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Pat DiFranco -- October 2001 -- Walt Disney World (HHI, OKWR)Trip Report:
Background: Very experienced. We have gone to Disney World every year except one since 1987. We purchased DVC points at OKWR in Oct. of 1991 - before it opened! Intro: I wanted to submit a trip report for this trip right after we returned home, but catching up at work and then the holidays made that impossible. I took copious notes, but without a laptop to "write as you go" I just did not have the time to put everything together once we returned. Since Mouse Planet was a little low on trip reports, I figured better late than never. We don't have a Comedy Warehouse hook to our trips, or an Off Kilter hook, or even a park commando hook. I guess you'd say we have a relaxing and eating hook. We generally get up early and eat breakfast in the room. We get to a park at opening and take in a few attractions before the park gets hot and crowded. About 11:30 AM or so we go to an early lunch either at the park or at one of the resorts, then relax for the rest of the day. Doug takes a nap or goes boating. I go swimming or resort hopping on the Disney busses or boats. A couple of hours of alone time each day does wonders. In the late afternoon we sit and relax on the balcony and watch the golfers. They always entertain us. (There's often a bit of cheating going on, and once a cart got away from a party and drove itself into the water!) We then head out for an early dinner. After dinner we either take a walk around one of the resort areas or around World Showcase. Because we go in October, the other parks are usually closed by the time we get done with dinner. That's our pattern. We like it, and it works for us. One of the things that makes a Disney World vacation so fantastic is that because there are so many things to do, you can design a stay that'll be just right for your family. Preplanning: We made our OKWR reservations in February, requesting top floor, building 18. We like the golf course view, it's not too far from the main pool and shops, and it's close to a quiet pool and bus stop. There is some bus noise, but it is not enough to bother us. We also requested top floor. We don't mind the climb, and the peace and quiet overhead is worth it. I made priority seating dinner reservations in July. My co-workers were very amused by this. Dinner reservations three months in advance?! Works for us, and besides it's fun. We made DVC HH reservations in April as soon as our seven-month window opened up. We had never stayed there before, but it sounded beautiful. It also sounded like a great way to break up the driving. We have been driving down for about five years now. We find it costs much less to take two weeks together and drive down instead of taking two separate weeks, flying and renting a car. We don't like flying (and didn't well before September 11th), and it's so much more convenient to load up the car with all the drinks, snack and breakfast food, and laundry products etc. etc. etc. and just hit the road. We are real commandos when we drive down. We load up a cooler with drinks and sandwiches and only stop for gas and bathroom breaks. We're on a mission, and since we are not traveling with kids it's not a problem to just keep going and going and going. It's also a joy to not have to worry about dragging all your souvenirs on the plane when you leave. Another plus to the two week plan is that we have the time to really relax and get away from it all for an extended stretch. The down side is the extra catching up we have to do at work before and after the trip, and the extra arrangements at home to keep the cats and the plants happy while we are gone. We really miss our cats, Mickey and Minnie, while we're away. And, in spite of the great cat sitter we get for them, I know they really miss us 'cause they get into so much mischief. The other down side is that we only get to WDW once a year. Someday hopefully we'll live closer and make more frequent trips. The trip: Day 1 Wednesday Oct. 24th We were originally going to leave Thursday early AM to make the drive to HH all in one day. Doug was taking Wednesday off to get everything organized and loaded. I ended up taking Wednesday off too, so we decided to take off that afternoon instead of waiting. We hit the road about 1:00 PM, ran into rush hour traffic in Washington DC, but still made it well into North Carolina before we stopped at a Hampton Inn next to a Cracker Barrel at about 9:30. The room was clean and functional. We brought in our overnight bags and went to sleep early. Day 2 Thursday Oct. 25th We were the first customers at 6:00 AM the next morning for our Cracker Barrel breakfast. After breakfast we gassed up and hit the road by 7:00. We resisted the temptation to stop at South of the Border going in to South Carolina, and arrived in HH about noon. Hilton Head was very pretty. Large trees that disguised the shopping strips were everywhere. Traffic was pretty heavy though. It must really be bad in the summer. We got lost a little bit, but eventually located the DVC resort. It was