to Universal, sorry Mickey.
Typhoon lagoon is terrific, especially to one in need of coolness and
comfort from the raging July sun. The lines for the family white water
reft ride were a bit long 35 minutes especially for what you get, but
other than that, no negitives. Snoozing while floating down the creek
was a favorite activity for all.
Other notes of interest:
Contemporary, we stayed in the north garden wing, was very comfortable.
For the 145/ night I spent, the room was large and scenic, and the
advantage of being on Disney property made the trip. When my wife was
too tired to continue, I was easy for her to go back and rest without
altering the plans of the rest of us. It was just as easy to reunite
later on. The contemporary, like the Polanesian and Floridian, being on
the monorail is a big advantage in getting around.
All in all, another great time. I do think we have been Mickeyed out
for the next 4 or 5 years. The kids would probably prefer the action
and thrills of a real amusement park like Bush Gardens or Six Flags
next time. The smallish thrills of even the biggest Disney rides no
longer satisy their appitites for the dangerous and sickening.
Thanks for all the advice pre trip I obtained in this notes file. Call
if you need any additional details.
Joel
|
| 290.29 | Trip Report July 6-28 | HEFTY::BURZYNSKIJ | | Fri Aug 07 1992 10:44 | 493 |
| The following is a trip report from our most recent vacation in July
(the 6th-28th). For various reasons, we didn't all leave and come
back on the same dates:
07/06-09 - sister (also DEC employee), niece (14), and me on a
4-day RCCL Nordic Empress cruise to the Bahamas
07/10-15 - sister flies home; our mother flies from home to
Orlando and meets niece and me coming from Miami,
staying 6 nights at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.
07/16-19 - brother-in-law flies down to join us and we move to
Disney property, starting with these 4 nights at the
Yacht Club.
07/20-23 - at the Fairway Villas (first night was the Vacation
Villas, by mistake, but I'll cover that later on)
07/24-27 - at the Grand Floridian.
I'll start out with some REALLY broad things and then get down to the
(excruciating, I'm sure) details for each day.
1.) First, I'd like to thank all the folks who put so much into
this file. It helped us to decide to go with AP's (a good
choice), to make some of our choices on which days to go
where, etc. You'll certainly see that we didn't do "all" of
the things that have been recommended, but we were often
guided by what I had read in here.
2.) Obviously as this is the Disney notesfile, I'm not going to
put in a lot about the cruise part. Actually, it's only
entered because of our experience concerning the cruise-line
supplied land transportation and luggage handling.
3.) All the moving around was my "great" idea. In the end, I have
mixed feelings about it. We did minimize the moving time, but
mixed feelings about it. We did really work at minimizing the
time that was "lost" to moving (sometimes by packing when we
came back for a mid-day rest, or late in the evening when we
had nothing else planned; a couple of times by moving the
luggage and checking in very early, etc.), but, overall, it
still was a pain. As you'd probably expect, we liked some
places better than others; etc. But, we did end up with some
very clear opinions on where we'd stay another time - some of
it based on what we LIKED, but a lot actually based on where
they're located within the overall Disney property and the
convenience of getting around.
4.) We had all been to Disneyworld at least two other times, so we
had some frame of reference for comparison. The general feel-
ing was that "something" wasn't quite right. It varied from
the shabby condition of the Vacation Villa (1-night stay) to
some curt/rude dealings with castmembers to irritation at the
lengthened bus routes in the Villas (where they've added in 2
stops to the existing 7 because of the Vacation Club) to the
lack of direct transportation from the G.F. to places like TL.
5.) I'll really limit what I put in here about the non-Disney
places (Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center). Most of
what I will include is to contrast comments on Disney areas.
6.) You can tell by the dates that we had LOTS of time to work with.
As a consequence, our planning was much looser than on previous
trips. The result was that we probably didn't see as much as
we could/should have, given the time we had to work with. As I
look thru my notes, there's plenty that we didn't do.
7.) We were quite disappointed that only TMK was open really late
(12:00), while the other 2 theme parks closed at 10:00. One
the reasons that we've repeatedly gone in the summer (besides
needing to going during my niece's school vacation and the
fact that most of us like the heat and going swimming) was
because the parks were open REALLY late, so you could go and
do things for several hours after sunset, when it's warm, but
not hot. This change will definitely cause a rethink of other
trips and what time of year to go.
July 6-9 RCCL Cruise on the Nordic Empress
------------------------------------------
A brief "trip report" on this can be found in note #180 of the
Cruising notesfile.
The only discussion here concerns the difference between "cruise
only" and "land-sea" passengers. In at least one notesfile, I've
read where folks had purchased their airfare independently and were
asking about getting from the airport to the dock. Responses were
generally that the cruise-line didn't seem to check to see if you
were "cruise only" or "land-sea", so you should be able to use the
bus and luggage handling services, regardless; however, if not, it
would be easy to get taxi or other transport. Here was our exper-
ience:
We came off the plane in Miami to see a "greeter" with an "RCCL
Nordic Empress" sign, who was directing folks down to "the next
person with a sign". That one was sending folks to a waiting area.
There were no questions about what "flavour" of passenger you were.
Once we got settled in, a couple of things sank in: 1.) The 2nd
greeter had some paperwork that looked to be some kind of a list
(maybe there would be some checking of names); 2.) We were going to
be there for a while. My sister and I discussed it, and decided to
go find out our status, to avoid an unpleasant surprise at a later
point. Sure enough, we were told that we should not wait in this
area - we should go and get our own luggage and then get transporta-
tion to the dock (she did list the different options, approx. cost,
and recommended that the taxi would probably be the best for 3
people). We went off to get our luggage, etc., and actually arrived
before the buses. The only disconcerting thing was that when we were
dropped off, the taxi driver immediately got a porter for us. He made
sure to let us know that he had not been paid for handling our bags
and that he would not see us again (I think that he actually held out
his hand, too). Once we got inside the terminal, everything was fine.
When they handed out the paperwork for debarkation on Thursday, it
was very clear that "cruise-only" folks had to handle their own stuff.
We did, again, getting off the ship, through customs, and into a taxi
to the airport within 10-15 min.
I can't be totally sure if we could have "slipped through" if we
hadn't asked about our status, but it seems to be questionable.
NOW, ON TO THE GOOD STUFF, RIGHT?
July 10
-------
My mother had arrived in Orlando around 10:00 on Friday morning.
My niece and I got there from Miami around 1:30. It was on a 30-seat
COMAIR (DELTA partner) flight - a very bumpy ride!! M. already had
the car and directions to the Hyatt, so once we got the luggage, we
were on our way.
We got to the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress with no trouble; we were
surprised to discover a manned security stop. The man was very
polite, and he had our name on a list of folks checking in; it was a
short stop to get an ID "card" to keep on our dashboard. Check-in
was a breeze. BTW - this stay was FREE - 6-nights in the concierge-
service Regency club, thanks to frequent-stay member program and lots
of points from a 1990 trip to Hawaii.
We unpacked, had a drink in the concierge lounge, asked which of
Disney parks was closest and got directions (really simple - two right
turns got us onto the Village property, and then it's just a case of
"follow the signs"). So, we ended up at EPCOT. We got our AP's with
no hassle (pretty quiet in late afternoon), had a fastfood supper,
and took one ride on Spaceship Earth. It had been a tiring day for
all, so we went back to the hotel and turned in a bit early.
July 11
-------
As we were saving the bulk of our Disney themepark time for when we
had moved to the property, this day was planned for Universal. We
did not get there too early (still a bit tired and slow to get going)
so the lines were all pretty long by the time we got there. We went
on most of the major rides, and agreed that Back to the Future was
everyone's favorite. We were all done in by late afternoon. We went
back to do laundry (had to go to a laundromat as the Hyatt doesn't
have one - a real bummer!!), had supper at the Crossroads McDonald's
(we were trying to be quick as we wanted a swim before bed), had our
swim, and, all in all, got to bed a bit late.
July 12
-------
This was a day that we basically spent in the "recommended" summer
format. We went to EPCOT in the morning, came back to the hotel
around 1:00 for lunch and a swim, went back to EPCOT in time for our
6:30 dinner reservations in Japan and stayed on to see IllumiNations.
Between the 2 times, we did all the bldgs in the front, and the rides
in Mexico and Norway. While waiting for the night show, we had
pastries from the shop in Norway - they were excellent!!
July 13
-------
We went shopping for the day at the Beltz outlets. Had supper at
Hemingway's at the Hyatt (service was a bit slow, but nothing that we
complained about; when the server brought the entrees, though, he
apologized and told us that dessert would be "on the house"; it was).
While we were shopping, in late afternoon, there was quite a t-storm.
Luckily, we were inside and missed the whole thing. We had another
10:00-ish swim before turning in at night.
July 14
-------
We went to Sea World for the day. It was really hot, with no place
to get some relief, so it took the edge off some of the enjoyment.
Actually, we liked the 4 shows we went to, and Heather really liked
feeding the stingrays. In early evening we were doing laundry again
(it really mounts up when it's so hot and EVERYTHING you wear every
day has to go in). We had supper at a small fast-food Italian res-
taurant in Crossroads (the pizza was good). I think we got another
swim in this night, too.
July 15
-------
Heather went off for the day to a Wonders of Life Program (the one
on entertainment). She really enjoyed it, and kept telling us stuff
that they had learned. M. and I went to shop for a while. We tried
to do some late-afternoon swimming, but another t-storm interfered.
This one was a real beauty - the power in the hotel almost went out.
(It's really stunning with all of the flat land - you can see so
much lightening, for so long.) We ended up just eating at the hotel,
doing our packing and getting to bed at a decent time (we knew that
we would be getting up early the next morning).
Before I move on to the next phase of the vacation, I'd like to say
a few things about the Hyatt. 1.) It is quite expensive (obviously
I don't have the rates as we were staying for free, but I know it
is), but I think it's really worth it. Even though we didn't take
advantage of them, they have all kinds of sports activities - golf,
tennis, horseback riding, water sports and toys, etc.). It's really
a "full-service" hotel; 2.) The concierge staff folks are great!!
Some of that impression actually comes from things that the mgmt.
just "does right". For every "standard" thing that we wanted to do,
they had preprinted cards with directions (Universal Studios, Sea
World, Beltz outlets, Kenneday Space Center - I asked for the latter,
even though I knew that we wouldn't be going 'til much later in the
vacation, just so I'd have them). For "non-std" things, they got
what we needed within a couple of minutes. Every day, they'd come
over to talk to us at some point - maybe at breakfast; maybe at some
other point when we stopped by for a snack/beverage. They always
make sure to offer any assistance. 3.) The hotel was very busy -
there were 3 or 4 different conventions going on while we were there.
NOW, on to the Disney property, and lots of theme park time!!!
July 16
-------
As planned, we were up early enough to finish packing, dress, have
breakfast, and drive over to the Yacht Club by 8:30. As I had hoped,
they had a room ready for us and we checked in, got our stuff up to
the room, unpacked, got directions (a neat map from the concierge)
and were on our way to the airport to pick up my brother-in-law at
10:00. We got back with him, he unpacked, and we were on our way to
MGM by 11:15. We were there 'til late afternoon (went on lots of
things, though the lines were long). We had some time to swim in
Stormalong Bay in the early evening - Heather really liked the sandy
pool bottom. We had a very late supper at Cape May at the Beach
Club (it's a "clambake"-styled meal, but we weren't that impressed).
July 17
-------
This was a day at Typhoon Lagoon. We messed this up a bit - we
were slow in getting up and didn't get there 'til approx. 11:00, and
then I had to stand in line to get the tickets (you'll see how much
better we did on the 2nd trip there on July 26). Due to getting
there so late, we had a hard time even finding a couple of chairs
to put our stuff on, and the wave pool and Castaway Creek were
mobbed. We stayed 'til around 4:00. This night we ate at the
Portobello Yacht club near PI - we all liked the food a lot!!!!!!!!
I think that it was at this point, that we really got focused on
just how well-placed the Yacht Club is on the property. We were
a 5-min. tram ride from EPCOT (I'm sure we would have walked in
cooler weather); a 10-min. boat ride from MGM; and they had great
bus service to every place else. (We didn't realize how REALLY
great it was 'til we stayed at the other 2 places, though.) This
night, we also did laundry at the hotel - what a relief not to have
to go to the laundromat!! We watched the fireworks from our room.
July 18
-------
We went to EPCOT for the morning and early afternoon (actually, we
stayed long enough to see the afternoon show - I forget the name).
We had a late afternoon swim, went to MGM for a late supper and to
watch the fireworks (Sorcery in the Skies???).
July 19
-------
We went to TMK (had breakfast at Tony's). We started out with
Pirates and the Tiki birds, and then headed over to Fronierland. As
we approached, you could hear screaming. We went to investigate and
SAW PEOPLE ON THE SPLASH MOUNTAIN RIDE!!!!!!!!! We were somewhat
surprised, as on our way in, we had overheard others asking if it was
open and the comments were, "in the Fall". Well, my brother-in-law
decided that we HAD to go for a ride, but couldn't pursuade my mother
or Heather. It was a long and hot line (the "courtyard" area in the
back where the line is doesn't really have much shade at this point,
and it's kind of airless), but the ride was really worth it. We
rejoined the other two, had a ride on Big Thunder Mountain and went
back to have lunch at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. We went
back to TMK for the evening and supper, including more rides on
Splash Mountain, BTM, and Space Mountain. We also saw SpectroMagic.
I must admit that I didn't remember the ELP enough to make any major
comparison.
I don't want to move on to our next stop (Villas) without mentioning
how much we really liked the Yacht club. We never had any problems
with any of the folks there, and the concierge staff were great.
On our last afternoon, we were working on some of the packing, and
wanted to leave some stuff hanging for the move. I went to them
and asked about getting some plastic bags that the laundry staff
used - the response? "How many would you like? ONLY three? We'll
get a few more, just in case. Would you like some hangers too?"
They always had something to eat in the lounge. There's continental
breakfast in the morning (not as good as the Hyatt), snacks and
drinks from 11-3; tea and cookies for a couple of hours; crackers,
cheese and wine in late afternoon; and cordials and desserts 'til
10:30. The rooms were very nice, with good space for the 4 of us.
We also liked the fact that there was a "public" restroom on the
floor - there are times when it comes in handy with 4 people in a
room and 1 bathroom. They were very helpful when we wanted some of
the luggage transferred. I'm not sure if I'm doing justice to how
much we liked this - I tried.
July 20
-------
As I didn't expect to be able to get our Villa in the morning, we
had a very different plan for this day. We checked out of the Yacht
club around 9:30, leaving all our large pieces and some hanging stuff
to be transferred (we were told that it would be there by early p.m.).
We went off to shop and came to register around 3:30ish. Here is
when one of the great mysteries of the vacation occured. For reasons
that are still not clear to me, instead of the Fairway Villa that we
had reserved, we got a Vacation Villa. I didn't even realize it. It
seemed like this wasn't what I had expected, but we had too much to do
for me to really sit down and analyze it. We did some laundry,
unpacked, went and got some stuff at Goodings, and went to the late
Hoop Dee Doo show. We had great seats - right down in front and one
table back from the stage. We enjoyed it as much as we had before.
Unlike some, we were not trying to have any of us picked for the
show, but I'm sure that it would not have been a problem if we had.
On the way back that night, we had a reaction and a revelation. The
reaction was, "Wow, is this ever a long trip now that they've added
the 2 Vacation Club stops on to the rest." The revelation - we were
clearly NOT in the Fairway Villas. Mother had to come home the next
day (a 1-day round trip), so I told her, "check with reception when
you come back. I *WILL* get us moved tomorrow."
07/21
-----
M. and I were up early as she headed out to the airport and I could
not sleep. I did some early laundry and then went over to Reception
at 9:00. They could not explain what had gone wrong (as the reser-
vation was so clearly for a Fairway Villa) and lamely tried to patch
it over by saying that it was "the same layout" and "it's $40 less".
The amazing thing was that they had a unit for us - if we'd been
packed at 9:00, they could have moved us right then!!!!!!! Anyway,
we did get moved around 11:30 (that was as soon as I could get the
other two ready/packed). What a difference!! Now, we were in a
quiet section (no real traffic except for the buses that turned
around in our cul de sac). The unit was so much nicer. No shabbi-
ness here. We had a lower level bedroom with 2 double beds, good
bathoom, etc. The main level had a large living area (with Murphy
bed), dining area, kitchen, and half bath. The upper level was a
large master bedroom. Once we'd settled in, we went to the Market-
place for lunch and looked around in a few of the shops. After a
brief afternoon rest, we went to TMK for supper and spent the even-
ing going on the rides.
On this day, we slowly solidified our disappoinments with the Villas.
First, the initial Vacation Villa that we had was in somewhat shabby
condition. The unit had no sense of space (it wasn't even the same
as the one we had in '88 - there was less floorspace and it had no
first floor 1/2 bath). The couch badly needed recovering. The air
conditioning unit was very LOUD. Also, we really didn't like the
long bus route. We also missed the "hotel" stuff - we couldn't
just walk downstairs to check out a shop; we had to take the bus to
Reception if we wanted any services; there was no concierge lounge
for a drink/snack; etc. (It was a lot of different things, but they
added up to disappointment; it was a real surprise, because we had
really liked them back in '88.)
July 22
-------
We went to an IHOP for breakfast and to Universal Studios for the
day. This was definitely our loooongest day (we got there at 9:30
and left at 9:45 that night). We went on almost everything (inclu-
ding early and late rides on BTTF when the lines were 45 and 35 min.)
and we were exhausted when we got back.
July 23
-------
We went to MGM for some of morning/afternoon. We saw the full
Indiana Jones stunt show this time (on the other day, it was raining
so they had to cut out some stuff). We had dinner at Steerman's
Quarter's on E.L. and went back at a decent hour.
Before moving on to the last part of our stay (G.F.), I'll mention
that I THINK that money was stolen from me sometime during the stay
here. Truthfully, I don't know. Generally, we used Traveler's
checks, and we always had them with us. There was some cash that I
had separately for special things. I was using a fanny pack, so the
pocketbook was left back in the room, everywhere. I got careless,
and would put it in a suitcase, but then not lock the suitcase. I
think that it was stolen here for two reasons: 1.) I had checked
some of it that was OK earlier on, and 2.) on the Wed. night when
we came back, it seemed as though someone had been in things. I
brushed it off, as things had been picked up off the floor, so I
figured that that "explained" it. (I can't be certain, though, as
I didn't thoroughly check things 'til we were back home, so it might
have been done later on.) You can bet that I won't be careless like
that again, very soon.
July 24
-------
We tried the same process in transferring to the G.F. as we'd used
when going to the Yacht Club. M. and I went over there with the
large pieces of luggage, early in the morning. This time it didn't
work. Our room wasn't ready. They indicated that it probably would
be "pretty soon", as "we do the concierge level rooms ASAP", but we
were going to the Kennedy Space Center for the day and couldn't wait
around. The concierge came down to the lobby to get us, took us up
to the main level, encouraged us to have some of their continental
breakfast (we did), and then made the Victoria and Alberts' reserva-
tions for us for 7/25. We went back and got the others and headed to
KSC. We saw the IMAX movie (The Dream is Alive) and went on the bus
tour. We really liked the movie, but thought that the tour was so-so.
By the time we were done with that (and lunch), we really were pretty
well done-in. We saw a few other things in the main complex area,
got a few souvenirs, and headed back. That night we just had supper
in the Grand Floridian Cafe (good food - service a but shaky).
July 25
-------
Today was M.'s b-day, so we did what SHE wanted. Spent the a.m. at
TMK (rides in Fantasyland), came back for a "take it easy" afternoon
(that wasn't REALLY her idea - the others were in a funky mood and
didn't want to do much), and then got "all dolled up" for dinner at
V&A's. It was really great. Most of us had stuff that we'd never
had before, and really liked it. The service was really outstanding.
The $400 for the 4 of us was pretty outstanding, too ($300 base for
the 4 meals, before you have drinks, tax, tip, etc.).
Note: This was one of the days we encountered a pretty rude "cast
member". She obviously didn't want to stop to answer our
question (about where the coin laundry was on the 2nd level
of the main bldg) and then was pretty snippy in the rest of
the encounter. The answer is - there isn't one. They only
have them in the "lodge" bldgs. I pointed out that we were
looking for it in the main bldg because that's what the lit-
erature in the room said under "services". Her response was
"I've been here since we opened, and I've never seen one" (a
sort-of, "you don't know what you're talking about").
July 26
-------
This was our 2nd time at Typhoon Lagoon, and we did a much better
job of it. We got up earlier, had a fast/light breakfast, I got the
tickets at Guest Relations in the hotel (very quick), we got towels
from the pool, and headed out (in the car, as the bus would have just
taken too long). We were there by 9:30, and had no trouble in
getting a good spot for our stuff. Before we left for the day (3:30)
we had done a stint in the wave pool (almost a full hour of the big
waves), a couple of times in Castaway Creek (not bad in the morning,
but totally mobbed in the afternoon), and 4 trips on the various tube
rides. We REALLY enjoyed it. Went back to the hotel and did laundry
in the closest lodge building. Went to the 6:45 Polynesian Luau that
night. The food was so-so. The show was fine. We then went to
EPCOT so my brother-in-law could see IllumiNations. That was a good
idea, but we should have found the walkway to the TTC instead of
waiting and taking the monorail. It actually took us a long time to
get to EPCOT. We got there late enough that it was hard to get a
decent spot. It was OK.
July 27
-------
I have no notes left for this day (I think that I was getting tired
and bummed out that it was all over), but I'll try to get it right.
We got up relatively early, but then took the time to eat at the
character breakfast (though we didn't have any small children, they
did come to our table and we got some neat pictures). Then we headed
out to finish our souvenir shopping (rest of the morning). Went to
MGM for the afternoon. First, we had lunch at Mama Melrose's (we
liked the food). Then, we did the tram and walking backstage tours,
saw MuppetVision 3D one more time, went to SuperStar Television once
more and saw the 6:15 live Beauty and the Beast show. The latter was
very good, but it was REALLY HOT and we had lousy seats. After that,
we went to TMK for the "last hurrah" - one more ride on Splash M. and
BTM. We had one last late-night swim (11:00ish) and turned in late.
July 28
-------
There's not much to say on this one. We did our packing in the
morning, ate in the lounge, got a couple of things in the hotel
shops and headed out. In fairness, I have to say that we had a GREAT
bellman when we were leaving. We had TONS of luggage, and he got it
all in the car trunk (even made it look pretty easy). That's really
all there is to write.
FINAL thoughts:
When we go again, it probably won't be in the summer. I'd do with-
out some of the shows to get lower hotel costs, smaller crowds, etc.
We'd really be tempted to stay at the Hyatt again. If we decided to
stay on property, we'd stay at the Yacht Club in an instant. (BTW,
that's also right near where Boardwalk is to be constructed.)
I don't think that anyone is really anxious to go back soon. I
suspect that I could probably peg the next trip for somewhere around
the same time as Mike's (5 years). I was surprised that no one
wanted to go on a lot of things that we'd been on during earlier
trips. Other times there was a lot of nostalgia, even if the things
had lost a little of the former excitement. This time, we just
didn't go on them.
Next time, we'll probably skip the AP's and do whatever the current
superpasses are, and probably not stay for more than 2 weeks.
I'm tuckered out from writing this note. I hope that it's got some
helpful info. and insights.
Jean B.
|
| 290.30 | Disneyland 7/12/92 | CSTEAM::STEINHARDT | | Tue Aug 11 1992 18:08 | 116 |
| OK, I'm out in Southern California to do the announcement training for the new
products, and through a massive effort to complete some preparatory work late
into the night on Saturday evening (or actually Sunday morning), I was able to
free-up Sunday, and being only a short ride away from Disneyland, I figured
how could I NOT go, of course...
Rather than provide a drawn out play-by-play trip report like my last couple
of efforts, I'd thought that I'd do two things: First, provide what it is
actually possible for one human being to do in one day when not slowed down by
children or spouse. Second, some miscellaneous comments and observations.
The park was open from 8:00 A.M. until 1:00 A.M., I arrived at 8:15 A.M., left
at 11:30 P.M. and was able to do:
Splash Mountain three times
Space Mountain three times
Big Thunder Mountain three times
Matterhorn Bobsleds twice
Pirates of the Caribbean three times
Star Tours twice
Circle Vision 360 twice (Wonders of China and American Journeys, once each)
Jungle Cruise
Captain EO
Haunted Mansion
Tiki Room
Walt Disney Story and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
Wedway People Mover
Beauty and The Beast stage show at Videopolis
FANTASMIC!
Main Street Electrical Parade
Fireworks
Lunch (Cafe Mexicana)
Dinner (Bengal Barbecue)
Dole Whip (twice)
Shop for family, so that they will let me back into the house upon my return
Yes, a rather fast pace, but not insanely fast.
Miscellaneous Comments:
- Everything, including "Seasonal Only" attractions were in full operation.
- It was raining (in SoCal, in July!) in the morning, which kept the crowds
away. You could basically walk right on to everything all morning until 11:00
or so when the sky cleared.
- As has been mentioned by so many in this conference previously, I'll add my
vote to the "Big Thunder Mountain is better in the dark" list, this was the
first time that I've had the chance to ride it in either park other than in
the daytime. Definitely better in the dark.
- Along similar lines, I'll cast a vote that both Matterhorn and Splash
Mountain are better in the dark as well.
- In my last trip report from December '91 (Disneyworld), I disparaged the
poor excuse for Dole whip that I was served. I now realize that back then I
must have indeed been served a bad batch, because the version that I had in
Disneyland was not only great, but NOTHING like the feeble Dole Whip impostor
which I had been served last December in Disneyworld. Back then, I tossed
half of it. This past Sunday, I went back for seconds.
- The options for food in Disneyland are superior to the Magic Kingdom at WDW
in Florida. While I did not eat at the Blue Bayou, it looks like a very good
option from the vantage point on Pirates of the Caribbean. If I were
traveling with my family, that is where I would have either lunch or dinner.
The Bengal Barbecue was good, and while far better Mexican food can certainly
be had everywhere in Southern California, the chicken tacos at Cafe Mexicana
were surprisingly good (especially by New England standards!).
- As has also been stated by many, Pirates of the Caribbean is much, much
better at Disneyland than at WDW. I would estimate that the first portion of
the ride after the two drops at Disneyland (before you get to the main ship
and the town) is on its own about as long as the entire ride at WDW.
- Space mountain is much better at WDW, not only do the two tracks move things
along faster, but you don't really see the tracks, unlike at Disneyland.
- Matterhorn Bobsleds really shows it's technological age (not too unlike the
"Mission to Mars" discussion), all the way down to the traditional style seat
belts. While there have been rumors of such a ride at EPCOT if Switzerland is
ever built, I'd bet that the imagineers could do much better with a new
design.
- The Beauty and The Beast show at Videopolis is the same as the one at
Disney/MGM.
- Part of the "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" show is in the American
Adventure at EPCOT (The "one wore blue, one wore gray" song and film).
- Maybe it has something to do with being in the park by myself, or maybe it
was the Pleasure Island shirt that I was wearing, but an awful lot of cast
members started up conversations with me all day, and many wanted to know
about Pleasure Island (I would routinely teach them how to pronounce
"Kungaloosh!").
- Wouldn't it be nice if WDW kept park hours like this!? (8-1)
- Fantasmic is quite unique, what a great show. I was able to show up for the
9:00 show at 8:45 and slip into the back of one of the ropes with a great
spot, just below the Pirates bridge and to the left. Had there been more than
one of me, I would have to have been there by 7:30 or so at the latest to get
a decent spot for viewing. Some people had staked out spots as early as 6:00.
I don't know how small kids can possibly see from most vantage points, being
6'3" I felt it only appropriate to stay in the very back of the section that I
was in, (and could see fine over the crowd in front of me), but if and when
they bring this to WDW I sure hope that they plan the lines of sight better
than what they are forced to work with in California, as most people couldn't
possibly see all of what is going on.
- Costs: $5.00 for parking, $26.75 with a MKC card for admission.
Cheers,
Ken
|
| 290.31 | This is my first trip report - be kind | CUPMK::JETTE | | Tue Aug 25 1992 16:35 | 186 |
| Trip report for the Jette Family: Kathy, Dennis and David (10 yrs old)
*****************************************
July 11th to July 15th. Flew United Airlines out of Boston, MA
Stayed at the Carribean Beach Resort at WDW (1st time at CBR)
Did not rent a car - BIG Mistake
Used Mears Shuttle to and from the airport - Good service
Attended the Birthday Bash (just barely) with the Disney Mods!
This was a great time! I wish I'd had more time to meet with these guys
again later in the trip! Mr. Scopa - what a ham!
Tried Dole Whip - sorry wasn't impressed (but I'm a chocoholic, my son
loved it)
Found Mike Scopa (on more than one occasion) walking around - alone -
talking to himself - with a Video Camera surgically implanted into his
shoulder.
*****************************************
Saturday, July 11th
This is the day the tall ships are due to come into Boston Harbor. It's all
over the radio that traffic will be a nightmare. We decide to leave extra
early for our 7:30am flight out of Boston. I was up before the chickens.
Definitely up before the sun - it was 4:00am.
No alarm necessary - my Disney Itis had taken over and I was READY TO GO!
As you all know from reading this notesfile - we did not tell my 10 year
old (David) about this trip in advance. We woke him at 4:00am and said -
"You have to get up we have a plane to catch" his reply: "to where?"
our reply: "Disney World!" - my husband snaps the photograph of my son
jumping out of bed - feet not touching the floor till he's out in the
hallway. It was priceless! Then he stopped and said "Is this a joke?"
When we assured him that we were really leaving he jumped around the house
for a good 15 minutes saying "I can't believe you kept this secret! - I
can't believe I'm going back to DisneyWorld!"
We left for the airport at 5:00am - to arrive there at 6:00am - no traffic.
Oh well....
Our flight out left on time and was uneventful (thank God) However, I will
note that if prices are the same on other airlines - next time I will not
fly on United. I found the people to be very cold and snobby and the food
was horrible - worse than normal. (Both ways)
The people at Mears Shuttle at the Orlando airport really have their act
together. Very professional - and they are organized. We only waited 10
minutes for our van and it took us directly to CBR. We arrived before the
check in time - about 12:00pm. Stored our luggage and went to check in.
The atmosphere of the hotel is very much the islands, very pleasant.
Staff was as courteous as ever. I did run into a slight glitch checking
in. She said we had a room ready in Trinidad. Well, I had requested
Martinique - second floor. I told her that and she said she had nothing in
Martinique. So, organized as I am - I brought the notebook which holds a
record of every conversation I've had with CRO since last September. I
promptly showed her that I had made that request on Oct. 26th of last year
and felt it should be honored. She asked me to wait - left, came back,
punched up some stuff on the keyboard and said "You're all set" "Martinique
- second floor room 2335." I'm not sure of this but my guess is this - we
were checking in early. There were rooms ready at Trinidad right then. We
had to wait till 3pm for the room at Martinique. I assume they were trying
to fill up the rooms that were already available.
We walked around CBR - Port Royale for an hour and then off to MK!
It's now about 2pm. Never waited for a ride more that 10 minutes - We did
Thunder Mountain at night for the first time! EXCELLENT! Much better!
When we got off this ride we headed to Bears Jamboree and it was 10 minutes
before Spectromagic - We got a place right in front of the gift shop next
to the Mile Long Bar hamburger place. Great view! What luck! We enjoyed it,
worth seeing. Saw the fireworks there as well that night. Got in around
midnight.
Sunday, July 12th
Wake up call at 6:00am. Grabbed a coffee/juice at Port Royale and were at
EPCOT at 8:00am as gates opened. Right to the boat dock and off to World
Showcase - there were 6 other people on the boat. We started at Canada and
worked our way around. We stopped about 10:00am in France at the small
bakery and got coffee/croissants/quiche etc..... for breakfast and at
outside in the courtyard. Very quaint, very relaxing. There is literally
no one around. We had never toured the Showcase before - ever. We were
there until 1:30pm.
Back to CBR to swim and to get ready for the HDDR!
We were supposed to meet everyone else around 4:30pm before the show
started. Well we left on a bus from CBR at 3:30pm, we did not arrive for
the show that about 1 minute before it started! This was do exclusively to
the bus system at WDW. You cannot take a bus directly to FW from CBR. We
had to go to MK first - then wait for another bus and go to FW. And of
course each bus you are on makes a zillion stops! I was so frustrated by
this! It happened when we wanted to go to TL and PO as well! No direct
buses! I will never go without a rental car EVER again! It will be worth
the $125.00 or so. (See Claude - it wasn't my fault!) ;)
After seeing Mike S's brilliant performance we were off to EPCOT again -
where we did Body Wars and Cranium Command for the first time! EXCELLENT!
MUST DO! We did other pavilions as well. We now had our 1st encounter with
a brazilian tour group. (well 6 kids) We situated ourselves at Germany
1/2 hour before Illuminations. 5 minutes before the show these 6 kids from
one of "those" tour groups walked right up and shoved there way to the front.
Well, being the quiet, shy person that I am - I grabbed one of them and
pulled her out of the way and made certain that the others knew they had to
move. Well, they moved but not before they "accidently" spilled a fruit
drink all over my husband's white shirt! From that moment on, whenever my
son spotted a group - it would be - Uh oh - there's the "shirts".
I was not as impressed with Illuminations this time as I was in 1988. It
was different. I can't seem to put my finger on what - Dennis seemed to
think that they did more fireworks and less laser stuff this time.
Once this was over it was back to CBR for some sleep.
Monday, July 13th
We did not set the alarm and were up around 8:00am. We decided to take it
slow today. We had breakfast at the food court at CBR and left for Typhoon
Lagoon at 10:00am. We "played" there until 4:30pm. This is definitely
worth a day, if not more if you have the time. We had dinner at
Bonfamille's at Port Orleans (the bus ride scenario again). Food was good
and the restaurant is charming. I'd eat there again. Prices weren't bad
for a sit down place. Then it was off to MK for a few rides. We were back
at CBR at 10:00pm.
My husband and I went to Pleasure Island that evening.
I was skeptical - but it was fun! We saw the show at the Comedy warehouse,
very good. We stopped in at every other club and looked around. However,
we stayed for a very long time - 1:30am - at the Adventurer's Club.
This place was great fun! If you play along with the cast - you can have a
great time! (Of course you know me - I jumped right in!) You know you've
been on stage alot when you're standing in lines the next day and people
you don't recognize are walking by saying "HI Kathy!" ;) I'm very glad
Mike S wasn't there with his video camera!
Oh yes, Drinks were very expensive - good way to stay sober!
Tuesday, July 14th
Up at 6:00am, grabbed some juice and toast and we were off to MGM.
None of us have been to this park before.
We went directly to Star Tours and did it twice! My son liked Body Wars
better! NOT ME! We then did the stunt spectacular - We all loved this
one. David stayed after the show and got autographs. We then did Monster
Sound Show - great, very funny! Then the Great Movie Ride - sorry not
impressed. Then we had lunch at Prime Time - I can see that this could be
a very fun time - we had a waitress that wasn't with it so we were
disappointed. The food was good.
We then did Catastrophe Canyon. That was very interesting.
I must admit it is the least favorite of the 3 parks for all of us.
We were out of the park at 1:30pm and went to River Country. This was fun.
They have a couple of water slides and some fun rope swings etc....
We stayed until 5:00pm and then went Horseback riding at FW. It's a slow
ride but my son really got a charge out of it.
Then back to CBR to shower and then we went back to EPCOT and did the
pavilions we had missed earlier and did Body Wars and Cranium Command
again. Here we had our only expensive meal during the trip. We ate at the
Coral Reef at the Living Seas for dinner. All the food was excellent!
However, it was very expensive. I won't do that except at lunchtime.
The restaurant was nice and my son loved watching the sharks go by.
Wednesday, July 15th
Up around 8:00am, had breakfast in the room and then went to MK until
after lunch. We had checked out of the room before we went to MK and just
stored our luggage. We had an interesting lunch this day. There is a cart
in Frontierland almost across from Country Bears that sells smoked turkey
legs. They were awesome!!!!!!!!!!! Try it!
We put our swimsuits etc. in the backpack so we could
go to the pool before leaving for the airport. So, we swam at CBR until
4:00pm and then got dressed and met the Mears Shuttle for our ride to the
airport. Our flight on United left 1 hour late from Orlando.
