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Greg Casimer -- June 2000 -- Walt Disney World (DL)Face it, if you found your way to Brian's site and are now reading trip reports (like I do) you've gone a little over the top on this Disney thing. That's OK, you're in good company. Here is the cast of characters appearing in our report:
We live in northwest Indiana among the sand dunes that run along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. As a family, we have been to WDW twice before. In 1992 we spent one day at the Magic Kingdom, and in 1997 we made a four day trip, staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort (our 1997 trip is memorialized in another trip report on this site). This time we planned a six day stay because both the one day and four day trips seemed too short. Lisa and I had several discussions about the timing of our trip before we eventually chose the first week of June. We chose early June because we wanted to be at Disney during warm weather, when the parks are open for extended hours but before the crush of summer crowds and before the Florida rainy season arrived. Our kids missed the last three days of the school year which was OK with us since they are good students and so little learning seems to go on in those final days. We were aware that these dates coincided with the conclusion of the unofficial Gay Week festivities at Disney, but unaware that this is also (unofficially) the Australian vacation season (hmmm...how convenient for gay Australians). I think Disney walks the PC tightrope pretty well over the Gay Week issues. A subtle announcement in the weekly update that arriving guests see informs people that the Magic Kingdom will be crowded on this particular weekend and guests may prefer to visit other parks. We did not encounter any inappropriate behavior while we were there, although the gay population was noticeable. Although Grace and I had been watching the Disney vacation planning video since early 1999, I didn't begin serious planning until November. Originally we selected a Junior Suite at the Wilderness Lodge as our hotel to give our growing kids some space and to give mom and dad a little privacy when needed. In the spring, some unexpected and expensive car repairs forced us to change our plans. When I compared the sizes and prices for the standard rooms, I didn't think the Wilderness Lodge was worth an extra $100 per night, so we switched to Dixie Landings (in part because we could request a room with a trundle bed). After an exhaustive study of the (ever-changing) ticket options, I concluded that even though I could save a little money (about $100) with the park hopper passes and some strategic planning it was going to take more brainpower than I could muster to keep track of the restrictions ("Let's see, it's the first Tuesday after a full moon so we can go to Blizzard Beach tomorrow if we ....."). I decided it was worth a little extra to get the Unlimited Magic Plan and have the freedom to go anywhere at any time from the moment we checked in until the parks closed on the day we checked out. I strongly recommend this approach. It was not unusual at all to see people getting turned away by the attendants at the turnstiles because they did not understand the limitations on their tickets. Once at Blizzard Beach, we saw a family that had arrived early enough to be first in line (they must have been at least an hour early) get turned away when the gates opened because their tickets were no good. They looked like salmon trying to swim up Niagara Falls as they tried to move back through the crowd to the ticket windows. For $2020 we booked five nights in a "deluxe" room at Dixie Landings (not really deluxe, just with a water view), six days of unlimited magic, plus a flex feature and a commemorative Disney Millennium pin for each of us. By paying with American Express, we also got the White Glove treatment (add a Disney fanny pack and some discounts on purchases over $50). If you want to know what the flex features are, good luck. I asked the operator who took my reservation and I checked the official Disney website without success. The closest thing I found to an accurate list was Deb Will's site at wdwig.com. It's actually a pretty good list but not completely accurate. In retrospect, I think the best way to find out would be to call your Disney hotel (front desk) and ask them to send you the flex feature magazine. Anyway, Kevin and I eventually figured out that golf at Disney's (9-hole) Oak Trail Golf Course was one of the flex features so we made reservations. The next major planning issue for us was what to do about communications. Again, there's a pretty good discussion about choices between cell phones, pagers and radios at wdwig.com. Ultimately we decided to purchase our own two-way radios rather than rent them at Disney. The cost to rent the high powered units (for six days) looked like it would be more than the cost to buy a pair of (less powerful) FRS radios. Also, we decided that we had other uses for the radios beyond our vacation since the kids are old enough to want a little more freedom from our supervision. I ordered a pair of Cobra Microtalk3 radios with rechargeable batteries. Despite some limitations that are fairly accurately described at wdwig, I believe the radios met our needs quite well. We also noticed a lot of other people using them wherever we went. The kids were all in favor since that meant we would all need secret code names (Dad -weasel, Mom - spasm, Kevin - night stalker, Grace - loca lovely). Lisa and I held several planning sessions to determine our general itinerary for each day and to pick some restaurants and other activities that required some advance reservations. We also carved out a date night for just the two of us at Downtown Disney. Since we are driving, I also made some hotel reservations and downloaded some turn by turn directions from mapquest.com for each leg of the trip. All the vital information was loaded into my Palm Pilot for easy reference. Finally, we were ready to go. I gassed up the car ($1.87 a gallon! there goes the gas budget) and we were on our way. Sunday, June 4 - Through the Disney Portal (Downtown Disney and Epcot) I planned the trip so that we would be arriving at Dixie Landings at noon. At 11:30 we were on our final approach down Interstate 4. To the south of Disney we saw a lot of smoke which we later learned came from some (non-threatening) local brush fires that had broken out because it had been so dry recently. I had Lisa read off the turn by turn directions from the Palm Pilot to help us navigate our way to the hotel. The directions were accurate, but the situation itself was ridiculous. Lisa was trying to make out minuscule type on a monochrome screen and I was trying to read the little green and white street signs while all around Disney has posted these mammoth red, yellow and purple signs that provide idiot proof directions. By the time we got to the gate at Dixie Landings we were all in stitches about how pointless and counterproductive the driving directions were. (Me (squinting): "Honey, where are we now?", Lisa: "Well if I wasn't trying to read this tiny little screen I could tell you.") Oh well, can there be any better way to roll into Disneyworld than in unrestrained laughter? We had almost no wait until Jim called us forward to check in. He immediately gave Grace a coloring book and crayons and she sat with some other children while we took care of business. Jim was very accommodating and friendly. He was pretty excited to see the charts and graphs I prepared that laid out our plan of action. He gave some helpful commentary on some of our choices and recommended a few other options for us to consider. Jim said the check in staff loves to work with guests who have done some advance planning and have a good idea about what they want. After I rejected some room options in the Magnolia Bend section of the resort, Jim pulled