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John Ciarcia -- October 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)10/5-10/21/00 This whole trip idea began during the summer of 1999, during a camping trip with my siblings and their families. My sister and brother-in-law brought up the idea of planning a family Disney trip. Over the next year we worked out all the details (mostly over emails) and were ready to go by October 2000. We all agreed to commit parts of the seven days as designated "family time". Our cast of characters:
They were flying in on 10/8/00. They spent from 10/8-10/14/00 with the family and then they drove to the Gulf coast (Marco Island and Sanibel Island) for 5 days. They rejoined us for one night (10/19) on their way to the airport.
They flew into Tampa on Friday 10/6/00. They spent Friday and Sunday at the beach and Saturday at Busch Gardens. On Sunday (10/8) they drove to Orange Lake Resort where they stayed from 10/8-10/15/00.
Brother Dan joined us on Tuesday (10/10/00). Lisa, my brother's girlfriend arrived late Wednesday (10/11/00) night. They spent until Saturday (10/14/00) with the family and then went to the coast. Brother Dan rejoined us on Tuesday morning (10/16) to do IOA with my family.
Brother Wayne arrived Saturday night (10/7/00) and stayed until Saturday (10/14).
Our trip was a little different than everyone else's. Our trip was going to be for 17 days. We were also the only ones that weren't flying down. Between the drive down and back (and the mileage that we spent while we were down there) we put almost 3000 miles on our minivan. One of our biggest worries was taking the kids out of school for 10 school days, but it ended up working out fine. Day 1 (Thursday 10/5/00) We dropped the kids off at school at 8:30am and spent the next several hours packing the minivan. We were able to get the kids out of school an hour early and were on the road at 1:45pm. We made several short stops to eat, do bathroom duties, stretch our legs and for me to take a few power naps. The complete trip down took 29 hours. Day 2 (Friday 10/6/00) After the 29 hour drive we finally arrived at our hotel in Orlando at 7:30pm. Using our "Orlando Magicard" we got a $49 a night rate at the Holiday Inn Express on International Drive. We took the kids down for swim and then hit the pillows. Day 3 (Saturday 10/7/00) One of our goals on this trip was to celebrate my daughters birthday. She had chosen to have a meal at the RainForest Cafe for her birthday. We decided to spend the morning visiting the shops on International Drive, shopping at the Beltz Outlets and shopping at the Disney Marketplace. Around 1pm we headed for lunch at the RainForest Cafe. We had walked through the RainForest Café a couple times before but have never eaten there. The meal was good but very overpriced. The bill (including tip) came to $80.83. I was able to pay for $80 of it with my certificates that I earned from "FreeRide". Since the meal only cost me 83 cents it was well worth it. We then headed back to the hotel for a family swim. We were still full from our big lunch so we just took a walk and got an ice cream. We then watched TV and went to sleep. Day 4 (Sunday 10/8/00) This was our first Park day. We were going to meet my brother Wayne and his family at Sea World. We got there about 9am and hooked up with his family at about 9:30am. We tried to pet the dolphins (without success) and then played at the Stingray pool. As a group we watched the "Clyde and Seamore Pirate Show" and then headed over to watch the "Shamu Show". I thought the quality of the Shamu show went way down since our visit to Sea World in 1996. At this point the two families separated. We headed over to get a couple of beers and then we did the walks through the "Shark Tank" and the "Penguin House". We then waited in our longest line of the trip (40 minutes) to ride the "Journey to Atlantis". First my son and I rode and then my wife went on it. We all agreed that this was a terrible ride. We left the Park at 3pm so that we could get an early checkin at Orange Lake Resort. Checkin was very fast until I realized that they had scheduled our 2 weeks at Orange Lake in two different Units. It took about 30 minute to straighten everything out. (5 miles walked) Day 5 (Monday 10/9/00) This was our first official "family time". We were suppose to start the day at MGM but because of problems with my Parents checkin we delayed the meeting time until 1pm at MGM. We got to Epcot at opening and immediately got our "Test Track" fastpass. We went to the "Universe of Energy" which is one of our favorite attractions. When we exited the "Universe of Energy" it was time