It was a short trip but well worth it. I can't wait until 97! or maybe 95!
The one place I wanted to go but never had the chance was Beaches & Cream.
I also missed the opening of Splash Mountain by 2 days! :(
I'll be adding comments in specific notes as I can.
TTFN!
Kathy
|
| 290.32 | Phil & family's report | PHDVAX::RICCIO | Help me Mr. Wizard! | Wed Aug 26 1992 17:54 | 132 |
|
Trip report for Phil Riccio and "crew". (Crew includes my wife
Karen, sons Michael - 7, & Geoffery - 3 1/2 and daughter Alexa 4
months)
As I mentioned in a note somewhere in the file, we took
advantage of the airfare wars back in May/June time period. We got
4 roundtrip Philadelphia to Orlando, non-stop, tickets for $580.
We flew Delta (the offical airlines for WDW!) Good flight,
and they give the kids little boxes with Disney "stuff" in them.
A little Mickey and Pluto (that would cost a couple of bucks in the
parks) along with some other things to keep them busy for a while
during the flight.
We left Friday morning August 14th. Landed in Orlando at 1:45.
After getting our luggage and rent-a-car (Dollar, which was OK, but I
perfer Hertz) we headed for the Carribean Beach Resorts. Checked in at
about 3:00, and got unpacked and organized. (We were in the Barbados
section.)
We went to EPCOT that night, had dinner at the Coral Reef
resturant (the one next to/inside of the Living Seas), great meal
with a great view of the tank. (I'm an avid fish hobbist, with a
saltwater tank at home, so Living Seas is one of my favorite spots.)
Went to the Living Seas after dinner. From there we visited Figment
twice, no lines, no wait. Then we went over to the G.M. & G.E. rides,
World of Motion and Horizons. Next we did Cranial Command at
Metropolitan. Body Wars was a 35 minute wait, plus the baby couldn't
go on it, which ment my wife would have to sit around and wait, so we
moved on. We did the AT&T ride, then worked our way back in to the
park for Illuminations. All in all a great night, and the baby was a
peach. She slept from about 7 until the fireworks. She got a real kick
out of the fireworks, BIG eyes and a big smile.
Saturday morning we met my sister, brother-in-law and their 2
little ones (18 months and 6 months) in the MK. We did the merry-go-
round, small world, Peter Pans flight, Pirates of the Carribean &
Country Bear Jamboree. Then we did lunch. The biggest disappointment
was we were not able to get anywhere near Splash Mt. The lines were
very long, 45 minutes to an hour, in the hot sun. After lunch we did
the People Mover (I've always liked this ride for some reason) Delta
Dream Flight, the Haunted Mansion and the Parade.
Back to the hotel for naps at 3:45. Then back to the park at 8.
We ate at Port Royal at CBR, then headed back to the MK. We got great
seats for the SpectraMagic parade (right in front of Hall of
Presidents. That's our favorite place to watch the parades.) Great
parade, the kids loved it. Then we had our pictures done over at the
Pirates of the Carribean. They put a little "do rag" on the babies
head and everything. Watched the fireworks, did 20,000 leagues under
the sea, went back to get our pirate picture, then got ready for the
parade a second time. (We debated on whether to do Splash Mt., but the
line was still to long and the kids couldn't go on. Well 2 of the 3
couldn't, so we decided see the parade again. The things you do for
your kids!) Again another great day. And again the baby was excellent.
There were times we forgot she was even there. With an infant you never
know, so far so good.
Sunday morning we went to MGM. We did the Little Mermaid first
thing. Had to wait about 20 minutes, not bad. This was a great show!
My wife and I liked it as much as the kids. We caught the last few
minutes of the Dinosaurs "parade". They end up in front of the great
movie ride. This was a little disappointing. They didn't come down from
the "truck" and do anything, but the kids liked seeing them. Of course
with 2 boys we had to see the TMNT, and get pictures. We did the Honey
I Shrunk the Kids playground for about 1/2 hour, then we just "poked"
around for a while. Back to the hotel for lunch and naps at about 1:30.
McDonalds for dinner (got to do this at least once with kids), then
back to MGM. We did the Great Movie Ride, no lines (my oldest son loves
this ride) then Star Tours, no wait, then Muppets 3-D, no wait (the
wait that afternoon before we left was 45 minutes). My younger son loved
the Muppets. He's into them anyway, but the 3-D was great. Last year
he wouldn't keep the glasses on. This year he sat there and giggled up
a storm. My wife and I had more fun listening to him. The baby slept.
We caught most of the Beauty & the Beast show, from the outside, then
off to the Indiana Jones stunt show. I found this a little "campy",
but the boys loved it. Then the fireworks. Another great day!
Monday morning we did a character breakfast at the Contemporary.
The food was very good and the characters sat with the kids for a
while, held the baby and let us take lots of pictures. We went back
into MK at around 10. It was packed! In the 5 times I've been there,
including last year over 4th of July week, I've never seen it so
crowded. We walked around for a while then decided to go over to EPCOT.
EPCOT was just as crowded. We stuck around to see Surprise in the
Skies, which was wonderful. Then we headed back to the hotel. We went
swimming at the big pool at Port Royal, then went back and freshened
up. The last night we went into EPCOT, had dinner at the Odessey,
caught the show, then headed back into the countries. We went on the
Mexico and Norway rides, then headed over to visit Figment again. Went
on the Land ride then headed over to check out Body Wars. Me and my
oldest son went on Body Wars (my younger son was a little afraid of
Star Tours, so he didn't want to do Body Wars) while my wife and the
two little ones "poked" around. We did Horizons again, and Space Ship
Earth one last time, watched Illuminations (well the fireworks part)
from the front of the park, then we headed out.
We checked out on Tuesday morning, headed west to Bradenton to
visit family, go out on the boat, do some snorkling and just plain
relax.
On Friday we headed back to Orlando for our flight out (7:40pm).
We did a little shopping in the Market Place, went to Ole Port Royal
for a bite to eat, then off to the airport.
After checking the car in, and our luggage, we headed over to the
terminal gates. There's a big replica of "the castle" right in the
middle of where all the gates for Delta are. Mickey & Minnie were
there. There was one other couple, looked like honeymooners, and that
was it. We got about 10 GREAT pictures with the kids. Minnie sat down
on the floor and held the baby, Mickey held the baby, it was great.
The flight home was a little bumpy for the first 45 minutes because
of thunder storms, but after that was pretty good.
It was a wonderful trip, with some great memories. We're already
looking forward to our next trip!
Phil...
PS Looks like our timing was perfect. Three days later "Andrew" blew
in. Although I heard Orlando didn't get much rain or wind, the Gulf
coast, where we spent 3 1/2 days in the sun and surf visiting family,
got quite a bit of rain and wind. Just good timing and dumb luck I
guess.
|
| 290.33 | Toye, 8/19 to 8/28 | BUFFER::TOYE | WDW 1st Timer | Wed Sep 02 1992 10:49 | 447 |
|
Toye Family Trip Report
August 19th to 28th, 1992
WHO: Wayne, Joan, Daniel (7), and David (5)
WHERE: Contemporary for first two nights, Polynesian for last 7 nights
(MKC off-season rates - looked into Annual Passholder rates
but these rates did not start until August 23rd and there
was no significant price advantage for our stay)
HOW: Northwest flights between Boston and Orlando
(Adults Fly Free fares from early June)
Wednesday 8/19 -
Up early and off to the airport by 5:30 for a 7:20 Northwest flight. Park
car at Park 'N Fly (less expensive option than Limo from home). Flight was
delayed slightly due to a cockpit light replacement. In the air by 8 and
arrive in Orlando about 10:40 (20 minutes late). An uneventful flight and
the kids do extremely well.
Meet Fred Flintstone in the terminal - Northwest uses the same terminal as
US Air, the official airline of Universal Studios. Get round trip tickets
on Mear's Shuttle and head out for the Contemporary. Sea World has their
Shamu blimp flying and also notice lots of billboards for Universal Studios.
Check in to Contemporary (Garden Wing North, 2nd floor), drop off bags in
room, and go to Concourse Grill for lunch - good food & value. Stop in to a
couple of shops on the concourse and pick up autograph books and Disney pens
for boys. Back to the room and change for swimming. Check out both the pool
and Bay Lake until thunderstorms send us to the room for a rest. Joan and
the boys nap while I go down to Guest Services, pick up 7 day superpasses,
and check on timing for special events (movies, Electric Water Pageant, early
park openings, etc).
After rest, we all go down to the Fiesta Fun Center so the boys can play some
video games. Head back to the room and order pizza delivered for dinner.
Thunderstorms continuing so cancel thoughts of viewing EWP and turn in early.
Kids asleep by 9:15 and we are not far behind.
Thursday, 8/20 -
Up early and breakfast in our room. Off to the MK via Monorail by 7:30
(Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday are early opening days for resort
guests at MK - 8 AM). Make reservations for Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree for
1:45 show (end up not going and not getting back to see it later). Walk
down Main St through the Castle and into Fantasyland. See Eeyore while
waiting in line for Snow White's Scary Adventure. Kids and Joan go say Hi
while I keep place in line. Do Snow White's ride (5 minute wait - David is
a little fearful).
Meet Mickey outside of Magic Journeys (pictures and autographs) and also see
Roger Rabbit. Check Peter Pan's Flight but line is too long so do It's A
Small World instead (no wait). David loves it and Dan likes it too. Coming
out of Small World, meet Pinocchio (more pictures & autographs) then off to
Adventureland. Do Pirates of the Caribbean - David has to be talked into
this one but then wants to go right back on. Do Jungle Cruise and stop for
snack at Aloha Isle - Dole whip all around.
After snack, do Swiss Family Treehouse and stop for some shopping at the
House of Treasure (outside Pirate's ride). Then off to Frontierland where
we meet Chip (pictures & autograph) and also see Brer Fox and Bear. See
Country Bear Jamboree and then stop for a snack at Sleepy Hollow (outside
Liberty Square). All starting to slow down so go get our hands stamped and
head over to the Contemporary via Monorail.
Kids do another tour of Fiesta Fun Center video arcade while Joan gets lunch
at Snack Center. Take lunch back to the room, eat and have a rest. I go
pick up the rental car (National at the Car Care Center) and then meet Joan
and the kids back at the Fun Center for a few more games and ice cream. Up
to the Top of the World for a look at the view and then back to the room to
get ready for dinner.
Over to the Grand Floridian via Monorail for dinner with Chip and Dale at
1900 Park Fare. Buffet is very good. Kids get Dale's autograph to go along
with Chip's from earlier in the day. Pictures with both. No other Disney
characters present but waiters hand out autographed pictures of Minnie,
Goofy and a couple of others. During and after dinner, huge thunderstorm
with heavy rains. Hang out at the GF and do some shopping until the weather
passes.
Back over to the MK - still raining lightly off and on. First order of
business is back to House of Treasure so that boys can even the score on
Pirate paraphernalia. Then over to Fantasyland to see Magic Journeys
(David really likes the Working for Peanuts 3D preshow) and then ride It's A
Small World again. Split up and do Cinderella's Golden Carousel (Joan &
David) and Snow White's Adventure (Dan & I). Meet at the Castle and get
a seat to watch Fantasy in the Sky. Good show although we did not have
the best location.
Take Monorail back to Contemporary and get the kids washed up and into bed
around 11. Do some last minute packing (we are moving to the Polynesian
tomorrow) and then off to bed ourselves.
Friday, 8/21 -
Up early again, do express checkout and arrange for luggage transfer to
Polynesian. Off to Universal Studios and arrive by 9 AM. Buy tickets
and then have breakfast at Beverly Hills Boulangerie. See Woody Woodpecker
and get autographs and pictures. Go on Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera -
15 minute wait, we all think this is a great ride. Next to ET - 30 minute
wait, good ride but David is a little scared. Then Back to the Future -
40 minute wait but Joan gets lemonade to help pass the time and beat the
heat. Great ride but a little too intense for David (and Daniel at times).
Leave Universal (get hands stamped) and return to the Polynesian to check
in - Bora Bora, 1st floor (nice small building near both pools and Great
Ceremonial House - GCH, longish walk to TTC). Lunch at Coral Isle Cafe in
GCH. Back to room and unpack/rest.
After rest, back to Universal and get in line for Funtastic World of HB. 20
minute wait and then ride breaks down. Do Ghostbusters instead (no wait).
Walk around for a bit, get sodas at Schwab's and then leave. Stop at
Goodings on the way back to get groceries (asked for and got fridge in our
room at the Polynesian). Run over to Captain Cook's for sundaes. Kids in bed
by 10 and us by 11. Early day tomorrow for MGM.
Saturday, 8/22 -
Up early and breakfast in room. Off to MGM by 8 - opening at 8:15 instead
of 9 all week. Arrive just after opening and do The Great Movie Ride -
no line, western side. Kids like this - not scared by alien at all. Do
Muppetvision 3D next. Great movie and preshow. Again no line. Go to Honey
I Shrunk the Kids playground to let the kids run around until 10 (first TMNT
show).
See Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show and get autographs from Leonardo (Dan),
Donatello (David) and Raphael (both). Pictures of Donatello, Raphael and the
Turtle Van. David buys Movie Star Don figure to add to his fast growing
collection. Stop for a snack at the Studio Catering Company and then stroll
through Fototoons (kids really like the sound boxes and climbing on the
steamroller). Take their picture next to the outline of Roger Rabbit as a
hole in the wall. Walk down to Voyage of the Little Mermaid show - about 20
minute wait til next show starts but see some of the Dinosaurs show while
waiting in line. After Little Mermaid, it is about noon so go back to the
Polynesian for lunch in room.
After lunch, Joan & kids go to pool while I return rental car and then join
them at the pool. Back to the room to take a quick nap and then get ready
for EPCOT. Use Guest Services to make reservations at the Land Grille Room
for 7:30 and also make reservations for the kids at the Neverland Club on
Wednesday. Off to EPCOT in the middle of a major thunderstorm. MK Monorail
briefly loses power - shades of things to come. Storm passes and ride in
front on Monorail to EPCOT.
Get to EPCOT in time for dinner but reservations didn't take so have to wait
an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Dinner is not very good, definitely not up
to the prices, and service is slow. After dinner, do Kitchen Kabaret (2
minute wait) and Listen to the Land (5 minute wait). Then off to World
Showcase to watch IllumiNations. Technical problems delay the start 15
minutes but all goes off well eventually - nice show. Head out with the
crowds and catch the Monorail back to the Polynesian. Roll into bed around
midnight.
Sunday, 8/23 -
Off day planned after going strong for three days and late night last night.
Dan still up early but does manage to take it easy most of the morning. Kids
eat breakfast in room while Joan goes out for coffee - brings back croissants
as well (yum!!!). Kids watch cartoons and we read the paper. Studying up on
Hurricane Andrew. Make reservations for Sunday Brunch with the Disney Bunch
at Papeete Bay Verandah in GCH - brunch is now 10:45 to 2 instead of noon to
3 as stated in '92 Birnbaum.
Get ready and go to brunch. Meet Minnie - pictures and autographs. Great
food and good value. Back to the room to get stuff together and head out to
the MK via monorail. Go to Fantasyland and do Peter Pan's Flight (35 minute
wait) and Mr Toad's Wild Ride (40 minute wait). Stop for sodas and watch
20,000 Leagues ride.
Walk over to Tom Sawyer's Island to meet with friends from our home town who
are down here at the same time (staying at Dixie Landings which they like
very much). See end of afternoon parade going through Frontierland. Meet up
and all go to the Island for an hour or so. Kids love shooting the guns and
playing with the cannons at Fort Sam Clemens. Return to Frontierland and
have dinner at Pecos Bill's Cafe.
After dinner, some get in line at Big Thunder Mountain RR while the rest go
to Big Al's to do some shopping. All join up again at BTMRR and most of us
go on (30 minute wait). David decides to skip this one - don't think he
likes the size of the mountain. All head over to Tomorrowland. Do American
Journeys (5 minutes) and WEDway People Mover (no wait) together and then say
our goodbyes. We do Grand Prix Raceway (20 minute wait) which kids love and
then walk back to the hub to see the Spectro Magic parade. After parade,
back to Tomorrowland for WEDway People Mover again (I think Dan is trying
to get a second look at Space Mountain before making up his mind) and
Dreamflight (no wait).
Have been in the park for about 8 hours (and we thought this would be an off
day) so decide to beat some of the crowds and leave before Fantasy in the
Sky. See some of the fireworks on our way to and on the Monorail. Also catch
a glimpse of the EWP on Bay Lake as we pass by the Contemporary. Back to
Polynesian and put David to bed (he fell asleep on Monorail ride). Get
sundaes for Dan and us, watch the news to get an update on Hurricane Andrew
and then off to bed.
What a great day !!!
Monday, 8/24 -
Had planned to go to Typhoon Lagoon today but decided to cancel with the
uncertainty around Hurricane Andrew. Instead sleep in late and hang around
the Polynesian most of the morning. Do a late breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace
(nice buffet), walk to the TTC and take Monorail to EPCOT. By now David is
starting to show the effects of walking so much and we begin renting
strollers for the remainder of our stay.
Do Wonders of Life pavilion first. Cranium Command is a big hit (also only
5 minute wait until preshow). Next do Making of Me - have to wait 20 minutes
but due to my missing Joan's signals as she waited in line while I took kids
over to WonderCycles. Body Wars next but David is not interested. Dan & I
go anyway (30 minute wait). David & Joan do Audio Antics, Frontiers in
Medicine, and some of the other hands on exhibits. For some reason, David
is fascinated by the phones setup in Frontiers in Medicine. Kids and I catch
pieces of Anacomical Players and Goofy on Health while Joan gets snack. All
join up for snack and then do some more exhibits (back to Frontiers in
Medicine) before leaving.
Over to Universe of Energy - 2 minute wait to preshow. Kids really like the
dinosaurs. Then over to Living Seas - walk right in. Spend a lot of time
looking at the exhibits including the fish and the divers (feeding time).
Kids really enjoy this pavilion as well. All getting tired so decide to go
back to the Polynesian. Wait for the second Monorail so we can ride in the
front again.
Walk from TTC to Polynesian. Pick up dinner from Captain Cook's and eat in
the room. Go over to Moana Mickey's Fun Hut for some video games and then
back to the room to change for swimming. Swim in the pool and Seven Seas
Lagoon until 9 and then watch EWP. Back to the pool, for some fun with the
water slide and then back to the room a little before 10. Get the kids
settled in bed, late night sundaes for Joan and I, and then off to bed
ourselves.
Tuesday, 8/25 -
Up early and eat breakfast in room. Off to the MK via Monorail (another
early opening day for resort guests). Pick up a stroller and head off for
Fantasyland. On the way, see Tomorrowland is open too so go over and do
Space Mountain (Dan & I - 5 minute wait) and WEDway People Mover (Joan &
David). Meet up and do Starjets (15 minute wait and hot). Then off to
Fantasyland to do 20,000 Leagues (10 minute wait) and over to Mickey's
Starland. Meet lots of characters (including Pooh, Gadget and Pinocchio)
but don't stay around for the show.
Off to Liberty Square to do Haunted Mansion (no wait, David a little scared).
Stop at the Haunted Mansion Shop and Big Al's again (David just has to get
this little rubber tomahawk) and then a snack at Pecos Bill's Cafe. Kids
choice and they decide they want to go back to Tom Sawyer's Island. So over
to the Island for about an hour or so. Getting close to lunch so decide to
leave. Stop at the Penny Arcade and some of the shops on Main St on our way.
Take the Gold Pennant Launch from the MK to the Polynesian with a stop at
the Grand Floridian. Back to the room. Sandwiches and yogurt for the kids,
sandwiches and fries for us (Captain Cook's again - can't get enough of those
Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches with potato wedge fries). Change and go to the
pool for a short swim (more trips down the water slide) and then back to the
room for a rest.
Head off to MGM about 4:30 - White/Blue bus from TTC. Get stroller and do
Star Tours (less than 5 minute wait). Then walk into Indiana Jones just as
the audience warmup is starting. After Indy, go to Hollywood & Vine
Cafeteria of the Stars for dinner - pretty good. From there we head up to
The Great Movie Ride at kids request (Western side again, no wait). After
TGMR, get set for Sorcery in the Sky. Front and center seats as we are
there just when they set up the ropes. Great show !!!!
After fireworks, head back to the Polynesian (Gold/Black bus). Sundaes all
around and then off to bed.
Wednesday, 8/26 -
Up about 7 and eat breakfast in room - coffee & croissant from Captain Cook's.
Get ready for Typhoon Lagoon. Walk to the TTC and take the red flag bus to
TL. Get our spot of sand and towels and then into the wave pool to catch the
end of the big waves. Take a break from the wave pool and do Castaway Creek
all the way around. Back to the wave pool for a full set of the big waves.
Kids love it. Both Dan and I manage to hurt our toes - Dan a scrape, me a
bad bruise. Stay most of the morning then change and leave.
Take bus back to TTC. Joan and kids wait at TTC while I go back to room and
get MKC card for shopping at Village Marketplace. Throw wet clothes from TL
in a locker at TTC to pick up later. Take bus from TTC to the Village
Marketplace and eat at Lakeside Terrace. After lunch, do some shopping (toys
and T-shirts) before taking a bus back to TTC, retrieving clothes from the
locker, and walking back to the Polynesian. Snack in room and then rest.
After rest get ready to go out - kids to Neverland Club and us to EPCOT.
Take kids over to Neverland Club - they are excited about this. The friends
they had met at MK on Sunday had stayed here on Saturday night and raved
about it. We catch the Monorail to EPCOT. Take a look at Body Wars but the
wait is too long. So off to Mexico stopping at a couple of shops along the
way. Look around Mexico and then dinner at the San Angel Inn. Nice meal.
Off to Norway for a ride on Maelstrom - get stuck in the back row and get
wet. Then on to China for their 360 movie - good. Position ourselves for
IllumiNations & see some of Sorcery in the Sky from MGM while waiting.
After another fine IllumiNations show, head out with everyone else to take
the Monorail back to the TTC. Sorry but the Monorail is down due to a power
outage. Have to take a bus back to TTC - quite a bit of confusion getting
the boarding lines setup properly which leads to a couple of angry guests.
Eventually get back to TTC and walk to Neverland Club at the Polynesian
to get kids. They had a great time - pizza for dinner, games and pictures/
autographs with Goofy, movies, free video games (have to tear Dan away from
these), and official membership cards.
Back to the room and listen to more of the kids stories about the Neverland
Club. Joan runs out to get something for my increasingly sore throat - a
good match with my now black and blue toe from TL. All off to bed around
11:30.
Thursday, 8/27 -
Last full day at WDW. Sleep late as we all needed it. Joan feeling quite
under the weather today. Do late breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace - we do the
buffet, the kids go for the Mickey pancakes. Take Monorail to EPCOT and
pick up strollers for both David and Daniel (sore toe still has him limping
a little bit).
Do Horizons (no wait), World of Motion (less than 5 minute wait) and then
over to Journey into Imagination for Captain EO (walk right in to preshow).
Get in line for Journey into Imagination ride - Joan gets drinks while the
rest of us wait in line. About a 15 minute wait but David is getting tired
and bothered by the heat. David really likes this ride and keeps looking
for Figment throughout. Play around Image Works for quite a while after the
ride. Off to the Land for a late lunch break at Farmer's Market. Then over
to Spaceship Earth and walk right on.
Return the strollers and catch the Monorails back to the TTC and to the
Polynesian. Back to the room for a quick snack and a long rest. Make
our reservations for Mear's tomorrow and notify the front desk that we
will be using express checkout. Have pizza delivered to the room for
dinner. I take the kids over to Moana Mickey's for one last go at the
video games while Joan rests and does a little packing (still not feeling
quite up to par).
Back to the room to change for swimming and down to the lagoon in time to
see the EWP. After EWP, off to the pool for swimming and more of the water
slide. At 10, back to the lagoon for viewing MK's Fantasy in the Sky. They
have speakers set up on an island in the lagoon so you can hear the music
as well as see the fireworks for Fantasy - nice touch. Back to the pool
for a final swim/slide and then back to the room for sundaes all around.
Kids and us off to bed around 11:30. Home tomorrow.
Friday, 8/28 -
Sleep late. Up and finish packing. Off to Tangaroa Terrace for a buffet
breakfast - kids opt for Mickey pancakes again. Back to room and have bags
taken around to front. Do some last minute shopping in GCH and then out
front to collect bags and wait for the Mear's shuttle. Off to the airport,
check in at Northwest, and head over to the terminal. See Fievel and get
pictures and autographs.
Down to the gate but plane is late in arriving. Add to this an air traffic
delay in Boston due to haze and the expected 1:45 departure time is now
3:15 PM. Get sodas and have a snack while we wait. Finally get off the
ground about 4 PM. Land at Logan just before 7 PM. Catch the shuttle to
Park 'N Fly, get the car and head home.
Great Vacation !!!!!!!
Additional Thoughts -
This was the first trip for all of us to Walt Disney World. Thanks to all
of you for the information and suggestions provided in the notes file. This
certainly made our vacation much more enjoyable. One in particular that
worked well for our kids was earning Disney dollars prior to going. This
heightened their excitement about going and they enjoyed having there own
money to spend. They also put more thought than they otherwise might have
into how to spend their own money.
After the first few days, a stroller proved essential for our 5 year old to
be able to enjoy the parks. Even our 7 year old used the stroller from time
to time. Had we to do it again we probably would have rented a stroller
every day from the start.
With the exception of one bus driver, who came on real strong with what was
essentially a sales pitch for WDW, we found the staff and facilities of WDW
to be good to excellent. We will definitely plan on staying on property the
next time we return. If we were to stay near the MK again, we would not
hesitate to stay at the Polynesian. Would recommend Bora Bora as a small
quiet building that is centrally located to nearly everything. Nice place
and beautifully landscaped.
We pretty much saw everything that we had planned to see but will probably
try to strike a better balance between days in the parks and days away from
the parks the next time. The only days not spent in the parks were the day
we arrived, the day we left and the day we went to Typhoon Lagoon (and Joan
& I even went to EPCOT that night). Also next time with the kids somewhat
older we expect to spend more time in the World Showcase at EPCOT and in the
Tours and Shows at MGM. The only things we missed that we had planned to
see were the Hoop-Dee-Doo (had 10 PM reservations one night but the kids
were just too tired to have enjoyed it) and character breakfasts (had planned
to attend one but never seemed to work into our schedule - did character
dinner and Sunday brunch instead).
It was nice to have the parks open late (MK until midnight, EPCOT & MGM
until 10 through 8/22) since the heat and humidity made it very difficult
for us to spend any afternoons in the parks. Other than the Sunday when we
met friends in the MK, the only afternoons we spent in parks were at EPCOT
where we could mostly stay inside at the Future World pavilions. After
Hurricane Andrew went by and out into the gulf, even the nights were hot
and sticky as there were no afternoon/evening thunderstorms to clear things
out. We will probably not go back in the summer for our next trip.
What we liked most:
- the rides (with the exception of BTTF at US which David did not enjoy,
they were either good or great)
- the parades/fireworks (especially Sorcery in the Sky)
- the food (with the exception of the Land Grille, we thought the food
was good everywhere - even the pizza delivered to the room)
- the shows (although some were dated, Kitchen Kabaret, and some were too
loud for David, Captain EO, most were very entertaining with Cranium
Command and Muppetvision 3D as notable standouts)
MK was the busiest while we were there and was very busy on Sunday - contrary
to what is listed in the guides. Universal Studios was also very busy the
Friday we were there. Both EPCOT and MGM seemed relatively quiet with little
or no lines at most rides and shows.
One thing we found somewhat disappointing was Universal Studios. The rides
were great (probably better than MGM) but the waiting compared unfavorably to
WDW (too much out in the hot sun and too long a wait) and the attention to
the needs of guests not as well planned (we found out from others waiting in
line at Funtastic World of HB that the ride had broken down, no staff/cast
member made any announcement). Perhaps the disappointment was partly from
trying to squeeze too much into one day at Universal but we did not come out
feeling that we had gotten our money's worth that day.
Another disappointment was the number of characters at the special character
events. Both the character dinner at the GF and the brunch at the Poly only
had the themed characters (Chip & Dale and Minnie). No other characters were
present although, as I indicated, the waiter did hand out pictures of other
characters at the GF dinner. Both meals were very good and the characters
did spend a lot of time with the guests (Chip & Dale came around twice and
Minnie came by several times) but I was expecting more Rescue Rangers at the
dinner and a "Disney bunch" at the brunch.
All in all though, a great time. We all feel that the vacation exceeded our
expectations. We certainly intend to go back but probably not for three or
four years.
|
| 290.34 | The Wait is Over | VISUAL::SCOPA | I'd rather be in Orlando | Sat Sep 05 1992 14:00 | 13 |
| Okay gang you can stop all those postcards and nasty mail messages.
And Claude...was that you who called me up at 2 A.M. and said, "Finish
that trip report!"
Well it's done and follows this reply.I actually trimmed it down from
3100 lines to under 2700 lines. If you copy it from the conference
you're looking at under 300 blocks.
I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I've enjoyed writing in.
Happy reading.
Mike
|
| 290.35 | The Mother of All Trip Reports by Mike Scopa | VISUAL::SCOPA | I'd rather be in Orlando | Sat Sep 05 1992 14:02 | 2696 |
| Scopa Family Trip Report
When: July 7, 1992 to July 27, 1992
Who: Mike, Carol, Holly, and Mike Jr.
Friends Tom and Mary and son Steve (7)
How: By car (Plymouth Grand Voyager)
Cost: Supplied upon request
Tuesday, July 7th
I woke up at 2:48 A.M. This in itself was amazing since I had been up
until 11:45 P.M. making audio tapes to listen to on the way down. I
showered and woke everyone up, got dressed, and was ready to go at 3:30.
We packed everything, made a last minute check, and took off. We met
our friends at the 495 ramp and our trek began.
We stopped in N.Y. and in N.J. for gas along the way. The big nuisance
(once again) was D.C. Please be advised that unless you plan on go-
ing through Washington, D.C. between 2 and 6 A.M. that you're in for
a harrowing experience. To make matters even worse there are detours
all over the place so just hope and pray that after you get through
the detours that you are still heading South. For those of you who are
trying to estimate how long it takes to drive to Orlando note the fol-
lowing:
o We left at 4 A.M. from Merrimack, N.H.
o We stopped every 2 hours for a rest, pit stop, etc.
o We got to Washington, D.C. at 2:15 P.M.
We arrived at the Interstate Motel in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina
at 6:18 P.M. I thought we made good time. We're talking close to 700
miles for the first day. Actual driving time (time on the road) is es-
timated at just under 12 hours and actual distance was between 680 and
700 miles.
For those of you driving down and thinking of staying at the Inter-
state Inn the room was $26 for the night. You can't top that or the
Western Sizzler Steakhouse nearby.
Wednesday, July 8th
We got up early and took off about 7 A.M. We hit the South Carolina
border at 10 A.M. and kept on going. I didn't want to stop at South
of the Border on the way down but I did plan to stop on the way back. If
you're wondering SOB is just over 500 miles from Orlando, Florida.
The trek continued. We got to Georgia by 2 P.M. and I'm feeling su-
per regarding the good time we had been making.
Although we would stop from time to time to rest, fatique did set in
and that's when I reached for my trusty Mountain Dew. Within 15 min-
utes after it crossed my lips the caffeine kicked in. If you drive down
fill your cooler with the Dew.
We got to the Florida Welcome Center at 4:35 P.M. We took a break and
had some freshly squeezed OJ at the Center. Stop in and get a "Wel-
come to Florida" greeting along with your OJ...it will pump you up.
We grabbed some brochures and took off. We were hoping to reach Jack-
sonville, Fla. before the height of rush hour traffic. Instead, we ended
up driving through Jacksonville during rush hour and picked up Route
4 along the way. Make sure you hug the left lane while driving through
Jacksonville. There is a certain stretch where you leave 95 and go onto
4 and you do this by bearing to the left.
We popped into Daytona Beach around 7:30, secured a room, and had din-
ner at The Olive Garden Restaurant. It was okay but nothing "to write
home about" as one Disney moderator would say. We full-blooded Ital-
ians are tough on Italian Restaurants.
After dinner we got back to the room and I called the CRO to see if
I could get my room a day early and, if not, what else was available.
Unfortunately I could not get into my room. All of Port Orleans,
Dixie Landings and Caribbean Beach Resort was booked. I inquired about
any type of specials for AP holders, Gold Card members. etc. but noth-
ing short of $200 was available. I wanted to stay on the
property but not at these prices. Also, we really needed two rooms as
we were traveling with another family.
The castmember I had talked to suggested I call in the morning because
some late cancellations sometimes don't show up in the data base
late at night. We all agreed to get a good night's sleep and try again
in the morning.
Thursday, July 9th
I was up early this day, showered, and turned on the TV to check the
weather. A shuttle was landing in Florida and there was a chance that
I would either see it or hear the sonic boom. I got dressed and went
outside. I heard the boom but didn't see anything.
I called the CRO and was told that YES there was a room at DL...but
I needed two rooms. All for one and one for all. Our friends insisted
that we take the room and that they would probably visit St. Augus-
tine and come back and stay at this motel (in Daytona) for this night
and meet us in Orlando the next day.
This was to be their first time in Orlando and I wanted to make sure
everything was just right. I told them that we'd stick together in one
hotel. We couldn't decide on where to stay that night so the plan was
for them to still go to St. Augustine and then meet us in Orlando (we
had maps so we picked the corner of Sand Lake Road and International
Drive) and we would decide then as to where we would stay for the night.
We checked out of our rooms and they headed towards St. Augustine and
we headed towards Mecca...erhh...Nirvana....I mean Orlando. We intended
to redeem our Annual Passport certificates that day.
We got to Orlando at 11:00 A.M. and first drove by our meeting spot
and then headed off to BELZ. We walked through and stopped off at the
Character Warehouse to check out the merchandise. There is not much
floor space but the bargains are there. The kids and I went on a sim-
ulator ride that makes you feel like you are on a roller coaster, speed
boat, and a race car. Afterwards we decided it was time to eat. I sug-
gested it was a good time to make Beaches and Cream at the B&YC our
first destination and WDW meal for this trip.
As we drove past the Swan and The Dolphin we held up crossed fingers
in the same gesture one would use to ward off vampires. Jeez those things
are ugly.
We got to the Beach Club and walked through. It's very nice. We found
Beaches & Cream in no time at all. Ariel's looked neat too.
Five minutes after we had sat down we heard what could very well have
been mistaken as Robby Benson as "The Beast" when this voice bellowed
out, "STEVEN! WHERE ARE YOU GOING? GET BACK HERE OR I'M GONNA BUY YOU
NOTHING!"
We looked up and saw this mountain of a man in his swimming trunks (God
do I dare say they were, yuk, Speedos...like stuffing a cup of jello
into a thimble) chasing after a small boy. The guy was so huge he would
have been turned away from a sumo wrestling school for being overweight.
The guy was so fat you couldn't play catch with him. If you threw him
a ball it would go into orbit. I think the guy had two zip codes. Maybe
he washed up on Stormalong Bay. Anyway he was pretty loud and obnox-
ious. I immediately thought, "Hey maybe the Kuscher's are here too"
since Jackie Kuscher has all the (bad) luck when it comes to encoun-
tering these types of people in restaurants. Jackie you are not alone.
I know I got my fair share this time around.
This man-mountain had entered Beaches & Cream with neither shirt nor
shoes and was immediately confronted by the manager (who was outweighed
by a 1/4 ton) and told that health laws required that he don both if
he intended to stay and be served. She told him this with a smile.
We all had burgers and they were great. Remember, each one is a quarter-
pound of beef so if you order the triple like I did you'll get a triple
quarter-pounder. It's big. I also had the first banana split of the
vacation....and first ice cream since February. For those who weren't
aware I had been dieting since February and lost 40 pounds by running
eating nothing but pasta...no ice cream or desserts whatsover. You'll
soon see from reading this report that I made up for all that diet-
ing.