a few strings to get us into a room in the Alligator Bayou section of the hotel where the trundle beds are. He was also generous with the Millennium pin certificates and the American Express fanny packs. Since our room was not yet ready, we received a card with a phone number and a special code. When you call the number and give them the code, they tell you your room number (if it's ready) and you can head directly to your room without returning to the front desk. Knowing that our room would not be ready at check-in, I made reservations for us to have lunch at the Rainforest Café. We went down to the Dixie Landings Marina and took the shuttle boat ride to Downtown Disney. (Take note: Although this boat officially stops at Port Orleans on the way to Downtown Disney, it is highly unlikely that you'll be able to board there.) On the way down the boat captain asked everybody where they were from. We told him we were from Indiana. He assumed that meant that we were IU basketball fans. Since the Bobby Knight fiasco had been big news recently, he started making comments about "our" coach. Big mistake. We come from the Purdue corner of the state (Lisa and I are both Purdue alums) and so we quickly corrected him about our feelings for Mr. Knight and the status of his employment. This started a rather un-Disney like debate on the boat. After that, we revised our response to this very frequently asked question. Instead of Indiana, we told people that we lived near Chicago. The boat ride is very scenic and relaxing - a great little extra for Dixie Landings guests. Grace and I made a game out of spotting wild animals along the way that we continued to play each time we rode Disney transportation. I am convinced that this is the best way to see Downtown Disney for the first time because the entire complex is laid out along the waterfront. When you arrive by bus, you can only see a small piece of it. Everything has a "larger than life" look to it. We could spot all the places we planned to visit and the boat was heading straight to our first stop, the smoking volcano of the Rainforest Café. We chose to sit on the Jungle Terrace (the outdoor patio) because we could be seated immediately and because the weather was beautiful. After we ordered, the waitress invited us to take a tour of the inside rooms while we waited for our food. We enjoyed all the special effects inside (especially the arched aquarium) but I was glad we chose the outside because it was much quieter. The Jungle Terrace has its own "wild" touches including intentional effects like the giant flapping butterflies, and unintentional effects like the wild duck that roosted on a planter next to our table and kept us company. We had both great food and service, which surprised me because the reviews I had read weren't particularly flattering. After lunch, Grace and I made our first pressed penny while Lisa shopped. (In preparation, I was carrying a pocketful of quarters and some particularly shiny pennies I had been filtering out of my loose change over the past week.) I was astounded by the variety and the amount of Disney merchandise available in the dozens of specialty stores. The main Disney store is not to be missed. Grace and I just sat near the center of the store staring up at the ceiling. We took turns identifying the giant sculptures suspended from the ceiling. We found the entire Peter Pan cast, but not our favorite - Tinkerbell. Outside the store Grace was mesmerized by the "dancing waters", an interactive water playground. This is also great adult entertainment because it is a certainty that, sooner or later, your child will succumb to the temptation to peer into the spots where the water is coming from and get a wet blast right in the kisser. We were also impressed by the enormous Lego sculptures. Wouldn't that be a great job? The most popular figure was the snoring geezer. The line for pictures with him never let up. We took the boat back to Dixie Landings and moved into our room. We got building 24, which is far (really far) from the food court but close to a bus stop, facing one of the smaller pools. The room seemed a little more spacious than our room at the Caribbean, but it was probably because there was no mini-bar and no counter space around the sinks. The trundle bed was much smaller than I expected. I think it's misleading to call it a trundle bed. It's really a cot on a molded plastic shell with tiny wheels to roll it out from under the bed. The mattress is no more than 2 inches thick. It was fine for Grace because she's still small and we brought her sleeping bag, but I doubt it would work for anyone older than about 10. Given how far (really far) we were from the food court, we were surprised that there was no mini-bar (and empty fridges now cost almost $11/day!). Now that we were in the room, Lisa and the kids headed out to the pool while I unpacked and rested for a while. Then it was off to Epcot for dinner and fireworks. In what would be a recurring theme, an Epcot bus pulled up just as we arrived at the bus stop. A less fortunate recurring theme we discovered was that the Dixie Landings stop at every park is either the farthest or second farthest from the park entrance. What's up with this? How is it that newer resorts (Coronado Springs) and "value" resorts (All-Stars) have better service at most places? It's not so big a deal on the way into the parks, but on the way out every extra foot matters a lot. [Our final recurring bus theme as we exited the parks each day: Lisa - "Come on! If we run the last sixteen miles to our stop we might catch the bus before it pulls away.", Me (carrying Grace) - "OK dear, make a run for it and ask the driver to wait for the rest of us.", Us (at bus) - "Gasp, wheeze ... we made it.", Driver - "This bus will depart in ten minutes for ..."] One more thing about the busses, each time we come to Disney it amazes me how people seem to dial up their kindness. People are unfailingly cheerful and chatty despite usually being exhausted and among complete strangers who they will never see again. The pleasure of friendly conversation is only disrupted by the occasional "politeness war". [Me (getting up) - "Please take this seat.", Pregnant woman with three kids - "No thanks we're just fine", Me - "I insist.", PW - "Well, we'll just take half the seat and you can have the other half.", Me - "OK, but let me hold that triple wide stroller for you."] Epcot was a new experience for all of us. Our plan was to just get dinner and stake out a good site for watching Illuminations. As we passed the electronic tip board, we noticed that some of the big attractions had wait times of 5 minutes or less. We (meaning me) couldn't resist. We walked on to Spaceship Earth. Boy, what a disappointment. Fortunately, the ride empties into gadget heaven. Lisa and Kevin left to shop while Grace and I tried out the room compass and the voice activated interactive home theater. I made a mental note to return when we had more time. We found Lisa and Kevin in a nearby art gallery. It might as well have been an art museum since everything was way out of our price range. Still, it was a treat to see the rare and unusual Disney art. We made one more stop before dinner at Ice Station Cool. You walk through an ice cave to a room where you can sample soft drinks from around the world. I knew a little about this place from reading other trip reports. I told Lisa "I hear the Beverly is pretty good." She filled up a cup and took a sip. When it first rolled across her tongue she got a wide eyed, what was that? expression. As the aftertaste kicked in, the corners of her mouth dropped straight down and she shuddered. I laughed so hard I thought I would fall over. Kevin had to try it out of sheer curiosity. Grace had tried it too and she wasn't too happy about being tricked. I heard about it repeatedly for the rest of the vacation. We cleansed our delicate palates with the other samples. Grace and I liked the