beautiful. Very lodgey looking, and all nestled in trees. We spotted Shadow's dog house. We never did see Shadow though. It was so exciting to be having a whole new Disney experience. We presented ourselves at the front desk. Cast member Charlene was very good at her job, and gave us the complete rundown. The room was not ready yet. Now we knew we were at Disney :). We looked around the resort. It was very peaceful. Definitely not the frantic atmosphere of a WDW resort. It was very hot and muggy, and I did not have my swim suit in the overnight bag. It was buried with the other bags in the rooftop carrier. We decided to have lunch while waiting for the room. Doug had researched HH restaurants on line before we left. We had lunch at Charley's Crab. We are seafood lovers and it sounded good. Great dockside location. The food was pretty good. The service wasn't, and the atmosphere was a bit stuffy for me. I thought the prices were a little too high for the quality of the experience. After lunch we returned to DVC. The room still was not ready, so we explored the beach house and then sat by the pool to wait. At 4:00 we got cookies and our room! Yea. The one bedroom unit was nice. Smaller than OKWR, but plenty of room for two. The large shaded balcony was wonderful. It felt like we were the only ones here. We had had a large lunch, so we didn't go out for dinner. We walked around the resort some more and signed up for the dolphin encounter the next day. Day 3 - Friday Oct. 26th We had breakfast at the Hilton Head diner just down the road from DVC, then made a run to Piggly Wiggly for items I forgot to pack. This time it was coffee filters and a blank VHS tape to record the in-room promo. (Yes, we're obsessed. We admit it). It was now time for our dolphin encounter. We went out in a pontoon boat with our guide, Scott, and three other couples. The weather had turned very chilly and it was COLD out on the water when the boat was moving. Fortunately we all had on long pants and sweaters. Everyone but Scott, but he was used to it. The encounter was great fun. We got to see some sights, some oyster beds, and quite a few dolphins. It was against the law to feed them so they didn't come too close, but we could see them playing around out there. This was a very nice way to spend a couple of hours. We asked Scott's recommendation for a good place to eat lunch. We ended up at The Captains Table. This was a small restaurant and retail fish store combined. Wonderful fresh fish and oysters cooked to order and served to you at outside umbrella tables. This was right down the road from DVC. I highly recommend this place. It's great food, and very inexpensive. After lunch we went to the beach house and walked on the beach awhile. I went in the hot tub and Doug relaxed in a hammock. We went to dinner at The Old Oyster Factory. Had a great raw oyster platter for two and split a shrimp Caesar salad. I have never tasted such fresh tasting shrimp! Hilton Head is a shell fish lover's dream! This is also a restaurant we will go back to. We packed up and reloaded the car to head out to Orlando the next morning. The luggage cart and elevator made this a quick chore. We enjoyed our sort stay in HH, and will most definitely be back. When we checked in Charlene said that most people stay there on their way back from WDW. Not us. When we leave Disney World we just want to get home. I think that for us HH is a nice buffer between home and Orlando. We rest and relax there and don't hit WDW so exhausted from the long drive. Day 4 - Saturday October 27th Saturday morning at HH was freezing!! We finished packing up and pulled out at about 7:00. We arrived at OKWR about noon with much excitement...Yea!! Purple Signs!!! We're here!! Welcome Home!! Of course the temperature was much milder here and we really felt like we were on vacation. The room was not ready so we changed into shorts and had a good lunch at Olivia's. I was starving so the fried chicken and mashed potatoes tasted extra good!! We decided to head over to Epcot. It's the one park that you can enter mid afternoon and still have room to breathe. We wanted to see what they were doing with the Food and Wine Festival in light of the cutbacks. I'm sorry to report that the Festival was a shadow of its former self. There were far fewer booths than last year. Two booths were combined into one, with fewer choices. Lines were longer too as a result. Worst of all, our favorite booth was missing. A big highlight for us was the booth that featured a different WDW restaurant every day. Some good, some not so good, but it was always fun to see who would be there on any given day. This booth was missing - not there at all-gone. Boo! We took a nice walk around World Showcase. At 3:00 Doug called to see if the room was ready. "Yea, right," I said. What do ya know, it was ready! At 3:00! Things must be slow. This hasn't happened in years. It took us awhile to unload everything and drag it up 3 flights. It looked like we were moving in for a month! It was worth it though. We enjoyed our nice quiet room and our favorite view. We love the OKWR one bedroom