for "Test Track". I rode first with my Son and then he got to ride again with my wife. This was our first time on "Test Track" and we all enjoyed it. It was now Noon so we made the first of our many McDonalds stops on the way to meet up with the family at MGM. The 16 of us met up for the first time. We got our fastpass to the "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" and needed an hour to kill. My Parents went with us to "Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous" while the other went to seek autographs. This was our first time in "Sounds Dangerous" and we all enjoyed it very much. We then all trekked over to the "Great Movie Ride" which most of us enjoyed. The group now began to breakup a little. Everyone but my sisters family headed over to the "Indiana Jones stunt show" which became the favorite attraction for my nephew and son. Our group broke up a little more and my Parents came with us to do the "Muppets 3D" and "Star Tours". We decided to try and catch the "Illuminations 2000" so we headed over to Epcot. To try something different we decided to park at the Boardwalk Resort and walk into Epcot through the back entrance. We visited the countries on the right side of the World Showcase and then we took our first ride on "Spaceship Earth". At 9:00pm we watched "Illuminations 2000". We thought it was nice but very overrated. We headed back to the condo and were in bed by 11pm. (9 miles walked) Day 6 (10/10/00) This was our Magic Kingdom day. The sixteen of us met at the "Winnie the Pooh" ride. Since there was already a line we all got a fastpass and then head toward "It's a Small World". After our family boat ride (no lyrics, just music) we did "Peter Pan". After our flying boat ride we headed back to "Winnie the Pooh". This ride was very cute and we all enjoyed it. It was time to head to Tomorrow Land. Our first ride was "Buzz Lightyear". We then wanted to get some good photo opportunities so we headed over to the "Character Tent". We took a walk to the 100 acre woods where we got some excellent group photos with "Winnie the Pooh", "Eeyore" and "Tigger". These were our best group photos of the trip. We then all took a ride on the "People Mover" before separating for lunch. After lunch (we ate at Pecos Bills) several of us met up for a ride on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and then the "Haunted Mansion". We finished off our day at the Magic Kingdom with a family ride on "Splash Mountain". (7 miles walked) Day 7 Wednesday (10/11/00) This was to be our down day. Our original plan was to spend the morning at the resort and then do Disney Resort touring before our 5:00pm meal at "Chef Mickey's. We all met at the pool area. The resort has two main pool areas. The main pool complex is at the front of the resort. Besides having several pools, there is also indoor/outdoor shuffleboard, minigolf, a lake with boat rentals, a hot tub, restaurants, an arcade, a movie theater and much more. The newest pool complex is at the back of the resort. This pool is heated and has a waterslide, so we all went there. We were having such a good time that we ended up staying at the resort until 2pm. After showering and dressing we all caravanned (4 vehicles) over to the Contemporary. We took a monorail (we all got our co-pilot licenses) to the Magic Kingdom. We then all took a walk to visit our family brick (no one would admit it but I think this was the highlight of their trip). After taking pictures we headed back to the Contemporary, once again by monorail. We waited about 15 minutes and then we were seated in the "back room" which was quite appropriate for our noisy little group. The kids didn't particularly like the meal but the adults thought it was delicious. The important thing is that we got some great pictures and video (some great shots of my dad dancing with Minnie). When the meal was over we split into two groups (one went back to the resort and the other went to Premium Outlets). We ended up being in the lucky car. My wife was commenting on the beautiful fireworks that she was looking at. It was a clear night (at 7:15pm) and as I looked out the window I realized that we weren't looking at fireworks, we were watching a shuttle launch. What a fantastic sight it was. The next day we checked the news to verify that we were indeed watching the shuttle launch. Day 8 Thursday (10/12/00) The family time today was going to be an afternoon spent at Epcot. We headed out early to MGM. As soon as we got through the gates we headed towards the "Rock and Roll Rollercoaster". This was an extremely short ride but Nancy and I declared it our new favorite ride in Disney World. We then posed