watermelon soda from China, Kevin liked the German root beer and Lisa liked the pseudo ginger ale. We ordered dinner from the walk up counter in Mexico, partly because we all like Mexican food and partly because it was close and we were hungry. Hey, adults can get beer with dinner here! Grace and I watched the Tapestry of Nations parade while we waited for our food. We had to sit on the ground to eat because all the tables and benches were taken by people waiting for Illuminations. The Illuminations show reminded me of the uniqueness of the Disney way of doing things. Fireworks shows aren't new, but how many are choreographed, set to music, accompanied by stage lighting and special audio and visual effects? It was a singular experience. Unlike some of the other Disney fireworks, a lot of the Illuminations show happens near ground level so it's important to have a good, unobstructed view of the water. I made the mistake of deviating from our original plan to just get dinner and stake out a good seat and we paid the price. Also, now that I have seen the show it seems like the Mexico side of the lagoon is quite a bit farther from the action than the England side. After our evening bus ritual, I ordered a Mickey Mouse wake up call for Grace and we went to bed. Monday, June 5 - Blizzard Beach and Disney Quest We were already awake when Mickey's wake up call came. I realized that it actually works out pretty well this way because Grace was alert enough to take the call. If she had still been asleep, I know she would have been too groggy to come to the phone. I walked down to the food court to get our refillable mugs and some coffee. We brought along our own breakfast food and juice to save a little money. Even though our building was far (really far) from the food court, the walk was a pleasure because of the lush landscaping. Along the way I was joined by a virtual parade of dads, each with a handful of refillable mugs. We ate our breakfast, put on our bathing suits and headed for Blizzard Beach. We got to Blizzard Beach about 30 minutes before the official opening thinking that there would be an early "unofficial" opening like some of the other parks. Wrong. At best you get in about five minutes early. While we waited, Kevin and I studied the park map. Kevin pointed out that, unlike Typhoon Lagoon, there were two small locker areas located close to the pools and slides in addition to the main locker "ghetto" in the back. If you don't state a preference at the locker rental counter, you get the ghetto. I told the clerk I wanted a large locker in the Ski Patrol area - no problem. By the time Kevin and I made it to the locker, Lisa and Grace had already taken the plunge on the family raft ride. We all went back for the second round. The crowds were so small that as soon as you could hike up to the starting point, they were ready to send you back down. After that we headed toward the toboggan rides. These quickly became a favorite. They reminded me of the burlap bag slides you sometimes see at county fairs and city carnivals. Since Kevin and I were sliding down in the same group, I asked to be assigned to the fastest lane. The attendant pointed me to lane 6, but then he said "of course, I can't do anything about your riding skills". Duly warned, Kevin still ate my wake all the way down. When I hit the finish line (in first place) and looked back up, the attendant gave me a salute. We tried just about everything except the Summit Plummet at least once. Other than the toboggan slides, nothing struck me as all that memorable. We had fun at Blizzard Beach but decided that overall we like Typhoon Lagoon much better. In our (my) opinion Typhoon Lagoon has: 1) a better theme; 2) better scenery; 3) a better lazy river; and 4) is much more accommodating for patrons of its food counters. We had to raid a "saved" picnic table at Blizzard Beach just to avoid having to sit in the middle of the sidewalk to eat our lunch. In addition, Blizzard Beach has no equivalent to the wave pool or the shark reef at Typhoon Lagoon. We returned to Dixie Landings in the late afternoon for a short rest and then caught a bus to Downtown Disney. We dropped Lisa off at the Marketplace stop for some more shopping while I took the kids to the West Side stop for DisneyQuest. As we made the twelve mile walk from the Dixie Landings drop off point to DisneyQuest, it occurred to me that unless you're going to Cirque du Soleil it's probably always better to get off at the Pleasure Island stop for the West Side destinations. Our first stop at DisneyQuest was the roller coaster design studio and simulator. The design stations are really well done with easy to follow instructions. Grace is only 7, but I rarely had to help her with her design. When your design is finished, you get a rating (on a scale of 1-5) telling you how scary your ride will be. The rating indicates how many ordinary people (out of a group of five) would be too scared to ride what you designed. Grace's coaster was a 2. I wasn't watching Kevin design his coaster so when we caught up to him in the simulator line I asked him about his rating. After several evasive comments I forced it out of him. His coaster was a 1. Even though Grace is tall enough (and willing) to ride Space Mountain and the Rock 'n Roller Coaster, for some bizarre reason she is too short to ride in the coaster simulator at DisneyQuest. Fortunately, outside each simulator there are two monitors so you can watch 1) the rider in the simulator; and 2) the same scene from your design that the rider sees. I rode and Grace watched. I tried to look really terrified and made some other funny faces to help her enjoy her roller coaster. The digital makeover area was a little more complicated than the coaster design. I needed to spend about five minutes getting Grace set up and demonstrating the features. If you haven't used an interactive CD before (Disney and Barbie both have similar digital makeover products), you might want to take a pass on this one. Lisa eventually shopped her way across Downtown Disney and found us in line for the jungle raft ride. Don't ask how she managed to know, out of five floors of attractions, that we would be at the jungle rafts at that precise moment. It must have been spouse radar. It wasn't the two-way radios because I had accidently run one of them out of power overnight (I got better with the radios as the week wore on). We decided to stop for some dinner at the Cheesecake Factory Express. After going up and down about six stairways and twice asking for directions, we finally found about half of the restaurant. Even with the site map they give you, the DisneyQuest building is very difficult to navigate. I'll bet children get lost in here all the time. The Cheesecake Factory is actually located on both the fourth and fifth floors with different food available on each floor. We parked the kids at a table with some pizza and french fries (fourth floor) and went back for some more adult fare (fifth floor), leaving a trail of bread crumbs to help us find our way back. By the time we got back to the table Kevin had finished eating and asked if he could go play some of the nearby games. I said OK and then it occurred to me that I should have given him a time limit. I got up to follow him. but he disappeared into the labyrinth. I was afraid that if I tried to find him I might not make it back to my dinner. Fortunately he reappeared just as we were finishing our meal. We split up after dinner so Kevin could do more of the older kid things. I took Grace to the Replay Zone which is similar to the kind of arcade you see at Chuck E. Cheese except that all the games work properly, there are no packs of screaming wild kids in party hats tearing around, and the prizes you can realistically win are worth more than the paper the tickets are printed on. For $5 we spent a very pleasant half hour wacking aliens and stomping spiders, and Grace left with three very nice little souvenirs. We