units because they feel more like an apartment than a hotel suite. The hallway between the living room and bedroom makes a big difference. If Doug's taking a nap or I'm watching TV we don't bother the other person. The separate laundry room is nice too. If we do a late load of laundry and put the clothes in the dryer before we go to bed we can shut the laundry room door. We unpacked and relaxed in the room before heading out to Artist Point for dinner. Dinner was very good. Artist Point was beautiful as usual, looking like a Frank Lloyd Wright advertisement. Wilderness Lodge awesome as always. Doug had salmon on a wood plank and I had grouper. Pao, our server from Korea, gave us fine service. We drove over to the Polynesian after dinner. Even though it was Saturday night we were waved right through the security gate. We took the monorail over to the MK hoping to see Spectromagic. We were just in time. Had a great viewing area right in front of City Hall. I love this parade!! I'm so glad we got a chance to see it. We left right after Spectro. It was way too crowded to hang around. We took the little boat back to the Poly and checked out the new pool and the shops. We watched the fireworks and water pageant from the beach. Hadn't seen the pageant in years. It's been updated with some more recent Disney music - The Little Mermaid for one - but is still as charming as ever. What a full first day. I was exhausted but happy. Day 5 - Sunday October 28th We fell back out of daylight savings time and slept an extra hour. We had Animal Kingdom in mind. So did a zillion other people. It was, pardon the expression, a zoo that morning! I was tripping over kids and run over by strollers just getting in. We got a FP for the safari and went on Dino. That was still empty. When our FP time opened up we had a good safari. It was pretty cool that morning and we saw quite a few animals. The lions were awake, and the giraffes came right up to the road. By this time the crowds were way too thick for us. We left to go explore the AKL. Another awesome WDW resort, but, I think, a bit less so than WL I am a big fan of the Mission style so maybe that's why I'm partial to WL. AKL is without a doubt a very beautiful and unique resort however. Staying there and seeing the animals from your balcony must be wonderful. Every time we were over there I kept trying to spot giraffes, but never did. We had a light lunch at The Mara. Now this is our kind of food court. The food was more interesting than the usual burgers and fries. I had a noodle dish with tofu, and Doug had the sugar cane chicken. After lunch we explored the rest of the lodge, scoped out the restaurants, and then went back to our room to relax. That night we went to our favorite restaurant. California Grill. We had a perfect evening. We arrived early and got a window seat facing the MK. We had drinks and watched the sun set and the lights go on. Steven, our server, had been there since the beginning and knew his wines. He suggested the perfect wines to go with our dinner. We had the Dungeness Crab California Roll. Doug had Grilled Salmon with Artichokes, Salsify and Zinfandel Syrup, and I had Roasted Black Grouper with Butternut Squash Risotto and Truffle Essence. Dessert was Walt's Lemon Meringue Pie Soufflé. Great meal!! (Can you tell that I took the menu as a souvenir?) After dinner we waddled off to the monorail to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We decided to attend this year because there were no E ride nights. It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes. Many of the adults had costumes too this year. The parade route was not very full for the first parade of the evening. We watched the Headless Horseman gallop by, followed by the cute not so scary parade with all the characters and a catchy theme song. The MK was all decorated in harvest décor and jack o lanterns. We had our Halloween picture taken, then watched the special fireworks. They went off all around the park, not just behind the Castle. The haunted cruise on the riverboat was way too crowded. There was a storyteller on board, but we couldn't see her and didn't know what was going on. The characters were out in their costumes for photo ops, and there were many trick or treating opportunities. By this time a lot more people had shown up. After a trip through the haunted mansion we were ready to call it a night. We are old party poopers though. Some revelers were just arriving as we were leaving. Day 6 - Monday October 29th We went to the Studios this morning. Nothing like the one two punch of R&RC and TOT to get ya goin'. We also spent a lot of time at the 100 Years of Magic exhibit. It was wonderful for us Disneyholics! We looked at everything, went in for the movie, and then looked at the exhibit again. We wanted to examine everything in detail. I found the models, sketches and souvenirs related to the various Disney Parks very interesting. I wish they would make this a permanent attraction. We went to the Brown Derby for lunch, not so much for the food, but for the décor. This place has terrific atmosphere. We didn't eat much