After we finished our meal we checked out Stormalong Bay. If you get
a chance you should spend an early afternoon here. It's a neat and novel
pool area. After we had checked out the rest of the resort we headed
for the CBR to try one more time for that elusive early vacancy. We
got there and went right over to the Custom House. Again only one room
at Dixie Landings. Sigh. Okay, off to MGM to redeem our AP certs. I flashed
the certs and my reservation slip at the guy at the MGM parking gate
and he let us in without making us pay the parking fee.
We went over to Guest Relations to have our pictures taken (3:45 P.M.) and
get our Annuals. Let's clear up something now regarding the use of An-
nual Passports. You must show your AP upon entering a park for the first
time on that day. When you leave get your hand stamped. When re-entering
a park go through the re-entry gate. Show your AP and your handstamp.
The Disney folks want all AP holders to adhere to this procedure so
they can get an accurate visitor count.
We entered MGM to check out what's new. We browsed through the stores
to get cooled off, caught a glimpse of the B&TB stage show, and checked
out the Soundstage Restaurant. As you walk in you'll see Belle's Village
on the left and The West Wing on the right. Go up the stairs and peer in at
the enchanted rose. If you're luckey you'll run into Belle or the Beast for
a photo or autograph opportunity. The Beast doesn't sign
autographs....can't hold a writing instrument in that maw. Belle appears to
be one of the "Belles" performing in the stage production at the park.
We watched a little Streetmosphere, checked out the new Indiana Jones
outpost area (to the left of the attraction), and saw the vehicles used in
the last Indy Jones picture. We decided to get a drink and then leave for
downtown Orlando to meet our friends.
We pulled into our meeting spot and less than a minute after getting
out of the van we saw Tom, Mary, and Steven pull in right behind us.
The wives and the kids went into the shop next to the Orlando Visi-
tor Center while Tom and I tried to figure out where to stay for the
night. The Orlando Visitor Center is not too big but it does offer dis-
counts and brochures on many of the area attractions. After going through
all the possible places to stay we agreed to stay at the Best West-
ern Hotel on I-Drive. It was close and the price was reasonable. What
was eerie about this place was that the clerk who checked me in had
gotten married in Merrimack and his reception was at the Merrimack Hilton
(now Ramada Inn) just 2.5 miles from MK. The clerk who checked Tom in
was from the same town in Mass. where Tom and I had grown up. Small
world. I must say, I HATE STAYING OFF THE PROPERTY. We ate at the Florida
Grill next door, browsed through one of the 10,000,00 shell stores in
Orlando and then returned to the hotel.
Oh yeah, in a tribute to Annie Lund I ordered the Swordfish for supper. It
was okay Annie except that when I asked for them to cook it up Cajun style
the chef preferred not to because of the juices that would be "lost" on the
veggies. Sure pal...guess he'll never work for Dick Nunis....or for that
matter ever see me walk in that place again.
When I got back to the room I did a check on costs for the trip so far
and made some notes in my trip notebook. I fell asleep around 11:30.
Friday, July 10th
After tossing and turning for 30 minutes in bed I got up, put on my
running clothes and took off for a run at 5:15 A.M. For those of you
who run don't miss out on the opportunity to rack up a few miles down
there. I would suggest you run in the early hours so you are not in
the hot Sun.
I ran between 5 and 6 miles on International Drive that morning and
was caught by surprise by a few early morning sprinkler systems.
A sidenote. There is a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum being built
on I-Drive about 500 yards from the intersection of Sand Lake
Road and I-Drive. I don't expect it to be completed until '93. Got back
to the room and showered and shaved and was ready to check out and head
for the CBR by 8 A.M.
We checked out of the Best Western a little after 10 (I think my adrenalin
was racing much faster than everyone else's) and headed over to the CBR.
We decided to have breakfast at Old Port Royale. (Breakfast at 10:30
A.M.?....isn't it time for lunch?).
I gave our friends a brief tour of Old Port Royale and pointed out cer-
tain areas of the CBR before we headed over to the Custom House to check
in. I found several messages there waiting for me including one by fellow
mod Jim Pappas letting me know his room number. I had our resort ID's
stamped with a "Transportation Only" stamp and I accepted the mini-bar key
but never did use it.
When we checked in we were told that they were not able to give use
a second floor, non-smoking, parking lot view room in Martinique. In-
stead they gave me a second floor, non-smoking, garden view room in
Martinique at the same price. My smile grew even wider when I also found
out it was a corner room.
It was a pleasure to finally empty out the van and settle in for a cou-
ple of weeks in one spot. We decided to let the kids take in some pool
time while we did some laundry (even though we had very little). Af-
ter that we thought about going over to the Shopping Village.
I found out over there that, yes, the Magic Kingdom Club Card will no
longer be honored at the Shopping Village come December 31, 1992. The
reason for this was kind of cloudy but from what I understand the feel-
ing is that there was some abuse with these cards at the Shopping Vil-
lage and it was determined to eliminate them from use there. I didn't
pursue the "abuse" part so don't ask me what that means.
They will still be honored at the Disney Stores.
I don't recall if it was during this visit to the Character Shop or
a later one that I let Mike and Holly pick out a stuffed character.
Mike picked up a Figment....he'd been waiting two years for it....and
Holly selected Scuttles from "The Rescuers."
By the way, our housekeeper Joyce hid these two characters ev-
ery day and the kids would come back to the room and look for them.
We left the Shopping Village and had Dinner at one of the many Siz-
zler restaurants in Orlando. Since we were close to Goodings we stopped
by to pick up some breakfast items, snacks, and drinks. I did not in-
tend on using the mini-bar at all...but I came close.
That turned out to be my last trip to Goodings. From now on it's Winn
Dixie or Publix. The prices at Goodings have really gotten out of hand.
I went there because it was close by to where we ate otherwise I would
have avoided it. Goodings is at The Crossroads which will be on your
right as you drive to the WDW resort from the airport. Heck, I'll bet
the prices at the CBR food store (in OPR) were competitive.
As we drove back to the CBR we planned for the next day and agreed to
start off early for The Magic Kingdom (TMK). That night I watched MGM's
"Sorcery in The Sky" from my CBR balcony.
Saturday, July 11th
We left the CBR at 7:30 and drove to the Contemporary Resort parking
lot closest to Space Mountain. We parked the car there and walked to
The Magic Kingdom front gate.
Here's a tidbit of info. You must flash your resort ID in order to walk
along the pathway from the CR to TMK. Flashing your AP (if you have
one) won't suffice. Apparently this walkway was originally intended
for the exclusive use of CR guests.
This was an "early" opening day at TMK (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sat-
urdays) so only resort guests were allowed in TMK at this time. We went
straight over to FantasyLand and hopped on Snow White and Dumbo be-
cause there weren't any lines at these attractions...no wait.
Okay maybe a 15 minute wait for Dumbo. I think that's pretty good my-
self. We ran into Pluto, Goofy (who seemed to be everywhere...more on
The Goofster later), Eeyore, and Minnie in the early morning.
Let's go to TomorrowLand.
The kids went over to Space Mountain and got on in about 15 minutes.
I walked through...not a Space Mountain fan. My last time on this
attraction was 1975. Yes Jim Hill I had a feeling the Carousel of Progress'
days were numbered and so we went on it for probably the last time. It was
pretty meaningful for my wife Carol because she had experienced the
attraction at the 1964 World's Fair.
After that we did another favorite of hers, The Wedway People Mover.
This attraction is good to take in during the mid-day hours when most
of the crowds are lined up for Space Mountain and the other crowd fa-
vorites.
Ah yes we also took in Mission to Mars. Farewell and good riddance.
That attraction got old real fast...should have been replaced in 1981.
Did Dreamflight. Carol talked me into doing the Skyway to FantasyLand.
I'm not really scared of heights but I have my squeamish moments...this
was one. She lured me on by saying, "Think of the great video you can
get!" Uh-huh. Well I rode it but am not sure if I'd do it again. If you're
wondering about how well the video came out...heh heh heh...not
too well considering I pretty much held the camera up withm y eyes closed.
After arriving at FantasyLand we looked towards taking in Peter Pan.
That attraction started to crowd up so we did Small World. Over to The
Haunted Mansion...no waiting...over to Hall of Presidents...no wait-
ing.
Strolled over to Splash Mountain. It's pretty neat looking. The best thing
about it was that Billy Ray Cyrus wasn't standing in front, swinging his
hips and singing about his "achy breaky heart". The water was flowing but I
did not see any boats. There was activity as Mike Batty mentions elsewhere
in the conference. This activity amounted to the filming of some
commercials for the attraction. Still the official word was "Fall 1992."
It was now close to 1 P.M. and after the first five hours we had al-
ready taken in close to a dozen attractions with hardly any waiting
and had some photo and autograph opportunities with several charac-
ters. Time to eat.
We took the monorail to The Contemporary. I got to sit up front and
tape the ride from there...awesome. It was our first and last mono-
rail ride during our entire stay. Hard to believe until you realize
that we used our van quite a bit.
We ate at the Concourse Grille. I forgot what everyone else had but
I recall having the taco salad and this huge banana split named af-
ter the Spectro Magic Parade. If you go there for lunch, ask your server
to show you the dessert platter. You won't believe the size of the "Colos-
sal" carrot cake or that I considered ordering it all for myself.
We drove back to the CBR for a rest. While everyone else took it easy
my son and I strolled around the resort testing every pool. When I got
back to the room there was a voicemail message waiting for us. Kathy
Jette had arrived and had left a message telling us her room number.
I took a short walk over to her room, knocked on the door, and lo and
behold Kathy, Dennis, and a semi-shocked David (who didn't know he was
going to WDW until that morning) were home. Well you could tell we were
all excited from how fast we were talking and what we were planning
to do and of course the Ultimate Get Together - The Hoop Dee Doo Birth-
day Bash.
After a few minutes I noticed time was running late and I had to return to
my room and get ready for a return to the park...actually the plan was to
go to MGM for the evening.
We took a bus that evening even though I had volunteered to drive to
the park. I like the buses but due to the way they route themselves
around the CBR resort they don't get you there faster than your car.
Jim Pappas has scientific proof of this...please see Jim for details.
Okay gang what's the first attraction you do when you enter MGM? All
together now....S-T-A-R T-O-U-R-S. At least it was on this day. Okay it was
early evening and no lines. We went right on and then headed for Muppet-4D
(nah...it's not 3D but 4D). We hit this attraction almost too well. We saw
only half of the pre-show. How good was the pre-show? Well my kids walk around
saying, "Hi! Welcome to my park....".
Anyway the attraction is topnotch. I think the theater is the real at-
traction not the film. There are some surprises. The kids will love
it. Pay attention to the walls of the theater. We took in this attrac-
tion at 6:30...again no lines.
When we left the theater we noticed the Muppet stage show "Days of Swine
and Roses" was taking place around the corner from the exit. We watched
it a bit and then took off.
We headed over to TGMR and went in. I requested The Western side so
we had to wait a bit for a car for that side....gee we waited a whole
10 minutes. I noticed a few things while riding through this time:
o In the "Oz" room our guide used a special microphone to talk to the
Wicked Witch. I thought I saw a special button on the microphone
that was used to queue up the witch's dialogue.
o The other thing I noticed was that the film tribute at the end is
shorter. When I get a chance to compare my '92 tape with my '90 tape
I'll know for sure.
We all were thirsty so we headed over to the Soundstage Restaurant for
some ice tea. I finished my ice tea and went into the men's room where
I found Jim Pappas waiting for #1 son Greg to finish his "business."
After the usual official mod handshake we discussed what we did that
day and what we were doing that night and verified our time to meet
before "The Bash" the next night. Jim mentioned that he and Mike Batty
were planning to meet at a specific spot (was it the Hollywood Derby?)
to watch "Sorcery...". We were planning on doing some things before
the show so I wasn't sure when I'd be back. We said so long and I headed
out.
The 7:30 Beauty and the Beast stage show was almost over and the next
show had a line a mile long so we decided to take a shot and go over
to Indy. when we got there the theater was pretty full except for the
right side (as you look at the stage area). Mike was leading the way
so I immediately motioned for him to head for this area. It was as if
someone had saved a spot for us. I decided not to take the first row
but the second row instead. The Indy show has a lot of activity on the
right side of the stage area...especially at the beginning and end of
the show. First timers usually head for the center seating area which leaves
the sides free. Head for the right side of the seating area instead...you'll
remember me when the show ends. None of us got picked to be extras in
the show. I gotta get me a Jim Pappas mask if I ever want to get picked.
I noticed some subtle changes in the show and that made it entertain-
ing for me...heck I would have loved it even if the show hadn't changed.
By the way, on the climactic dash from the plane the timing was a bit
off as Indy and Marianne had more than enough time to clear the dan-
ger area before the explosion.
We left the theater and went over to the outpost and area where they
had the three vehicles from "The Last Crusade". We didn't realize how
late it was so we were unable to get real good spots for "Sorcery".
I made a mental note to get good seats next time.
By the way there were people sitting in what I call TGMR piazza long
before this fireworks display. I noticed where they were sitting and
thought about them as I tried to watch the show from behind some tree.
After the show we headed back to the CBR on the bus. I began to think
to myself, "Do I really want to depend on the buses after tonight?"
From the bus stop at Martinique to our rooms we decided that the morn-
ing jaunt would be to EPCOT.
I entered my room and my phone was flashing. It was a voicemail mes-
sage from Jim Pappas. The Pappas and Batty clan had decided to take
in the Diamond Horseshoe Review on Sunday and wanted to know if we
were interested in joining them. Since our group had already commit-
ted to EPCOT for that morning I called Jim to say thanks for think-
ing of inviting us but we had already planned to be in a park other
than TMK for that morning. I told Jim I'd take a raincheck on that invite
and we'd see Miss Lilly and the gang another day later in the vaca-
tion.
After I hung up with Jim I tried unhooking the cable from my TV so I
could watch the tapes I had taken up to this point in the vacation.
The cable was hooked on so tightly to the TV I couldn't loosen it by hand.
I made a mental note to look for pliers the next day....the next day...HEY
THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY....MY HOOP DEE DOO BIRTHDAY BASH BIRTHDAY PARTY!
I was pumped. I watched a little TV and then did nighty-night around
12:30 A.M.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINGGGGGGGGGGG!!!
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINGGGGGGGGGGG!!!
"Erh! Huh Wha???"
It was dark, still night, the TV clock said 1:48 A.M.
Carol answered the phone. The PHONE?!?!?! 1:48 A.M.????? A phone call
at 1:48 A.M. is never good news no matter where you are. I'm think-
ing, "Oh-oh, who died?"
"Hello? Yeah. No Problem. Oh wow! Oh poor Mary....yeah...yeah. Sure...bring
him over...no problem...yep...bye bye!"
"Well?", I queried.
"That was Tommy. Mary has been suffering from severe nausea and they
think it's food poisoning. Tom wants to take her to a hospital. They
want to leave Steven here with us while they go so they are bringing
him to our room."
"Food Poisoning! Hospital?"
My thoughts ran back to the note one person had put in the conference
regarding the nearest hospital. I had remembered answering the note
with Sand Lake Hospital and had remembered checking the address but
who can remember things like exit numbers? The person at the CBR Cus-
tom House gave me the exit number and the direction to go once I got
off the ramp.
By the way...it's exit 29A...go right at the bottom of the ramp and
drive until you see the Hospital sign on the left hand side (1-2 miles).
When we got to the Hospital there was a ton of paperwork to go through.
I sat in the waiting area watching Barry Nolan on "Hard Copy". Mary
thought that it might be her gall bladder or maybe food poisoning. I
was convinced that I'd be recalling this night on Geraldo Rivera's "NOW
IT CAN BE TOLD."
"Yes Geraldo when we took Mary to the Hospital and the last thing we
expected to be doing on the way back to the CBR was to stop off at the
Custom House and ask for bassinets for the triplets. Their names? Huey,
Louie, and Dewey."
The mind plays tricks on you at 2 in the morning.
While fighting off fatigue in the waiting room this strange woman came up
to me and asked for a match. She looked terrible...weighed about 14 ounces.
She had this great disappearing act...she turned sideways. Yeah lady, keep
puffing on those cancer sticks.
It turned out that Mary had been suffering from a terrible migraine
headache that was doing a job on her head and stomach. They gave her
some medication to help her sleep and hopefully help her battle the
headache and told us to "not waste any time" getting her back to the
CBR and bed "cause she's gonna be in la la land real quick".
We left the hospital and headed back to the CBR with Mary saying, "Oh
Mike this is ruining your vacation."
"Mary, relax. Don't worry about the vacation....relax." Then I remem-
bered about the "la la land" remark the nurse had made and I'm think-
ing "Don't relax too much Mary."
We were able to get Mary to the room before the medication took full
effect. I went into our room, picked up little Steven, and brought him
into their room. Tom and I figured they would not be doing anything
in the morning so I told him I'd give them a call sometime in the af-
ternoon.
I got into bed around 4 A.M. and tried to catch as much sleep as I could
because I wanted to get up around 7 to start the day. I got up around
8:15 and was a bit tired but hey, it's my birthday, day of the big Hoop
Dee Doo Bash.
I was famished and declared that as the official birthday boy I would
pick the restaurant of my choice for breakfast. Time to try that French
Toast so off we went to the Tangarora Terrace. Nice buffet. Nice at-
mosphere. The toast is large and sweet. This is a must for those of
you into big breakfasts. We took our time eating and walked around the
Poly for awhile before heading back to the CBR. Carol felt it would
be wise for me to rest a bit before the big bash. Time for a little
pool. Always a favorite with the kids. But I had an urge to run so I
donned my running shoes and did a lap or two around the CBR. It was
hot but I like running in the heat.
After my run I stopped back at the pool for a quick dip to cool off and
then back to the room to see how the patient was doing. It was close to 1
P.M. when I called. Tom answered. He sounded tired. Mary was still resting
but she seemed to be over the migraine and they were looking forward to
Hoop Dee Doo. I reminded Tom that we were to meet the "gang" at 4 P.M. at
the Trail's End Buffeteria so we would be leaving around 3:30.
I hung up and showered. I checked to see that my camcorder battery was
charging and then selected my birthday outfit. If we ever scan in my
HDD picture you can color my shorts bright yellow. I had a white shirt
on that was covered with different colored Mickeys in different sport-
ing positions.
We drove to FW and got to the Trail's End Buffeteria a few minutes be-
fore 4 P.M. but saw hair nor hide of anyone. I was thirsty so I had an
ice tea or two before the Pappas-Batty posse arrived. They have great
ice tea. After the usual salutations and introductions which took about
15 minutes, Mike presented me with a bag telling me it was a little
something from all of them.
I was a little upset that these guys would spend money on my until I
reached in and pulled out a RED BRAZILLIAN TOUR SHIRT THAT SAID "TOUR
TOURISMO" on it.
Well here we are...16 people laughing and joking about the shirt as
other guests are walking by and thinking, "These people are sick pup-
pies!" I don't know what Mike had to give to get this shirt but I'll
treasure it always. It was a great gift and of course I had to try it
on. Once the shirt went on the cameras were flashing left and right.
The paparazzi came from everywhere. There were people from the National
Enquirer, The National Star, USA Today, you name it. They all wanted
to catch on film what people all over the world thought would never
be seen by the human eye: yours truly in a Brazillian Tour Shirt.
It had to happen. If the Berlin Wall came down then this could hap-
pen too. By the way, after returning home and doing laundry I finally
realized why our Brazillian neighbors purchase so much clothing when
they visit Orlando. The shirt shrunk quite a bit after it hit the laun-
dry. I plan on displaying it proudly in my office. It's now small enough
to fit a very trim Cabbage Patch Kid.
After all the excitement had died down we suddenly realized that
Kathy, Dennis, and David Jette still hadn't shown up and it was get-
ting late. WDW veterans late for Hoop Dee Doo? Unheard of.
When they showed up Kathy said, "First thing I'm gonna put into the
conference is "DON'T DON'T DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT RENTING A CAR
DOWN HERE!" My memory is sort of foggy but I think she said when they
left the CBR they had to take a bus, boat, camel, Minnie Moo, water
sprite, and golf cart to get to Pioneer Hall. Going from Resort to Re-
sort by bus is time consuming. A car is a necessity down there if you
want to get around to all areas in a relatively short period of time.
We piled into Pioneer Hall and no sooner do we get seated when Jim,
Mike, Kathy, and everyone else starts announcing to the whole place
that it was my birthday. I was a marked man.
The show started with the Pioneer Players coming in from the back and
doing the opening Hoop-Dee-Doo song. Soon after that the Players came
down onto the floor and the usual, "Oh they come from..." words be-
gan to ring throughout the hall. For that night at least Mike, Pat,
Martin, and Elizabeth Batty were from Massachusetts. The New Hampshire
people were outnumbered by the Massachusetts people 8 to 7 so we heard
"Six-Bits" sing, "Oh they come from good Ol' Mass...now they're sit-
ting on their.....chairs!" Remember, we're in WDW.
Of course "Happy Birthday" was sung to me and a few other people and "Plunk!"
a big ol' button was slapped on my shirt letting everyone know I was
a birthday boy. The button was glowing. It was loaded with that stuff that picks
up ultra-violet light real well. The show was good as ever, the food
was filling, and right at the time the dessert arrived it was time to
cast for the big "Pageant".
The "gang of 18" was lobbying for me to be the "star" of the show but
Lorelei told them to stop picking on me and asked me if I'd like
to go up on stage. I told her I'd be happy to be the Indian Brave. On
the way up to the stage she told me that I just wasn't the type to be
the "star" of the show. I thanked her and she chuckled.
Once up on stage I got whisked off to one of the wings where the cos-
tumes were and I winced when I saw the dreaded tutu hanging on the hook.
A big sigh as I was handed the feather, donned the loincloth, and informed
of my queue and lines. Calling it a loincloth was a lie 'cause you'd have to
own pretty strange loins for it to cover where they put it on you.
On queue I ran out on stage hooping and hollering, stared at every-
one, and yelled out "Uga-booga...UGA-BOOGA!" I was immediately attacked
by the Texas Ranger and was supposed to "die" as he clobbered me. I
died too slowly. As I went down the Pioneer Players were whispering "You're
taking too long to die."
I rose to a thunderous applause (laughter from my entourage) and stood
on the left side of of the stage. Lorelei was at my side telling me
my next task. Again I was attacked and beaten up. This time it was not
only the Ranger but also a few Pioneer Hall Players who were beating up on
me. They actually busted one of the "clubs" on me.
Now for my big scene. Davey Crockett dies and I fall to the ground pound-
ing the stage and yelling, "Davey you can't die. You're my hero!. No,
no, no No NO NONONONONONONONO............"
I kept going until Lorelei tapped me on the shoulder and I looked up
and the hall got quiet.
"That's enough!", she said and I got up amidst a standing ovation and
a . I stood by the side and she came over, winked at me and said, "I
knew you were the emotional type."
Yes it was all planned. She had told me beforehand to really throw a
tantrum and that if the crowd got into it she would let me go for awhile.
She did.
For my effort I received a special card and photo commemorating my per-
formance. It was fun....I don't know if I would have gone up there if
the "Gang of 18" hadn't been there. Nahhhhhh...I would have gone up
anyways. But I suggest that when you attend HDD go with a crowd...it's so
much more fun. Anyone want to go to my 1997 Bash? Start saving.
Well after the show we said goodbye to all and hoped we'd run into one
another in and around the resorts and the parks. I thanked everyone once
again for my present.
On the way back to the parking lot (which you get to via bus) the
bus driver overheard me talking with people and saw my button. He heard
someone mention my name soooooo he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen we have
a celebrity with us on our journey back to the parking lot. His name
is Mike and he's sitting up front...and it's his birthday. Let's all
sing "Happy Birthday" to Mike." and I was serenaded again. Once at the
Parking Lot I thanked the bus driver for his thoughfulness and we headed
for our Contemporary Resort Parking lot spot en route to TMK while Tom,
Mary, & Steven headed back to the CBR. They elected not to use up a day on
their SuperPass just for a few hours in TMK. This was a wise decision...I
remember making the same decision 2 years ago after 8 hours at Sea World.
We got to TMK in no time at all. We did Pirates (15 minute wait) and
the kids ran over to do Big Thunder Mountain while I checked out Splash
Mountain (which was flowing water but no riders).
After the kids rode Big Thunder a few times we realized it was about
9:15 and Spectro was just making it's way into Liberty Square. This
was our first glimpse of this new parade.
Now I'm a big ELP fan...saw it the first year ('76) it came out and
always loved it. But I must say that SpectroMagic is just as good if
not BETTER. Why? Well first off I liked the Music...it's real music
and not synthesized music...and it's on a much grander scale.
Secondly, the floats seem to have more detail...try to find the two
spots in the parade where Tinker Bell appears. The floats have audioan-
imatrons and animation which the ELP didn't have.
Next, I like the shift from all one color to mixed and back again....ELP
didn't have this.
Finally, there was a real song with real words to blend with the mu-
sic ("On this Magic night...") which, when you hear it, will stick with
you. It is this song that will serve as my audio bookmark for this trip.
Maybe Jim Hill can do some investigating for me. I'm willing to guess
that by next Summer EMP will have a B&TB float with Belle, Beast, Lu-
miere, and the Gang singing "Be Our Guest". You heard it here first.
Once the Parade was over we headed towards FantasyLand to watch "Fan-
tasy..." from behind the castle.
Video Tip: If you want to tape the fireworks one of the more inter-
esting angles is gained by standing in front of Fantasy Faire and po-
sitioning your camera so the words "Fantasy Faire" appear at the bot-
tom of the screen while the fireworks explode at the top half. It came
out pretty good. Remember that when you watch the fireworks from behind the
castle you may not get good audio on the music being played.
The kids rode the carrousel and then we all took in Magic Journeys.
My trip to the hospital some 20 hours earlier began to take it's toll
as I almost dozed off during the film.
We headed towards Liberty Square to get a good spot to see and film
Spectro at 11 P.M. I ended up less than happy with the angle I got and made
it a point to tape the parade one more time.
After the 11 P.M. SMP we thought it best to get the birthday boy (that's
me) home 'cause I was tired.
We left the park and headed to the CR parking lot. Ahh the Bonnet Creek
Parkway. Got to the CBR in less than ten minutes. Spent some time jot-
ting down some notes from the day's activities, watched TV for a while,
and then off to dreamland.
Monday, July 13th
We got up at 7:30 and showered. We took the bus to EPCOT
and had breakfast at the Stargate Restaurant. If you're real good you
may be able to sneak into World Showcase by heading out the back of
the restaurant. I pretended not to know that I wasn't supposed to do
this before a castmember waved me back. Can't blame a mod for try-
ing.
My intention was to make a beeline for World Showcase but everyone else in
my party wanted to go to Imagination. I reluctantly went with the majority
and we headed towards Figment's pavillion. Although the attraction was
running it seemed out of tune. Some areas looked to be in need of some-
thing (like lighting or more audio). Also, our picture was not taken
at the end.
I'm thinking "World Showcase" but that plan was dashed when Dreamfinder
and Figment showed up outside Captain EO. Of course there were pic-
tures being snapped. I thought Mike was going to rip Figment's head
off when the little dragon tossed Mike's Miami Hurricane hat. If looks
could kill that dragon would be toast right now.
Carol headed into EO as I looked towards World Showcase. American Adventure
was calling me. I was thinking of the crowds we WOULDN'T be avoiding later on.
Let me say something about Captain EO. The best part of this attrac-
tion is the Pre-Show. It's called "Capture a Smile". Don't miss it...and
tape it if you can. You can have all the 3D effects in EO....I like
the simple pictures and words to "....everytime you Capture.......A
SMILE!!!!!"
Okay, we give Angelica Huston the Victoria Jackson treatment (cable...don't
you love it?) and YES we are heading for the boat to take us to World
Showcase...it's not too late 10:30. C'mon rudders.
Ahhh...got to American Adventure....sat real close to the stage and
got good footage. I'm a sucker for Disney Americana stuff....love that
song "America....Spread you're golden wings..." Mike Batty, how does
one from across the Pond take towards AA? Inquiring minds want to know.
We stopped over in Italy and I treated everyone to Amaretto Chocolates
before Tom got swept up in the Italy Streetmosphere. Before he knew
it Tom was singing and swinging a watermelon and was being chosen as
a groom in a mock wedding." Good fun. Of course Tom had the last laugh
when they asked him his name and he told them his full name..........in Ital-
ian.
It was getting close to Noon and since we really didn't have a good
breakfast our tummies were growling. Gee we're near Norway and Morocco
why don't we try....only my son Mike was game so we opted to walk over to the
Farmer's Market in the Land Pavillion.
On our way we ran into FoulFellow and his feline companion from Pinoc-
chio. They were just at the end of their autograph session and waved
goodbye and walked behind a fence. I went up to the fence and peeked
through a hole. To their credit these castmembers played their roles
until they were out of sight. I watched them up to 100 feet away still
in character. Of course they would check to see if anyone was watch-
ing too.
When we got to The Farmer's Market I saw a lot of people wearing my
birthday shirt. Actually ever since I put on that present in FW Carol
has called the Brazillians my "people." "No way am I gonna deal with
my....hmmmmm, hey guys follow me!"
I brought everyone over to The Land Grille. The Menu looked good so we
ate there. I had never eaten there before. Try one of the stir-fried
entrees and the carrot cake. They have butter shaped like little Mickeys.
They stand about 4 inches high. Our waiter told us that he waited
on one table where they sliced Mickey up and then put drops of ketchup
on him to simulate....errrr enough of that. Remember, veggies served
are grown right there. The Land Grille is another restaurant I'll be
sure to visit on my next trip.
Okay it's a little after 1:00 P.M. and we are outta here. We took a
ride on Spaceship Earth on the way out. The line was 1/10 as long as
it was just 10 minutes after EPCOT opened. Are you first-timers paying at-
tention?
We took the bus back to the CBR and I borrowed some pliers from Tom
to loosen the cable to the TV so I could hook up and watch some of my
videotapes. I watched Hoop Dee Doo and wondered why the camera
was shaking while I was onstage.....until I heard Carol laughing her
head off.....thanks honey....Carol loves me because I make her laugh.....sort
of similar to Roger and Jessica Rabbit.
After a 3 hour rest we took off for TMK. We bussed it...first and last
time taking the bus to TMK. It was raining. Mother Nature thought the
Scopa's were going to EPCOT. When the Scopa's go to EPCOT it rains....just
ask Jim Pappas.
Upon arriving at TMK we immediately went up the train station and took
the WDW Express to Mickey's Starland, passing through Splash Mountain
along the way. We got off at Starland to find Suzy and Perla Mouse (church
mice from Cinderella) signing autographs and posing for pictures. Also
posing were Foulfellow and his feline friend.
We braved the Teacups and had a light supper at the Columbia Harvest
House....late home of the no longer to be found Monte Cristo's (sob).
We then headed out to Liberty Square to catch Spectromagic while my
kids and "Uncle Tommy" took off for Big Thunder. They went on it 3 times
while Spectro filled the streets with light and music. It took a while
for Tom and the kids to get back to us so we had a relatively poor spot
(bridge to the Hub) to watch "Fantasy..." Tom then wanted to see this
thing called "Dole Whip" I had been talking about.....he treated ev-
eryone to this wondrous delicacy.
We then took in "Pirates..." and then decided to head home...had to hurry
'cause it was getting close to 11 P.M. and the Spectro parade. We made it
to Town Square just as the parade was coming out. Another 5 minutes and we
would have been caught. Luckily I remembered to walk down Main Street on
the Tony's side.
We drove back to the CBR and ahh yes there were my daily messages on the
phone from Jim and Mike. Jim's message was on Diamond Horseshoe and Mike's
was on the CBR water activity offer (posted elsewhere in this conference).
Watched a bit of TV, took off for Pleasure Island and the Adventurer's
Club where Kathy Jette was the center of attention. I wonder if Bob
Saget ever got the tape I made that night at the Adventurer's Club.
Back to the CBR before Kathy would spot me and off to sleep.
:^)
Tuesday, July 14th
We left around 8 A.M. for MGM and ran into the Jette's on the bus. Hi
guys.
First stop was to make reservations at Prime Time. Since I made reser-
vations for 7 I needed to make reservations for 11 A.M. to insure
we'd all sit together. Remember if you have a large party most restau-
rants may not be able to guarantee that they will seat you together.
Caught up to everyone close to Star Tours and we got front row cen-
ter and wouldn't you know it my video camera was on during the ride....tsk
tsk. It's easy to tape in Star Tours but not so easy in BTTF at Uni-
versal Studios. After Star Tours we strolled through "Honey I Shrunk..."
playground. Don't spend too much time here unless you have some kids
who want to try it out.
We then saw TMNT and April and got their autographs.
We then spent some time at Toontown and walked down Mickey Avenue on
our way to Prime Time. When we got to Prime Time we ran into "Mom" from
two years ago. She remembered us. We had "Aunt Judy" for our waitress.
Aunt Judy said my plate was a "happy plate" and told the whole restau-
rant I had left tongue marks. Tom was caught covering his veggies but
when we made airplane noises and Aunt Judy came in with the fork he
kept his mouth closed.
I was curious to see what she would do. She told us to hold up our in-
dex finger and on the count of three point at Tom and yell "Shame! Shame!
Shame!"
We did it.
I surprised Tom with a birthday cake (free carrot cake for
birthday people at Prime Time) and Dad delivered it and sang "Happy
Birthday". Tom's birthday was two weeks away so he was trying to tell
everyone they should be singing happy birthday to me. He even
pulled out his driver's license to proove it. I picked up the bill for
another birthday present for Tom.
We went over to Superstar TV but I don't remember if I had my "Cheers"
shirt on that day. It didn't matter as casting had already taken place
before we arrived. After that Tom, Mary, and Steven went back to the
CBR and we stayed for the 1:45 P.M. performance of B&TB at Theater of
the Stars. This was not a good idea because the trees are not tall and
large enough to provide shading and we were experiencing record high
temps. We saw the show. Oh yeah, before the show started I darted out
to see the stars of "Honey I Blew Up the Kid" come up Hollywood Blvd.
They use twins in that movie for the little kid that becomes huge. Mar-
cia Strassman, the twins, and the teenage girl in the movie was in the mo-
torcade....no Rick Moranis.
B&TB was okay...we planned to see it performed at night on another day.
It was early afternoon and we were still in the park....and a bit warm.
We went back to the CBR to cool off and check some of the footage I
had taken. While there I noticed I had about 20 quarters in change so
my son and I took off for the OPR game room. After we depleted the quar-
ter supply we purchased a few more postcards and headed back to the
room. We stopped by the pool and ran into Mike and Pat Batty. I asked
them about their dinner. I'm sure Mike will fill everyone in on the
details so I won't steal his thunder here. Mike, make sure you tell
everyone about the acrobats, the chandelier, and the ostrich. That's a
hilarious story.
Carol came down to the pool to tell me Jim was coming over. When Jim
arrived once again we had three mods in one place. We discussed various
aspects of our trip and we probably could have held court at poolside
giving advice to the guests. We made tentative plans for a Friday Diamond
Horshoe Review get together and went on to our destinations for that night.
My clan left for EPCOT at 5:30. This was to be a strange night as I
made the mistake of not checking the backpack for ponchos and umbrel-
las. At EPCOT we took a lot of pictures and I tried to get some footage
of the monorail with Spaceship Earth and the Sunset in the background.
This can best be taken right outside the Odyssey restaurant.
There was a call to do "Body Wars" so we headed over to WOL. Carol and
I sat it out and spent time doing the non Body Wars activities in the
pavillion. You really can spend a lot of time in that pavillion. I was
a little parched so I got myself a banana-pineapple Smoothie. Yup....it
was a close Dole Whip clone. After about two hours in WOL we then went
over to ENERGY. From there we decided it was getting late and we were
all hungry. We headed for World Showcase not really sure as to where
we would eat. Along the way we stopped in Mexico and experienced The
River of Time. I'm still a bit cool on this ride...it's okay. I like
the inside of the Mexican pavillion.
From there we headed over to Norway and lo and behold while waiting
in line for The Maelstrom we saw the official WDW show participant Jim
Pappas and family. The Maelstrom seemed awfully short this time around.
We headed into the shops and then we heard Mother Nature go to town.
Rain, lightening, and thunder. It lasted long enough to cancel Illu-
minations for that evening. Remember I had not packed the ponchos (well
there was one) so we sat this storm out until it pretty much let up
(around 9:30ish). We headed back to the CBR a bit disgruntled. Jackie
Kuscher draws obnoxious people in restaurants and I draw Mother Na-
ture's fury when I go to EPCOT. It never rains in MGM when I'm there
and it's rained once in my 30 something trips to TMK...but EPCOT ex-
periences rain 3 out of every 4 visits to that theme park.