left DisneyQuest and window shopped our way back to the Marketplace. Lisa and Kevin went to Team Disney to pick up a Tigger golf shirt for our golf date on Wednesday. Grace and I returned to the dancing waters and found the Tinkerbell that we thought was missing from the ceiling of the Disney store (she's on the outside). We thought about taking the shuttle boat back to Dixie Landings but the dock was pretty crowded and our building is far (very far) from the Dixie Marina. When we got back to our room, Grace found her stuffed Minnie Mouse sitting on the bed coloring in her Mickey Mouse coloring book. It was comforting to see that she's still young enough to be mystified by how this could have happened. Tuesday, June 6 - Gasp! We changed the plan! (Magic Kingdom) I was up early today and took my usual place in the parade of dads with refillable mugs. On my way to the food court I ran into a mom from Georgia (carrying just one mug) who had been to Epcot (our destination today) the day before. She told me that her kids didn't see Test Track because there was a two hour wait and all the FastPass tickets were gone by 11:00AM. I made a mental note to head straight to Test Track when we got to Epcot. There was a pretty big crowd at the bus stop that just kept growing as we waited for the Epcot bus. Busses for the other parks came and went without anyone boarding. Considering the size of the crowd, the comments from the Georgia mom and the fact that it was early entry day at Epcot, we decided to change our plan and head to the Magic Kingdom. This experience confirmed the impression we got from our previous trip that it's probably a good idea to avoid the early entry park. We got to the Magic Kingdom a little early. We picked up a new autograph book for Grace and made our way down Main Street to the entrance to Adventureland. Our plan was to ride all the Mountains (Splash, Big Thunder and Space) before doing anything else. While we were waiting at the rope line, a cast member started asking Disney trivia questions. I answered the first one (Walt Disney's middle name? - Elias) and Kevin answered the second one (Mickey Mouse's original name? - Mortimer). By then we had his attention. He complemented us and Lisa groaned and said "try living with them". We were ready for more, but the questions suddenly got much harder (Walt Disney's high school?) And then it was time to drop the rope. We were at the front of what had become a large crowd and it was pretty clear that the majority of us were headed to Splash Mountain. I was concerned about Grace being overrun by the crowd. To my relief, the cast members have a well designed plan that forces everyone to walk from the ropes all the way back to the Splash Mountain entrance. We waited less than five minutes to ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain and then about 25 minutes for Space Mountain. I think we all agree that Splash Mountain is the best. Grace told us (repeatedly) that she was so scared she couldn't scream. At all three rides I had the additional pleasure that comes from watching "rookies" experience these thrills for the first time. For example, I take the loading area at Space Mountain for granted, but watching Lisa and Grace reminded me that after the long climb up the mountain it is intimidating and exciting to look still higher and see the occasional silver flash of each car as it begins its decent. We split up after Space Mountain with Kevin and Lisa going to the Alien Encounter and Grace and I choosing Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I was very impressed, not just with the ride but with the design of the entire area. The 20 minute line seemed to be only half that because you're always moving (it's a continually loading ride) and because there is a substantial story told in the loading area. I'll take a long continually moving line over a short stationary line (like Ariel's grotto) any time. Buzz's line concludes with a unique, larger than life, fully 3-D Buzz giving the riders their final instructions. We figured out how to shoot and spin right away, although if you saw my score you would wonder. The final tally was Grace: 416,000 (Space Ace) and Me: 63,000 (Ranger 1st Class). After a few other rides and some pictures around the castle, we headed back to Fantasyland. Lisa and Kevin took a detour to see the Haunted Mansion and get a snack. Grace and I rode the Peter Pan ride (I noticed that they now have an Ariel clone in the mermaid lagoon) and then went to Ariel's grotto (hmmm). Grace really liked the water play area here, but the line for Ariel is terrible. It barely moves and the length of the wait is deceptive because only the parents are actually standing in the line. I can't tell you what happens when you finally get to Ariel because I couldn't wait that long. We changed our plan and headed to the Pooh ride which we discovered was closed for maintenance. We were looking around for something to do when we noticed that four characters were standing across from us under a canvas awning (I think this is the old loading area for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea). We got in the short line and I radioed Lisa to bring the camera over (hey! we're getting the hang of this radio thing). Grace met Chip and Dale and two of Cinderella's mice (Perla and Suzie - now there's a trivia question). Meeting characters is Grace's favorite thing at the Magic Kingdom, even when she's not sure who she's meeting. We stopped for lunch in Frontierland. It is clear to me that the food at the counter service restaurants is improving. Our food was much better than I remember from our previous trip. It seems like Disney is listening when people complain. After lunch I took the kids through the Frontierland rides while Lisa shopped and worked on her tan. First, I picked up FastPass tickets for the Jungle Cruise. We then had enough time to see the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House (made a mental note to watch the movie again), the Pirates of the Caribbean (Grace loved it, searching for the animals in each scene), the Shooting Gallery (so easy you feel like Wyatt Earp), the Country Bear Jamboree, and the Enchanted Tiki Room. I had forgotten how fun the Tiki Room could be. You never know where the next surprise will be coming from, and every seat is a good seat. Grace loved seeing Zazu and Iago, too. We went to the Jungle Cruise and were loaded on a boat within five minutes thanks to the FastPasses. Although these passes worked just as they should, we forgot that part of the fun of the Jungle Cruise is listening to the goofy pseudo radio broadcast that continually plays as you wait in line. Our jungle guide was friendly, but not very funny. Her routine was canned and lacked any of the improvisation that makes this ride work. I noticed that, when we boarded, one of the moms mentioned to the guide that her daughter would like to pilot the boat. Shortly after we pulled away from the dock, the girl was at the helm wearing the guide's hat and steering us down the river. We took the train from Frontierland to Toontown to meet up with Lisa (piece of cake with the radios). Lisa and I took turns running Grace through the lines at the character tent for more autographs and pictures. Personally, I prefer the "human" characters because they are more interactive and always very at ease when talking to children. After one final trip on Goofy's Barnstormer we were all worn out. We picked up some ice cream to cool off and then slowly worked our way back to Main Street. It's never easy to leave the Magic Kingdom, but my aching feet reminded me why it was time to go. We returned to Dixie Landings for some rest, some swimming, some dinner and some more swimming. When we got to the room Grace found several of her stuffed animals sitting on the bed watching the Disney channel. We had dinner in the food court and then decided to drive over to Port Orleans so Grace could ride the famous