because tonight was our dinner at Emeril's restaurant at City Walk. After lunch Doug went back to the room to relax and I explored. I walked to the Boardwalk, then the Y&B looking in the shops, checking out the progress of the building of the BCV and the BWV refurbishment for our future enjoyment. I entered Epcot through the Intl. Gateway, walked to the front entrance, and took the bus to OKWR. I couldn't help it. I just love poking around WDW. One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is to resort hop in one WDW resort neighborhood or other. Late that afternoon we headed over to the dark side! (the Universal Resort area.) I wanted to see the new Hard Rock Hotel, and we had dinner reservations at Emeril's. We love this food so much that we even go off Disney property to have it. I called about two months in advance for reservations. I sure wish this restaurant was at Downtown Disney instead of City Walk. We parked at the HR Hotel and walked over to City Walk. The hotel is nice and Universal is trying to give Disney a run for their money, but it just does not have the charm. The Hard Rock looks like a happenin' hotel, and the employee (not "cast member") that showed us how to get to the walkway to City Walk was very pleasant. The walk was not long, plus they have a small boat that makes the trip via water. City Walk was pretty empty this afternoon. Most of the restaurants were closed for a private event. We tried to visit Pat O'Brian's before dinner, but it was closed. We had a most excellent dinner at Emeril's. I had a stuffed lobster that was way too big, but what the heck, I'm on vacation. The desserts were wonderful. The service was also very good. The cost was about the same as a fine dining experience at WDW. We did not hang around City Walk after dinner. We took the little shuttle boat back to the H R Hotel. We were more than happy to get back home to Disney. On our way back to the room we wanted to take a walk so we went over to Coronado Springs. This resort is spread out with many interesting walkways that are never very crowded. The different sections each have a unique theme, and the main pool area is very impressive. This was a nice way to walk off our dinner. Day 7 - Tuesday October 30th Today we had our Undiscovered Future World tour at Epcot. Our guide, Howard, was very informative and entertaining. A couple of the highlights for us were going into the VIP lounge at the Living Seas ( talk about plush - it's stunningly decorated with dark wood, leather furniture, and lots of fish ) and being able to walk right up to the dinosaurs in the Universe of Energy - with the lights on. Howard told us that the reason there was no more sulfur smell pumped into the dino scene was because people with asthma and other breathing disorders were complaining. There were special pins given out and back stage encounters as well as a "go to the front of the line" ride on Test Track. Howard also gave everyone special purple Test Track fastpasses that could be used anytime. This came in very handy later in the week. We enjoyed this tour very much. As an added perk we were given passes to the VIP area to watch Illuminations that night. Nothing wrong with that! We had a late lunch/early dinner at Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney. We shared the chef's sushi selection and the trio of spring rolls. Both were fantastic! After that we returned to Epcot for our VIP viewing of Illuminations. This was a super Epcot day! Day 8 - Wednesday - Halloween This was the most amazing Magic Kingdom day ever! Security was extra tight. The guys searched our pouches. Unfortunately Doug was carrying his tiny pocket knife/toothpick from the night before. He didn't even realize it was in the pouch. The guard was most apologetic as he escorted us over to guest services to check our weapon. The park was extra super empty this morning. More empty than an E ticket night. More empty than I have ever seen it. We went on Splash twice without getting out of the boat. We could have done a third trip, but we were wet enough and wanted to move on. Every ride was a walk on. In short order we rode BTMR, Jungle Cruise, stopped for a snack, rode Pooh, Peter Pan, TTA & Pirates. We poked in the shops. Finally we stopped for an early lunch at Cosmic Ray's. I love their vegeburgrs with all the fixin's. We then walked around a bit more. Usually by this time we are fleeing the crowds, but it was still very manageable. What a morning. We finally left about 12:30. By this time people were starting to arrive. I am so glad we had that wonderful MK morning!! Doug wanted to go boating in a water mouse on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, so we rode the little park shuttle boat over to the Poly (after retrieving his weapon). I got off at the GF to explore and see their new pool. I shopped a bit then took the Monorail to the MK and another boat to FW. Sometimes the Disney transportation is an attraction in itself. It was a beautiful afternoon for a boat ride or two. I walked through the woods from FW to WL and took a tour of the new DVC units. It looked very rustic and