We got back to the CBR and were famished. At OPR we tried the pizza. It was
hot, cheesy, and gooey....but it was food. It's decent pizza. After
we finished our pizza we took a walk around the resort then strolled
back to the room to catch a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, July 15th
We took off at 7:45 for MGM. Our first objective was The Voyage of The
Little Mermaid. I don't know if we saw the first show of the day but
I suggest that when you go to MGM you decide beforehand whether you
will head to Star Tours or VOTLM as you enter the park. They are in
opposite directions so decide real early. Star Tours has the edge be-
cause you can go from ST to Muppet-4D.
The Voyage of the Little Mermaid is VERY popular. I think it may be
the most popular attraction in MGM. They have done an excellent job
in converting that theater into a subterranean environment. I think
it's the only attraction I recall where no flash photography took place.
Flash photography is not allowed because it poses danger to the per-
formers on stage. I think this attraction is here to stay.
From VOTLM we headed over to The Backstage Tour and Catastrophe Canyon.
I know I need to space out my trips more 'cause I knew the tourguide's
shpiel by heart.
After our trip we were passing by Muppet-4D and there was no line so
we headed into the theater and walked pass the pre-show into the main the-
ater. This time around I paid close attention to Statler and Waldorf
and other features in the theater. Pay attention to the walls.
We then headed to The Monster Sound Show and Tom, Mary, and Steve de-
cided to head back to the CBR to rest up. We planned to do a lot of
stuff that evening and we all know that 7 year olds need to "recharge"
before attempting to do such an evening push.
We did the Monster Sound Show and then saw the Sinclair Family again.
Gee they were named Surprise Family of the Day again.
Finally Carol saw something she liked. they have very nice cardigan's
in one of the stores on Hollywood Blvd. and she found one she liked.
I immediately said, "Let's get it" before she could decline saying it
was too much money. Holly and I also picked up a shirt apiece.
We had some camera problems and went into The Dark Room to have the
camera checked out. They are real nice and fixed it for us. We got Tom
a lens cap holder while we were there....another pre-birthday gift.
The kids decided they'd like to have lunch at Old Port Royale so we
headed back to the CBR for Lunch. After lunch the kids decided to take
in some pool time and I headed over to the Custom House to cash a Trav-
eler's Cheque....with my videocamera of course. On the way back I ran
into Kathy, Dennis, and David Jette. They told me what they had done
and what they had planned....Kathy had it all down to the minute. They
were leaving later that evening...and it showed on their faces...faces
mixed with content and melancholy I might add.
I walked through the pool area and the Scopa siblings were enjoying
the Martinique pool.
That night we all went to Medieval Times. It's a dinner show involv-
ing jousting knights. The crowd gets to root for their knight. The food
is not that great but the combo of food and entertainment is well worth the
money.
Of course our wives somehow got word to the King's announcer that it
was Tom's (July 27th) and my (July 12th) birthday. When it was announced
Tom and I arose from our seats and lifted our goblets and waved to the
crowd....I'd say there were 1200 people in the house.
We returned back to the CBR around 10 P.M. and watched Sorcery in
the Sky from the balcony. I watched some tapes and a little TV before hitting
the pillow.
Thursday, July 16th
I got up early and strolled down to OPR to get breakfast (muffins and
juice). The bakery at OPR has pretty reasonable prices.
We then drove to TMK (CR) for the early opening and went right to Mickey's
Starland. I got some great footage of all areas of Mickey's Starland:
Mickey's House, Minnie Moo, and other areas. We camped out near the
gate where the characters come out and they came out in 10 minute in-
tervals...Winnie the Pooh, Brer Fox, Gadget, Brer Bear, and Foulfel-
low. Pooh was besieged by tons of kids and the poor person inside couldn't
get to a shady spot. After some ten minutes of photos and autographs
in the sun I overheard the castmember in charge of these characters
apologize to Pooh for not helping Pooh get to a shady spot sooner. Pluto
showed up also.
After all the photos and autographs we headed towards FantasyLand and
rode the Teacups. Carol and I did Mr. Toad while the rest of the gang
got in line for 20K. Carol and I was in and out of Mr. Toad before the
others were back from 20K. While waiting for them I did a little test
and judged the difference in time between the left and right lines.
I focused on two people who got at the beginning of the lines and split
to the left and the right. The person on the left got on the attrac-
tion 5 minutes faster than the person on the right. Over the course
of 12 attractions this is a whole hour so even if you hit the parks
early go to the left. A morning hour is very valuable. By the way NEVER
did I experience a right side advancing faster than a left side.
My Mickey watch was showing almost 11 A.M. and I was getting a bit
uncomfortable being in FantasyLand after 11. The gang minus Mike
and me opted to go on Small World. Mike and I decided to sit this one
out (singing dolls get to you after a while) and we discussed what would
be good to do for the rest of the day. Mike suggested we talk about
this over lunch. I concurred.
We went to the WDW Express train stop at Mickey's Starland and took
the train to Town Square. We ate at Tony's and I would rate the meal
one of the best during my stay. If you haven't heeded the advice be-
fore heed it now...eat at Tony's during the day but not at night. The
menu changes and gets even more expensive at night.
I don't recall what everyone had but we were all quite content with
our meal. Try the minestrone soup. It's very good. Put Tony's on your
list of places to eat in TMK...just don't go there for dinner.
We decided to stake out a spot in Town Square for the Surprise Parade.
I found a spot on the outside of the hub so that the floats would come
towards me. I found the parade to be short and sweet...not that big
of a production. I prefer the usual character parade. Look for a Goofy
parade to replace this one in October.
We left TMK around 3:30 and went back to the CBR. This was Tom, Mary,
and Steven's last day and they wanted to rest a bit and then come back
to TMK that night before leaving this world of, in Len's words "talk-
ing mice and ducks."
Jim called and we agreed on seeing The Diamond Horseshoe Review to-
gether at the 4:30 show on Friday. Jim volunteered to make the reser-
vations.
We headed back to TMK around 6:00 P.M. sans Tom who wanted to rest up
and conserve energy for his drive in the morning as they had plans to
drive to Fort Ritchie to see Mary's parents. Steven and Mary accom-
panied the Scopa clan to TMK. Mary did not bring her camera...would
she regret this?
When we got to TMK the kids went to City Hall to pick up some Span-
ish and French TMK guides to bring back to their respective language
teachers. We got some raw info at City Hall. Carol was told that Min-
nie was at Mickey's Starland. I thought this was pretty odd since char-
acters aren't usually out towards dusk (when it becomes very diffi-
cult to see out of those dark peekholes). We went to Mickey's Star-
land and no Minnie. A castmember said the characters retired "for the
day" 45 minutes earlier, "But you can see them in the Spectro-Magic
parade."
Mary began to think about renting a camera so we checked into it. For
those who do not already know you can rent a 35mm camera for $5 for
the whole day....with a $100 deposit.
We still hadn't seen Peter Pan and took a shot. It wasn't too bad for
7:30 on a Thursday night...20 minutes. We had this urge to see Coun-
try Bear Jamboree and we cut through Liberty Square to Frontierland
and saw the show with "bearly 30 people." It was the original show "There
was blooooood on the saa-aaadle."
When we came out of CBJ WHAM! Spectro was in full swing. We headed over
to The Plaza Restaurant and got there about 15 minutes before "Fan-
tasy..." was to start. It was approaching 10 P.M. and we hadn't eaten
since Tony's some 9 hours earlier.
Steven had a small meal and some ice cream but the rest of us had ice
cream with Mike and I making history at the restaurant. Mike (all 95
pounds of him) and I each ordered and FINISHED an ice cream sundae called
"Bicycle Built for Two." You guessed it...it's made for 2 people....we're
talking 6 scoops of ice cream and all the fixings. How big was it? Cut
off the top of a two liter soda bottle and fill it with ice cream.
We got plenty of stares from everyone including the staff. Our wait-
ress said she had seen one person finish that sundae only once before
and had NEVER seen two of them finished at the same table. Try it...don't
eat dinner beforehand.
I made points by telling the staff that their ice cream is better than
the ice cream at Beaches and Cream. Of course when I was at Beaches
and Cream I told them that they replaced The Plaza Restaurant as far
as having the best ice cream. Remember to mention this to your wait-
ress BEFORE you order...I'm sure you'll thank me for this bit of ad-
vice.
After that slightly fattening episode we trekked over to SpacePort (get
it? trekked! Space?) to look for a Space Mountain shirt for good ol'
Tom back at the CBR. No luck there or at Mickey's Space Trader.
It was approaching 11 P.M. and little Steven was looking pooped so we
headed back to Main Street U.S.A. We walked along Tony's side so that
we could leave during the SMP. We got to the Town Square just as the
parade was beginning.
Mary and Steven gazed at the lights, listened to the wondrous music,
took a deep sigh, and bade farewell to this...the most magical of king-
doms they had ever seen.
Back to the CR parking lot and a short drive back to the CBR. We were
all bushed and planned to do the character breakfast at the Contem-
porary Cafe in the morning.
Friday, June 17th
Up early and helped our friends pack. We followed them to the Custom
House and they checked out while I cashed a Traveler's Cheque and bought
a few stamps.
They followed me to the Contemporary and we went upstairs to the Con-
temporary Cafe for the character breakfast. Characters for this break-
fast included Tigger, White Rabbit, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip & Dale. The
meal was very good but I'd say breakfast at Tangarora offerred more.
When Goofy came to our table I asked him when his parade was start-
ing. Goofy made an "O" on the table. After some wild guessing I said,
"October??" and he nodded in the affirmative. I then said, "Ohhh, when
all this 20th Anniversary stuff is over!" And Goofy wiped his brow as
if to say "Thank Gawd when that's over!"
We once again thought about how much of a rarity it was to see Don-
ald, who wasn't here either. Our waitress Laurie said that Donald his-
torically has never gotten along with the chipmunks so the Disney folks
try to extend that to the characters. When you do see Donald you usu-
ally don't see C&D...but we did...later on in our trip. See if you no-
tice where while reading this report.
It was time for Tom, Mary, and Steven to leave. Hugs and kisses and
good-byes. Tom & Mary thanked us for being their tour guides and said
they estimated it would have taken them nine days to do what they did in
just five days. I felt good that they were pleased with their trip but I felt
bad that they had to leave since there was so much more for them to
see.
After they left I asked Laurie for the check and found out that Tom
had picked it up...sort of a going away gift you might say. Before leav-
ing the Contemporary we spent some time in the game room to work off
the breakfast. From there we went to Old Town in Kissimme. I was not
impressed. On the way back we stopped off at Publix for drinks and snacks
and breakfast (muffins) for the next day.
Upon returning to the CBR we put the drinks on ice and listened to voice-
mail from Jim once again confirming the 4:45 Diamond Horseshow Review
reservation. But the big news was that Splash Mountain was open and
Jim was looking forward to going on it with us as he had already par-
taken of the "Laughin' Place" earlier in the day.
Oh man now I started shaking. Not being a true lover of roller-coaster
and flume rides I wasn't too keen about going on this attraction but
I also knew I owed it to the noters as a Co-Mod to experience the at-
traction so I could give my 2 cents upon my return. I labored with this
thought as we prepared to leave for TMK.
Lo and behold we pulled into the CR parking lot and the Pappas fam-
ily was just heading down the ol' sidewalk to TMK. We all walked over
to Splash Mountain to see how the lines were. It was the first time
I saw people on the attraction. Some frightening faces and horrify-
ing screams turned into smiling faces and laughter as the logs came
under the briar patch.
"My God", I'm thinking to myself, "Do I really want to go on that?"
Jim had a big smile. "So whaddya say Mike shall we hit Splash Moun-
tain after we see Lilly's girls and the Belly-up to the Bar Boys?"
"Ehr..ah...sure Jim (Gulp!). Can hardly wait." Hoo boy. I couldn't fig-
ure this out...I'm thinking "Claude's back in New England and would
die to switch places with me and here I am not sure about going on an
attraction that all the noters have been waiting for with baited breath."
Well we see the show and, as if I didn't expect it, Lilly sat on Jim's
lap. I think his aura is spreading 'cause Deb Pappas ended up in the
middle of the floor matched up with some guy up front who was dragged
in his chair to see Debbie, his "betrothed."
It didn't seem fair. I think one of the Belly Up to the Bar Boys should
have sat on Deb's lap, after all.....Lilly sat on Jim's lap.
Roger Rabbit showed up too and gave out a surprise hat and shirt to
a lucky visitor.
Okay the show was over and I had to face the music. We walked over to
Splash Mountain and the water was still flowing. We handed our cam-
eras to Carol and off we went down into the gully..
Trying to describe this attraction is involved. I hope Jim will fill
in the spots I miss. First off the queuing area is huge. If you want
size I'd say take a football field and cut it in half and add three
trees the size of the Liberty Tree and plunk them down. Now snake peo-
ple around the trees. That's the queuing area. Later on in the trip I was
told by one castmember that the queuing area can handle a 3 hour line.
We waited 40 minutes to get on...my longest wait for my entire stay at The
World. If you can see the line from the bridge outside then you're looking
at a 2-3 hour wait.
Jim will be the first to point out that when given the option stay to
the left to get the full benefit of the AC as you go through the mine.
If you stay on the right the cool air will pass over your head. Claus-
trophobics may not like the narrow passages at a certain point in the
mine. Look for designs (rabbit and horse) on the wall.
Did I say I was a little concerned when I noticed no seatbeats? But
not to fear as 6 year old Gregory Pappas assured me everything was go-
ing to be fine. Well we had a log all to ourselves and we were off.
The scenery inside the attraction is well done. There is an area which
simulates a deep path into the forest. Get a gander at the trees and
the leaves...it's topnotch.
Jim Hill was right about Bre'r Rabbit's support wire. We could see it
as he jumped alongside our log. I also noticed poor placement of speak-
ers in relation to their characters. For instance, a character may be
standing on the right side of a stump but the speaker with his/her voice
is on the left side.
Well I don't remember how many drops there were...maybe three. If there
were three then here's how they went. The first one was close to the
one in Pirates but a bit longer. The second one is close to the one
at Canobie Lake....and I'm thinking "Oh my God that's the SMALL ONE!"
A couple of times we saw Carol taping us from below as we popped in
and out of the attraction. As you come out of the second drop you float
around the Briar Patch. I bravely waved at all the people, including
my camera-laden wife saying to myself, "Man this dream is so realis-
tic." Then I pinched myself and thought "Oh oh!"
We head back into the attraction and soon we begin our ascent and the
sides of the attraction take on a scary mode as evil eyes stare at us
and tell us to look for our "laughin' place."
As you get near the top of the drop you first see the top of the Cin-
derella Castle and nothing but air. Those brave enough to peek over
the front of the log soon fall back into their seat saying unmention-
able things like "Sttt...stteeeep.....lllllongggg." But not me baby.
Nosiree. I took one look as to where I was going and without even hes-
itating one second I closed my eyes like a pro. That didn't help because we
took off and I was airbone and yelling "EEEEEEYYYOOOWWWEEELLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
S P L A S H ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I opened my eyes. "ALRIGHT, WE MISSED THE BRIAR PATCH. PIECE A CAKE."
Meanwhile I'm reminding myself to check for "nicotine stains" first chance
once I get off the ride. Yes you feel like you're coming out of your seat
and yes you get wet. The wet part is no problem if you go during the warm months
but the Winter months may make for a cooler ride. Will Splash be closed
in the Winter months as is Typhoon Lagoon?
We got off the log and I'm pleased as punch to be alive and thinking
"Haw Haw...I rode Splash Mountain." As we passed people waiting in the
queue they are studying us to see our reactions. Being the rascal I
am I'm saying out loud to Mike and Holly, "Boy I'm glad we got a log
with seatbelts." I tell all the people waiting in line to "Make sure
you get one with seat belts and bring yer poncho....oh you forgot....well
your camera's insured...isn't it?"
"So did you enjoy the ride Mike?" Jim asked.
"Wanna go on it again?"
"Nah I've done it. You can go on. I'll try to tape you guys going down."
Phew, Jim bought it....I hoped.
"You sure?", Jim asked. "C'mon Mr. Scopa, let's do it again.", exclaimed
Greg.
"Thanks anyway. I'll stay here and keep Carol company."
So my kids went on again with the Pappas clan and I caught them on tape
as they plunged towards the Briar patch. Jim, I promise to send you
a copy as soon as I put that together with Hoop-Dee-Doo.
By the way, not only is Jim a very capable moderator but he is CRAZY.
The guy is waving his hat at the top of the drop so I won't miss them.
I'm thinking to myself, "Jim hold on for God's sake." Well almost the
whole log had their hands in the air as they went down the drop. Some
people were born to be daredevils I guess.
Jim and his family had a few things to do on this, their last night,
so we bid them farewell, thanked them for their company and I thanked
Jim for his organizing the Bash reservation and we went on our sep-
arate way.
I think Jim, Mike, and Kathy will agree with me that doing certain at-
tractions and/or shows down there with another family or two makes the
trip a little extra nice. Meet someone to enjoy a dinner show together
or something else and then separate and do your own thing. I don't think
I would have gone on Splash Mountain without Jim, Deb and the rest of
the Pappas clan urging me on. Having a crowd with you at Hoop-Dee-Doo
is priceless...unless you end up wearing a tu-tu....I'd sooner the loin
cloth.
Okay back to where I left off. Oh yeah, we said our goodbyes and de-
cided to head back to the CBR and get a good night's sleep as we planned
for a long day in EPCOT on Saturday.
When I got back to the room I had a voicemail message from Tom. He had
called from Port Richie to tell me about Ken's resigning from the Com-
pany and how the stock reacted. I left a message on Jim's phone telling
him of this info.
Mike and I had an urge for ice cream while Carol and Holly had an urge
for sleep so while they slipped into bed we slipped into the night and
headed over to OPR for a late night snack. We ended up having a cheese-
burger, a cookie, and a bowl of ice cream as we sat outside and watched
Illuminations before heading back to the room.
Saturday, July 18th
We enjoyed a breakfast of muffins and juice in the room before head-
ing out for EPCOT. Our plan was to do EC in a leisurely fashion since
we planned to stick around for Surprise in the Skies.
Our first stop was Canada. We saw the film and walked through the shops
before listening to the Maple Leaf Brass. We then walked though the
UK and saw some characters towards the end of their photo stint. There
was Goofy in kilts and Robin Hood, Little John, and King Lionheart.
As we got to France we ran into Mademoiselle Minnie and Bianca and got
some photos with them.
It was close to lunchtime so we ate at Au Petit Cafe. The meal was pretty
good. I had French Onion Soup, House Salad, Beff Burgandy, and French
Beer. Carol had an interesting meal. She ordered the salad designed
to serve as a meal and couldn't figure out why there was a "meatball"
in the center of the salad. She could not place the taste of the meat-
ball. She asked me to taste it. Once I recognized the taste and told
her she quickly handed the rest of it over to me. It was made out of....aw
heck I'm not telling.
My "straight A's in French" Holly was embarrased when I ordered my dessert
in French. Our waiter, Thierry, said I was very close to pronouncing
it correctly. Holly did not approve of my attempt...but she wasn't work-
ing towards a tip either.
How many people are ready to salivate? My dessert was Crepes and Peaches
with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. It's low on the decadent
scale but man was it sweet.
The bill was pretty cheap for a World Showcase restaurant.
From there we made our way over to one of my favorite attractions in
WDW, The American Adventure. We got there just as the crowd was head-
ing upstairs to the theater. However our main purpose in coming into
the pavillion was to listen to the Voices of Liberty....the show it-
self was secondary.
I planted myself in the center of the rotunda. The singers marched out
and set up right in front of me and sang. I got great video. If I could
have my pick of any castmember job I would choose being one of the Voices
of Liberty hands down. Their singing is surely an unheralded treasure.
After their performance we went upstairs to enjoy Mark and Ben's show.
We enjoyed the show (I almost fell asleep...a la Len).
It was close to 2 P.M. (Omigod I'm in a park at 2 P.M.) so we took the
boat to Port of Entry to snare a spot to tape and watch Surprise in
the Skies. There was a Spanish film crew on board taping a show for
some overseas country.
When we got to Port of Entry we noticed a teenage girl who had fainted
on the dock. The castmember said, "Oh oh we have a fainter." We hur-
ried off to get out of the way. I secured a spot right in front of Port
Of Entry to watch Surprise in the Skies. It would be a perfect spot
to watch Illuminations too....if you want to camp out for 6 hours.
About 20 minutes or so before the show a group of people attired in
the same color, led by a flag bearer, approached and....well need I
say anything else? The hot sun and the long day went a long way to-
wards me telling my wife, "Well if these people think they can come
15-20 minutes before the show and push people aside they have another
thing coming. I was all set with a verbal tirade planned as soon as
one shove takes place." It never did and I never had to open my mouth or
watch out for spilling juice (get it Kathy?)
We watched and taped SITS and it was the most difficult thing I had
ever taped....kites, fireworks, balloons, planes, phew. If you stay
at the CBR stroll over to the Custom House around 2:30 and you'll be
able to catch a closeup of Mickey, Goofy, and every other character
flying those aircraft as they fly low en route to World Showcase.
It had been a long day in the park as we are usually in a pool at 3 P.M.
We were thirsty so we headed over to the Stargate Restaurant for a root
beer float. While in there we noticed some threatening clouds so we
headed back to the CBR and just as we went up the stairs to our room
the sky opened up.
Jim, remember that night in EC when we saw you in Norway? Hah! That
was a sprinkle compared to this monsoon. Remember, check to make sure
if I'm going to Epcot before you make any plans. When I go to EC it
pours.
It poured for almost the rest of the day. We did laundry during that
time so we made good use of our "downtime." We were pretty tired so
we decided to eat at OPR. Pizza and Pasta offers an Italian buffet.
There's pasta, Italian veggies, caciatore, meatballs, sausages, lasagna,
garlic bread, etc. all you want for about $7.
We went back to the room, did some laundry, watched the Disney chan-
nel, and had a good night's sleep. I think the rainstorm helped us veg
out a bit after being on the go most of the trip.
Sunday, July 19th
Wow already a week had gone by since the bash. I woke up from a deep
sleep thinking about the bash and was thirsty. I went over to get a
drink from the cooler and then jumped back into bed. It was 4 A.M.
Couldn't sleep...was wide awake.
I got out of bed, put on my running shoes and shorts and went for a
run around Barefoot Lake. It was great. Early in the morning, a pre-
dawn run, nice and quiet....one of my most memorable moments during
the trip. Well I ran about 5 miles and decided to stop off at the pool
for a dip before getting back into the room.
The pool water was at a perfect temperature. I had the pool to myself
and I was thinking to myself, "Ahhh, this is the life...this is what
I've been waiting for."
I was in the pool for a good 20 minutes when I decided I better head
back to the room. I got out of the pool and "Holy cow I was FREEZING!"
"Wait a minute...it's 75 degrees outside." I said to myself. I jumped
back in for another 20 minutes and then I braved the slight chill, ex-
ited the pool, and hustled back to the room...which also was cold be-
cause of the AC. I could have sworn the pool was heated.
I took a nice hot shower, woke up everyone else, and after showers and
BIR (Breakfast in the Room) we headed out to MGM. Ah yes I drove over
even though it's close. I just became tired of having the bus make the
rounds in the CBR before taking off for a park.
Now I figure I drove to MGM about 5 out of the 7 or 8 times we went
to that theme park and it seemed each time we went I ended up park-
ing in "Mystery" row 48, 49, or 50.
We got a rare photo opportunity on this sunny morning as we were able
to snare a phot of both Mickey and Minnie together with the kids in
front of the gas station. Roger Rabbit was there also.
We decided that we'd see VOTLM (Mermaid) for our early morning attrac-
tion jog and we were treated to a nowait for the attraction. This may
sound great to a lot of people but sometimes it's nice to relax in the
pre-show area and look around because there is obviously a lot of at-
tention put into the pre-show areas.
By the way, VOTLM is an attraction that I suggest taping but I would
also suggest that if you plan on taping the show then sit towards the
back of the theater.
We then did the animation tour and throughout the pre-show area you
see and hear B&TB cels and music. There are also drawings on "Alladin"
as the slow push for this animated feature was just beginning.
We then headed for Backstage Tours as we wanted to see Catastrophe Canyon
one more time but closer to the front of the tram. It seemed that we
had always been towards the rear of the tram but this time we were to-
wards the front and got the full effect.
After CC we headed back to Hollywood Blvd. to catch the Dinosaurs. We
got there in plenty of time and the Sinclair Family drove up to the
Chinese Theater, did their thing, and came back down Hollwood Bvd. Don't
worry if you can't get a good spot in front of the Chinese Theater.
You'll be able to see them and get good pictures as they go up and down
Hollywood Blvd.
Many of the Streetmosphere castmembers participate in this "happen-
ing" and play different roles. Some twenty minutes after the Sinclair
family goes we soon see our Streetmosphere regulars hitting the streets.
We thought about characters we hadn't seen or things we had wanted to
do but hadn't done yet. We were also hungry so we headed over to the
Studio Catering Co. to eat and maybe see Belle and/or the Beast.
We struck gold as the Beast was standing at the bottom of the West Wing
staircase. We got pictures but he could not use his gigantic maw to
write so no autographs. I asked the castmember if Belle was scheduled
to come out and he told me that she was scheduled to come out in about
15 minutes.
We were actually waiting for her when she arrived. She came without another
castmember by her side and she seemed a little apprehensive when the
crowd started gathering around. She was one of the two (I think there
were two) castmembers who played Belle in the stage show.
When we left the Soundstage Restaurant I mentioned to everyone that
there was an area we hadn't seen yet that I wanted to investigate. This
area was just across the way from Muppet-4D. It is a brick building
which houses props from movies. It's called The Studio Showcase. Inside
this building you will find almost every prop used in making "Honey I Blew
Up the Kid" including all the gigantic props used in the film. You will
also find props from movies such as "Rocketeer", "Father of the Bride",
"Star Wars", "Indiana Jones", and others. Plan on spending 30-45 minutes
inside this building because there is a lot to see. While I was trying to
tape I heard Carol call to me and when I looked up she and the kids were
heading towards Mama Melrose. "We just ate!", I thought. Then I saw Santa
Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie. More photo ops (we took close to 1000 pictures
during our vacation).
We went back to the prop building and finished looking around before
going back to Hollywood Blvd. to catch some Streetmosphere. The kids
did Star Tours and Muppet-4D and met us on Hollywood Blvd.
BTW like anything else castmembers make the difference if you're in
an attraction, at a restaurant (especially Prime Time), or watching
Streetmosphere. The ones who really get into their roles are most en-
joyable.
For the most part the castmembers doing Streetmosphere this partic-
ular day were good. Whenever possible we would interact with them to
initiate some amusing footage. Of course you have to be openminded too.
I had one moviestar "Kitty" come up to me in her leopard skin suit and
give me her famous closeup "smacker". Another moviestar cried on my
shoulder. "Sarge" made Mike do pushups, while others just carried on
conversations. Some of these castmembers had changed roles from 1990
and caught on quick when I said "Boy you've come a long way since..."
We left MGM in the early afternoon and went back to the CBR for a dip
and rest. While checking out some videos we labored over where to eat
supper. We hadn't tried the buffet at the Contemporary Cafe so we de-
cided to try it out that night even though we had planned to go to EP-
COT that evening.
Well gang put the Contemporary Buffet on your list as a MUST for din-
ner one night. If you love Prime Rib, Southern Baked Ham, and assorted
international dishes it's the place to go. You will also find soups,
salads, veggies, fruit, and all kinds of stuff at this buffet. Each
night has a theme; be it Italian, German, Oriental, or International
night so you'll have plenty of variety.
I'm not a Prime Rib person but I was told that if I gave my piece to
my server and told her how I wanted it cooked that she would take it
back and cook it the way I wanted it. I did...she did...and it was de-
licious.
There is a BIG PROBLEM with this buffet. It's the desserts. There are
too many of them and it's hard to decide which ones to try. Each dessert
is about the size of 3x5 brownie so you could try more than one. Of
course if you are a runner who burns up fat and calories every day like
me you can even go overboard and try ELEVEN like I did that night. That
feat ranks right up there with that "Bicycle Built for Two" episode.
But let's face it....desserts are desserts and they were making them
right on the spot. The chef told me on my first trip not to get too
filled up "otherwise you won't be able to taste my carrot cake com-
ing out soon." If you like desserts which feature pecans, carrot cake,
chocolate anything, apples, cookies (oatmeal, chocolate chip, peanut
butter), rice crispies squares, etc, etc. etc. than this is the place
for you.
It was pure decadence. The bill for the four of us was under $60 so
I think it is one of the best deals in the World.
After that feast we drove over to Epcot. Our purpose tonight was to
spend time in the Communicores, see Illuminations, visit Image Works,
and do a little shopping.
We did all of this and along the way we ran into a castmember who had
come down from Massachusetts to work at Disney. He was in the Commu-
nicore which featured the touch screen terminals you use to make videos.
Illuminations still doesn't really light my fire. I don't know why but
the show never really gives me the same thrill as "Sorcery..." or the
warm and fuzzy feeling of "Fantasy..."
After we picked up a shirt here and a hat there and some postcards (not
for mailing but for keeping) we took our time going back to the car
and drove back to the CBR. The next day was Sea World Day.
Monday, July 20th
Off to Sea World. Best deal as far as discounted admission is the Or-
lando Magic Card. Saw a few new things. They expanded Shark Encounter
to Terrors of The Deep. There is a Bermuda Triangle Simulation ride.
The kids went on it and I watched from the observation deck. They have
monitors so you can see what they see. The observation deck allows you
to watch the simulator shake, rattle, and roll.
We did a lot of other things in SW but, hey, this is a WDW trip re-
port.
We left Sea World late in the afternoon, stopped off at K-Mart to pick
up some more film, then Publix to replenish our muffin and drink sup-
ply, and headed back to the CBR. We stopped off at the 7-Eleven on I-
Drive for a slurpy.
We dropped off the groceries at the room and headed back out; desti-
nation: MGM. We parked at....you guessed it...Mystery 49.
When we got into the park Streetmosphere was in full swing from the
second story windows on Hollywood Blvd. It was wild and entertaining
as they conducted a "party" from the second floor of the Celebrity 5
& Dime.
We strolled over to the Sci-Fi Restaurant and looked over the menu.
It was pretty pricey and pretty much booked up so we said, "Another
time" and decided to try Mama Melrose.
There are several reasons not to do "fast food" at The World. One is
the value. You get more for your money in a sit-down restaurant as far
as quality of the food and the service. Sure it will cost you more,
but you'll reap in dividends. Also, certain tour groups are not among
the clientele one would expect to see in a sit down restaurant (gee
maybe that should be my number one reason). Atmosphere is also impor-
tant to me....to talk, to plan, to do a number of things...sit down
restaurants are much quieter than yer basic FF places.
If you're pressed for time and money an argument can be made to do more
FF than SD...especially in the off season. With long operating hours
and warm temps the Summer months pretty much convince me to go with
the SD restaurants.
Okay, enough commentary. On the way to Mama Melrose's Ristorante we
ran into Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy once more in their Xmas garb. It
seemed as if we ran into Mickey about 2 dozen times during our trip.
Mama's is typical Italian. The restaurant walls are draped with al-
bum jackets from such paisans as Sinatra, Laine, Martin, Lanza, Mar-
tino, and for you Italian purists, Jerry Vale. There are huge 8x8's
above from which grapevines and lights are strung. Of course there is
the traditional pink flamingo or two to add to the authenticity of the
cuisine.
I don't recall what I had for dinner but I do recall enjoying my meal.
My wife liked the pasta dish she had ordered.
Unfortunately we spent so much time there we were too late for the last
Beauty and the Beast stage show for that night. We were disappointed
and made it a point to do MGM the next night and see the show.
Carol and I decided to make the best of things and to establish our
spot for "Sorcery...". We sent the kids off to Star Tours and Muppet-
4D while we plunked ourselves directly in front of The Chinese The-
ater and watched and waited. We sat down at the edge of the red bricks
directly in the middle of the theater. People were walking by and look-
ing at us as if we had three heads. After some 35 minutes or so the
kids showed up and sat down next to us and then the crowd began to build.
Next thing you know the rope is set up in front of us and we are in
the front row. It was worth the wait.
We saw that Spanish film crew come over and "film" people "watching"
the fireworks. What they did is they filmed people going "Ohhh and Ahhh"
while they flashed different color strobe lights and crackled some pa-
per. They spent about 15 minutes doing this before going back into hid-
ing.
We struck up a conversation with two castmembers. Their names were Christy
and Craig. During the conversation Christy kept referring to Craig as
"Chip". The obvious question led us to find out that one of Craig's
duties as a castmember is to play "Chip" at that theme park. I'm talk-
ing Chip the chipmunk, not Chip the tea cup.
We talked about a lot of things...the off again, on again decisions
regarding Sunset Boulevard, Fantasmic, Splash Mountain, Beauty and the
Beast, Boardwalk, etc. I have most of our conversations on tape and
will check to see if there's any info I can pass along here. We got
along so well that Christy wanted to write to us so we gave her our
address. We haven't heard from her yet so we'll see. We should have
gotten her address.
Somethings they told us were:
- Craig saying he rode Splash Mountain 87 times in 6 days during trial
runs in the Spring.
- They hate working The Indy Show because people aren't too happy when
told they can't sit on the stairs.
- Sunset Blvd. is on all the castmember's minds as they know they will
be asked to critique the attractions first.
- Kristy's favorite thing to do is to watch "Fantasy..." from the top of
the Contemporary.
- Castmembers like Prime Time, Tony's, and both Mexican restaurants as
their favorite places to eat.
- They hate the Swan and Dolphin hotels. Castmembers were pretty upset
once they realized you could see the hotels from inside EPCOT.
- Russian and Scandanavian pavillions have been planned for EPCOT.
- Minnie's Menehune Breakfast at the Papeete Bay Verandah (Poly) has a
lot of characters.
- For some reason the characters in EPCOT are on schedule more often for
photos and autographs than those inm the other two parks.
- Fireworks are usually scheduled at odd times so people will remember.
- Castmembers like visiting the parks on off days because they can relax.
Here are some interesting things Craig told me. The Sorcerer's Appren-
tice balloon that pops up at the end of "Sorcery..." has it's finger
ignited manually by someone wearing a hard hat and an asbestos suit.
The man also has some type of extinguisher in case Mickey's finger gets
out of hand.
Here's another tidbit. When "Sorcery..." was first shown in MGM Mickey's
finger was pointing towards the front of the park as if he was say-
ing, "Go home! It's over!" It was decided that Mickey should not be
"chasing" people out the gate and they moved his arm to where it is
today.
After the fireworks Craig came over to me and told me how he depised
the "guest chasers" as he calls them. He was referring to the large
vacuum cleaners that come out of nowhere after the show and start scoop-
ing up all the debris in the street. He feels that it is rude for these
things to be going at that time and that another 30 minutes of wait-
ing would be better. He suggested that we complain to Guest Relations.
We bade our new friends goodbye and left the park. The pillow felt good
that night for some reason. The next day would be Typhoon Lagoon Day.
Tuesday, July 21, 1992
We got to Typhoon Lagoon relatively early and I made my way over to
Typhoon Tilly's where there were some available lockers. It's prob-
ably worth it to use the more expensive lockers for more flexibility.
We found a spot on the rocks to put our stuff and we headed to The Wave
Pool. Unless you're into football and roller derby try to stay in a
sparsely crowded patch of water when the big waves hit...'cause you
can get knocked into someone...in my case the other person usually loses
but you never know.
When the big waves stopped Mike wanted to do Shark Reef so we made our
way over there and like a trooper he snorkled with the sharks. Did a
pretty good job for a first-timer.
We then enjoyed Carol's favorite part of Typhoon Lagoon, "Castaway Creek."
I felt like exercising the ol' knee so I opted to go sans tube and work
on my knee by walking and floating around Castaway. What an experi-
ence walking through air after "walking" around that canal. We did three
laps around CC. Afterwards Carol and Mike went off to do Shark
Reef and Holly and I went back to The Wave Pool.