serpent slide. It's a big lizard with a King Triton looking character on top. Kids crawl into the lizard and then slide down his long pink tongue into the pool. Grace saw it in the vacation planning video and never let me forget it. Fortunately, there is some kind of agreement between the neighboring Dixie Landing and Port Orleans hotels that guests at either hotel are entitled to use the amenities at both. It seemed like the easiest thing for us to do would be to drive over because our building was far (very far) from Port Orleans, but it looks like an easy walk if you're staying in the Magnolia Bend buildings. When we got to the car we discovered that my idea to park the car under a tree to shelter it from the sun hadn't been well thought out. The hood was now covered with bird poop. At Port Orleans the pool looked great and was completely empty. We thought this was ideal until we found out that the reason the pool was empty was because a small child had an accident in the pool a few minutes earlier and it was going to take at least thirty minutes to clean it up. (See ya next time serpent slide.) We changed plans again and headed to the main Dixie Pool on Ol' Man Island. This pool also has a water slide that suited Grace just fine. The pools at Dixie Landings were fairly crowded each time we used them. This seemed to be due to the high concentration of Australians at the hotel. They apparently have an avid interest in swimming in Australia. When the slide closed for the evening we took the kids back to the room and put them to bed. Lisa and I broke out our wine and cigars for a little nightcap. We looked all over Alligator Bayou for a small table and two chairs like the kind they have all over the Caribbean Beach resort. We finally settled on a corner of the bar at Ol' Man Island but it wasn't a very quiet or private place conducive to intimate conversation. We eventually gave up and went to bed. Gosh I hope my feet feel better in the morning. Wednesday, June 7 The Longest Day (Oak Trail G.C., MGM, AK and PI) This was an early rising day for Kevin and me. We needed to be in the lobby by 6:30 to catch a cab to the Oak Trail golf course for our 7:00 tee time. I had a very frustrating experience with the bell service at Dixie Landings. I called them at 6:00 to arrange for someone to bring a cart to our building to help us get our clubs to the lobby. The conversation went like this:
Has this pathetic line ever been uttered on Disney property before? I was incredulous. To make matters worse, when I drove up to the lobby entrance to drop off the clubs not a single bellhop moved an inch to help get them out of the trunk. What is going on here? Bad show Dixie. The people at the golf course were much more friendly and helpful. Oak Trail is a 9-hole walking course set in between the Magnolia and Palm courses that Disney uses for its annual PGA tournament. The locker room has a row of lockers that bear the name and score of each year's champion on a small brass plate. Interestingly, Payne Stewart is a former champion of this tournament. At his locker they have replaced the wood door with a plexiglass panel behind which is a collection of his golf memorabilia. I wanted to pick up a little breakfast before we started. The clubhouse was not yet open so they directed me up a back stairway to a small snack cart. Kevin and I picked out what I thought would be about $10 worth of food at Disney prices. "That'll be $3.50, sir." Huh? For all this? After letting the initial shock pass, I looked around and noticed that we had been directed to Shades of Green, the resort reserved for military personnel. Wow, what a bargain. After a little stop at the putting green and the driving range, we were the first group off the tee. It took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to make it around 9 holes. The dry weather made the areas off the fairway (you cant call it rough because it's short grass) very hard and unlikely to prevent an errant shot from rolling into one of the many lateral water hazards. I thought I had hit the par five in two, but the ground was so hard it kept running and disappeared into the brush. The surrounding area is still pretty wild. On the dogleg I had a few deer for spectators on my approach shot. All in all it was a very challenging course (for reference, I'm about an 18 handicap), not the pitch and putt pushover I thought it might be. There's a little bit of everything (deep bunkers, contoured greens, creeks crossing in front of greens to penalize a bad chip) except long grass. I parred the first hole and the last hole, but had nothing to brag about in between. Kevin beat my score on one hole to give himself something to tell his mother and sister. It was pretty hot by the time we finished our round. I was glad we pushed ourselves a little bit to make the early tee time. We picked up a few cold drinks at Shades of Green while they called for a (complimentary) cab to take us back to Dixie Landings. We put our clubs away and were ready to head out again by 10:30. Lisa and Grace were already up and gone, deciding to spend their day at the Animal Kingdom. Kevin was skeptical about finding anything "cool" to do at the Animal Kingdom so we caught the next bus to MGM Studios. We headed right to the Rock 'n Roller Coaster to get FastPasses. The wait gave us time to take the Backstage Tour and the Backlot Tour. They sound alike, but they are very different experiences. The Backstage Tour is a walking tour through some of the support areas behind the production of a Disney TV show or movie. I don't generally like to know how Disney makes its magic happen at the parks, but it was very interesting to see how the TV and movie special effects are created. It was ironic to learn that despite all the high tech equipment, some of the best effects are still accomplished by simple manual labor. We also enjoyed walking through the prop shop and seeing things like androids from the Star Wars movies. The Backlot Tour is a tram ride showing off the larger pieces of recent Disney TV and movie history. The more familiar you are with the live action Disney movies, the more interesting this tour will be. I was not too familiar with the movies that much of the material come from, but still enjoyed things like the fake neighborhood and the costume shop. Actually, I thought the best part was the pre-show demonstration of water based special effects. They pulled a couple of volunteers from the audience and dressed them in heavy duty rain gear. One volunteer gets capsized by a tidal wave during a driving rain and the other runs a ship that gets torpedoed and then strafed by machine gun fire. Interestingly, one item in the demonstration pond goes entirely without comment or explanation from the cast member host. It is the top section of one of the old submarines used in the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride. I pointed it out to Kevin (who had no idea what I was talking about). The only problem with the pre-show was that our CM hostess absolutely raced through her dialogue without any regard to what she was saying. I don't think she stopped to take a breath the entire time. This was someone who clearly needed a new assignment. We were headed back to the Rock 'n Roller Coaster when we (me) were pulled off the street by the irresistible smell of fudge coming from a small shop by the Brown Derby. I reminded myself that all the rules about eating right are suspended while you're on vacation and then I ordered a big block of maple walnut fudge. We loaded Kevin's fanny pack with candy, added a hot pretzel and declared it to be our lunch. We found some shade near the RnR and sat there to eat while I tried to ignore the nagging thought that this might have been a better idea after riding instead of before. In a word, the RnR is awesome. We are regular visitors to Six Flags and Cedar Point, but I have never had a roller coaster experience like this one. Like everything else Disney