inviting. The "train room" of the lobby area is a must see. It's got some of Walt's train themed pictures and memorabilia. The studios there have a bed and a couch instead of two beds. It feels roomier that way. Nice mission style décor like the rest of the resort. I took another boat back to the MK and the OKWR bus back to our "home". We went to Jiko at AK Lodge for dinner. Beautiful place. Our server, Bill, was great. The food was good, but my Wahoo in banana leaf was a bit over cooked and bland. I read after the trip that the chef had changed over there since it first opened to such glowing reviews. It was not a bad meal, but I don't think that it was as good as it should have been for what it cost. We looked around the lodge after dinner, but did not see any animals that evening. Day 9- Thursday November 1st We got up and went to the 9:00 opening of Animal Kingdom. I liked the 8:00 opening better because of fewer crowds and cooler temperatures. In spite of the later hour the crowds were not too bad this morning. We were able to walk on to the first Safari. Then the trails. We were able to see the gorillas playing with a large ball. The tigers were stretched out and acting just like our cats. It was neither too hot nor too crowded this morning at AK. A rarity. Because Flame Tree was closed we decided to go over to Epcot to have Food & Wine Festival for lunch. First we stopped at Blizzard Beach. I read that you could get a 1/2 hour shopping pass rather than pay to get in. I wanted to get a BB magnet to add to my collection. This was very easy to accomplish at guest services. They kept our resort ID while we shopped, and gave it back without charging the admission when we retrieved it less than 1/2 hour later. We visited various food booths at the Food & Wine Festival for lunch. It was very frustrating to have to wait until noon before World Showcase opened. As a result some of the booths did not start serving until 12:30. By this time there are more crowds. With the increase in the crowd level and the decrease in the number of booths we had far fewer Food & Wine lunches than in past years. I was able to sample the cheddar cheese soup from Canada a couple of times. It was delicious. The New England clam chowder in America was also not bad. I do hope they bring back the booths that were missing when the crowd levels pick up, but I suspect that now that they've done it on the cheap they will continue to do so. We made our way around World Showcase. I had a giant Mexican margarita and a troll filled Norwegian adventure. "Back! Back! Over the Falls" We stopped at the American Pavilion and watched a very moving performance by the Drum and Bugle Corps, followed by an American Vybe concert. I thought they were as talented as the Voices of Liberty. Then we enjoyed The American Adventure - and this year we were not the only ones applauding at the end! The afternoon was hot and muggy so I spent the rest of the afternoon at the OKWR pool. We went to dinner at the Cape May clambake at The Beach Club. This is a perennial favorite of ours. I love the steamed clams and mussels, and could make an entire meal of just those. After dinner we took a walk around the whole Epcot resort area to walk off the meal. This is more exciting than some of our other walks because we have to constantly dodge the dare devil surrey bike drivers. I'm surprised there haven't been any nasty accidents with those yet. I guess Disney must make you sign a release when you rent one. Day 10 - Friday November 2nd We decided to make this a Magic Kingdom morning. There is nothing like walking down Main Street early in the morning with the music playing when it's fairly empty and freshly scrubbed. This is one of the things that keeps us coming back year after year. The crowds were larger than on Halloween, but it was still very manageable. We were escorted back to Splash Mountain in an orderly manner. I sort of miss the good old days when we ran full tilt from the Castle back to Splash, but on the other hand, I don't think we would be among the first to arrive any more. After Splash we rode on the Teacups, the Fantasy Land rides and checked out the new Aladdin magic carpets (we were under whelmed by these). After a visit with the Tiki Birds we headed out. We then went over to the Marketplace to do some shopping, and had lunch at Fulton's Crab House using our DVC discount. The place was jumping. The service was terrible. The food was OK, but lunch took way too long. I think we'll give this restaurant a rest for awhile. We got lost wandering in the World of Disney store, and found some great Disney books at the 3Rs book store. I found some more magnets for my collection. Thank goodness I collect magnets instead of pins. There's less temptation that way. Soon I will have to have two refrigerators to keep them all on. The first one's nearly full. We stayed in the room this evening and ordered Sassagula pizza for the first time. It was not bad. Staying in made for a nice restful evening. Day 11 - Saturday November 3rd We had never eaten at the Yachtsman's Steakhouse for dinner because we are not steak