It was getting towards the afternoon so we decided to pick up some sou-
venirs at Singapore Sal's. I met everyone there after going back to
the locker to collect what I had put in there (pouch, etc.). We pur-
chased a few shirts and I tried to get a 10% discount with my Gold MKC
card. I almost pulled it off but got a very polite, "We're sorry sir!"
Ya can't blame a Mod for trying.
It looked like a storm might be brewing so we decided to leave TL. We
got back to the CBR, showered, got dressed, and decided to eat at OPR.
We hadn't eaten since Breakfast (in the room). I forget what we all
had...but I remember going back for the Italian Buffet. It was close
to 6:30 before we took off for MGM.
On this night we were determined to see Beauty and the Beast. We headed
off to MGM and did some shopping along Hollywood Blvd. While near the
Monster Sound Show we heard the PA system announce that the 7:30 B&TB
would be an abbreviated version due to the conditions of the stage.
It had rained and the stage was not completely safe for all the pro-
duction numbers. We were hoping that the later show would not be ab-
breviated.
After looking around for awhile we made our way over to Indy's Out-
post to check out the souvenirs. Holly and Mike took off to do Star
Tours and Muppets. Carol went over to check out how far along the B&TB
was while I taped some Streetmosphere and other things. When I got to
TOTS (Theater of the Stars) Carol was standing near a rope next to a
turnstile.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Guess who's first in line for the 8:45 show?" she said with a big smile.
I joined her in line (the kids saw us and told us they'd meet us in
line after they looked through the shops). It's great to see people
ask where the line is and castmembers would point down Hollywood Blvd.
The line went almost down to the store that sold all the candy.
All of a sudden we hear, "Hi!!!!! You're back!!!" It was Christy. "Wow
you said you'd be back tonight and you are!" She was scheduled to work
TOTS that evening.
"You guys realize you're gonna have GREAT SEATS?????" Christy and the
other castmembers told us that there are special effects which are
included only in the late show. Things like fog and special pyrotech-
nics don't show up as well in the daylight so they don't use them as
much. We were hoping the full show would be run. Holly and Mike got
there just in time and we sprinted to the first row center and enjoyed
unobstructed view of the show. If you really want to get good seats
for this show you sometimes have to plan in advance.
The show is great at night and should be around for a long time. For those
interested in taping the show, the bleachers should provide you with
a good angle but if you're like me you want to get as close to the stage
as possible.
Being at TL most of the day took some of our energy away so we left
MGM before "Sorcery..." and watched it from the parking lot. The fire-
works appear much higher in the sky from that vantage point then they
appear while watching them from inside the park.
A quick zip back to the CBR and it was (yawn) nighty night time. I could
feel the sunburn on my back.
Wednesday, July 22nd, Universal Studios Day
We aren't too crazy about Universal Studios in Florida. There's some-
thing missing when you walk into that theme park. Maybe it's because
there is no character foundation (Mickey, Minnie, etc.), or no child-
hood memories (Mickey Mouse Club, etc.) that conjure up good feelings.
All I know is that we really have a tough time "warming up" to Uni-
versal Studios. We went to US to break up the vacation from every day
being a Disney day and because we had free tickets.
I won't spend a lot of time talking about Universal. We did go right
onto Back to the Future and it does blow Star Tours out of the water.
We did a few other attractions, had lunch, bought the kids some shirts
at Hard Rock Cafe, and left the park. One little sidenote, when we got
to the counter at Hard Rock Cafe the girl behind the counter said,
"Good....finally someone who speaks English." Read between the lines folks.
Universal just doesn't do anything for me. I suggest that anyone vis-
iting Universal consider a 2 day pass if you want to experience all
the attractions. Unlike a Disney theme park, there aren't enough things
to offset the crowds and the crowds are reaching peak by mid-day.
We left Universal and headed over to EPCOT. One of the more enjoyable
and less crowded attractions is The Land Pavillion. We stopped in for
a lemonade and then took in Kitchen Kabaret. From there we went to the
Wonders of Life Pavillion to see Cranium Command...something I had never
seen before. I enjoyed the pre-show and the main show. I was a bit per-
turbed because the castmember running the show informed me that video-
taping was not allowed. Being a good doo-bee I put down my camera.
After CC we checked out Sensory Funhouse and other areas in the pavillion. We
sort of separated into pairs with the kids going one way and Carol and
I another way. Then Carol went off to check some stuff out and I checked
that crazy perspective house.
About 20 minutes had gone by when Mike came up to me looking a bit up-
set. Apparently he was pushed aside by a guest who hails from a cer-
tain South American country. Holly was also pushed. This all happened
on the stairway near "The Making of Me." Mike described the persons
who had pushed them aside (to look in some window or something like
that). They were older boys (15 or 16). Mike described them to me and
I decided not to get upset but to make a mental note of the color of
their shirt and size and just be on the lookout for them.
Sure enough they were easy to spot. They were in the Goofy About Sports
area where you can purchase basketballs and other sporting goods. They
were doing things with the merchandise (bouncing and kicking) that had
the castmembers a bit nervous. These boys were your basic smart aleck
teenage boys...that 5% of that age group that gives the other 95% a
bad reputation. I just watched them fool around and was thankful that
I didn't have to deal with them.
I strolled back to where the rest of the family was hanging around and
described what I had saw. "Yep", said Holly and Mike, "That sure sounds
like them."
As we headed out of the pavillion we passed them and I said to Mike
in a loud voice, "Are THOSE the guys?!?!" and pointed to them. A few
of them looked at me and I gave them quite a look. They seemed puz-
zled with my look but also kept their distance.
We spent some time at the Energy Exchange and Communicore West. then
we went over to Imagination. Holly and Carol went into Imagination while
Mike and I went upstairs to the Image Works. I loved directing the music.
When we all met at the doorway to the pavillion we all yawned at the
same time. We decided to leave the park. We were pretty pooped as we
had not taken a break on this day. The next day was an early TMK day
(the kids were thinking about Splash Mountain) so we hit the sack as
soon as we got back to the room.
Thursday, July 23rd
We were up early and in no time were ready to head out for TMK. We ar-
rived bright and early and headed over to FantasyLand. Carol and I headed
over to Peter Pan while the kids took a gamble and tried to get a head
start on Splash Mountain. While in line for Peter Pan I wondered why
I was getting so many stares. I then realized I had my Euro-Disney hat
on, my HDD shirt on (Mickeys in different colors in different athletic
poses) and my Mickey watch. Talk about a Disneyholic. Plus I had Holly's
Disney University hat clipped on to my pouch belt. As we approached
the beginning of the ride we saw the kids.
Like the rest of TMK, Splash Mountain would not open until 9:00 so the kids
opted for Peter Pan too. Those of you heading for TMK in the morning with
small children should take note that Dumbo and Peter Pan fill up real fast
so plan to make a beeline for one of those two attractions first thing in
the morning.
After Peter Pan we went over to the edge of FantasyLand to wait for
the rope to drop. The kids sped off to Splash Mountain while Carol and
I decided to visit 999 ghosts. The graveyard scene always reminds me
of Ruth's personal_name. I wonder why.
We went over to Splash Mountain and eventually found the kids. They
had gone on a few times...a loooong 10 minute wait. It would have been
shorter except that BTMRR was down due to technical difficulties. Of
course the rumors around the park was that SM opened so that BTMRR could
get some work done on it. BTMRR never opened that day.
What to do, what to do. Mike and I took off for the Shootin' Gallery
while the ladies went off to do some shopping. We agreed to meet at
the Caribbean Plaza in 30 minutes.
When we met at the Plaza the kids went into "Pirates..." while Carol
and I waited for J.P. and the All-Star Steel Drum Band. They came out
on time and did their thing. We had missed them on our '90 trip and
really enjoyed listening to them.
Just as this fine musical interlude ended the kids returned from "Pi-
rates..." and we decided to head to TomorrowLand to see the charac-
ter stage show...I think it was called "Rap 'n' Roll." On the way three
people in our party decided to take the Skyway from FantasyLand to
TomorrowLand. I decided to walk. I handed the camera to Carol off I went.
As they approached TomorrowLand they spotted me standing on top of a
bench and waving my arms....Carol got me on tape.
We headed over to the Tomorrowland Theater and had pretty good seats
for this show. It was a Rock 'n' Roll type of show with Mickey, Min-
nie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Chip and Dale providing the entertainment.
During the first ten minutes of the show Mickey sort of faded away and
disappeared and about five minutes later Roger Rabbit appeared and....you
guessed it...it was time for a 20th Anniversary Surprise.
One of the castmembers, serving as an usherette, brought a four year
old girl up to the stage. As the little girl approached the stairs she
was helped up the last few steps by Chip.
Now here's where something happened that I didn't notice while watch-
ing the show but Carol noticed and mentioned to me later that day. While
watching the video afterwards this is what I saw.
I noticed all the characters were on the left side of the stage while
Chip helped the little girl up the stairs to the stage level. When the
little girl got to the stage Chip bent over and placed his head close
to the girl's face. I then saw the little girl nod as if she was an-
swering a question or nodding in a manner that indicated she under-
stood something.
Did Chip SAY something to her....did Chip TALK? Whatever, it's a rar-
ity that I caught on tape.
The girl got her 20th Anniversay surprise gifts and the show contin-
ued with Roger Rabbit exiting and Mickey appearing five minutes later.
Give that castmember a hand.
After the show we made our way over to Mickey's Starland to catch the
train to the front of the park. We left the Park and drove to the Vil-
lage Marketplace. On the way were saw FULL signs outside of Typhoon
Lagoon and directions to River Country.
At the Village Marketplace we had photos taken of the kids in front
of Cinderella Castle. This was taken at "You and Me Kid"
We had lunch at Minnie Mia's Italian Eatery. This small dining estab-
lishment has pretty good food for the money. It's sort of a buffete-
ria. It's a great place for a light, inexpensive lunch. We liked it
because we just wanted a light lunch since we were looking forward to
going back to that Contemporary Cafe buffet that evening.
After lunch we did some souvenir shopping in the Character Shop. Some
of the 20th Anniversary merchandise was being marked down.
After picking up a few items we headed over to Pleasure Island. We checked
out Jessica's and then saw D-Zerts. If you are a fudge or chocolate
freak do not, I repeat, DO NOT go near this place. Corinne are you read-
ing this? We showed great restraint and had just a wee bit of a treat.
I won't go into what they have at D-Zerts but if you like cookies, brown-
ies, cakes, pies, chocolate, all kinds of candy, or frozen yogurt...you'll
love this place. I had something called a Pecan Praline cookie.
We left D-Zerts and went over to Superstars Studio where Mike and I
made a rap video. He did the singing while I played the drums wear-
ing a Garth wig. Mike sang and danced to a Kris Kross song called "Jump."
Mike was dressed in 20th Anniversary boxer shorts, a 20th Anniversary
tank top, and his everpresent Miami Hurricanes baseball hat.
We spent a couple of hours at the Marketplace and Pleasure Island be-
fore leaving for the Contemporary Cafe and that great buffet. When we
got to the Contemporary Cafe the Maitre-D said, "Hey guys you wanna
see my Mickey watch?"
Well I got mine ready to show him and as I brought mine up he brought
his up and I saw a Mickey head and a digital watch showing the time.
"Big deal" I said to myself...until I saw Mickey's mouth move and TELL
ME THE TIME!!!.
Mickey said, "Gosh, it's 5:48 P.M., ha-ha!"
"I gotta get one of these!" I said. "We sell them at our gift shop!"
he said with a sparkling smile knowing he helped make a sale.
"Guess where we're going after dinner?" I said.
That night was International Night at the buffet....outstanding. Af-
ter the buffet I bought my watch and we walked to TMK. Carol wanted
to spend some time browsing through the stores on Main Street U.S.A.,
Holly wanted to see the Tiki Birds, Mike had a pocketfull of pennies
and nickels he wanted to make use of at the Penny Arcade, and I wanted
to get a top viewing spot to finally videotape Spectromagic. I also
wanted to tape "Fantasy..." from the train station.
I told everyone where I would be looking to secure a good taping spot
and we agreed to meet back in the Town Square at 8:30. If we couldn't
find each other at that time we would meet on the steps of The Walt
Disney Story once the lights came on after the parade.
Carol and Holly went shopping and Mike went arcading. The train sta-
tion was already filled with videocameras on tripods from people camped
out since 6:30. It was 7:15 and I planted myself below the train sta-
tion and sat up against a light pole. I was a little to the left of
the flag pole and facing the car barn. By sitting here I could tape
the floats coming towards me and then get good closeup footage as they
passed, not to mention good audio.
I settled down next to the pole and watched the crowd for awhile. I
decided to check my battery and video tape well before the parade to
make sure I was well prepared to tape. After switching batteries (al-
ways have a spare ready) and tapes (wanted to start a fresh tape) I
pulled out my little note pad and jotted down some notes for this trip
report.
It was then that I caught a large area of yellow coming around the flag
pole.
It was then that I saw the words "Unesul World" printed on the shirts.
It was then that I realized I was sitting across about 50, as David
Jette would call 'em, "shirts".
Well I paid them little attention and went right on jotting down notes.
Pretty soon a trio of boys took one of those 20th Anniversary Mickey
balloons and started playing with it. They formed a triangle and "passed"
the balloon to one another by kicking the little Mickey head holder
at the bottom of the string. This is quite similar to a soccer drill
with three players passing the ball to each other clockwise and then
counterclockwise.
It looked harmless at first so I continued on with my transcribing while
glancing up every now and then to check on them.
Upon one glance I notice this trio getting close to some people about
50 feet to my left. "They'll stop and move back to the center of the
street" I'm thinking. Silly me.
They got real close to the curb where a woman and her daughter were
sitting. The balloon floated perilously near the woman and instead of
the boys grabbing the balloon and moving away from the woman one of
them tried to "save" the ballon by kicking the little Mickey head. He
missed Mickey and came within several inches of the woman's head. She
gave him a funny smile and he grabbed the balloon and moved more to-
wards the middle of the street. After that everyone was carefully watch-
ing these three guys.
Just then a flashback occurred. I remembered what had happened at the
WOL pavillion the night before, I had remembered what had happened at
Illuminations back in 1990. At that point I made a pact with myself
to be proactive in dealing with these people and not let them do me
in before I got a chance to "advise" them of their chances of surviv-
ing a confrontation with me. I would not let them bother me or my fam-
ily for the rest of the trip.
I continued to jot down some notes, always keeping one eye on the three
stooges. Then I noticed them starting to come towards me. When they
got within 20 feet I put my notepad away, held my videocamera very tightly,
and glued my eyes to them.
They passed me but were about 15 feet away. They moved about 20 feet
to the right before starting to sway near me. It soon became 15 feet
and they were getting closer to the curb. People are watching and wait-
ing. Now it's 10 feet from me and I shift my camera to my left hand
to free up my right hand.
These guys are having a grand time for themselves, oblivious to the
safety of the crowd. I started to look for a castmember but they were
all near the car barn and I wasn't about to give up my spot. I remained
seated and thought about what my options were as these bozos began to
get closer.
The balloon starts drifting towards me and I waited...waited....6 feet...5
feet...4, 3, 2. I grabbed the balloon with one hand and purposely said
nothing for 5 seconds while giving them a look that would stop a charg-
ing Rhino. I felt eyes watching me....not just 50 pairs of eyes in yel-
low shirts but eyes to the left of me....and eyes to the right of me.
I cleared my throat, brought my voice down an octave and said, "You
take this ballon and get far away from me and these people. DO YOU UN-
DERSTAND ME?" I threw the balloon at them.
Well I hope they were wearing Pampers or Huggies or something along
that line 'cause the look that came on their faces when I bellowed out
those words made me think they had an "accident." The look they gave
me was one out of surprise, then fear, and they moved way down towards
the right about 100 feet away before stopping 5 minutes later. Awwww....I
ruined their fun.
Everyone was looking at me and I received some nods of approval as if
to say, "Right on!" or "It's about time!" or "Good for you!"
Of course I got other looks which could have been interpreted as "Lighten
up, they're only kids!" or "Man I'm not getting in your way."
Of course all the visitors in the yellow Unesul World shirts were shocked.
They all stopped and stared at me. I first thought about smiling and
giving them all a big wave...maybe even throw them a kiss. Nope...not
tonight. I just glared at them.
I remembered reading in this conference about an incident involving
a Brazillian tour group in "Pirates..." and how problems led to WDW
security getting involved. Recalling that I decided to make these peo-
ple sweat and I pulled out my note pad and starting writing what had
happened. Every once in a while I would glance up at the string of yel-
low shirts and then hurredly write down something. I wonder if they
thought I was recording the incident in order to complain at Guest Re-
lations.....hope so. I didn't have a problem the rest of the night.
I was sitting in a true international spot. Across from me were my friends
from Brazil, to my right were French-speaking visitors, and sharing
the light pole with me was a German speaking couple. I had my own Mini-
United Nations.
The parade started and I got great footage. Tchernobog (the Dark God
from Fantasia) did not open his wings in front of me but instead to
the side of me. The music from Spectromagic is truly grand...it flour-
ishes. Every trip to WDW has a trademark and this trip's trademark is
the theme song from Spectromagic.
After the parade I met the rest of the family at The Walt Disney Story.
They wanted to go to Tomorrowland to look for a Space Mountain shirt.
I stayed to record "Fantasy..." from Main Street. I really wanted to
tape the fireworks from the train station but it was still crowded up
there.
I walked up Main Street U.S.A. until I came across the first ballon
vendor standing smack in the middle of the street. I recalled read-
ing something about these vendors and how they are supposed to "fade
into the background" during certain attractions. I took a gamble and
stood behind this vendor who was between me and the castle.
When the strobes started the vendors dashed off to the side and I had
a great view of the castle. I taped 'Fantasy..." from halfway down Main
Street. I got the entire castle in the footage. As soon as "Fantasy..."
ended the balloon vendors came back.
I strolled back and sat on the steps to the Disneyana Collectibles build-
ing waiting for Carol and the kids. We walked back to the CR parking
lot and drove back to the CBR. While driving back it suddenly hit me
that I had spent almost four hours in TMK and had gone no further than
halfway up Main Street.
Nighty night.
Friday, July 24th.
This was to be our last full day in Orlando. We decided to start the
day in MGM so we drove over and parked in........Mystery of course.
We did TGMR and then took in some Streetmosphere and Dinosuars. Carol
and I did some souvenir shopping while the kids went for one more view-
ing of Muppet-4D.
We picked up some decent shirts for $7 (that's no typo) in one of the
shops on Hollywood Blvd.
We enjoyed a lot of Streetmosphere before bidding goodbye to MGM. We
decided to have lunch at the Sizzler Steak House on International Drive.
We left MGM at 12:30 P.M.
I enjoyed the meal at The Sizzler. As we were finishing our dessert
a bus pulled up into the parking lot. The first person out of the bus
had a flag and...you guessed it. We all said, "Oh no!" At least we were
almost finished. I noticed something and said to my family, "Watch this!"
As "my people" came into the restaurant I continued to enjoy my ice
cream until a certain group walked by. At this point I pulled up my
head and stared right into the faces of my buddies from the night be-
fore.
It did my heart good to see them flinch when they saw me, almost knock-
ing over a table.
Carol and kids said "Ohhhh!" when I explained to them why I had got-
ten a reaction. "Now that was as good as the dessert," I said.
We decided to give the kids some pool time and do some laundry so we
went back to the CBR and did our thing. We also did some pre-packing
while waiting for the laundry to go through its cycle.
Once the laundry was done we started off for our final trip to TMK. While
walking from the CR parking lot to TMK we noticed some people being
turned away from the walkway because they did not have resort ID's.
Maybe there is a need to get this info out to people by putting a large
sign at the area where you cross over from the parking lot.
We took the train to Frontierland where Carol got excited about get-
ting me a Splash Mountain shirt. They had just come in. On the front
was a picture of some characters riding down a log and on the back was
written:
H20 plus 45 degree angle...
plus Gravity...
plus 40 MPH...
plus a 5-story plunge...
plus some unsuspecting,
helpless, "too late to
get out now passengers
EQUALS....
and you turn around and it says "Splash Mountain" and has some critters
going down in a log.
We walked around and Holly wanted to do the Tiki birds (well we all
did for that matter) and we went into the pre-show area. During the
pre-show we noticed WDW security escorting three teenagers out of the
attraction. Apparently, they had tried to sneak into the attraction
by climbing over some fence....strange. They used English as a sec-
ondary language so I don't need to mention that they all wore the same
color shirt do I?
We headed back to Frontierland and walked right in to Country Bear Jam-
boree. It was once again enjoyable to watch the original show. After
the show I had a thirst for Dole Whip. As we headed towards Aloha Isle
the crowd was lining the streets for the 9 P.M. Spectromagic parade.
We enjoyed our traditional last night Dole Whip...it just didn't taste
as good as the one I had enjoyed two weeks ago. I think in the wee cor-
ners of my mind the realization was setting in...the Sun was setting
on vacation '92.
After we finished the Dole Whip we walked over to The Jungle Cruise.
I tried to figure out the answer to Jackie Kuscher's trivia question
but I didn't have time because, and you guys won't believe this, some
castmembers were holding Congo Connie, one of the boats, for us. That's
right...NO LINE AT THE JUNGLE CRUISE!
Why is this? Well, two reasons. First, everyone was lining up for the
parade and secondly, many people think the Jungle Cruise is closed at
night. So heed this advice and do the "Cruise" during the parade.
We left the cruise and walked over to Pirates. Carol and Mike were ahead
of us as we walked in and at one point Carol looked back and said, "Are
we going the right way?" There was NOBODY in the attraction...no crowd
to queue up to....and a castmember was waiting for us at the dock. We
had the whole boat and attraction TO OURSELVES.
When we came out of Pirates I remarked to everyone that we had done
three attractions (CBJ, JC, and POTC) in close to 45 minutes. I had a
feeling Walter Elias was with us this evening.
We headed towards FantasyLand to look for a certain hat Mike had seen
earlier in the week. Along the way we had to stop in that area just
below the Mile Long Bar. The parade was going by and since I had but
5 minutes to go on the tape in my camera I filmed away. I used Splash
Mountain as a backdrop to the parade. It came out pretty good.
We headed for the Mad Hatter Shop. Mike saw the hat he wanted. It was
a beige or tan colored explorer's hat with a Mickey face on the front.
It looked like the type of hat Gilligan or a PGA golfer would wear.
Looked so good I almost got one. They did not have one in his size but
they called the Chapeau in Town Square and saved one for us.
We headed out but stopped at the base of the Castle 'cause Tink was
about to fly. She was late by ten minutes and that was a big ten min-
utes for us. Finally she flew and the fireworks began. We watched the
fireworks from beneath the castle.
I noticed a 10-year old boy with obviously sensitive ears running to
his mother while holding his ears and screaming. He looked in pain.
After the fireworks the plan was for Mike and I to dash to The Cha-
peau for his hat and meet Carol and Holly at The Plaza Restaurant. Mike
and I had plans to repeat our performance of a few weeks back with a
Bicycle Built for Two.
We took shortcuts through the stores and made it to the Chapeau in less
than 5 minutes. We got the hat (last one in the park) and headed back
to the Plaza. We were surprised to find Carol and Holly outside. The
Restaurant had closed just as the fireworks had begun. Tink had done
us in.
We were hungry so we went to Tony's. It was a letdown not to eat at
The Plaza but we had enjoyed Tony's before. However...we were puzzled
at the menu...it was maybe 25% of what is offerred during lunch. We
were looking for certain entrees and they weren't there. We figured
we best eat 'cause it was almost 11 P.M. The meal was okay but noth-
ing like the lunch we had enjoyed a week earlier.
While we ate we watched Spectro go by the square. I went outside to
catch Tchernobog spreading his wings directly in front of me. The Square
is a definite viewing place for the parade. It ranks up there with Lib-
erty Square.
As I was filming, realization was setting in. "Take it all in Mike"
a small voice was saying. Izzat you Walt?
We finished our meal and headed for the exit. Deja Vu as we entered
under the train station. I turned for my last glance at the square and
the beginnings of Main Street U.S.A....standing on the same spot that
had offerred me my first glimpse of this amazing place some 17 years
earlier.
Once more I turned to the Walt Disney Story as I had done just two years
earlier. However this time I winked and said, "See you next time Walt."
Just before we went through the turnstiles for the final time I turned
and panned the candles which lined the front of The Magic Kingdom. As
I finished panning I zoomed in on the middle and slowly faded out. "So
long MK" I thought, "Thanks for the memories...they haven't ended...they're
just on hold for a couple of years."
The Magic Kingdom is truly my favorite park. Amidst the underground
tunnels, forced perspective buildings, and hidden speakers are sights,
sounds, and memories which were seeded well before a middle-aged animator
announced plans for an East Coast theme park....before the first hole was
dug, before the first audioanimatron was programmed.
The Magic Kingdom remains the most popular of the theme parks and has
withstood the tests of time.
We took our last walk down the sidewalk to the CR parking lot. "Wow
it's here and gone" I'm thinking. I didn't want the night to end.
We drove back to the CBR and I told everyone I was going to try and
finish the tape in the camera before turning in.
I left the room and took one last walk around Barefoot Lake. I taped
from the Barefoot Bay Bike Works and Boat Yard (lighthouse) and panned
around the resort....it was well after Midnight.
I taped the pool at Old Port Royale. Someone who was walking by waited
until I had finished panning the pool before walking by.
"Thanks", I said, "Two weeks here and I finally get around to taping
the place...at Midnight!"
"Two weeks!", he exclaimed, "That's outrageous!"
I thought to myself, "It's also shorter than you think!"
I walked through Old Port Royale. All the counters were shut down and
just the Hideaway Lounge was open. I taped and taped.
I headed out the door and back towards Martinique. I went over to the
pool area and took some footage of the pool. I thought the tape would
run out at any time so I kept it rolling as I walked back to the room.
It was close to 1 A.M. As I walked into the room I saw (and the cam-
era saw) a reflection in the mirror of Mike on the bed, half undressed
(had just his shorts on) completely wiped out and asleep....then the
tape ended.
I glanced at everyone sleeping and very quietly put the camera away,
refreshed myself with a juice from the cooler, and then turned in.
Saturday, July 25th
This was checkout day. I got up, showered, shaved, and started bring-
ing stuff out to the van. During one of my trips I noticed a house-
keeper and I wanted to ask her if her name was "Joyce" who had been
playing games with the kids but I never got around to asking her.
There was a knock on our door during one of my trips to the van. Carol
answered it and it was that housekeeper. "Hi!" Carol said, "Would you
be Joyce?"
"Yes, I'm Joyce." We thanked her for taking good care of our room and
playing hide and seek with the animals. I pulled her aside and gave
her a tip saying, "Joyce this is for keeping the magic going for my
kids even after they had left the parks." She thanked me and said that
she was a bit upset because some of her rooms were a little messy be-
cause the "floaters" (people who fill in for regular housekeepers) were
a bit lax. The supervisors really come down harder on the regular house-
keepers than the floaters.
She mentioned that she was seriously thinking about leaving Florida
and moving to Iowa where she has a chance to work in a "computer fac-
tory" and make twice what she's making in Orlando.
She was glad we had a good time and wished us well on our trip home.
We all started making trips to the van and upon one return to the room
I had noticed a message on the phone. I had a message to call the front
desk. They wanted to know if I was checking out that day. That had never
happened before. Maybe due to all my dealings with them before I had
arrived they felt that I may want to stay. Well I did but I had to get
home and get the truck inspected and registered and all that jazz.
We told the kids to meet us at Old Port Royale while we checked out.
After checking out we met the kids at OPR and had breakfast. After break-
fast we went into the Calypso Trading Post shop for some last minute
shopping. I grabbed a 20th Anniversary hat for $9.99.
We said our goodbyes to the CBR and jumped on Route 4 for our trek home.
My goal was to drive to SOB and stay overnight there. We left Orlando
at Noon. When we got to South of the Border about 8 hours later we were
dissapointed to find out they were full. I drove into Lumberton, North
Carolina and we found a decent place to stay. We ate at a steak house
and then we went to bed early 'cause we intended to get up early.
Sunday, July 26th
This was a pretty lousy day to travel. The Sun disappeared about the
time we reached Maryland. By the time I had hit N.J and N.Y. the rain
had started and it was really coming down. I could drive no further
than Danbury, Conn. Again a quick supper and an early turn in.
Monday, July 27th
Got up about 3 A.M. and got everybody out and on the road by 4. Gassed
up and pulled into N.H. about 7:30. Had breakfast and visited all the
grandparents and my sister before finally getting home around 3 in the
afternoon.
Talk about Post Disney Blues. I came home to a busted Water Heater and
my truck needing new brakes. Maybe I should have stayed a few more days.
This trip has resulted in me thinking about the following guidelines:
o A WDW trip for both first timers and veterans should be a minimum
of two weeks. There's just so much to do and see.
o Annual Passports really are the way to go if you go for two weeks.
o Pay for your trip in advance if you can. If you make your plans far
enough in advance you can send payments in before you get there.
It's an option that I might go for next time. By the way, you can
send WDW a letter authorizing them to charge the cost of your room
to your credit card.
o Port Orleans, Dixie Landings, and the CBR are really great places
to stay and offer great family deals. If you are into water activ-
ities stay at the CBR.
o Never stay down there without a car, right Kathy? The roadways are
very convenient.
o Never eat at Tony's at night.
o Hit the Plaza Restaurant BEFORE "Fantasy..."
o If you see something you like...BUY IT...don't put it off.
o Definitely do attractions during the parade. We sort of did it in
1990 but we made a point to do it in 1992 and it paid off.
o Plan to eat most meals at sit-down restaurants. We did it much more
this time (90%) than last time. It definitely gives you more for
your money.
o Watch parades from Town Square as well as Liberty Tree Square. You
get good views of floats head on.
o Always eat at the Contemporary Cafe dinner buffet at least once dur-
ing your stay...best meal for the money on the property....and you
can take that to the bank.
o I'll always park at the CR parking lot and walk to TMK from there...what
a timesaver.
o If possible plan to go with another family or friends and plan on
spending time together...it makes for a more enjoyable trip.
o I doubt if I'll ever see Illuminations again...simply doesn't im-
press me.
o Always visit World Showcase first thing in the morning. Everything
is so fresh and clean...it's plain delightful.
o I will always go out of my way to listen to the Voices of Liberty
sing.
o I won't let a trip go by without a meal at Beaches and Cream.
o It's well worth the wait for some attractions like fireworks and
parades if it results in great pictures and tape footage.
o Shopping and browsing is a definite WDW pastime that everyone should
plan on doing because it breaks up the day and helps you deal with
heat and crowds in the summer. Plan for this...why go crazy try-
ing to do attractions all the time.
o I could sit and watch Streetmosphere all day long.
o Pretty tough to imagine anything better in the morning than stand-
ing in front of TGMR and listening to "Over the Rainbow" before the
crowds come pouring into the park.
o From now on I'm having a dole whip every time I go into TMK.
o The Grand Floridian...who needs it?
o Everyone should go to the Tangarora Terrace for breakfast once in
their lifetime.
o You can never have enough film or tape for a trip to WDW. We took
over 1000 pictures (3 cameras) and about 36 hours of tape.
o Nothing matches the experience of going up on stage during Hoop Dee
Doo.
o I won't miss "Mission to Mars".
o I still miss Mickey Mouse Revue.
Of course for the obvious "there's only so much time and so much money"
excuse there are those things I didn't get to do this time around.
o I never got to eat breakfast at The Crystal Palace.
o BTMRR. Yeah even this chicken thought about riding it. I never got
the urge while there but I do now. Yes folks I have been on this
attraction before this year.
o Never saw the stage show in Mickey's Starland.
o Never got a family-portrait postcard at Communicore West(?) to send
back to the grandparents.
o Still haven't seen the making of me or "Body Wars."
o There are still some restaurants in World Showcase that I would like
to sample some day...notably Le Cellier, Akershus, and Marrakesh.
o Wasn't picked for SuperStar TV or Monster Sound...no big deal here
I guess.
o Never got to the Adventurers Club at PI.
o Never saw TMK's fireworks from the top of the Contemporary.
o Never ate at Chef Mickey's.
o Didn't grab some of that Italian Ice at Typhoon Lagoon.
o Never got to walk around Dixie Landings or Port Orleans or take in
a restaurant or two at either one.
o Ditto on the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.
o Didn't get to see the Electrical Water Pageant.
There were some pleasant surprises this time around too. Here is that
list:
o The Contemporary Buffet
o SpectroMagic...the music made the difference for me.
o Bonnet Creek Pway and the Contemporary walkway to TMK made a big
difference in getting to and from TMK.
o The opening of Splash Mountain.
o Lower than expected crowds.
o The Concourse Grille. I know I'm contradicting another trip report
but I saw thumbs up for this restaurant.
o VOTLM and Muppet-4D are exceptional.
And it goes without saying that for my money there is no other place
on this planet that gives you the most for your vacation dollar as far
as service, quality, entertainment, and willful suspension of disbe-
lief than does the World that Walt Built.
Finis
[0;1m56[m
|
| 290.36 | Quite late trip report - 31/7/92 to 13/8/92 | BRUMMY::TIDMARSH | Michael Tidmarsh 841 3316 | Sun Sep 06 1992 15:21 | 219 |
| These notes have been compiled by Hilary and Matthew on behalf of Mike
Tidmarsh to ensure that something got posted to the Notes file this year!
Just back from 2 weeks in sunny Florida, 30th July - 13th August. We are 3
Brits - Mike, Hilary and Matthew - 14. This was our 2nd trip to Florida. We
were last there in October 1989 so we were looking forward to seeing the new
rides. Especially Universal Studios, and The Wonders Of Life at Epcot
(because we had read so much about them on the notes file).
We flew out from Manchester early morning, had no problems on the flight,
picked up the hire car straight away, (no lines) and were in our hotel pool
by 4pm! We ate at Bennigans that night, the meal was about half the price we
would have paid in the U.K.
We decided to start with an easy day as we did last time and headed for
Seaworld at a leisurely 11:30am. (The early rises would be reserved for the
days at the parks.) We enjoyed the shows, especially Shamu and the Clyde and
Seymour shows. They had changed the film at the Shark Encounter - now called
Terrors Of The Deep. For all the people who don`t know, Terrors Of The Deep
is a long glass tube that you go through on a moving walkway, we took lots of
photos there, and they all came out through the glass with or without flash.
We waited for a long time for the new ride at Seaworld called `The Bermuda
Triangle' but as there was a thunderstorm outside we didn't mind. I won't
give anything away about this ride, but believe me it has to be seen, or felt
to be believed ... Not for the faint-hearted - (and have your lunch after
you've been on this, or you'll be sorry!) We stayed for a long time round the
dolphin pool while Matthew tried to touch a dolphin. A young chap on the
other side seemed to attract them continually. We learned that he came most
days and was studying for a degree in marine biology.
We left at 8pm and went to the Mercado Center at the bottom of International
Drive. This had been recommended to us as an interesting place to look
around. They were right. There are lots of interesting little shops.
As well as formal restaurants there is a Food Court which is a good idea if
your family all have different tastes. They can take their money and each go
to a different counter and all meet at the same table in the middle!
The next day we went to Water Mania. We had free tickets courtesy of Airtours
so we went there 3 times altogether. We also went to Typhoon Lagoon once. It
was beautifully laid out, but if you just want a basic water park with
flumes, a wave pool and a Castaway creek (Castaway creek is a slowly moving
current that you can drift around on, on rubber tyres) I don't think you can
beat Water Mania and it was free, so that's even better! Matthew did not go
on any of the slides at Typhoon Lagoon because the lines were so long but
they looked pretty good. Water Mania never seemed to get that busy and you
could practically walk on most rides. Maybe it's because it's almost down in
Kissimmee, just past the 2nd exit for Disney on I4. Just one moan about
Typhoon Lagoon while on the subject of water parks. Why don't they mark their
car park into sections, each with a name or symbol, as all the other parks
do? We came out just as it began to rain, by the time we eventually found our
car we were soaked!