does, the theme immerses you in the story that you're going to race across Los Angeles in a stretch limo. But the really fascinating part is not the theme so much as the technology behind it. No other coaster ride that I know of starts like this. The fact that Disney does not rely on elevation and gravity to control the speed of the cars opens up new possibilities for thrill rides. When we tried to explain the ride to Lisa and Grace, we realized that we didn't even know how many loops, corkscrews and drops we felt or in what order. It was just a wild and random tumble through LA made more exciting by feeling that anything could happen at any time. I can't wait to see what these imagineers do next with this new technology. We checked our picture as we got off the ride. It was just too good to pass up. Kevin had this deer-in-the-headlights look of panic. Kevin later pointed out to me that the picture is taken at the very beginning of the ride (just after the traffic signal turns green) so I guess it's understandable that there are a lot of surprised expressions. I didn't want any harm done to the picture so we had it delivered to our room instead of taking it with us. We wandered around MGM a little longer, but eventually the early golf and the sun (and the candy lunch) wore us down and we headed back to Dixie Landings. Lisa and Grace were at the room getting ready for a swim when we returned. They filled us in on Animal Kingdom. Grace's favorite attraction was the Pocahontas show (because of all the wild animals involved). Lisa's favorite was the Lion King show. The way they described the rapids ride and the safari sounded like the usual unique Disney treatment that changes the common to the incomparable. It's hard to believe that in six days I couldn't find the time to get over there and see it for myself. We had our daily swim with the Australians until our only rain of the week chased us out of the pool. It was so light there was no need to take cover. We went to the food court to do a little shopping and to pick up some dinner for the kids. While we were there, we redeemed the certificates for our commemorative Disney millennium pins. Shortly thereafter Kevin learned that he could trade the pins with any Disney cast member wearing a pin lanyard. He immediately began his search for someone wearing a Tigger pin. (I don't know if the CMs are required to trade, but I never saw one turn him down.) We then got the kids settled in the room with food, games and a Disney movie (James and the Giant Peach) and took off on our own for a date night at Downtown Disney. During one of our planning sessions before the trip. Lisa and I had reviewed the menus for all the restaurants in Downtown Disney and narrowed our choices to either the House of Blues or Bongos Cuban Café. We then checked them both out in person before choosing Bongos, mostly because of the atmosphere. The look of this restaurant is absolutely stunning. The walls and ceiling are brilliant white accented by mood lighting that subtly changes over time from lime green to azure blue to calypso yellow. The walls are decorated with large mosaics of Latin American images. Even the furniture reflects the Cuban theme (the bar stools look like bongo drums). The waiters are dressed in white evening jackets with black bow ties. I felt like I should have been wearing a linen suit with a broad brimmed hat while casually puffing on a fat cigar. It really seemed like a recreation of a piece of pre-Castro Cuba (not that I'd know). The service was impeccable, and with the exception of a mediocre pork entree the food was terrific too. We enjoyed sampling the unique plantains, black beans and rice and Cuban coffee (chased by a little black sambuca). There was a photographer wandering from table to table taking pictures. In about five minutes she would return to show you the shots she took and a variety of frames, key chains and other mountings (no obligation to buy). We bought a cheek-to-cheek shot she took of us mounted in a terra cotta frame ($8). When we left Bongos there was a mild haze and smoky smell spread over Downtown Disney. We asked a security guard about it and he told us that the earlier rain had made the nearby brush fires smolder. He knew precisely where the fires were, their strength and size, and the chances that they would advance toward Disney property. It was a relief to hear that there was nothing to worry about. It was sort of like being at a big camp fire. After picking up a Disney golf shirt for me, we made our way over to Pleasure Island. We started out at the jazz club which, to our surprise, has a designated area for cigar smokers and a well stocked humidor. The setting was intimate in the way you would want a jazz club to be. The musicians wandered in and out of the crowd as they played. If the jazz style was closer to our taste, we probably could have stayed all night. (To Disney's credit, there is a sign out front identifying the band and the jazz style that will be playing that night.) At my urging, our next stop was the Wild Horse Saloon. In my opinion, country bars draw the friendliest type of people. I am not sure of this, but it looked like the Saloon employed a few men who's job was to wander around the floor and invite women to dance. I really wanted us to try a little country polka, but our aching feet would not comply. Our next stop was the retro '70's bar, 8-Trax. This was, by far, where the largest crowd had gathered. There were two distinct groups in here, people who attended high school in the '70's and people who were not yet born in the '70's. I'm sorry to say that my group is starting to look old. There was a high school reunion feeling about the older crowd. We all milled around the upper level watching the energy of the young crowd and enjoying the flashback. After a brief look into the BET Soundstage (eerily empty) and the Adventurers Club, we ran out of gas and headed back to our room. Lisa and I both wanted to sleep with our feet propped up on the headboard. Thursday, June 8 - That Incomparable Disney Experience (Epcot & O'Hana) We woke up this morning and decided that we were tired of dry Pop-Tarts and juice boxes for breakfast. I took orders for real breakfast food and headed off to the food court. I went a little overboard on the breakfast orders and found myself with a heaping tray of hot food, four full mugs - and no idea how I was going to get this all back to Building 24. Improvising, I put all the mugs on one tray and used them as support posts for a second tray to carry the breakfasts. I carefully balanced four breakfast plates, some fruit and extra juice on the top and wedged all the napkins, condiments, utensils, etc. between the mugs. I hoisted "breakfast mountain" off the counter and had a sympathetic dad open the door for me. Just about everyone I encountered on the long (very long, OK just too d*** long!) walk back to our room had a smile or a comment about the breakfast mountain. My favorite was by a man who pointed to me with pity and said to his wife, "See, this is what happens to people who stay here too long." Today is our day to tour Epcot. Our sneak preview on Sunday gave us some ideas about how we wanted to spend our time today. Since it worked well at the Magic Kingdom and at MGM, we planned to start our day with the most popular attractions. Our first stop was at Test Track to get FastPasses, then we crossed the park to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience (HISTA). On our way we stopped at guest services to pick up a small guide book Epcot has for kids. It explains the attractions and highlights to kids in their own language and has some activities and check boxes so they can keep track of their progress. Grace loved this little book, and made sure we stopped at almost every recommended site. The light crowds today confirmed the wisdom of our decision to skip Epcot on its early entry day. We walked right into the pre-show for HISTA. I