eaters. Now that it was open for breakfast I finally had an opportunity to have a meal here. We had a nice breakfast of Mickey waffles. I wanted a side order of grits 'cause I don't get to have them too often. I was given a bowl of grits big enough to swim in! We chatted with a nice Disney Store cast member from Ohio at the next table. She was in for the Super Soap Weekend and was excited about her WDW weekend. We were parked in the small Yacht Club parking lot with a 3 hour parking pass. There are now signs posted at the Yacht and Beach Club entrances stating that the lots are for guests staying at these resorts only. I don't think these signs were there last year. After breakfast we drove over to Epcot's main entrance for the 10:00 opening. What a frustrating experience.- 9:30 and no toll booths were open yet. Traffic was backing up like I'd never seen it before. Finally about 9:40 one booth opened. One. Even though our resort ID allowed us to park without paying, we had to creep along while others paid. Once we finally made it to the parking lot only one lane was open there as well. All the cars that were backed up to get in were now backed up waiting to park. Disney knows how to handle big crowds well, but they weren't handling this cut back stuff well at all. When we finally parked we saw Hulk Hogan being escorted in to Epcot with his family. He walked through the "grave stones" out front without a glance. (I guess he did not want to Leave a Legacy.) He was widely recognized and paused to wave to his fans and let them snap a few pictures. We finished up everything in Future World, had a drink of Beverly, (we actually like it in small tastes. I don't know if I'd like a full glass though) and headed out. I pool hopped over to Storm Along Bay at the Y&B Resort. I suspected that this was the last year that I would have this DVC perk. (I was right - once the Beach Club Villas open there is no more pool hopping to this pool). As usual I enjoyed this swim very much, especially the deep section with the current. The lounge chairs are more comfortable here than over at OKWR. There is also pool side wait service for the bar and snack bar. This is the life! That night we had another great dinner at California Grill. We took advantage to the parking to walk to MK to enjoy Spectromagic and the fireworks. Because this was Saturday night we didn't even attempt to do anything else at the MK. On our way back to OKWR we stopped at PO and took a nice quiet walk along the canal that joins the two sections of the resort. The French Quarter side was eerily empty. (This was right before it ended up temporarily closing altogether). Day 12 - Sunday November 4th I wanted to experience what Super Soap Weekend was like at MGM so we went over there this morning. Needless to say, it was crazy busy. Many of the people just lined up to see their favorite soap stars so the attractions weren't too bad. We took in Little Mermaid, The Muppet 4D Movie, and Star Tours. Then we got the heck out of there! I never did get a peek at Susan Lucci. We went to the Dixie Landings er, PO Riverside food court for lunch. When I passed the front desk I noticed a line to check in that was easily 45 minutes to an hour long. If this was my first trip and I was staying at this resort it would not inspire me to return! Lunch selections had been scaled back from previous years and the cast members were pretty grim here. The cutbacks were doing nothing for cast member morale. We had dinner at Boma for the first time. What a fantastic buffet this was. They had something for everyone. Too many good somethings. I don't eat much meat and this buffet had many vegetarian selections, even a delicious curry dish with tofu. (I realize that many people would not use delicious and tofu in the same sentence, but I like it). We definitely stuffed ourselves, and will make this a regular stop on future trips. The service was great here. There was no morale problem at the AK Lodge! After dinner we explored the lobby and grounds of the AKL and paused a bit at the story telling campfire in the courtyard. Day 13 - Monday November 5th Without early entry we lost track of which park to avoid on which day. As a result we made the mistake of going to the MK on a Monday. Now we know that Monday is the second busiest day of the week at MK. We were good guests and parked at the T&T Center as we were supposed to rather than at the Poly. We parked in the first row and walked to the monorail and ferryboat entrance. What a mob scene - and the gates were not even open yet. The heck with this! We walked over to the Poly and took the next monorail from there. Quite a hike, but we still beat the ferryboat folks. The lines outside the MK entrance got very long very quickly and started winding back on themselves. No one knew where one ended and another began. They had not been opening Main Street 'til 9:00 so everyone became bottled up outside the turnstiles. To be helpful the Disney management threw a few characters out into the fray. Now you had kids crashing through the lines of people waiting to get in and forming separate lines to see the