On the Sunday we decided to go to Kennedy Space Center. This was far more
interesting than we thought it would be, and a lot cheaper! You only pay for
the coach tour and `The Dream Is Alive' film. That only came to $30- (�15-)
for the three of us. `The Dream Is Alive' is shown on a screen six storeys
high! The coach tour was very interesting and takes you to launch pads `A'
and `B' where they launch all the shuttles. The coach tour is definitely a
must! From there we went on to Cocoa Beach where we briefly went in the sea
and then visited Ron Jons which is the biggest surf shop I have ever seen! It
is two storeys high and open 24 hours a day! From there we went home in an
awful thunderstorm which lasted for about three hours! It then brightened up
in the evening. We had thunderstorms every day at about 4:00 and then it
usually brightened up in the evening. But as the temperature was over 90
every day! Who cares!
Mike has got his Private Pilots licence in the U.K. so he had arranged to
hire a 4 seater plane and take us up for a 2 hour ride. We decided to head up
to Daytona but there were thunderstorms over there, so we flew over Ocala
instead. The Orlando area was very interesting from the air. There are lots
and lots of lakes. I also learned that Ocala is a horse breeding and racing
area and we saw several race tracks from the air. It was fine while we were
on the ground at Ocala but we ran into a storm on the way back and it was a
hold on to your seats job!
It is now Tuesday and time to do some serious park visiting. We were at the
gates of Universal Studios by 8:30am, in by 8:45 and heading straight for
`Back To The Future' as instructed in these notes.You are all right!
It is the best ride in the whole of Florida! Absolutely fantastic... I'll
say no more. We continued straight on to `Kongfrontation' and ` Earthquake'.
All great rides with no lines. We did all 3 rides by 10:00 and it took the
rest of the day to finish the park. All the rides and shows are great here.
We had a fantastic day. We especially enjoyed the `Hitchcock 3-D show' ,
`Ghostbusters' , the Animal Actors Show, `ET' and The Wild West Show. We
stayed until 6:30 and still hadn't seen everything but we had had a fantastic
day - one of the best out of the whole holiday.
The next day was reserved for shopping. We visited the Florida Mall, Denim
World for jeans for Mike at less than half the price we would pay in the U.K.
for 501s. We also visited the Belz Factory Outlet and finally The Colonial
Plaza Mall where we bought some Nike Air Pegasus from `The Sneaker Tree'
which were the equivalent to �25- in the U.K. they are around �65-. The shoe
shops were full of Brits because there shoes are such a bargain. We ate that
night at `The Red Lobster' we had a lovely meal there, enormous portions!
Next day was Magic Kingdom day. Got there at 9am just as the gates opened and
headed straight to Space Mountain. This had been closed for repairs last time
we came and Matthew had been very disappointed. The line was long but it
moved fairly quickly. While they were on that, I went off and saw the Singing
Dolls. They loved the ride and I caught a glimpse of it when we went on the
WED WAY later. We walked anti-clockwise round the park through Fantasyland
but not stopping to ride anything apart from Grand Prix Raceway. The lines
were already long and it was only about 11:00. We soon found ourselves out
side Haunted Mansion without too much of a line so we had to go in and get
frightend. I think this ride is very well done. We liked the bit near the end
where a ghost hitch-hikes with you!
We got to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next and there was hardly any line at
all. We practically walked straight on to this and in a moment I will tell
you why. Although I'm not fond of scary rides (I wouldn't go on Space
Mountain) I do go on this and enjoy it. It is frightening, but enjoyably
frightening! While I was hanging on for dear life, Matthew was taking photos!
We came off this, walked round the corner and came face to face with a log
boat hurtling down the steepest log flume I have ever seen!
SPLASH MOUNTAIN IS OPEN!!!
I am proud to be the first person in these notes files to be able to announce
this! It looked far too scary for me but Mike and Matthew thoroughly enjoyed
it. Apparently you travel through scenes from Brer Rabbit on the way through
the flumes. The only drawback was the line. They had to wait about an hour,
nearly all in the sun with no shade. I suppose because it is so newly opened
it is drawing the crowds away from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I think it
must be very new as none of the servers we talked to in the restaurants knew
it had opened.
Time for refreshment by now. We found this in Adventureland after a short
stop at the rifle range. This was when we saw Chip and Dale and were
photographed with them (not to be confused with the Chippendales as one five
year old girl was at the school where I work - she couldn't understand why I
had seen them at Disneyworld).
We finished off our rides for the day with Pirates of the Caribbean and the
Jungle Cruise. Both had lines of about 45 minutes each but at least they were
in the shade. We wandered back up Main Street and eventually got back to the
car about 5:30pm. It doesn't sound a very long day but we were all absolutely
shattered. It started to rain on the way home and continued all the evening.
We had a quiet evening at Bennigans with ribs and steak and home to an early
night! I don't know how some of you notes filers go out partying to Pleasure
Island until the early hours!
We had planned to tackle Epcot the next day but decided this would be too
much. We opted for a quiet day at Watermania soaking up the sun and relaxing.
That was the idea, but we left Watermania at 2:00 and proceeded to play
Adventure Golf and then buzz round on the Go-Karts followed by a shopping
expedition down International Drive, followed by an evening wandering round
the Mercado Center so it wasn't that relaxing after all.
We were up early the next day for Epcot and were waiting at the rope before
9:00. As soon as they dropped the rope we were heading to the left straight
to the Wonders of Life pavilion. I really wanted to see this as it opened
just about a week after we left last time and we had seen it standing all
ready. We were not disappointed. The Body Wars ride was good (but not as good
as Back to the Future) and Cranium Command was really funny. We tried the
exercise bikes and Matthew was coached in golf at Coach's Corner. We had a
healthy breakfast here and then proceeded to World of Motion where we just
walked on to the cars.
The great part about going back to Florida a second time is that you don't
feel obliged to go on everything. You can pick and choose and decide by the
length of the line. Matthew loved all the new shiny cars and took loads of
photos.
Afterwards we headed over to Imagination past the dancing waterfalls. The
line was far too long for the ride but Matthew was far more interested in the
Captain EO 3D film with Michael Jackson and there was only a short wait for
that. We saw this twice last time we were here and it was just as good the
third time round. It was now time for lunch and as the Farmers Market in The
Land had been recommended in these notes and it was nearby we made for that.
This is another good place to eat if you have a family with different tastes.
Mike opted for a sandwich while Matthew and I shared a baked potato.Thus
refreshed, we felt ready to tackle the World Showcase.
We started with Canada as we were on that side of the park. We passed briskly
through Canada and the United Kingdom pausing only to look in the shops. It
was very overcast by this time and I was afraid the "Surprise in the Skies"
show would be cancalled. Sure enough, at 10 to 3, they announced that the
winds were too strong. This was unfortunate as we had been looking forward to
seeing this as it is new. We had just got to France when the heavens opened.
I have never seen puddles (make that lakes) form so quickly. People who were
out in it for only a few seconds were absolutely drenched to the skin. It
eased off after half an hour and we walked on through Morocco, Japan,
America, Italy and Germany, We didn't buy anything at any of these countries
(is this a record?)We stopped at China and saw the 360 degree film of China.
This was interesting and I learned a lot as it is such a huge country.. We
also enjoyed the shop and bought several souvenirs here. We finished the
countries with Norway (line for the ride too long in the drizzle) and Mexico.
It was now really miserable and chilly, so after buying gifts at Centorium
and having a go on the computers at Communicore we decided we'd had enough.
We did Spaceship Earth as the line was moving and then headed for the shuttle
and our car.
We had decided to stop at Burger King for a takeaway to take back to the
hotel room so that Matthew could watch a film he wanted to see (Don't tell
Mom, the baby sitter's dead.) This was funny as we had just got back and
settled down to watch when the satellite dish failed due to the storms! By
the time it came back the film was just finishing.
The reason we wanted to have an early night was that we had a very early
start the next morning. We had booked a one night break at Marco Island with
out Air Tours Rep. I won't go into details as this is a Disney notes file but
I will just say that this included a trip on an air-boat through the
Everglades. I had really wanted to see something of the natural Florida and
this really came up to all expectations. We saw a dolphin in the water,
alligtators and racoons and a pelican which landed on the front of our boat
and proceeded to make heavy weather of eating two frozen fish he (?) was
thrown.
All in all a tiring but very worthwhile couple of days. I was glad we had
done all the strenuous things before we went. We spent our last two days
doing quiet restful things like another game of Adventure golf and a last
visit to Watermania. We had a wonderful holiday and really didn't want to
come home. We had a good flight home apart from a two hour delay at Bangor,
Maine, while they sorted out the plane's air-conditioning.
Then it was back to reality and to start saving for next time!
I do hope these notes will be useful to sonmeone. I know I have picked up
many useful tips from these notes files in the past.
|
| 290.37 | Ian Preece's Euro-Disney Trip Report | SALEM::BERUBE_C | Where do you think you are? WDW!! | Tue Sep 08 1992 14:33 | 604 |
| The following is being posted on behalf of Ian Preece, who
unfortunately parted company with DEC a couple of days prior to his
trip.
Ian says if anyone wishes more info, he'd be happy to correspond
directly via his personal e-mail address
(from within DEC) nm%decwrl::"[email protected]"
Claude
------
Euro_Disney, the Preece Family Trip Report
-------------------------------------------
Who:
Son Neil, age 8 (just - this was a birthday trip), our expert on
"things Disney".
Wife Bet, age given as "over 21...", moderately well travelled,
but not happy about driving in France, on the "wrong" side of the
road.
Me, also very much "over 21" ;-), quite happy to drive anywhere.
At the time, suffering from an ankle injury, so walking with the
aid of crutches. This was interesting later on.....
For all of us, this was our first time at any Disney park.
When:
Setting out on the 8th August. (Experts will tell you that
August is a bad time to travel in France, it's the main holiday
season, but it also coincides with Neil's birthday, hence the
timing.)
Where:
We live on the South Coast of the UK.
Sources of information:
Michelin maps 54 and 55, Paris Guides 9 and 10, various magazine
articles, and previous postings in this conference.
GETTING THERE:
We elected to take our own car over, since it gave us extra
freedom of movement, and more space to pack odd bags, etc, over
either bus or fly-drive deals. We caught the lunchtime ferry from
Poole to Cherbourg, this choice being dictated by the fact that
we live about 10 minutes from the Poole ferry dock. Cherbourg is
perhaps a little further from Paris/ED than Calais or the other
Channel ports, though this was not a problem. It's worth noting
that, on this particular crossing, the extra few quid to reserve
a seat or cabin are worthwhile, as there's very little unreserved
seating. Formalities were minimal (I was still waiting to be
stopped for passport control at Cherbourg when I realised we were
on the street outside!) and the crossing takes a little over 4
hours.
Once out of Cherbourg, we took the N13 towards Caen. This is a
major road, but picks up a bit of traffic in major towns like
Bayeux. Major routes are generally well-signposted in France, so
we had no problems finding our way. At Caen, we picked up A13,
all the way to Paris. This is an excellent road, though you do
have to stop and pay for it now and again ! - "A" roads are
funded by tolls - the total journey cost from Caen to Paris was
only FF51, and the toll booths do have a channel reserved for
"cartes bancaires", which take Visa cards, as well as the auto
and manual channels for cash.
We'd elected to stay at a hotel on the outskirts of Paris (The
Novotel at Charenton), rather than in the Parc itself, to give us
more freedom to explore. Getting there involved making our way
around the city on Saturday evening, from one side to the
other...... "No problem, I used to work here, I know the way...."
;-) What I'd forgotten is that August is road-works time on the
famous Boulevard Peripherique, the Paris ring-road (as are many
nights and weekends). Deviations were well-posted, though, and
we had a good street-map, so we got there easily enough. Future
travellers may like to know that a call to Paris (+33 1)42 76 52
52 will get you an update on the state of major road closures
around the city. A grasp of the language is useful, though !
As we arrived late at night, our first full day was spent
sleeping and doing a little local sightseeing, so it was Monday
when we set off to the Parc itself. Forget all the horror-
stories in UK newspapers about unfinished infrastructure and
back-country roads, ED is very well served for communications.
The RER rail network (line A from Paris) goes directly to a
station right outside the gates (Though it's worth noting that
the Metro does NOT run to the Parc, contrary to some earlier
reports). A TGV link is also planned for June '94. There are
shuttle buses from the airport. By car, it's just a matter of
heading out of Paris on A4, towards Nancy/Metz. About twenty
minutes later, you reach exit 14, which is posted for "Espace
EuroDisneyLand", and which takes you straight up to the gate.
Parking will cost you FF30 for the day, and you can leave and
return during the day on the same ticket. When you leave your
car and head for the slideways that take you to the gate, DO make
a note of the row you parked in (D21, for example, it's on the
road at the end of each row). The car-parking lot is broken down
into areas A, B, D, F and J (Right, I wondered, too.... it's
Alice, Bambi, Donald, Fleur and Jiminy, OK?), but you need much
finer resolution than that to get back to the right car !
As I was walking with crutches, I was pretty annoyed to find that
most of the slideways were shut off when we got there. We later
found that it's a popular game with certain visitors to push the
emergency-stop buttons and leave people stranded. Parc staff
have to come out and reset them.
There are announcements being made continuously as you slide or
walk toward the entrance, welcoming you to the Parc and telling
you what's on today, in English and French (Other languages are
not catered for at all. More on languages later.)
The main entrance area is underneath the Disneyland hotel, after
you get through the carefully-designed maze of gardens and
fountains, probably intended to reduce crowd-surge. If you don't
have tickets, you'll be directed left or right to the sales
desks. If, like us, you got them in advance, you have to hold
them up like a talisman to ward off the cast-members who will
ambush you every few steps to try and stop people without tickets
backing-up the turnstiles. Either side of the way in are useful
things like "Guest-storage" (left-luggage lockers), pushchair and
wheelchair rental and currency exchange points. Note that ONLY
French Francs are accepted inside the Parc, and it causes chaos
to try to use anything else. Some, not all, of the shops take
some, not all, credit cards (mostly Visa or AmEx) for larger
amounts.
Once through the turnstiles, you come to:
MAIN St. USA...
This is the main shopping area for the Parc, and there are shops
galore !! Clothes, books, food, ceramics, glass, more food, more
clothes, souvenirs, postcards, the ubiquitous popcorn (I shall
always associate this trip with the smell of popcorn, it's
everywhere!), you name it, somebody will sell it to you here.
It's worth looking up at the store-fronts, too, many of the signs
have some nice little jokes in them, and there are sometimes
things going on in the dummy "upstairs" sections. For example,
as you stand outside "Victoria's Boarding House", reading the
menu of "The best pot-pies in town", you can hear a sound-track
of somebody running a bath, gargling, washing, and singing in the
bath, from an upstairs window. (I may be wrong, but I *think*
it's actually soundtrack from a very old Goofy short......)
The major impression of Main St., though, was CROWDS..... far too
many people, all pushing each other out of the way. There were a
lot of Parc security people around, and they all looked worried,
so we guessed that the numbers had reached overload. It
certainly felt like it, but there was no attempt to restrict
entries, and a chatty cast member said he didn't know of any time
when there had been any efforts to control the numbers. "They
just keep coming.....", he said...
(Footnote to that... I just heard, from a friend who came back
yesterday, that on Saturday they actually stopped people entering
the Parc, when the number fo people actually inside the gates
reached 65,000. I seem to recall that the stated caacity was
60,000.)
By popular request (as in, "we're going there or else"!), our
first port of call, after making a quick inspection of Main St.
and noting the spots to hit on the way back, was:
FRONTIERLAND.
This is based on the "ole' mining town of Thunder Mesa", which
you enter through the Fort from the top of Main St. (All the
lands have a main entry off the area in front of the castle, and
also interconnect with their neighbouring lands at one other
point.) Again, lots of nice little sight-gags on the adverts
round the store-fronts in the "town square" - look out for the
the Tried'n'True TNT company ad......
To your left are the Lucky Nugget Saloon and the Silver Spur
Steakhouse, on the right the Fuente del Oro Restaurante and the
Cowboy Cookout Barbecue, intermingled with shops and such.
Ahead of you is the lake surrounding Big Thunder Mountain, with
Phantom Manor to the left. These, along with the riverboats,
canoes and keel-boats on the water, are the only real "rides" in
this land, everything else is shops and eateries. Every half
hour or so, there was a "shoot-out" on the roofs and balconies of
the buildings overlooking the square. The day we were there,
this featured Goofy as a Good Guy - and two people firing fully-
automatic shotguns. Bad bit of anachronism there, but it
probably only bothers nit-pickers like me!!! Lots of noise and
smoke and dead bodies falling off rooftops for the kids to enjoy,
anyway.
First visit was to Phantom Manor. The house itself is straight
out of "Psycho", for those of us old enough.....;-), and part of
the fun, during the longish wait, was spotting the ways they had
managed to make the surroundings look spooky.... including, we
decided, some techniques borrowed from bonsai, to make the trees
and shrubs look suitably distressed and mournful....
First Tip here.... when you get into the foyer of the house, keep
left, and look up and left as soon as they shut the door. The
image of the Phantom Bride in the mirror isn't there for long.
Virtually all the announcements are in French, so you need to
know the story already, or just enjoy the visuals. One
exception, during our visit, was the cast member operating the
elevator (which is to the left of the foyer, hence the advice to
keep left.) He had a wonderfully funereal voice, and superb
timing.... "Stand away from the walls, keep to the Dead Centre of
the room....." ;-) Be sure to keep looking up as the room
telescopes downwards. You walk through the "gallery" and board
the cars for the second part of the ride, which is pretty
standard. Would somebody familiar with "Spitting Image" please
take a look at the ghost seated at the right-hand end of the
table in the Banqueting Hall and confirm my suspicion that it
looks like their version of Ronnie Reagan ?? There's some
amusement to be had on the way out, too, as you exit through the
graveyard, and many of the tombstones are hilarious. (Though,
again, the best jokes are in French)
Next on the list was Big Thunder Mountain, for which there was a
Big Long Wait. The sign said 90 minutes, but it was more like 2
to 2-and-a-half hours, and we encountered our first queue-
jumpers, unfortunately. There were 6 or 8 Spanish teenagers,
working their way steadily up the line by sheer intimidation and
nuisance value (For example, they'd "accidentally" hold lighted
cigarettes against people's backs, then slip by when you turned
to see why your shirt was on fire. Or they'd simply drag your
kids backwards so that you had to go back and retrieve them.)
Like most people, I had my child with me, so I declined the
potential confrontation, though I did briefly succumb to the
temptation to jam my crutches between somebody's feet..... Cast
members said it happens a lot, but there's nothing they can
really do about it at peak times. After a while, you just learn
how to block the aisle by spreading out a lot.....
Once you get inside the building itself, there's lots more to
look at while you wait some more, plenty of interesting bits of
repro and possibly real mining hardware, and a number of little
jokes, too.
(Why does the "{mumble} dynamite company of Benson, Arizona",
sound familiar ? The only reference I can come up with is the
song, "Benson, Arizona", featured in Dark Star, but I can't
recall it mentioning dynamite.....) The canned music gets a
little wearing, though, since it's a bit loud, and of the
relentlessly jolly, "Yee-haw, dang ma spittoons, pardner !"
variety, but repeats rather too often......
The ride itself is well worth the wait, the only complaint being
that it's not long enough !!! You leave the "station" via a
tunnel, and pass under the lake to emerge on the island in the
centre, where most of the ride takes place. There are lots of
little details that you don't spot while you're hanging on and
screaming, but worth looking for from outside....like the goat
eating the washing, a couple of mules watching you scream past,
and a family of possums (???) hanging from the branch of a tree,
who spin round and round as you go underneath.....
After lunch (chicken and fries at the "Chalet du Marionette",
very fast-food-ish and expensive), we moved on to :
ADVENTURELAND
The only real "ride" here is "Pirates of the Caribbean". There's
"Adventure Isle" and "la Cabane des Robinsons" and a lot of
souvenir/food/clothes shops, but "Pirates" is the big deal in
this particular land. Once again, a two-hour wait, and an
important lesson..... if you are at all subject to claustrophobia
or panic attacks in crowds, skip this one on a busy day. The
second half of the waiting area is dark, crowded and airless, and
one unfortunate lady in front of us had to be rescued by Parc
staff. Just as we reached the boarding area for the boats, it
all came to a grinding halt, and we had to wait for about 20
minutes while they resolved a technical problem of some sort. To
give due credit, the staff coped well, keeping everyone informed
as to what was going on, but there were some very relieved faces
on the boat-loads of people who emerged from the tunnel after 20
minutes.... one wonders where they'd been stuck ! This ride
probably features more animatronics than most of the others, and
is simply too full of detail to see it all in one go....or to
describe to any great extent. It's basically a mixture of a
roller-coaster boat ride and set-piece animatronic scenes of
jolly pirates doing jolly piratical things like robbing and
plundering and getting drunk and fighting and killing
people....all good clean family entertainment ! See it yourself,
and have fun.....
By now, we'd had about enough, there was much bad-tempered
whining and threats of tears, and Neil wasn't very happy
either.....;-), so we called it a a day and made our way back to
Paris to rest our feet and elbows, coming back on the Thursday to
resume with...
DISCOVERYLAND.
There's a higher proportion of things to actually *do* here, so
it took up more of the day than previous lands. We headed first
for " Le Visionarium", a circle-vision "time-travel" movie show
featuring Jules Verne and a brief appearance by H.G. Wells -
looking suspiciously like Michael Palin, can somebody check on
that? It's also a shameless plug for the sponsors, Renault,
to the extent that the aircraft featured in the "future" section
has a very prominently highlighted Renault car badge on the
back......;-)
Another Tip here..... when you first go into the building, you're
not in the auditorium at all, just in the waiting area, where you
stand up to see a 20-minute series of commercials for French
engineering and Renault in particular, plus an introductory piece
by "Timekeeper", the host for the show (In French, but with
summary sub-titles in French, German and ?? Italian on displays
beside the screen). As everyone is standing, and packed tightly
together, children can't see a thing, and claustrophobes might be
advised to miss this one, too. The entrance doors to the main
auditorium are on the left of the foyer, so keep left as you go
in, to avoid being at the back once they open. If you're quick to
get in, you can get to one of the limited number of "leaning
bars", with telephone handsets that will give you translated
soundtrack, otherwise you have to cope with the mental gymnastics
of simultaneously translating the quick-fire French banter and
resisting the efforts of the cinematographers to make you lose
your balance. As a one-time pilot, I particularly enjoyed the
flight sequences, Bet said it make her feel airsick, and Neil
couldn't see, for all the people packed in front of him.
Full marks, here, to the cast member on the door, who spotted me
leaning on my crutches in the queue, and had a seat reserved by
security staff in the waiting area by the time we got there.
Next stop was the Cafe Hyperion, themed on one of Jules Verne's
airships, but still basically just a fast-food takeaway. This
adjoins Videopolis, which is a multi-media and stage area, in
which various shows are put on throughout the day. Check the
"Events of the day" for details on your visit.
Fortified by a quick burger, we moved on to Star Tours. As Bet
was still feeling queasy from the effects of Visionarium, she sat
this one out while Neil and I braved the queues. (Another 90-
minute wait) Star Tours is, basically, a motion simulator
similar to the ones you'll find at many fun parks nowadays, the
bonus being that it's packaged by George Lucas, the Star Wars
man. It's "set" in a space-port of the future, and you're
bombarded with announcements, departures, advertising for day-
trips round the universe, apologies for delays and security
announcements as you wait. Just like the real thing, in fact!
You get a little lecture from C3PO, in between him having an
argument with R2D2 (in French, of course), then the line follows
up past the "Droidnostic Centre", where a maintenance droid is
trying to repair some others, with a hilarious line in back-chat
and suitable pyrotechnics, then to the "Passport Control" droid,
which, surprisingly, speaks English ("I dunno, chief, they're all
just standing here looking at me......"). Then you board the
simulator, get introduced to your droid pilot who welcomes you
aboard and explains that this is his first flight, too ...... ;-)
After that, he flies you out through the wrong exit, and gets
involved in some spare Star-wars footage while the simulator
hydraulics do their best to separate you from
your lunch.......;-) Again, all too short, and we staggered out
into the daylight again, to find we'd missed one of the many live
bands playing outside the Hyperion.
Next up, to avoid a family mutiny, was CineMagique, the Michael
Jackson 3-D movie. Another long wait, but at least you get to
sit down at the end of it, in comfortable chairs..... Despite an
inbuilt dislike of Wacko Jacko, on the part of the adults at
least, we all had to admit that this was a fun show, and very
well done. Again, it's by George Lucas, and uses a lot of left-
over Star Wars hardware, but the 3-D trickery is generally very
good indeed. Watch for all the kids in the audience reaching
out to touch the little furry flying thing that comes "out" of
the screen. The brochure warns that high sound levels may affect
those with sensitive hearing.
We skipped Orbitron and Autopia, since they looked to be basic
fairground rides with a little extra dressing, and we didn't have
time to stand in the long queues. (Orbitron consists of cars
going round on hydraulic arms which you can raise and lower,
Autopia gives you a chance to drive small cars around a track)
For lunch, we went back to Main St. and had Seafood Pot-Pies at
"Victoria's" _ highly recommended ! Then on to :
FANTASYLAND.
This land probably has more actual "rides" than any other, along
with plenty of static display items, the most notable being
Sleeping Beauty's Castle, or Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois
Dormant (sorry, 7-bit mail servers won't let me do the accents
properly!) We were, frankly, disappointed in the castle itself,
but this may have been due to the overwhelming numbers of people,
all trying to get up and down a single staircase at the same
time. However, underneath the castle is the Dragon's Lair, which
is a great piece of animatronic engineering.
The dragon sleeps, his eyes closed and his chest moving as he
breathes. Occasionally, his tail and claws will twitch. Then
he'll wake up and make a bite for the audience, and there's
teeth, claws and smoke everywhere!
Next was "Les Voyages de Pinnochio", which was so-so.... we felt
that it was over too soon, key parts of the story were missed
out, and, if you didn't know the story, you'd just get confused.
Not, we felt, worth the 60-minute wait. We did spot, though,
that a visitor in a wheelchair was given priority and allowed to
skip the queue. Again, full marks to the cast members for that.
Exactly the reverse, we felt, was true for "Peter Pan's Flight",
well worth the long shuffle in winding lines, this was an
excellent ride, with plenty of good miniature scene-building and
well-handled effects.
On, then, to "Alice's Curious Labyrinth". This was fun, if
crowded. For me, the highlight was the fountains, in which
carefully shaped lumps of water "chase" from one fountain to the
next. Very clever, I could have watched it for hours, but I got
dragged off and forced to have an "unBirthday" cake at March Hare
Refreshments. I didn't want to, you understand, they made me do
it....;-) Though the "Toppings of your choice" in the brochure
actually turned out to be "You want chocolate or vanilla ??"
Also in Fantasyland is the obligatory "Small world" ride, in
every imaginable language, though it was interesting to notice
that, for most of the ride, the voices were an indistinct mumble,
until you got to France and Hollywood, when they suddenly got
very loud and clear.....or am I just a cynic ? ;-)
We skipped "Alice's teacups" and "Dumbo", for similar reasons as
the rides in Discoveryland, and Snow-white and the Seven Dwarves
because we simply couldn't face the record-breaking queue.
Time to go and catch the parade on Main St. We got a good spot
on the ramp up to the Chateau, since the parade emerges from the
Fantasyland-side service area and passes across in front of the
Chateau itself. It was only when we looked back down Main St and
saw the *solid* mass of people that we really appreciated how
many tens of thousands there must have been there. A little
scary, really.
I planned to shoot the parade on video, so I was concerned about
the effects of nudgers and pushers-in. I was, therefore,
pleasantly surprised by the lovely French family who were around
us, and who kept reminding their children not to get in the way
of "the man with the camera". By the way, an aluminium crutch,
fully extended, makes a great camera-stand!
After the parade, we got down to some serious shopping, and
patronised most of the establishments on Main St at least once,
to get our t-shirts, hats, ponchos, stickers, postcards, and so
on......there are, by the way, bi-lingual cash-points in the
arcades either side of Main St, which will take Visa cards or (I
think - somebody may care to verify this....) any bank cards
which work on the Plus or Link networks.
By the time we'd finished shopping (which included going back to
Frontierland to buy cowboy hats !), it was getting dark, so we
crossed the entrance area to Festival Disney (more shops, discos,
bars and so on) to get something to eat while we waited for the
fireworks. Here, we found Carnegie's, a very effective copy of
a New York Deli, in which I was able to indulge a passion for hot
pastrami (on proper rye bread, too!) and fizzy American beer
(Real Michelob, no less!).
Bet, who knows about these things, had a lox-and-cream-cheese
bagel and pronounced it excellent, while Neil had a bologna-and-
swiss sandwich which vanished rapidly enough to convince us he
enjoyed it !
If the materials for that particular establishment were flown in
every day from NY, I shouldn't be at all surprised !
Sadly, it had begun to rain by now, so the fireworks were fairly
short, but spectacular, nonetheless!. It was well after midnight
before we tumbled into bed, grinning like fools and unable to
stop humming "It's a small world after all......."
SUMMARY:
Attention to layout and detail is fabulous, which is, I
understand, the case at other Disney sites. There are one or
two subtle aspects to the design, too, like streets built narrow
to create a pressure towards the shops, and subtle crowd-breakers
to stop surges.
The visitor guides don't really give a lot of detail, so it may
well be worth investing in a "proper" guide book.
The sheer volume of people spoiled it for us, to some extent,
since we just got fed up with being battered by crowds and
compelled to wait long periods for relatively short rides. Plus,
it's very hard for an 8-year old to see things when there's
*always* a crowd around him.
Belt-buckles must get pretty boring after the first few
thousand......
Disney have to do something about crowd management.
Many of the spaces, shops, etc, seem to be designed for politer
people (Are American crowds better-behaved ?) who won't push and
shove and gouge.
Weather is going to be a problem, especially since at least half
of the waiting time for many of the rides is outside, at peak
times. (They're sneaky like that, you shuffle back and forth
between rope barriers on the street for an hour, then you get to
the building, thinking you've arrived, only to find that half the
building is waiting area, too !)
Access is simple and uncomplicated, by car, train or bus.
Almost anything you could want is available on site, including
child-care services, baby-sitting, banking, first-aid and full-
scale medical services. We saw the aftermath of an incident in
which, we assumed, somebody had been taken seriously ill.
Several Parc security staff appeared, flanking a group of well-
equipped medical staff with a crash-cart. The casualty was
quickly and efficiently loaded up and moved very rapidly out
through the nearest service space entrance, where an ambulance
was waiting just the other side of the gate. All very slick and
reassuring. (Though I could be my usual cynical self and suggest
that it's in ED's interests to get casualties out of sight as
soon as possible.....)
Prices.... on the whole, we felt things were very expensive. By
this, I mean "extras" like food and souvenirs. We felt that we
were a captive market, to be milked for all it was worth, and
rather resented the feeling.
Languages.... The main language of the Parc is French and, while
not essential, a working knowledge of it will certainly enhance
your visit. Notices and menus are all in French and English, but
most of the prerecorded information and descriptive tracks on the
rides are French only. "Live" announcements tend to be bi-
lingual. All of the staff speak French as a minimum, most
speak one or more other languages too. In the shops,
particularly, staff will wear a small badge, in addition to their
Disney nametag, showing flags to indicate what languages they
speak (interestingly, some wear the Stars'n'Stripes, others the
Union Flag... one even wore both ! ;-)
Except in the shops, there is no attempt to deal with any
language groups other than French or English, a fact which upset
a German family that we met, since they had to spend a lot of
time translating things to their children. As an aside on
language, we noticed that the cast members will relentlessly tell
you to "Have a Nice Day" if addressed in English, but not in any
other language ! (Between us, we tried English, French, German
and Italian, and we only ever got "H.A.N.D."'ed
in English.....;-))
OTHER ATTRACTIONS
While you're there, it's silly not to go and visit the other
attractions that the area has to offer..... we spent two days in
Paris itself, we went to the Chateau de Versailles, to
Fontainbleu and we drove out to Reims (just keep going, on the
A4, or, better yet, turn off onto the back roads and follow the
Champagne Route) which is the heart of the Champagne region, and
well worth a visit.
If you're going into Paris, it's best to leave your car behind.
We were lucky, since there was a Metro station right outside our
hotel. The Paris Metro is a very efficient way of getting about,
with a flat-rate cost of FF6 for any journey, anywhere within the
city. This includes changes to other lines, too. Or you can buy
a block of 10 tickets for FF36, or a "Paris Visite" card that
lets you go anywhere, on the Metro or the RER, for a fixed number
of days. Like any city, parking can be expensive (we spent
something like 75 pounds on parking in a week!), risky and/or
hard to find, so the further out you can leave your car, the
better.
There are probably all kinds of details I've missed out, do
please feel free to contact us by e-mail....
nm%decwrl::"[email protected]"
if you want to ask any questions, or if we can help with any
advice.
Regards,
Ian, Bet and Neil Preece
-----------------------------------------------------
Ian Preece [email protected]
" Old Man Of the Sea....."
-----------------------------------------------------
% ====== Internet headers and postmarks (see DECWRL::GATEWAY.DOC) ======
% Received: by enet-gw.pa.dec.com; id AA21107; Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:21:57 -0700
% Date: Tue, 08 Sep 92 16:16:42 BST
% Message-Id: <[email protected]>
% From: [email protected] ("Ian Preece")
% To: salem::berube_c
% Subject: A trip report for you !
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|
| 290.38 | Our 8/22-8/29 Trip Report | ASABET::YEE_WONG | | Sat Sep 12 1992 14:32 | 139 |
| Who: The Wongs - me, husband, our two kids (7,6), the Huangs - my
sister, her 3 kids (11, 10, 4) and my mom...9 in total.
When: 8/22/92-8/29/92
Where: Orlando International Resort on I-Drive (got practically for nothing
since my sister's sister-in-law did a timeshare swap for us)
Last Trip: May, 1989 for us. First time for my sister and her kids. Over
15+ years ago for my mother.
8/22 (Saturday) - Flew out of Boston on a non-stop Delta flight. Got into
Orlando a little after 3 P.M. and Micky was at the terminal. The kids had
pictures taken with Micky and then it was off to get the rentals at Avis.
Got to the condo and the kids and my husband went swimming while
my sister and I went to the market. Had dinner at Red Lobster later on that
night.
8/23 (Sunday) - Got to the TTC before 8:30 and took the first ferry over
to the MK (monorail was pretty crowded.) Made reservations for 1:45 P.M.
Diamond Horseshoe Review. Headed over to Frontierland and went on Splash
Mountain (kids need to be over 48" tall)...pretty good ride, and Thunder
Mountain. Headed next to Adventureland and did Pirates of the Caribbean,
Enchanted Tiki Birds. Off to Liberty Square and did the Haunted Mansion.
Went back to Adventureland to do Jungle Cruise. Headed back to Frontierland
and did Country Bears and Diamond Horseshoe Review (first time ever seeing
this...a lot of fun...and we had lunch there too.) Timed it right for the
3 P.M. parade...after the review, stood right outside on the porch and had a
pretty good view...unobstructed due to its elevated vantage point.) After
parade, took train over to Micky's Starland. Took in the show but did not wait
around to take pictures with Micky. The show was o.k. (characters were
from Dark Wing Duck, Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers, and I think one other
Disney afternoon cartoon show)...I was disappointed because I would have
liked to see the more traditional characters (i.e. Pluto, Minnie, Goofy, etc)
Went over to Fantasyland and did the Mad Tea Party, Small World, Peter Pan's
Flight. At Tomorrowland, did Mission to Mars, Delta Dreamer, Wedway Mover,
Carousel of Progress, Grand Prix. Had dinner at the Adventureland (food is
terrible...should have known...thought food pretty bad last time, but after
3 years, thought it would have improved...NOT) Stayed for Spectro Magic parade
(same viewing spot as afternoon parade) and fireworks. Took ferry back
to the TTC.
8/24 (Monday) - No sign of Andrew...headed to MGM. Got there before 8:30 and
they opened up the park shortly after. Headed straight for Star Tours (best
ride overall...better story line, better than Back to the Future over at
Universal). Did Indy Jones Stunt Spectacular, Great Movie Ride, Little
Mermaid (cute and imaginative), Backstage Studio Tour (tram part only...boy,
could really feel the heat), saw the TMNT show (disappointing), and then the
Muppet Vision 3-D (preshow was really cute...actual show itself was pretty
good, but at times, I felt like I was watching Sesame Street in 3-D.) Back to
condo for swimming and lunch. Later on, did SuperStar T.V. (only o.k....
success of show is really dependent on the size of the crowd and the selected
"participants"), Monster Sound, Animation Tour (did not stay for the walking
segment). Headed over to see the 7 P.M. Beauty and the Beast Show (great!...
not to be missed if you like musicals...but is even better at night.) I think
that we then had dinner at the Soundstage Restaurant (had the Beauty and the
Beast theme). Saw Sorcery in the Sky.