kept quiet about the special effects in this movie so I could watch the kids reactions, and they didn't disappoint. After the little incident with the runaway mice, both of them had their feet up on the seats. I heard some sounds of distress from Grace after the snake appeared so I reminded her that it wasn't real and she could take her 3-D glasses off if she was scared. She told me that she knew it wasn't real and she liked being scared. Since we were near the Living Seas we made that our next stop. I am completely baffled by the layout of this building. In seemed like we went in and out of the theater showing the introductory movie through the same doors, but on the way in the lobby was just a big empty room and on the way out it was full of hydrolators (deep sea elevators). I'm also not sure if the hydrolators actually take you somewhere or if they just shake and flash for a little while before letting you out on the opposite side from where you entered. And if we did indeed go down in the hydrolators, how was it that the Living Seas exit doors were down another level? While I spent time pondering these mysteries, the rest of the family actually looked at the displays. After a visit to the manatees and the dolphins, it was time to head back to Test Track. On the way back to Test Track I saw the electronic tip board that reported the status of the lines at the major attractions. All the wait times were less than 20 minutes except Test Track which was 120 minutes. Even with the FastPasses it took about 15 minutes to board the ride, an unusually long wait based on our other experiences. The fastest way to go seemed to be the singles line. When we boarded the ride I could see the entire singles line - about a dozen people. I don't think the availability of this option is widely known. I would not have known about it if we had not been told about it when we checked in. Look to your left as you approach the main line and you should see it. Test Track is fun, but there's no way it's worth a two hour wait. After a few more side trips to places like the butterfly garden and the souvenir shops (looking for pin traders), it was time for the World Showcase to open. At Norway, we got in line to ride the Maelstrom. While we waited, Kevin and I were goofing around talking in weird Norwegian accents (Ja, ja, tis is goooot!). Lisa begged us to stop which we did until we got in the boats. At the end of the ride we were met by a Norwegian hostess who asked us if we enjoyed the ride. We all said yes, but she stopped us and said "This is Norway, in Norway you say "ja" when you mean yes. Now did you enjoy the ride?" Lisa groaned. Of course, Kevin and I needed no further encouragement. Lisa and I stopped for lunch in China. We got the kids drinks and fortune cookies and promised them more food later. After lunch we went shopping and picked up a marionette for Grace. I wasn't going to get it because you know how a good merchant can make it look much easier to use these puppets that it really is, but Grace picked up a dog and made it walk right across the floor. I was sold. As we worked our way to the back of China we found Mushu greeting people. He couldn't have been more than 6 inches taller than Grace. We had a little extra time with him because we were in a very lightly traveled area. He was a real ham. We have a nice picture of him acting like he's going to pounce on Grace. On our way to Germany, we saw Jane and Terk (from Tarzan). I knew this only because we were walking at the same pace as another family we met while playing with Mushu, who's mother filled me in on the names. Grace only wanted to see Terk, but I thought Jane was a riot. Just a non-stop string of chatter about the kids she was greeting, what they were wearing, how she likes living with Tarzan, etc. We sat near the characters while the kids ate some enormous German pretzels. Apparently we were in a spot where the characters enter and exit from public view. As we sat there we saw Pinocchio and then Snow White and the 6 Dwarfs (yes, 6) come marching out in perfect step to another meet and greet area. Without even trying (or expecting it) we ran into more characters in Epcot than in any other park. I found it amusing that we saw Aladdin in Morocco, Mushu in China, and Pooh in England. The special kids garden in Japan was one of Grace's favorite stops. There are all kinds of hands-on experiences (things to see, things to hear, things to smell, things to touch and things to play) all at kid level. On the way out you pass by a gong garden. I don't know the real name of this thing, but there are a variety of swinging hammers and pipes and plates that crash into each other making a constant (but not noisy) clanging sound. The motions seem to be propelled by water that runs through the garden - kind of like wind chimes only with water instead of wind. I wondered (very briefly) whether I could make one of these at home. We were passing by the American Pavilion just as the Voices of Liberty were scheduled to sing, so Grace and I went in. We heard eight really talented singers performing terrible compositions of some old and new American classics. They kept making this twangy nasal sound that the director explained was supposed to be the vocal equivalent of a banjo. Change directors and this would be a worthwhile stop. In fact, just cut the director out entirely. Our last major excursion was into France. Lisa picked up some French perfume and a book on oil painting while I found a couple of scale model structures (the cathedrals of Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur) to add to my collection. We stopped to rest between England and Canada. While we were sitting there we heard a Scottish band in the Canadian Pavilion sing about their Sweet Home Alabama (huh?). Actually, they were very talented even if they were geographically confused. I think this was the famous Off Kilter band. After resting we headed back to the fountain for a couple performances of the dancing waters. I love this thing. When they shoot the giant water columns up into the air it sounds like fireworks. While we watched the fountain, Kevin headed off to the nearby shops for more pin trading. We knew he had gone over the edge when he started monitoring the shops for shift changes, returning when any new CMs appeared. I split off from the family to see Body Wars at the Wonders of Life Pavilion. The ideas behind Body Wars were presented in a much more interesting way in the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage. The rest of the Wonders of Life attractions are just not particularly innovative or unique. If you live near a decent science museum, I would skip this place. I used our radios to find the rest of the family back at the butterfly garden. After a few more pictures, we spent the rest of our Epcot time at Innoventions, a mixed bag of really new and exciting ideas (like Xerox's newspaper of the future, and the home theater of the future) and some head scratchers (introducing ... the internet, by IBM). We had dinner reservations for 7:30 at O'Hana, the restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. We caught the monorail from Epcot to the Polynesian. The monorail was another new experience for Lisa and the kids, and virtually new to me since I hadn't been on it since 1972. The ride offers a unique way to see the deluxe accommodations at Disneyworld and made us think that we may want to upgrade to one of these resorts for our next trip. Our dinner at O'Hana was one of the highlights of our vacation. As we were seated we were told that O'Hana is the Polynesian word for family and that everybody at O'Hana is our "cousin". The dining is family style, all you can eat. There are no menus; the food just starts coming out as soon as you order drinks. I think we had bread and two rounds of appetizer assortments (including pork dumplings, egg noodles, and salmon) before the main courses were brought out. There are four main dishes - marinated beef tenderloin, marinated turkey, sausage and jumbo shrimp - all cooked in a flaming pit in the middle of the dining room and delivered to your table on giant skewers. I was proud of Kevin for his willingness to try just about everything, but when our waitress/cousin noticed that Grace wasn't eating, she brought out a special plate of macaroni and cheese, meatballs and corn on the cob. After the main courses, we were served a pre-dessert of fresh pineapple with hot caramel dipping sauce to cleanse our palates. Between us, Kevin and I devoured an entire pineapple. Even though we weren't still hungry we ordered desserts including double chocolate mousse and some kind of banana dish. Everything had been so good we just couldn't leave without seeing what the desserts were like. O'Hana is a great place to go for the food alone, but I haven't even begun to do justice to the dining experience we had. While you eat, there is a strolling ukelele player who plays and sings a variety of Disney songs and directs the other entertainment. He also leads the cousins in recognizing guests who are celebrating a special occasion. While we were there, they announced that one of the guests had set a new record at O'Hana by eating 72 shrimp. (No, I am not kidding - 72! - six skewers full of shrimp. They must have had to wheel him out.) From time to time, they would invite the children to come forward to play games. One time it was hula hoops, another time it was a race involving pushing a coconut around the room with a broom. After each game, prizes (a handful of gummi worms) were passed out to all the participants. If there weren't enough hula hoops or brooms, they would play another round until everybody had a chance to participate. Grace, who actually was painfully shy until this year, instantly popped up from the table each time they announced a new game. When they announced a game for the parents, she was instantly up pulling on my arm and dragging me out on the floor. The parents played the broom and coconut game, but had to use the broom handle, not the brush, to push the coconut. Just when you think you're getting the hang of it, one of the cousins will stick his foot into the aisle and bump your coconut off in another direction. We were joking around with our waitress/cousin and I mentioned how unusual her Polynesian accent was (she was from Kentucky). A short time later she brought the host (Mr. ukelele) over to our table and informed him (falsely) that I was adding Lee & Perrin's sauce to the chef's meat (she had snuck the bottle out to our table). After some mock outrage and public shaming, I (along with several others) was instructed to go apologize to the chef and bow to the fire gods. As we were bowing, the chef made the pit erupt into a huge fireball. Back at our table, Kevin told our waitress/cousin that I had gotten in trouble and publicly shamed at the 50's Prime Time Café on our last trip three years ago. It turns out she was "Mom" at the time we were there. She met me at the pit to give me a hug and laugh about getting me twice. While we were having dessert, they announced that the Electric Light Parade was starting its trip across the Seven Seas Lagoon. We had a great view from our table, although Grace sprang up (along with every other kid) and pressed her nose up to the windows. In all, we spent an unforgettable two and a half hours at O'Hana. It gets my highest recommendation. Experiences like this one define Disney to me and make me want to return again and again. If you have a family like ours, O'Hana is not to be missed. Friday, June 9 - Typhoon Lagoon and MGM We had left this day pretty much unplanned when we were preparing for our trip with the thought in mind that we would know what to do when the day came. We had very little trouble deciding that we couldn't leave without a trip to Typhoon Lagoon, and that Lisa and Grace had to go to MGM to experience the Rock n Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. We packed our bags and then headed out to TL with a change of clothes for MGM. I'm surprised that so many people have the opinion that Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon are similar parks. I think the differences are striking. Grace and I knew that our first stop had to be the wave pool. Like her brother before her, Grace has been using this vacation as an opportunity to learn how to swim. Now instead of holding her tight when the waves crashed on us, I sometimes set her adrift. I'm happy for her and will worry less when she is in the water, but gosh I'll miss those days when she had to hang on for dear life. We eventually regrouped for a family excursion on TL's lazy river. We made at least two round trips before coming ashore again to try some of the tube slides. Grace is still a little too short and too inexperienced at swimming to put her on the body slides. It's not the slide itself as much as it is the receiving pools at the end. They're pretty deep (for kids) and very turbulent. In fact, contrary to what we assumed, a CM at the bottom of one of the slides told us that smaller children are safer in the middle lane and the middle of the receiving pools because the currents are designed to propel people away from the side walls. We thought she was safer in the tubes with either mom or dad at the bottom to help her. We had a big lunch around 1:30 (again, the fast food in these parks is vastly improved over our last visit), and then changed into our MGM clothes. When I returned the locker key, I chose a WDW millennium mug instead of the $2 refund. At MGM we headed straight for the good stuff. The regular line for Tower of Terror wasn't long and the return time for FastPasses was pretty late, so we just got in the line. Kevin took a pass on this one, so we sent him over to RnR to get FastPasses there. Within about 20 minutes we were strapped in and ready to go. Just by random luck we were seated front and center on the elevator, undoubtably the best location for first time riders. This time Grace did not forget to scream. We found Kevin outside the exit and headed straight over to the RnR. Again, we just got in the regular line because the FastPass times were for four hours later and we didn't plan to stay at MGM that long. This time Kevin was the brave one and Grace needed a little extra persuasion. Grace had been fearless all week about the rides, but she told us she didn't want to be upside down. Kevin and I knew that because it's so dark and things happen so fast, she wouldn't be upside down long enough to be scared. The ride was even better this time because Kevin and I had the added "atmosphere" of Lisa and Grace's screaming right behind us. As we suspected, Grace loved the ride and didn't even know when she was upside down. Honestly, I'm not sure when we were upside down either. I still can't say how many loops and corkscrews are involved in that ride. We took Lisa and Grace to our candy store to shop for friends and pick up a few snacks, then we staked out a spot for the Mulan parade. We tried to return a kindness that was shown to us on our last trip by helping a late arriving mom find a viewing place for her small children in front next to Kevin and Grace. The parade is a good combination of Disney characters (lead by Mushu on a bicycle powered rickshaw), Chinese acrobats, and larger than life floats (the emperor must have been 30 feet tall). As the final float passed, we joined in behind and marched with the parade down Hollywood Boulevard and out of the park. I can't think of a better way to say goodbye. Epilogue If you couldn't make it through the report here is the condensed version of our most favorite (and least favorite) experiences:
Our Costs: Just like our trip in 1997, it cost us $500/day to stay where we wanted, go where we wanted, eat what we wanted, and buy what we wanted. Greg Casimer gpeters93@hotmail.com Mail a Comment to Greg Casimer |
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