characters. Before any fistfights could break out they started letting people in a few minutes early. Whew, I hope they go back to the old method after this year. This cutback stuff is just too hard on the guest. The crowds built so quickly we just rode the train around the park, did a little shopping and rode the monorail over to Epcot. On the trip back from Epcot we were able to sit in the cab of the monorail with a couple of nice guys from England who were over here on holiday. Their Cockney accents were so strong we only picked up about half of what they were saying, but they seemed to be having a great time. I went back to the Marketplace to try to find a t-shirt that I liked that was not to be found in my size anywhere. I finally found one at Pleasure Island. It pays to be persistent. I took the OKWR pontoon boat back from the Marketplace. The OKWR boat was running, but the PO ferry was not. This boat ride is always pleasant and relaxing. We had drinks at the Beach Club then walked over to Epcot for our dinner at Bistro de Paris. We had a very excellent meal. I had roasted duck with cherry brandy sauce. Doug had the Escargots and the special of the day - a lobster dish. Naturally we had wonderful French pastries for dessert. We had very professional service here. This is one theme park restaurant that's truly fine dining. We will be back. After dinner we went to see Impressions de France. Good movie with great music and comfy seats! We didn't stay for Illuminations because Hurricane Michelle was threatening. Day 14 - Tuesday November 6th We decided to have lunch at Emeril's today. Like we needed another big meal. Oh well, this is our vacation after all. It was a great meal, but way too heavy for lunch. The oyster stew with garlic mashed potatoes was to die for! Two trips off property during one vacation is a first for us. Not being fans of Universal, I think we'll give this a rest next year. It was sunny but cool today. We decided to go swimming and boating at the Poly. I swam, Doug boated. I tried out the new pool, but left because the water was freezing. I don't think the heater was working. I went over to the quiet pool and had a great swim. It was nice and warm, and I enjoy the deeper water of the old-fashioned pools. This one goes to seven or eight feet. We spent the evening at Epcot. We rode Test Track using our special purple anytime fastpasses from the tour and saw Cranium Command. We had to rush over to catch the final performance of the day before Future World closed at 7:00. We just made it. We took one last walk around World Showcase then headed out. Day 15 - Wednesday November 7th This was the final day of our vacation and we wanted to take it easy. We got up late (for us) and had breakfast at the Kona Café at the Poly. The pressed pot coffee over there is very good. The food and service are also good. We walked around the resort after breakfast, and then took one of the small boats over to the MK - just because we could. We said goodbye to the MK for another year. We finished up our last minute shopping and boated back to the Poly. We relaxed and packed up. One great thing about driving is you don't have to worry about fitting all of your Disney purchases in your suitcases. Our final Disney dinner was at the Flying Fish. This is one of the very best restaurants at WDW, and dinner was wonderful. I had the Buttermilk Fried Fanny Bay Oysters and the Oak Grilled Wahoo. Doug had "Peeky Toe" Crab Cakes and Sesame Crusted Yellowfin Tuna. We were stuffed, but made room for desert anyway. We took a stroll after dinner all around the Boardwalk/Yacht & Beach/Swan & Dolphin area. A nice evening that ended a great vacation. Day 16 - Thursday November 8th We were mostly packed from the day before, so we got up, loaded the car, and had breakfast at Olivia's at OKWR. One advantage to staying so long is that I'm not so sad when it's time to go home. I really miss our cats, and it will be good to be home. After breakfast we hit the road. We don't like prolonging the leaving process by leaving later in the day. The final day is still kind of sad, and we just like to get up and get going. We made it to Virginia that night, and were home by Friday afternoon. We had the weekend to unpack and settle in before going back to work on Monday. Final thoughts: In reading this over I realized that we were pretty laid back this trip as far as seeing all the park attractions. We did not see the China film or the film in Canada as I meant to. We really just did what we wanted with no particular plan in mind. As a result we missed a lot, but had a nice relaxing vacation. After many visits over the years we kind of know which attractions we like, and which we don't bother with any more. (The Great Movie Ride is an example of the latter. That one really wore on us quickly). We are now busy planning our 2002 trip. This time we're spending a few more days in HH, and also a few days at the new Beach Club Villas before moving over to OKWR. We are counting the days! Pat DiFranco patdi@optonline.net Mail a Comment to Pat DiFranco |
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