8/25 (Tuesday) - Spent pretty much the whole day at Typhoon Lagoon. Found
a very nice shady spot for all 9 of us by KetchaKiddie Creek. (Need to get
to the park by 9 A.M. if you want a decent spot to put all your belongings.)
Spent a lot of time at the big Wave Pool. Did Castaway Creek and did the
Keelhaul and Mayday Falls. We rented the tubes (costs $5 each...we had 7 in
all), and never had a problem with people walking off with them...but found
out that they did offer complimentary tubes at certain rides (i.e. Castaway
Creek, Keelhaul, etc), but these tubes had to stay on site...could not be
taken to other rides...better to rent anyway if you want to avoid the wait.
For those with little kids, Ketchakiddie Creek does offer a little waterslide
for the kids, but they need the kids version of the tube...don't know if
they offer complimentary ones at Ketchakiddie. Be careful at the Wave pool...
especially during the surf periods...you can get really hurt with all those
bodies colliding with one another and the waves can really pull a person down
onto the concrete base of the pool. Had to make 2 trips to the first aid
office and noticed that a lot of other people had already been there before us,
based on the log sheet they kept. Didn't get to the other side of the park
where they have the Shark Reef and the body slides... At night, headed over
to Pleasure Island and caught the "show" at the Adventurers Club. Also, caught
the show at the Comedy Warehouse (it was improv...pretty funny) and caught a
late night snack at the Fireworks Restaurant.
8/26 (Wednesday). Got to Universal Studios before 8:30 and they were just
starting to let people into the park. Did Hanna-Barbera (o.k.), E.T. (o.k.),
Back to the Future (pretty good), Earthquake (pretty good), Kongfrontation
(o.k...the long winding path just to get to the ride has WDW beat...except for
maybe Space MOuntain), Ghostbuster (pretty imaginative show...but poorly
designed waiting area for the preshow), and the Nickelodeon Studios Tour
(kids will like the end of the tour...there was a play game lab where the
kids get to participate in providing feedback for a potential new game for
one of their game show.) Felt pretty good, because we got all the major rides
in before noon...and none of the rides broke down (except for 5 minutes during
our wait at Kongfrontation). Went back to the condo for lunch and a swim.
Later did Murder She Wrote (o.k.), the Gory, Gruesome & Grotesque Horror
Makeup show (one of the better shows), Hitchcock 3-D (o.k.), the Wild West
Stunt Show (o.K.) and then headed out for dinner and condo...didn't stay for
the Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular (getting tired after being constantly
on the go since Sunday.)
8/27 (Thursday). Spent the day at Epcot. Made lunch and dinner reservations
at Earth Station. Did Spaceship Earth. Headed over to Wonders of Life (best
overall at Epcot...imho) and did Body Wars (good), Cranium Command (very cute).
On to Horizons, Captain EO, Journey into Imagination, Mexico, Norway, China
and then had lunch at Germany. Next to American Adventure (hard to stay up...
kept dozing off), France, Canada, The Land, World of Motion, Universe of
Energy (another dozing area), and then back to Wonders of Life. Wanted
to see the Making of Me, but hubby and I were getting tired and didn't
want to wait. We left the park with our kids to have dinner (Olive Gardens...
the pasta dishes we had were tasty) and back to the condo. The other members
of my family stayed at the park to watch Illumination.
8/28 (Friday). Went back to the MK. This time, we split up. My husband
and my 2 nieces went to Space Mountain (rode 2X) and the rest of us went back
to Splash Mountain (rode 2X). Met up at Fantasyland and did the Tea Cups,
20K Leagues Under the Sea. Did an early lunch and then did Magic Journeys,
Cinderella's Carousel (several times!), Snow White, Grand Prix, Space Mountain,
WedWay Mover, pictures with Micky, train back to Main St., Life of
Walt Disney (dozed off a little). Headed out and went to Disney Village
to do a little shopping at the Disney store. Had dinner at the Contemporary.
8/29 (Saturday). Checked out of the condo. Headed to the Contemporary
for the Character Breakfast. Stopped off at the arcade downstairs. Headed
to Belz Factory and made a stop at the Character Warehouse store. Nothing
special about the rest of the mall (have similar outlets up here). Back
to the airport (Micky and Minnie were at the terminal) and then home.
Summary: Overall, a very successful trip. Have never stayed on I-Drive...
a lot of outlets and a lot of restaurants. However, traffic on I-Drive
is horrible, especially at the 2 major intersections, Sandman Lake and
Kirkman. They need to coordinate their traffic lights better...these
lights create a major bottleneck!
Also, would highly recommend the Unofficial Guide to WDW. (Saw quite a
few folks in the parks toting this same book.) Contained a lot
of very useful tips and found it to be more detailed than Birnbaum's book.
Found it amusing when the book suggested that "...if you encounter some dummy
blocking the middle of the row, have every person in your party step very
hard on his toes as you move past him." (Of course we didn't do that, but
would have been tempted...Fortunately, we never experienced any of these
problems.) We found the touring plan in the book to be very helpful, and used
it as a guide in planning our day at the parks. Because we went on the "off
days", we never had to wait long for anything...made the trip more enjoyable.
Jean
|
| 290.39 | October 10-18 | ASABET::MCLAUGHLIN | | Tue Oct 20 1992 18:21 | 164 |
|
Who: Shawn, sister Margery, niece Kristen (11)
When: October 10-18
Where: Dixie Landings
Note: We found Disney food so atrocious, we avoided it. We mostly ate
at Dixie Landings cafeteria area because of convenience - and then
only when necessary to sustain life. Most Disney food tasted
artificial, and the Dixie Landing specialty (Southern/Cajun???) food
appeared to be loaded with fat.
Although we arrived at Logan 1+ hour early on Saturday afternoon, Delta
wanted to bump us. My travel companions did not want to arrive in Orlando
at midnight in exchange for free future travel. Because we lacked seat
assignments, our tickets were held until the very last minute anyway, when
we were issued 3 seats that were not together. When we boarded, my sister's
seat was vacant, but there were passengers in Kristen's and my assigned seats.
There were no other vacant seats on the plane, so we were escorted to the
rear galley, and another plea for volunteers was made. As Kristen and I
stood in the galley pondering our fate, a seated passenger started chatting
with me. I told her we had arrived early and not volunteered, but our
tickets were held anyway, and we were travelling with a fearful flyer. If
we were not to make the 4:25 flight, we might not make it to Florida at all,
because the fearful flyer might get too nervous over the course of 3 hours,
and her tranquilizer might wear off (she had taken two Xanaxes as part of her
preflight ritual. My sob story was absolutely true.) At that point, the
woman said nothing but gestured to her daughter, who looked to be around
Kristen's age, but was seated several rows ahead. The daughter did not
respond, so the woman walked up and talked to her daughter, then they both
left the plane!!! I was given the daughter's seat, and Kristen was given
someone elses closer to the front.
While reading Delta's magazine, I saw an ad for Dollar that was a
good deal. A Dodge Spirit for $95/week, $19.50 per day, with guaranteed
availability and no advance reservations necessary. I pulled the ad out
and presented it to Dollar. There was a long line at Dollar, but the car
was fairly large for 2/3's what I was going to pay for an econobox at Alamo,
where I had a reservation. The deal is called "October Rates", should
anyone like to take advantage.
We arrived at Dixie Landings between 9:00 and 10:00. A room with a pool
view was reserved in August, only because that was all they had. I would
have taken any view, as we did not plan to spend much time in the room, and
no time was alloted to looking out the window! Well, Disney was running short
of pool views and wanted to keep a few available for those who really care
about the view, so we were offered a parking lot view for $69, which was $35
less than the $104 we expected to pay. The parking lot was visible off to
the left through some trees, but I would say that the room primarily faced
trees and another building. It was a nice room, as was the $308 including
tax that we saved!!! After reading about ballistic toilets in the Dixie
Landings topic, I just had to flush one right away. Yes, they are all that
they are cracked up to be!!! Thank goodness we were on the second floor.
All I can say is that if you have ever been to Typhoon Lagoon and heard the
whoosh noise before the big wave -> that's what the DL toilets sound like
when flushed. The noise did not detract at all from our stay, because I only
heard other guests flushing a few times during reasonable hours over the
course of 8 nights. I do not recommend a first floor room at DL, but would
certainly recommend DL overall. Also as mentioned in the DL note, our shower
plumbing was backwards. "Cold" setting was really hot, and vice versa.
Kristen wanted to use the pool after seeing it during our tour of the grounds,
but the major pool at DL closed at midnight. By the time we poked around the
grounds, midnight was fast approaching. The smaller pool near our building
(which turned out to be 6 feet deep, unusually deep at Disney???) did not
have any hours posted. We were in that pool until at least 1:30 a.m.
The weather was bad on Sunday morning (but absolutely perfect the rest of the
week) so we went to Epcot because of the many indoor attractions. I believe
that Spaceship Earth was struck by lightening as we stood under it - the sound
of thunder was so loud. The rain stopped within a couple of hours, and we
enjoyed Epcot very much. For some reason, the Mexico ride continues to
intrigue me. Took a break and returned at night for Illuminations. Very
good show.
Monday was spent lazing at DL and Port Orleans pools after touring the
Grand Floridian and renting a sprite boat. Recommend the "Nawtin's
Ice" drink at Port Orleans, and the "Miss Melonie's...something something"
at DL. At some point before the end of Monday, Kristen said that if Delta
offered to bump us, we should volunteer and return another time. We all
decided to stay for a long weekend at the Grand Floridian if Delta offered
to bump us again.
Tuesday was spent at Disney-MGM. While leaving the hotel, I noticed a
significant parking lot ding on the driver's door that I had not seen before.
It may have been there all along, as we mainly used the car at night, but
my sister said I would have seen it before, as it was quite deep and the
size of a half-dollar. I was concerned, and thought about the damage all
of the way to Disney-MGM. The rental company did not notice it in the parking
garage as they gave the car a quick visual inspection upon return. Disney-MGM
is a small park that has much less to offer than Epcot/Magic Kingdom. Kristen
and I didn't think much of it, but Margery thought it was okay. I videotaped
The Great Movie Ride, the Indiana Jones show, and Catastrophe Canyon. Although
TGMR is dark, it translated to video very well.
Wednesday was spent at Magic Kingdom. We rode Splash Mountain once around
lunch time, then walked around and did other things, including Thunder
Mountain and Space Mountain (which I had never been on.) At about 6:25, we
were back at Splash Mountain, and there was no line! Needless to say, we
rode the thing 3 more times before the park closed at 7:00. As luck would
have it, we tried all 4 rows during our 4 rides. The front row does make
a difference during the drop, and is the best location by far. Much to my
surprize, there are no security bars on the boats. Passengers are responsible
for holding bars situated fairly high in front of them. I expect to see
automatic lap bars installed at some point, as an announcement (the real
voice of a cast member) is made periodically reminding people to hold on.
Thursday was spent at Typhoon Lagoon. It's really nice, but the crowd was
unbelievable (to be explained later.) All seats were taken. Wall to wall
people both in and out of the water. We still loved the place. Although
the park was filled, there were virtually no lines at Shark Reef. I went
through once, Kristen 4 times. I saw 2-3 sharks, one of which was covered
with light and dark gray spots. Video shot from within the sunken ship came
out better than expected. I sampled all slides, Kristen went down HC once
despite broken thumb in a metal brace, after I tested the slide once. Liked
the slide, but Humunga Wedgeebunga is a more appropriate and descriptive
name for the attraction.
Friday was Universal day. It's not as pretty as Disney-MGM (there is
virtually no landscaping that Disney is noted for.) Wow, Unversal hires
"real" people rather than 20-30 year old WASPS seen at all Disney attractions!!
The E.T. attraction would benefit from a darker setting. The scented forest
waiting area for E.T. was so impressive, I went back a second time just
to gawk at the waiting area! There is a special "Tribute to Lucy" underway.
My sister wanted to see the tribute (just memorabilia) one more time before
leaving. As we were getting ready to go, Lucy and Desi lookalikes were
spotted. They REALLY looked like Lucy and Desi, and had very friendly
personalities. Kristen had her photo taken with them. They were the
highlight of my day at Universal - that's how good they were. I would have
liked to have taken a video of them, but my camcorder was in a safe deposit
box at Dixie Landings that day. Between the photo restrictions and colorless
exteriors that are not nearly as attractive as Disney-MGM's, there really
wasn't anything else worth taping at Universal. Despite the "Unofficial
Guide", we enjoyed the Nickelodean Studios tour very much. We drove to
my aunt's house for a visit after Universal.
Saturday was spent at the DL pool, and we went to Magic Kingdom at about
6:30-7:00. The park was open until midnight, with light parades at 9:00
and 11:00, and fireworks at 10:00. The place was so mobbed I couldn't stand
it. Many times, I could not see pavement, there were so many people. After
the fireworks, we had to get out of there. It was so bad, park management
opened a special escape near the Delta Dreamflight, which we took advantage
of. We walked through employee parking behind Main Street, and saw a huge
pine tree that I assume is Christmas tree 1992. The park really must have
been at or beyond capacity. Fortunately, we had parked at the Grand
Floridian, as Kristen wanted to rent a sprite boat on our last night.
We had no trouble boarding the resort monorail (which in fact stops at
the TTC, you only need any Disney resort ID to ride) to the Grand Floridian,
but would have waited forever for the regular line.
The flight back was filled to capacity. Nevertheless, Delta did not
request volunteers to give up their seats.
The reason some of the parks were so crowded was that there were thousands
of British tourists in town because of a nationwide school "holiday".
They were in all of the parks, but not at the hotel. I do not think that
British tour operators book their clients into Disney owned hotels. Also,
Disney conducted the largest golf tournament on the East coast the week were
there, which explained Disney hotels being at or near capacity. Aside from
Saturday night - when all golfers and all tourists and many locals converged
on the Magic Kingdom - we had an excellent time. Seven days of constantly
dealing with large crowds was too much, though. Next time, I would skip
Disney-MGM and Universal, and do other things (visit NASA, the beach, etc.)
|
| 290.40 | Trip Report | CHEFS::JENKINSA | | Thu Oct 22 1992 07:10 | 87 |
|
Who: Me and various other family members to numerous to mention!
When: Sept 26th - October 10th
Where: Private house in Kissimmee
As we had two weeks to spend in Orlando, and we wanted to 'do'
everything, we bought 4 day passes for WDW. I can't remember the dates
we went in to the parks, but here is a quick resume of what we did.
Magic Kingdom
We arrived at about 10.00 am, the car-park was empty, we could walk to
the TTC, but decided to get the bus anyway. Using my Euro-Disney MKC
card I got discounts for all seven of us for tickets ($13 saving on the
4 day pass and $18 on the 5 Day Super Pass).
Took the boat across to the main entrance and walked along Main Street
for a little while. I noticed how quiet it was (ie, you didn't have to
look over people's heads all the time to see the Castle!) and suggested
that we should blitz the rides as soon as we had time. We all agreed
and headed towards the Jungle River Cruise - we hopped on without
waiting and had a good laugh with the driver! Then onto the Swiss
Family Robinson Tree House - again, empty! Then we went to my
favourite, the Pirates of the Caribbean - no wait again. As we were
doing so well, we decided to postpone our lunch until later and carried
on around the rides - onto Big Thunder (horrendous wait here - about 2
minutes!!). Then, we decided to go for Splash Mountain - we expected
to wait for this ride, but, again, no wait at all. Lots of TV and
Radio stations were set up around the outside of Splash Mountain, as it
was being officially opened the following day (it rained very heavily
the following day, so it can't have come out well with the TV
cameras!!). We stopped for a late lunch, and then went back to do the
rest of the park at a slightly more relaxed pace than before!!
Generally, there were little or no crowds for the whole day - we even
got a good spot for the parade. We left at closing time at 7.00 pm.
Epcot
Our first day at Epcot we concentrated on going on the rides and didn't
really see much of the World Showcase. We happened to stop in a
restaurant for a quick drink when there was an announcement made that
Mickey and his pals were about to come on stage and give us a show.
Well we had to stay and watch didn't we?? It was excellent, there was
Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Chip 'n' Dale. They all came off the
stage and went around every table for photos - unforgettable! We
decided to eat at the Nine Dragons restaurant in China for dinner that
evening and stayed for Illuminations. The next time we went into
Epcot, it rained most of the afternoon, so our activities were
curtailed, but we managed to cram in everything we hadn't yet seen.
Disney-MGM
Again, no crowds - so no waits for the Great Movie Ride or Star Tours,
we really did see Disney at it's best - we all had a great day here (we
didn't find it so hard on the body as the other two parks!).
Notes:
On several of our afternoons we escaped the parks for a little while to
explore the Disney property. We went into the Polynesian for a look
and we liked it, but we thought that the Grand Floridian was beautiful!
We had afternoon tea in the Garden View Room twice as it was so lovely
and so well presented - definately a must if we go back again!
We had two days of very bad weather - 5.5 inches of rain fell in two
days. Other afternoons we had intermittent showers as well. The one
day that we had rain in Disney was depressing, and it made us think
that if Disney in Florida is depresssing in the rain, Euro-Disney are
really going to have problems, as the weather in Northern France in the
winter can be pretty horrible - but good luck to them! We also had a
tornado watch to cap it all!
All in all, a great time had by all, thanks to all those contributors
in this file where I got so much information from.
Regards,
Alison Jenkins
Reading, UK.
|
| 290.41 | Bill & Diane Abrams Sep 1992 | FPTVX1::ABRAMS | You're just supposed to SIT here? | Fri Oct 30 1992 21:09 | 462 |
|
WDW Trip Report
Saturday 9/5 to Friday 9/11
Bill and Diane Abrams (from Rochester, New York)
Beach Club Hotel on a 4 night, 5 day World Plan Vacation
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Previous visits as a couple: Sep 1984, Oct 1985, Apr 1986, Mar 1988,
Sep 1990 (Contemporary)
Plus misc. visits before we were married, and a business trip I took
this February (yes, there's a trip report
for that one)
Author's note: The views expressed herin are not necessarily those of
the author. Diane was given editorial authority to ensure I could not
be pinned down on anything.
This is Part I of our vacation trip report. We followed our week in
Orlando with a 7-day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas
and Part II is in conference KOALA::CRUISE_TRAVEL if you care to read
it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Introduction
This was a big vacation designed to fly in the face of the recession.
We paid for both our world plan and cruise before we left, leaving us
free to spend money on fun things. I never knew there could be so
many fun things to spend money on. Next month's federal reports on
the economy should be up a percent or two based on our spending.
Advice: if you go on a no holds barred vacation don't be an idiot and
add it up later just to see how much damage you did. Also, don't be a
double idiot and include all the World Plan Meals that you didn't
really spend ANY money on. Really scared me there for a second...
Our World Plan was a 5 day/4 night plan. We flew in We stayed at the
Ramada on Jamaican Court off Southern I-Drive for the first two nights
to we could get our off-Disney shopping done, as well as take full
advantage of our World Plan. Since the plan includes your arrival day
at Disney, we wanted a full day rather than half of our travel day.
On Friday, we planned to eat our last World Plan meal and drive to
Miami, where we would stay in a local Hotel for the night before our
cruise.
First, some summary notes and impressions...
SHOWS & CROWDS: We saw parts of the last performance of the MGM
evening show for the summer (from a distance). They went to a
weekends only schedule for both MGM and Magic Kingdom shows this week,
so we have to miss seeing them. This is a tradeoff we have always had
to make travelling in the fall. We enjoy having the parks to
ourselves more than our desire to see the big shows. The earlier
closing times don't bother us because the lower crowds means we see
everything as much as we want, and enjoy a leisurely dinner. We were
fooled by a late labor day this year, however, as several states had
not started school yet. Crowds were still moderate on Monday and
Tuesday, and dropped off steadily until they were very light on
Friday.
WEATHER: Only rained a bit on two or three afternoons. Cool
lightning. Makes other people leave the parks. Most of the time it
was hot, hot, hot (Everybody now!) It seemed especially nasty since
we had no summer in the northeast. Back home the average daily
temperature for the summer was 65 degrees. It was 89 to 92 in Florida
but it seemed like 98 to 99!
ATTRACTIONS: Splash Mountain was operating but experiencing
occaisional timing problems. We once were standing on the bridge
watching the splashees and heard loduspeakers throughout the
attraction warn everyone to "Stand clear of the animation" as it would
be starting shortly. I once got hit while being pulled up by the
"splash" from the downhill log going the other way... watch for a few
minutes from the bridge and you'll know what I mean. It's a soaker,
and you haven't even started the ride! Carousel of Progress was
closed both days we were in the MK. Too bad, I wanted to get some last
pictures.
HOTELS: The Beach Club Resort was all I expected it to be. First
class, much more personal and cozy than the Contemporary (where we
stayed last time) and not formal or stuffy (like the Floridian seems
to me. But Mike -- we need the Floridian because Narcoosee's is there.)
LINES: We checked the queue time for most lines. We noticed that
the left side of dual line was faster most of the time, but in a
specific sequence: It was faster on the first, second, fourth, and
sixth times, and so on. This was true of all dual line attractions as
long as the left line was open. Line scientists may record this
information now.
Just kidding about the lines thing. Actually, left lines were
not open in most cases, so they were infinitely long if you chose to
wait in them. One thing to note: Splash Mountain opens up various
parts of their lines, and they let the line stretch out into the
street rather than open extra queueing space. Even if the line is out
into the street, it could be only a 15 minute wait. Ask someone
coming off. The left line was ALWAYS faster here.
WORLD PLAN COSTS: Going on the World Plan was fun and self-indulgent.
Here's a synopsis of our spending on meals. For comparison, the
vacation Kingdom plan, with hotel and admission but only a couple of
meals would have been $1294. The World Plan was $1816, a difference
of $522. So what did we use our Gold Key card for, and what did we
spend that actually cost us $522? Here it is:
Breakfast 29.14 16.43 29.14 29.14 29.14
Lunch 42.80 163.84! 74.82 51.38 37.48
Dinner 85.55 41.00 120.44 173.28!
Pleasure Is. 21.90
Typhoon Lag. 41.34
Boats 44.00
Total: $1810.82, which cost us $522, Bonus: $508.
We'd never spend like that on meals without a plan like this. But it
was fun. Our plane fare was taken care of by USAir's frequent flier
program. We spent $245 for rental car and gas for the week... no good
deals here. I rent with AVIS on corporate rates because adding the
loss damage waiver to the cheaper rates ends up being just as much
anyway.
And now for the hour by hour, day by day, do wa, do wa....
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Saturday September 5
Flew USAir (on two frequent flier tickets) from Rochester to Orlando
via Newark. Smooth and uneventful. I reserved my AVIS car with my
preferred express number so I could bypass the long counter lines. We
got to the booth and were told to go back inside because there was a
problem with my credit card. I have the worst luck with car rentals
in Orlando. Last time the car had been cancelled on us. So back
inside (it's a long walk!) and in line. Luckily it was only a 10
minute line. The man looks it up, swipes my credit card, and hands me
all the paperwork. "No problem," he says. Hmmph.
Got an upgrade to full size for my trouble, though. A blue Lumina.
Suggestion: Don't accept a white rental car if you want to find it
once you've parked it.
Our plan was to go straight to Kennedy Space Center (A good use of a
half day after arrival, since you're a third of the way there
already.) I wanted Diane to see the new IMAX film "The Blue Planet"
but it only shows at 9:55a and 6:15p which didn't fit our schedule...
so we drove back to Orlando to shop and decided to return tomorrow
which was to be our free day.
Went shopping and had lunch at the Mercado on Southern International
Drive (I-drive), and at the Belz factory outlets at the North end of
I-Drive. Lunch was at Fat Tuesday's in the Mercado. We don't have
then up North. Love those Dacquiris. They have a ton of flavors and
they bring you samples to try. Some are real strong. One little sip
makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
We checked in at the Ramada. It's a smaller hotel with reasonable
rooms and a very nice pool area. There's a bar and grill at the pool
which made it a very nice relaxing area. The AAA club rate including
a decent buffet breakfast was only $60 per night for a double room.
In the evening we drove to the new Disney resorts so Diane could see
them for the first time. We walked around Port Orleans, Dixie
Landings, and the Beach Club. We had dinner in Port Orleans' food
court. An evening is a good time to do such a stroll.
I-DRIVE NOTE: We thought we'd try it there for our first two nights
since it would be convenient to shopping and driving for our first two
days. To quote my favorite comic strip character: Ack. Mbthhptt!
Almost every time we had to drive out I had to clear the hairball I
got from the stress of trying to get into traffic. Even the southern
part below Sand Lake Drive, which is a divided 4 lane with lots of
turning lanes was difficult from the sheer volume of traffic. It
doesn't help that the convention center is just a bit further south.
Sunday September 6
Breakfast at the Ramada Buffet. Off to NASA again. Saw "The Blue
Planet" (PLUG: My favorite IMAX film right now -- go see it!) Went on
the bus tour. Remembered why I hadn't been on it in quite a few years.
Hot, cramped, and not too much to see. A bunch of old spacecraft and
a poor, tired, little show of an Apollo launch. They should just buy
the remains of "Mission to Mars." Anyway, go to the space center, but
if you don't want to spend the 2 hours and $$$ for the bus tour, in my
opinion you're not missing much. Even if there's a shuttle on the pad
(there was) it's covered by the gantry shield so you can't see
anything but a lot of structural steel. I love the big mockup of the
shuttle in the parking lot.
Returned to the Orlando area for lunch. Went to Hooters on Kirkman
Drive just about 1 mile north of Sand Lake Road. Went there because
Diane wanted to know what all the hubub was about. It was football
time and they were at their "best." You guys know what I mean. You
gals make your guys take you there, then you can forbid them to ever
go back.
It was late afternoon and noticed the Wet 'n Wild park was almost
empty and it was after 5pm (half price admission) so we decided to go
ahead. It rained part of the time but I love water slides so I had a
good time anyway.
We made a grocery run to Goodings and had some stuff we found there
for dinner. I will try to find the real grocery stores in the future
too. It's getting too touristy for me.
Monday September 7
Checked out of the Ramada, grabbed a cup of coffee and went straight
to the Beach Club for early check-in. Our room is ready! It's #3559
on the end of the next to last wing. From our window we look out on
the lagoon, down to the left is the quiet pool. Nice view of MGM
Studios on the horizon. We were unpacked and in Disney mode by 9:30am!
Had breakfast at the character buffet at Cape May Cafe. It's a
reasonable breakfast, but try to get stuff when it's fresh and being
restocked on the buffet. Walked into EPCOT and headed counter
clockwise to see a few things before having lunch. Lunch in the
Biergarten in Germany was very good. Good selection of food. I liked
the potato pancakes especially. You sit at tables of 8, so if you're
a small group you'll be with others. The decor and lighting is very
attractive. Someday we must go for dinner to see the singing.
As we headed back to the Beach Club a 10 minute monsoon waylaid us in
Japan. Back at the hotel, we made our first entry into Stormalong Bay.
Wow, cool, far out, what a great place. I spent a lot of time in
these pools! The "shipwreck" that decorates the bay has a "broken
mast" which is actually a water slide... as good as any in the water
parks. The pools are excellent: Mostly sandy bottomed, but fresh
water. There's a mini whirlpool, with a strong circular current.
There's a bubbling pool, and a "lazy river" style waterway, but it
becomes quite deep (up to 9 feet) so you need to be a strong swimmer.
There's a buoy in one part. You walk toward it and see if has "
Sinking Sand" stenciled on it. When you step next to it, you sink a
foot deep, suddenly, into the sand. There's a bunch of water jets
below the sand, floating the layer of sand above them, so you sink
right down when you step on it. There's also a shallow part for sand
castle building. Several jacuzzis are around the grounds, and they
keep the temperature of then hot! hot! hot! Whoops, it's time to go
for dinner.
Headed to Pleasure Island to meet Ellen and Ted Doyle for dinner at
Porto Bello. It was a great meal and the new friends even better.
(I'm sorry to see Ellen leaving Digital!) Then we spent the evening
at Pleasure Island with them. Saw the comedy show (it doesn't change
much over five years!), spent a couple of hours hobnobbing in the
Adventurer's Club, and saw the Happy New Year street show.
OPINION: They've really ruined the street show as compared to
how it was a couple of years ago. The show takes places ONLY on
the stage at the top of the street, with a bank of TV monitors
in the lower street section. It's also much shorter than it used
to be. It used to take place at both ends, with dancers going up
and down the street, and it got everyone to start a massive
street party...everyone dancing, and it lasted for hours. It's
a real shame it's not like that any longer.
Tuesday September 8
Headed to the Magic Kingdom for early admission. Went on Space
Mountain, and all the Fantasyland stuff with no lines (except 20,000
leagues, which does not open early.) At 9am, everyone masses at the
edges of Fantasyland, and when the signal is given to "walk carefully
to your first destination," everbody RUNS RUNS RUNS RUNS RUNS RUNS
full tilt to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad. Unless you go
with the derby, there is no way you can get on these rides before the
line forms. In fact, wait about 30 minutes and the line will be
shorter before it grows long in late morning.
Went to Crystal Palace for breakfast. On the World Plan, you can take
one of the meal platters, and add a few extras it's still all covered.
They seemed totally unprepared for the crowds that morning. In the
past it has been a good place to get a reasonably good meal quickly.
We waited in line for over 30 minutes, and the line grew longer still
behind us. It stayed that way all morning until lunch time.
We then saw our favorites, including the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of
the Caribbean, Country Bear, and Tom Sawyer's Island.
Went to our favorite restaurant in all of the World for lunch:
Narcoosee's at the Grand Floridian. Had a very funny waitress
(Jeanne). Had a huge lunch. At one point, Diane exclaims "I have four
drinks in front of me!" She had water, a virgin strawberry dacquiri,
coffee, and iced tea (try their iced tea, it's great!) Told our
waitress we'd be back for our anniversary dinner on Thursday. At the
table next to us were two young girls (12 year olds) whose family was
on the World Plan also. They had been turned loose with their resort
ids and meal cards for the day, and were enjoying 2 1/2 pound lobster
lunches that actually cost more than the meals we racked up!
After lunch we did a little shopping and returned to the hotel for
swimming in those fabulous pools. For dinner we had the clambake
buffet in Cape May in the hotel. I know you New Englanders aren't
impressed by this meal too much, but where I am there's no such thing
as fresh seafood, and Red Lobster is the ONLY seafood restaurant. So
anyplace I can eat all the fresh clams I want ranks pretty high. I
stuffed myself reeeeeeeeeeeaal goooooooooood. The ribs and garlic
blue crabs were good too. We overheard a waiter talking about the
seasons and crowds and how people from different countries arrive at
different times of the year. I casually asked, "Is there any type
group that you dread the most?" His unqualified, unprompted answer:
"The Brazilian tour groups!"
Went swimming in the evening. Stormalong Bay is open till 10pm. When
it closes, the "quiet" pools become very, very noisy and full of kids,
until after midnight.
Wednesday September 9
Breakfast at Cape May. Learned how to tell Chip and Dale apart. Can
you? Answer: Chip has a "chocolate chip nose" but Dale has a big
brown nose. Also Chip has two teeth together, Dale's are spaced, and
Chip has eyebrows, while Dale has eyelids.
Went back into EPCOT. Watched the weather channel to see if
everything was quiet around us (no more hurricanes....) You can find
it on the TVs in the Electronic Forum at the end of Communicore East.
Saw more of our favorites around EPCOT, and spent some time in
Communicore. I like thinking up questions to ask EPCOT Outreach. For
example:
What is the distance of the walk around World Showcase?
A surprisingly long 1.2 miles!
What is that silly looking Team Disney Building?
It is an office building, designed by a Japanese Architect
hired personnally by Michael Eisner. The funnel on top of
it is the world's largest working sundial. The face is in
the lobby. From the sky the building looks like a watch.
Saw Star Tours and Cranium Command. I particulary enjoyed the
examples of what different brains entitle you to different careers.
The Chicken brain that the main character is threatened with being
assigned is show to have a future as a........ politician.
Had lunch at the Nine Dragons. Good meal. Very authentic food.
Diane had General Tsao Chicken, I had Lobster in Spicy Sauce. Both
were excellent. After lunch saw more of World Showcase.
For dinner we managed to get reservations at the Coral Reef (at the
Living Seas.) Even in the off season, these were hard to get. Plan
ahead as far as possible. They have few tables for two that they give
advance reservations for. This was a long meal. We were seated at
7:05pm and left at 8:50. We were seated in the back row so we
couldn't really see the fish very well. I had Dover Sole, Diane had
Surf & Turf. I had to see why a simple whitefish was so expensive...
it's flown fresh daily from Great Britain and deboned at the table by
the waitress. But it did taste very good. For dessert: Mango
cheesecake, and a White Chocolate seashell with strawberries. There's
another dessert that comes with a chocolate Mickey Mouse hat! Did I
mention the butter? Little molded Mickey Mouses. Kids (me included)
delighted in chopping off Mickey's limbs to butter their bread.
Watched Illuminations as we walked back to the hotel. Did a little
laundry (but it closes at 10pm, and I had to talk them into leaving it
open for me.) A little swimming ended the evening.
Thursday September 10
Headed for the Magic Kingdom to finish it off. Did Big Thunder, The
Haunted Mansion, the sky ride, Wedway, etc.... One last look at the
Mission to Mars... yes, good riddance. The Carousel of Progress was
closed, and it looked like for good. Too bad, I liked that one.
Late morning we headed to the Contemporary to do a little boating. We
took out a pair of water sprites. I've never done it before. It's a
little expensive, but it's included on the World Plan. It was lots of
fun, I must say. You can cover a lot of ground in a hour. I went
around Bay Lake twice and through the canal to Seven Seas Lagoon and
went once around there. Took pictures of everything from the water.
You don't get wet, by the way. But we locked up things we were
carrying in a locker just to be safe.
Took a bus to MGM and went straight to Mama Melrose's for lunch. This
whole area is new since I was last here. Also new is MuppetVision
3d/4d, and the studio showcase, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
There's a lot to keep you at MGM now! [Diane says: There always was
in my opinion.] Don't miss MuppetVision or Little Mermaid-- they are
innovation and awesome. Oh yes, lunch was quite good at Mama
Melrose's.
As we left Star Tours heading for The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, it
started to sprinkle. Then it started to rain. We quicked our step so
that we could be near shelter... as we walked, the background music
faded into "Singing in the Rain" ... nice touch. Now the rain is
soaking. We run into the queue area for Little Mermaid and the skies
opened up... and did they ever. We got a couple of inches of rain in
the next half hour until we were admitted to the show. The palms were
leaning wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy over from the wind-driven rain. While we
watched the storm, a brave young lad races out into the street, head
down to see where he's going... he reaches the other side of the empty
square.. stops, and, takes a drink from a water fountain. Then he
races back through the rains. Funny, funny, stuff.
When we came out of the show the rain was done. We took the boat back
to the Yacht Club (you must show a resort ID on this boat.) Drove to
the Grand Floridian for our 9th Anniversary Dinner at Narcoosee's. We
asked to be seated in Jeanne's section...we were kept waiting but
Jeanne came out to get us. Dinner was excellent... really racked up
the World Plan bill on this one! As we're enjoying dinner, the
Electric Water Pageant paraded out! I've never seen it before.
Jeanne topped off the dinner by presented us with a cake that we
couldn't eat since we had dessert, but she wrapped it up for us... in
aluminum foil, shaped up like mickey mouse ears. What a sight we were
carring it through the lobbies of the Grand Floridian and the Beach
Club! A late swim and walk finished the day.
Friday September 11
Last day at Disney. Up a little late, breakfast at Cape May, and
check out. A last turn around world showcase. Saw Impressions du
France, my personal favorite of the movies. Had lunch in Le Cellier
at Canada. Even though it's cafeteria style, you can still rack up a
good pricey meal. We had a ribs special that was great.
Next we went to the post office to mail home a bunch of stuff since
the next part of our vacation is a cruise and we didn't want to lug it
all along, expecially the Beauty and the Beast Print from our World
Plan. It only cost $20 for boxes, packing tape, and postage. It
got home about the same time we did a week later.
Last stop: A tour of the Disney Vacation Club. I have been
considering the program but was put off by the large number of points
for the miminum investment. Since we travel in the off season, I felt
it would be a waste of points. We learned much more about the program
that makes me think more seriously about it:
- you can bank and borrow points for/from the following year
- you can exchange points for stays in the other hotels (limited
program, like the RCI exchange program.)
- The larger accomodations are very nice.
Plus we're thinking it would be a good way to bring the rest of our
extended families on a world-class Disney vacation without needing to
save all year to go. Since we've vacationed at Disney more than once
every two years in the past, we will probably join.
We were going to have our final world plan dinner, but had a 4 hour
drive ahead of us to Miami. So we decided to get a earlier start and
grab some fast food along the way. Driving the dark long Florida
Turnpike on a full Disney meal seemed like a foolish thing to do.
So we drove off as the sun set and waved good bye to the World. Our
vacation wasn't over, though.
We arrived at a Miami hotel that evening, and the next morning,
boarded Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas for a 7 day cruise to
St. Thomas, San Juan, and Coco Cay, an island in the Bahamas. But
that's another story, one you can find in a few days in the notes
conferences KOALA::CRUISE_TRAVEL ...
So, m i c you real soon!
Bill & Diane Abrams
|
| 290.42 | Finished - Now I can go again!! | WOTVAX::BATTY | Der machinen goin' Floomy Floomy! | Wed Nov 04 1992 13:57 | 504 |
| I've already covered the main events in detail in other replies
(Food, The Birthday Bash and Splash Mountain), so in an attempt to
get the report in before Christmas, I've just bashed in the
outline, and I'll fill in the detail as answers to questions.
The Family - Me, Wife Pat, Kids Martin (12) and Elizabeth (who
was 9 on the 11th July)
Trip Duration - 3 weeks, 27th June - 18th July
Accomodation - Week 1, RCI Exchange to Vistana T/S Resort
- Weeks 2/3, Caribbean Beach Resort
Flights - Scheduled Delta flights
Manchester - Atlanta - Orlando and return.
Saturday 27th June.
Flew out with only 5 minute delay. Very civilised flights, good
food and service, easy and quick check-in, no delay clearing
Customs at Atlanta. We'd gone for scheduled over charter mainly to
avoid the delays which afflict charters at peak holiday time, the
rest was a bonus but very welcome.
All flights arrived on time, picked up the rental at the National
Counter in the airport and made the now familiar drive down the
Beeline and I4. Checked in at The Vistana at about 18:30 EST
(23:30 BST), unpacked, bought some basic groceries at the on-site
market and then crashed out.
Sunday 24th
Toured the Vistana Resort. Nice place, good facilities. Finished
the unpacking and drove down to Crossroads. Had lunch at the Olive
Garden, then did a big shop at Goodings. Stocked the freezer etc.,
then drove down to the Vacation Club to meet up with some friends
from home who were staying there. Very impressed with the
apartments, decor, themeing and attention to detail. I still think
it's very expensive, but Disney has tried hard to give value for
money (more on this later). Set off about 5.30 to go to MK. This
was the only disappointing aspect of the VC. The buses run round
the Disney Village Resort before heading for the MK, taking 35
minutes or more to reach MK.
Eventually we stepped through the gates and stopped at the bottom
of Main Street. For us, this is the moment when the Disney
Vacation begins. It doesn't matter how many times we do other
parks, the magic doesn't start until we've stood at the bottom of
Main Street and looked up at the castle. A shiver runs down our
spines, then the warm glow begins to spread through our bodies,
culminating in the broad smile and the feeling that only now is it
real! The MK is probably now third in line based on the number of
times we visit a park, but it's still the only place that gives us
that thrill. A picture or a piece of film of Main Street will
bring out that same smile even during a wet weekend in the UK.
Generally just strolled and soaked in the atmosphere. Did HM and
the New (Old) Country Bears, checked out progress on Splash
Mountain, got burgers from Pecos Bill's, and ate them while
waiting for our first view of Spectromagic. Generally liked it,
but the music was instantly forgettable, and we though that the
white-faced dolls on the balls (The two that lead the parade) were
ominous and eerie, if not actually frightening, to small kids.
Strolled some more and watched the fireworks from Liberty Square.
It was there we had the thought for the first time, and the idea
solidified during the three weeks - Trees are becoming a problem
in most parks! Great things to have - 'Gotta Love Em!' but there
always seemed to be one in the way whenever we wanted to watch
something! Anybody else get this impression?
Monday 29th.
Lazy day round the Vistana pools, then drove to MGM early evening.
No line at Guest Relations, so we renewed our AP's that expired on
1st July. Did Star Tours, ate at Mama Melrose, Indiana Jones, then
Sorcery in the Sky. Saw the firework on Mickey's finger for the
first time. Is this an enhancement, or has it always been there
and we've missed it?
Tuesday 30th
Universal Studios all day.
Wednesday 1st July.
Busch Gardens all day.
Thursday 2nd
Went to EPCOT. Arrived at 08:45. Couldn't find out how early
they'd opened, but Spaceship Earth was packed. Walked through to
World Showcase, and worked our way round clockwise. Almost
deserted. Watched the jugglers in China, Maelstrom in
Norway, Oompah Band in Germany, Italian street players, Voices of
Liberty in USA, then strolled back to China for lunch at the 9
Dragons. Excellent Szechuan Beef for me!
Returned to the Vistana for some pool time, then to MGM at about
7.15. Had intended to catch the B&TB Stage Show, but lines seem to
start almost immediately the previous show lets out. As we passed,
the auditorium looked pretty crammed, there was still a long line
and they were offering the option for groups to split up to be
fitted into single seats scattered around.
Did Muppetvision, with plenty of time to watch the pre show. Star
Tours X 2, Sorcery and then home.
Friday 3rd
Vistana Pool, Disney Village and then back to Vistana. Pat did
some packing, while I took the kids over to the Exercise Room.
Ulterior motive - work up an appetite for V&A's that evening!
Alcoholic Amnesia is reported in 'Dining...'
Saturday 4th
Pack and check out of Vistana. Went down to VC to spend the middle
part of the day with the Smith family (our friends from home).
Example of value for money at VC - Being the 4th July, the cast
members had organised a Celebration Parade for the younger kids,
and my daughter was swept into a hat making session with them,
even though she made it clear that she wasn't staying there. Just
after lunch they held the Conch Flats Celebration Parade, with a
large banner, three or four cast members, no more than 20 kids in
their home made hats - And Mickey and Minnie all to themselves. In
full tail-coat and crinoline costumes, M&M marched in the middle
of this little parade around the area, and then every child and
most of the adults had a photo opportunity with Mickey, Minnie and
both. Afterwards, M&M went up to every person round the pool, and
shook hands and posed for photos.
Ate at the VC's Celebration BBQ ($5.95 All You Can Eat - Burger,
Ribs, Chili Beans, Salads and Apple Pie), worked it off in the
well equipped and totally deserted Fitness Room, and then swam and
sunbathed for a while.
Left the VC late afternoon and went down to the CBR to check in.
Martinique, close to OPR as requested. Found the room small after
the Vistana and VC, but this passed after a while. Spotted the red
light flashing on the phone, and listened to the first of many
voicemails from Jim Pappas and the other Deccies. Ate at OPR for
convenience, then bus to MK for fireworks. It was packed! Just
went with the tide until we washed up in Liberty Square. It was
where we wanted to be, but we didn't have much choice! The traffic
was practically one way from the top of Main Street through to LS,
and one way up through Frontierland from Splash Mountain to LS.
Where the two streams met, they eddied around a bit then flowed up
past HM into Fantasyland. We stopped in an eddy until the ropes
went up for Spectromagic, had a good view of the parade, and then
met up with the Smiths to try and get some good photos of the
fireworks. We were a big enough group to form a solid wall round
Mike Smith and myself (Too many Mikes in this conference! Hey Mr.
Scopa, fancy changing your name to Miguel to go with your adopted
nationality?) so that we weren't jostled, but when the twin
displays went off, we found that most of it was obscured by TREES!
You could not get back far enough because of buildings to get a
clear view.
After the fireworks, we did HM a couple of times with 10 min
lines, through to Fantasyland for IASSW - obligatory when you have
young children like my wife and June Smith 8-) looked in horror at
the lines for Dumbo and Peter Pan - 1.5 hrs wait at 11pm, and
decided to leave. It took 3/4 of an hour to get out. People were
still streaming into the park, 6 or 7 entrance gates in operation,
and only just keeping pace.
Sunday 5th
Had a long lie-in, drove to the Polynesian so the family could
attend the service, had lunch at the Crossroads Olive Garden,
bought another Dave Barry book to add to my collection (but that's
another conference), and spent the rest of the afternoon around
the OPR pool area (Well, Pat and I did! The kids disappeared into
the Goombay Arcade to help Bart Simpson battle the baddies.).
Snacked, showered and dressed, very carefully in my daughter
Elizabeth's case, because tonight we were meeting up with her
pen-pal Kimberly and the rest of the Pappas family! We'd arranged
to meet up at the bus stop outside OPR, and Jim had gone into some
detail describing what he'd be wearing so that we could spot them.
I must admit to a wry smile when they arrived - at 6'7" Jim could
wear full camouflage and still be easily spotted!
Had a great time that evening, mainly watching the girls getting
to know each other - shy silence -> guarded comparison of
backgrounds -> chatting freely -> running through the park holding
hands -> going on rides together totally ignoring the rest of the
group! Best Friends by the end of the evening!
Monday 6th.
OPR Pool until about 11, then went over to the VC to bid farewell
to the Smiths who were flying home later that day. Helped them
tidy up by finishing the wine and cookies, sitting on suitcases
etc., and then drove to EPCOT. Arrived about 2, and headed to WS,
starting off in Canada. Went up to the UK, and watched SITS from
the terrace of the Rose and Crown pub (Had a pint of bitter which
soon warmed up to acceptable drinking temperature since the
weather was clear and in the mid 90's!).
Went back and did Canada Circlevision movie, UK and enjoyed
another spirited performance from the Olde Globe Players -
"GRAIL"
"Grail"
"Grail"
"Grail"
Guess which famous play they were mutilating!
Moved on and did France, and then went back to Le Cellerier in
Canada for tea. Went down to the Land, spent a couple of hours
there including Listen to.. and Kitchen Kabaret, went round
Centorium and then headed home.
Tuesday 7th/Wednesday 8th
Total Blank - Sorry, no entry in the diary, no memory joggers from
the family and no help from the holiday snaps! It serves me right
for leaving it so long, but I really haven't had time at work!
Thursday 9th
Laundry and swimming at Martinique Pool, lunch at OPR, and then
went up to the Customs House to meet some more friends from our
village who were coming over for the afternoon to have a look at
the CBR. Spent the afternoon by the OPR pool, in the arcade, or on
the lake. Bought the $35 Family Plan (as mentioned elsewhere), and
took out 5 toobies first time, then another 3 later on.
Our friends were impressed with the CBR. The rooms were bigger
than their hotel on I-Drive and better furnished, they liked the
detail and theming everywhere, and couldn't get over the
helpfulness of all the staff. We'd discussed all this back home
before they booked, but they were not persuaded, and took an
el-cheapo package. Seeing is believing, and they are now planning
next year's visit at the CBR. More Converts!
They'd spent the morning at Wet'n'Wild (Freebee tix for attending
a Vistana TS presentation), and were pretty waterlogged, sunburnt
and tired, so they went home and we went to MGM to catch the B&TB
show. We joined the line about half an hour before showtime. They
were already admitting, and the auditorium was about half full,
but we got in as a group at the back of the bleacher seating, with
not too many trees in the way. Thoroughly enjoyed the show and
decided to come back another day early enough to get seats near
the front. Did Muppetvision, Star Tours, watched Sorcery and left.
Friday 10th
Drove to TL for about 8.30, waved to the Pappas clan who were
about 50 people ahead of us, and moved through the gates to the
starting line. Watched Jennifer Pappas snake through the crowd and
then - "They're Off!" - with Jennifer moving like a startled deer
to stake out our preferred spot under one of the shelters by
Ketchakiddie Kreek. We oldies could then follow at a sedate pace
and maintain our dignity. Great Plan - Thanks Jim and Jennifer!
Had a fun day, while the families got to know each other some
more, with Elizabeth and Kimberly frequently disappearing together
and then returning later giggling about something or other
understandable only to young girls.
Left late afternoon, intending to have a lazy evening, but
summoned up some energy and went to check out prices at Toys'R'Us.
The prices were literally $ for � - Nintendo Game Boy $69.75 as
opposed to �69.95 in the UK. Wandered round drawing up a shopping
list for later editing, bought a couple of Super-Soaker double
cartridge, variable jet, pump action, water rifles - great fun in
fairly empty pools, or for washing the car from the balcony of our
room!! Returned to CBR, had a snack and crashed out.
Saturday 11th
Lie in, Martinique pool to play with Super Soakers, (but the kids
wanted them back after a while!) then we rented some toobies and
generally lazed until 12. Went to PO, ate at Sassagoula Soap Works
had a good look round and then went on to DL, which was still
under construction last year. For this price of accomodation, we
still prefer the CBR, but I think it's more familiarity than any
definite advantage.
Drove back to CBR, and all got spruced up, because today was
Elizabeth's Birthday, and we were collecting Kim Pappas and going
to Chef Mickey's for a Birthday Meal! Very successful and
enjoyable (as described elsewhere). After the meal and a wander
round DV, we headed for MGM, did some rides then met up with Jim
to finish the evening. Mike Scopa was also in MGM but we didn't
spot him! He obviously needed a striking red garment to make him
stand out!
Sunday 12th
It's Great Birthday Bash Day!!! Had another lazy morning around
OPR Pool. Went to use the Family Plan boat rental, and discovered
that it covered ALL boats, so took out a Flote-Bote for myself and
Elizabeth and a tooby for Martin. Lunched at OPR food court, lazed
a little more, got changed, met up with the Pappas' and set off
for HDD.
Although we ribbed Cathy Jette about being on the last minute, the
journey - bus to MK - ferry to FW - took us far longer than we
anticipated, including an extremely hot wait at the ferry stop.
(The weather had been in the high 90's with NO rain for a few
days, and everywhere was dry and parched.)
Met up with the Scopa's and ceremonially presented Mike with his
gift. I could tell he was touched by the way he dropped it on the
floor and stamped on it a few times before putting it on!
Had a crazy time as described elsewhere, then emerged blinking
into the daylight to head for EPCOT with Jim and family. Did
Imagination for some time, Captain EO, Communicores and finished
with a ride on Spaceship Earth.
Monday 13th
Another Pool/Boat morning, then off to Beaches and Cream for
lunch. Had a good wander around the Y&BC. Seems more attractive
every time we go. Not quite attractive enough to pay full price,
but certainly high on our list with AP Specials.
Took the tram to EPCOT, and tried to find a treeless view to
photograph SitS. Found a clear space near Canada, which also
allowed a view of the pickup and launch of the stacked kites. Very
Slick! Also noticed that the Mickey inflatable in front of America
rotates!! (I'd set up for a zoom shot, watched the kite launch,
and when I came to take the pic, Mickey had his back to me!)
Did some more countries, and then went down to the Land. Did
Kitchen Kabaret and Listen to the Land, and went upstairs
intending to leave. We noticed that the Land Grille had empty
tables, so enquired and were seated immediately. Food assisted by
Anchor Steam Beer renewed my energy stores, so we spent the rest
of the evening in the Communicores, leaving just before
Illuminations to beat the rush. The kids had their pictures drawn
by the robot arms in the area at the end of Communicore West, and
were surprised at how recognisable they were from only a few
lines.
Tuesday 14th
Hit MGM early and made reservations for lunch at Prime Time Cafe.
Did Superstar TV, Monster Sound Show and Indy Jones plus
Muppetvision. Came out of Muppetvision in time to watch 'The Days
of Swine and Roses'. Baking hot in the noonday sun, but very
entertaining. Miss Piggy unfortunately gives autographs to her
'adoring public' before the show starts. The area has no shade, so
it would have been better to do it afterwards and let the majority
escape to the cool.
Returned to PTC for lunch, fought our way through the crowds
chanting 'We want Mike', exchanged a few pleasantries with Mr S.
who was just departing, and had a fun time being kids again. We
saw the full routine - no elbows on tables, the aeroplane, shame
shame! - plus some witty cracks from the waiter for the next group
of tables. A guy who flipped up the clip-on sunshades on his
spectacles was greeted with a 'Hey Look! He has mouse ears on his
glasses!' A girl on her way to the restrooms was wearing a white
blouse with red polka dots, and was pointed out with 'Look Out!
Her blouse has the measles. It might be infectious!' Doesn't sound
that funny out of context, but it certainly creased up everybody
there!
Returned to CBR to cool down, and met up with Mike S. and Jim P.
around the Martinique pool.
Went back to MGM at about 6.45 to make sure of a good seat for the
BatB show. No Problem! Just got seated away from the trees about 3
rows from the front when the heavens opened. The place emptied! We
could have moved to the front row, but we were settled under our
ponchos with dry seats, so we stayed where we were. The show took
place, but was shortened, without much of the energetic dancing
and pyrotechnic effects. Still, we enjoyed it, especially the
detailed costumes. It was another three months before we got to
see the movie here in the UK, to realise how close the show comes
to it.
Had a snack at Starring Rolls, watched the LM stage show again,
did the Backstage Tour and finished with a trip through Animation.
Wednesday 15th
Had to go to Port Canaveral to collect a settlement check from
Premier, so spent the morning at KSC, called at Premier, and then
Toys'R'Us for some gifts on the way back.
Met up with the Pappas' at PI, took in a couple of the shows at
the Adventurers Club, and then over to the Comedy Warehouse. I
suggested a good old Lancashire phrase for their improvisation
which they used without the actors having a clue what it meant!
(Where There's Muck There's Brass!)
Had a look round some of the dance clubs, watched the live band
until the New Year, then took some very sleepy children home.
Thursday 16th
Typhoon Lagoon again with Jim and family. Same excellent tactics
from Jennifer, same spot by Ketchakiddie Kreek.
Snorkled in Shark Reef for the first time. Sheesh that water's
cold!
Jim outdistanced me by over 10 feet at the bottom of Homunga
Kowabunga. Must be his streamlined shape??
Left at 5, got cleaned up and went for dinner at the Teppanyaki
Grille in Japan. First time the kids had seen anything like it.
They were expecting a finger or two in the stir-fry, but our chef
was too skillful for that.
When we left the restaurant it was pouring, so we stayed on the
balcony and had a great view of most things (except for the
dancing water which was obscured by a TREE!!!!).
Friday 17th
Last full day. Spent the morning at the CBR Pools and boats. I had
what I can safely say is the only hint of incivility I've had from
a Cast Member over more that 75 Disney Days. I took out a Flote
Boat with Elizabeth, and at the far end of the lake we ran out of
gas! After some time the Rescue Boat appeared and swapped tanks,
and we were away again. I headed straight back in, 'cos we'd been
out for about 45 mins, only to be greeted by a snappy 'Sir, the 30
minute rule applies to All boats, even the expensive ones!' That
made me real mad, because the girl saying it was the one who had
supposedly checked our boat before we set off! I looked over her
head to the family waiting to board and said 'You might want to
get somebody competent to check the gas, or you could get stuck
out there too!' Petty, but I felt better!
Swam some more, had lunch at the Olive Garden and then went to do
some final shopping in the DV Marketplace.
On our return to the CBR, there was the famous breathless
voicemail from Jim. 'Splash Mountain is OPEN!!' We'd planned that
our final park of this vacation would be the MK, but this gave us
extra impetus. Did SM a few times, Haunted Mansion, watched
SpectroMagic, IASW, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Fantasy in the Sky and
then headed back down Main Street for the last time for at least a
year. Sigh!
Completed the packing apart from the last minute stuff, (Heaven
only knows what Customs made of disassembled Super Soakers stowed
across several suitcases!) and went to bed.
Saturday 18th
Finished packing, checked out and met up with the Pappas family
for the last time (for this trip anyway!) for breakfast at the
Garden Gallery. After fond farewells and much picture taking, we
went our separate ways.
We went on down to the AMC Cinemas and watched 'Honey I Blew Up
the Kid' as a restful way of passing the time before our 12 hour
journey, did more gift shopping in PI and DV, then drove to the
airport, returned the car and had a long if uneventful flight back
to the rain of the UK.
******************************************************************
Writing the report has reminded me of some events that must have
taken place during the 'blank' two days, but I can't remember
which order.
We must have been at MGM for a major part of one of the days,
because we had our first visit to the Voyage of the Little
Mermaid, saw the 'Dinosaurs Live!', had a meal at the Sci-Fi Drive
In, and worked through about half of a Brazilian Tour Party until
I found someone who spoke enough English for me to get hold of a
T-Shirt. I actually spoke to a group leader - impeccable english,
well educated and obviously loved the Tour Parties as much as we
do - one of his comments was to the effect that 'Never mind the
T-Shirt, you could have their knickers for 5 bucks - as long as
they weren't full of stolen goodies!'
Sometime during these 'missing' days we also had a meal at the
Yacht Club with Jim Pappas and family.
******************************************************************
General Impressions. The crowds still seem lighter than in '89,
but maybe we are getting better at avoiding them.
The weather got hotter and drier through the vacation (I believe
that there was a spell of 10 days with no rain at all), until the
last few days where it reverted to the normal pattern of late
afternoon thunderstorms.
We would take PO and DL as good substitutes for the CBR in the
price range, but the more we see of the Y&BC, the more we think
it's worth the money.
Even with Splash Mountain, MK was our least visited park. We like
it for sentimental reasons, but it always seems the most crowded,
and well documented. We always seem to find some corner of MGM or
EPCOT that isn't well known, where we can get away from the crowds
for a while, but not MK.
The trees are getting to be a problem!!
I think everything new or useful has been already documented in
my previous (and timely) replies, but if there's anything unclear,
the ask away.
Mike B.
|
| 290.43 | Kappler's on October | VOGON::KAPPLER | Miss Lilly kissed me! | Mon Dec 21 1992 05:20 | 137 |
| This is the trip report for the Kappler gang. Before I start I'd like to say a
very, very sincere thank-you to all the people who contributed information, in
this conference and direct to me , that allowed me to do so much up fornt
planning and ensure we got the best out of our time (I hope Claude is still
around to read this. Best wishes Claude.)
>>>This trip report is incomplete, and due to my departure cannot be completed
so is submitted as is. Enjoy & farewell to you all>>>
This report does not cover in detail our pre-WDW activities, and it sometimes
criticises things we found. If this may offend anyone, please press Next
Unseen now.........
The Party: John & Marilyn Kappler, their children Phillip (6) and Kenneth (9
but really 10 (-:), my other son John (21) and Marilyn's parents (the
out-laws) Edna and Donald. 7 in total.
Outward Travel: We flew from London Gatwick to St. Louis on Friday 9th Oct. We
stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn after rejecting the originally booked
economy accomodation. We flew on to Orlando on Sat. 10th October. All flights
were courtesy of TWAs FFB program.
The first week we stayed at a rented property in Kissimee, which was
excellent. This week was spent doing all the Orlando non-WDW attractions such
as Universal Studios, Sea World, Wet 'n Wild and a trip to Cape Canaveral in
our rental mini-van.
The following five days were spent in a beach front apartment on the Gulf
Coast at Indian Shores. This was for resting and only included incidental
attractions such as Busch Gardens & Parasailing!
We arrived at Walt Disney World at 11am on Thursday 22nd October. It took
nearly an hour to register at Fort Wilderness for our Trailer Homes (2) and Be
Our Guest Passes. We had decided to throw caution to the winds and book the
7nights/8days pass although we were leaving early in the morning of our last
day. The accomodation wasn't ready (didn't think it would be) so we parked in
the FW lot and grabbed the first bus to Pioneer Hall (it turned out to be the
River Country bus which does the trip non-stop).
We went to the jetty and the MK launch was just arriving so we set off for the
Magic Kingdom. We spent about three hours there, managing to do Splash and
Thunder Mountains once each, plus Pirates and Haunted, Tiki Birds and various
others, and watch the 3 o'clock parade. We returned to FW via Monorail (up
front!), Blue bus and FW local bus.
The evening was spent doing a little shopping at the campground store,
rearranging the furniture in the trailers and settling in. Incidentally,
although the trailers can be booked for 4-6 people, if you book for 4 or less,
you don't get one with the extra two bunk beds in. We solved this hiccup by
cooking, eating and socialising in one of the trailers, which the out-laws
slept in, and the other five of us sleeping in the other trailer, with the two
smaller kids taking turns on the couch.
Friday was Magic Kingdom In Ernest Day. We travelled there by FW bus, regular
bus and Monorail. It was early on we discovered the earth shattering news that
Space Mountain was closed for refurbishment (to be reopened in mid-November).
Kenneth (and I) were devastated!! However we rode the people mover which
afforded the spectacle of Space Mountain with the service lights on (that
track twists and turns like you'd never believe!). There were service
personnel actively welding sections of structure and track in several places.
This day was enlivened by a downpour (the second of our vacation). This and
the combination of the 3 o'clock parade enable the more dedicated of us to do
Splash and Thunder Mountains several times without queueing!! We left the
park slightly before closing time, and made one of our only two trips outside
WDW for some serious grocery shopping.
Saturday was spent at Disney-MGM. This was a three bus trip but more of that
later. After Universal I was expecting more of the same, but in my view many
of the Disney things had the edge. The backlot tour, even without Catastrophe
Canyon was more detailed, the Indian Jones Stunt Spectacular was indeed
spectacular. Star Tours was on a par with Back to the Future at US, but the
one that made me chuckle most was the Muppet 3-D show. The combination of
muppets, 3D, cartoon characters and theatre special effects was great. The
only downside of the day was the closure of Mama Melroses, forcing us to eat
in the Drive-in Restaurant where the food was mediocre, and expensive. I'm
still trying to find a cuddly Jessica to buy......
From there we bus and monorailed to MK, for the spectro-magic parade and
fireworks. The parade was great but we found ourselves cut-off between the
Hall of Presidents and Fantasy Land which meant the kids didn't quite get the
best view. It was still spectacular! Just before the parade the kids and my
son had gone to the restrooms in Frontier Land, and the cast members wouldn't
let them back across the street, or gain entry from Fantasy Land. My son had
to talk his way into the area and leave the kids at the barrier by the Castle,
and I then had to go back and convince two cast members to let my kids rejoin
us. This was a needless hassle at the end of a long day with tired kids. After
the parade we took up position in front of the Castle to see Tinkerbelle on
the advice of a cast member. Unfortunately what he forget to mention was that
from that position you can't see anything of the fireworks as they are
directly behind the castle! We quickly repositioned and caught the end of the
display. Home to FW by boat and bus as quickly as possible.
Sunday started with laundry! In the morning Marilyn, John & I made extensive
use of the FW laundromat facility whilst the out-laws took the kids to River
Country. After lunch we made for Epcot (2 bus + Monorail). We started with
Spaceship Earth and then worked our way anti-clockwise round. We managed most
of the rides and the first few of the Country pavilions before we returned to
the edge of the lake for the Firework/Laser/Light/Sound display. This was
excellent and so well synchronised. We returned to FW tired but full of the
spectacle!
On Monday, John took off for the day (to visit an Air-Force Base!) and the
rest of us took a gamble on the fog clearing and bussed it to Typhoon Lagoon.
Sure enough, the weather cleared and we had a great time. For me there was one
dissappointment, which was the amount of litter in the sand. Numerous
cigarette butts and the occasional used band-aid definitely let down the
Disney magic. Still the kids found $1.21 in odd coins so they were happy.
Kenneth and I did all the slides, including Humunga-Kowabunga. I was fairly
daunted by this until I did it, but afterwards I wouldn't bother again. It's
over too quickly, bruised me, and the longer twist and turn slides are much
more exciting, especially in the tubes when you end up going backwards!
The wave pool roller is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Six foot of water thundering down on
you is great fun, and to relax, Castaway Creek is very relaxing. Highlight of
the day for Kenneth & I was when one of the cast members at the bottom of tube
slide asked us to check the name of the cast member at the top. If it was the
right person, we had to splash her from him! We carried this out dutyfully and
excused ourselves by saying he'd told us to do it! This resulted in another
descent backwards. Those cast members can be vindictive sometimes......
We stayed till closing and then visited the Disney Marketplace on our way back
to FW, for the obligatory shopping of Disneyana.......
Tuesday was the day to finish Epcot. Another great day, with the Norewegian
log ride being memorable (I'd never gone backwards on a log ride before!).
The finale was the compute centre visit where we were shown another glimpse of
the intricacies of Space Mountain and it's computer control.
In the evening, Marilyn and I went to Pleasure Island. We visited the Comedy
Warehouse, the Neon Armadillo and the Adventurers Club. All good entertainment
and New Years Eve came too quickly for us at 11pm.
|
| 290.44 | addendum | VOGON::KAPPLER | Miss Lilly kissed me! | Wed Dec 23 1992 11:17 | 22 |
| Addendum to .43
Last day was spent at MK, with an early start, and as you may have
guessed the Horseshoe Review. To everyone's surprise, and my son's
embarassment, Miss Lilly singled me out for the part where she's "looking
for a man", with the end result of a wonderful lipstick impression on
the top (shiny part) of my head, with strict instruction not to wipe it
off till I'd left the park!
One last comment. We found the bus service excellent. Rarely crowded,
anmd many of the drivers were good entertainers in their own right,
particularly in the FW area. We only used our own transport twice
during the week, both times to go off-world for shopping. But it does
help to study the routes and schedule guide.
We also managed several rides up-front in the monorail, although the
last of these meant we had to let 4 or 5 trains go before we could be
accomodated. Even so, it was worth it.
Bye to all,
JohnK
|
| 290.45 | X-mas day at Disney-MGM | ESKIMO::ROBROSE | | Wed Dec 30 1992 09:38 | 75 |
|
One Day visit to Disney-MGM Studios on December 25, 1992
Who: My wife, and me!
Why: Don't really know!!!
My wife decided at 9:00 Christmas morning that she thought it would be fun
to go to WDW for Christmas. I tried explaining to her the size of the crowds
that day and that she had waited until the last minute so we would not get to
the parks till about 11:00am. Still with all of this she wanted to go, so go
we did. At 11:00 MK was closed due to capacity,(this was fine with me since
I did not want to brave the MK crowds), so I decided we would go to MGM.
At this hour things were not that bad crowd wise, Star tours wait about 5
minutes, TGMR wait about 10 minutes, Most people had about a � hour wait for
the backstage tram tour but, there were many, many, many families in the park
and we were almost always able to get around the longer lines since we were
only a party of TWO. The castmembers were constantly asking for parties of
two so this worked out well for us.
By 3:00pm we were getting a little hungry and the park was filling up with
frustrated MK visitors so we decided to hop a boat over to the EPCOT resorts
for some food. There were several Christmas buffets at the resort hotels
but we skipped those in favor of "Beaches and Creams". This is such a fun
place. I had the turkey burger which is served with a side of fruit instead
of french fries. The resorts were mostly empty since everybody was in the
parks so we walked around outside for a bit to enjoy the beautiful weather.
Across the lagoon from the Yacht/Beach club boat dock is a building wall
with a side for the Disney Boardwalk on it. The writing was small and I
could not make out an opening date.
We got back to MGM about 5:00. We decided that the line for TLM show was
not gong to get any shorter so we got on, this was our longest wait of the
day at a little over � hour. This was the first time we had seen this show
and we both enjoyed it very much. I did wish the theatre had more of a
slope to it, I saw many parents trying to hoist their children up high
enough to see over the heads in front of them. From here we went over to
Muppet-vision, no wait here, this is a great attraction. Once we got out of
Muppet-vision we noticed that the crowd had thinned condiserably. It was
around 6:30 and I just figured that most people had had enough for the day.
We had almost no waiting for the remainder of the evening.
We did ST four times, did the Monster sound show(me doing the wind,gate,book
case effects and my wife doing the electronic effects) this was great fun.
We took in the IJ stunt show, then walked down the New York street which is
decorated for Christmas and has some of the Macy's thanksgiving day parade
ballons scattered about.
We then went over to Starring Rolls for cinnamon buns and coffee. We watched
the beauty and beast stage show which was pretty good.
Did Star Tours again before we found a spot to watch the fireworks from.
I was a little disappointed in the fireworks since I thought that there would
be a little more to it since it was Christmas but, it was the standard
show. The Fireworks started at 9:50 so once the show was over we went back
to Muppet-vision for our last attraction of the evening.
Overall Impressions:
--------------------
I would definetly agree that Christmas day is NOT the day to go to WDW but,
if you have your heart set on it you can still make an enjoyable day of it.
I would avoid MK at all cost, it is jammed for the TV parade and does not
really improve much until 10:00pm or so. The MGM and EPCOT crowds were
not any worse than a standard day except for a few hours. Moving over to
the resorts for a while breaks up the day and provides a relaxed meal.
I would not hesitate to go to EPCOT or MGM Christmas day in the future.
-Rob
|
| 290.46 | A few days after Christmas at Disney-MGM | 19568::EPPES | I'm not making this up, you know | Wed Dec 30 1992 12:30 | 57 |
| My Spouse Equivalent and I went to Disney-MGM Studios on Dec. 28, 1992. We
were staying with his parents in Sebring, Florida, and drove up for the day
(about an hour and a half drive). We had 2 days left on our 4-day passports
from last year; we visited Disney-MGM exactly one year from the day we last
visited Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom and EPCOT last year, though).
We had been in Florida since Dec. 23, and it was warm and sunny every day we
were there - until we went to WDW, of course. The day started out cool and
foggy; weather reports on the radio claimed the fog would lift and the temp
would get to 78, but it never did. It was cool (60s) and gray the entire day.
But at least it didn't rain...
We got to Disney-MGM about 9:15. Neither of us had been there before. Since I
wasn't sure we were going to make it there this trip, I neglected to bone up on
it with tidbits from this conference (tsk!); however, I did remember reading
somewhere (here or in Birnbaum) that The Great Movie Ride is the first thing
you should head for upon arriving in the morning, so that's what we did. We
had about a 20-minute wait, not too bad. Waits for most attractions averaged
20-30 minutes for us; I guess it was more crowded than it was on Christmas Day,
judging from the report in the previous reply.
The attractions/shows we did NOT see were: Superstar Television, The Little
Mermaid Show, the Beauty and the Beast Show, and Star Tours (which we've been
on in Disneyland; it had a huge line, so we opted to skip it). Oh, and Sorcery
in the Sky - it was just too cold and we were too tired to hang around for it.
I'm not sure how well it would've looked in the clouds and fog, which was
getting lower by that time.
My favorite attraction was Muppet Vision 3D. Just reading the posters and
"experiments" while waiting in line (and looking at the painted pipes, lights,
etc.) was worth it, almost... :-)
The tour through the animation studio was neat. We got there late-ish, around
5:30, and I wasn't sure whether anyone would still be working, but there were
still a couple of animators and inkers at work. The Robin Williams/Walter
Cronkite running commentary is really cute. They are working on post-production
(I think that's what they said) of "The Lion King," and pre-production of
"Pocahontas."
At the end of the Special Effects tour (forget its name - Magic something), we
saw previews of two upcoming releases, about which I had heard nothing
previously. One is called "Swing Kids" and is set in Germany in 1939. It
appears to be about the rise of Nazism crushing all forms of jazz/swing/etc.
The only actors I recognized were Barbara Hershey and Kenneth Branagh (if *he's*
in it, it's got to be good!). The other preview was of a remake of "The
Incredible Journey," the story of 2 dogs and a cat who travel across Canada to
be reunited with their family, who has moved away. Its title is "Homeward
Bound: The Incredible Journey." It is live-action, with real animals.
Dee Wallace Stone was the only actor (human, that is :-) ) I recognized, but
of course most of it focused on the animals.
We had an excellent, albeit pricey, dinner at The Brown Derby.
We enjoyed Disney-MGM, but don't plan to visit it again anytime soon. EPCOT
remains our favorite WDW theme park.
-- Nina
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