with director Mickey for a family picture and then watched the "Bear in the Big Blue House Show". We only had a few hours left until we were to meet up with the whole group so we split up. My wife and daughter went to see the "Hunchback of Notre Dame Show" (which is my wife's favorite) and I took my son on three repeat attractions that he loved, "Star Tours", "Muppet 3D" and the "Indiana Jones Spectacular". We met at the front entrance and headed over to Epcot, making a lunch stop at McDonalds on the way. We all met in front of Spaceship Earth and had the Disney photographer take a couple of group pictures. Our first group ride was the "Spaceship Earth". We then headed over to the "Land" Pavilion stopping briefly to watch the "Jamitors". Once inside "The Land" we watched "Food Rocks" and took another boat ride on the "Living with the Land". We then took a ride on Disney's most controversial ride "The Imagination Ride". Although it was short and not as good as the original ride, we all still enjoyed it. The group now started to break up into smaller groups. We went next door to watch "Honey I Shrank the Audience" and then we went to explore the Countries on the left side of Epcot. During our journey we went on the Mexico boat ride and then watched the incredible "Chinese Acrobats". (9 miles walked) Day 9 Friday (10/13/00) This was our last "family time" in the Disney Parks. We were all meeting today at the Safari Ride in the Disney Animal Kingdom. We got to the park early so we went to Dinoland. We went on the "Dinasaur Ride" twice (one of my sons favorites) and then took a walk on the "Paragami Trail" to look at the gorillas. It was time to meet the others so we headed over to the "Safari Ride". We all got the fastpass and had an hour to kill so we explored some of the smaller trails while the rest of the group went to look at the gorillas. We took the "Safari Ride" which seemed to be much better than when we went on it two years ago. Our next stop was the "Festival of the Lion King". While we waited for the show seating to open we went to visit several characters. We all enjoyed the "Festival of the Lion King". Our group split into two groups, one group going to lunch and the other group going to the "Bug's Life". After the 3D Show we took a walk on the "Maharashi Trail" to look at the giant bats and the Tigers. Our last attraction at the Animal Kingdom was the "Kali River Rapids". This was an enjoyable but short ride. Since the Magic Kingdom was open until 9:00pm tonight and it would be our only chance to see the "Electrical Light Parade" and the Fireworks we decided to spend the rest of the day at the Magic kingdom. Once again we stopped for a meal at McDonalds on our way to the Magic Kingdom. For some reason the crowds at the Magic Kingdom were huge (we later found out there was a school holiday in the whole county) so we gave up and took the monorail to Epcot. The kids wanted to go on their favorite attraction again so we went onto the "Universe of Energy" and then played with the computers in "Innovations". We wanted to beat the Magic Kingdom crowds to the parking lot so we jumped on the monorail and headed to our car. (9 miles walked) Day 10 Saturday (10/14/00) This was the day that our family unit would begin to break up. What had turned out to be an extremely fun week was coming to an end. My parents invited us all to a goodbye breakfast buffet at the resort's restaurant. Unfortunately neither of my two brothers were able to make it but we had a nice time anyways. After breakfast ended we said goodbye to my brother Wayne's family (they were flying home to Logan airport in Boston), my younger brother Dan and his girlfriend Lisa (who were heading to the Gulf coast to meet friends) and my parents who were heading to Sanibel and Marco Islands (until Thursday). My sister's family was leaving on Sunday so we planned on meeting with them when we got back from our "2nd day free" at Sea World. We arrived at Sea World at 10am. We had a short list of things that we wanted to see/do and then we would head back to the Condo. Our first attraction was the "Wild Arctic" which had over an hour wait earlier in the week. We got into the attraction in less than 30 minutes and watched the polar bears. As we walked by the "Cirque de la Mar" a show was about to begin so we went in. I'm sure glad we saw this amazing show. It's amazing what the human body can do. Our next stop was the water skiing show and then our last stop was to give the kids some time in the giant playground. After the kids were done playing we got another beer and then slowly walked out of the park. After resting and eating we met up with my sister Jean, niece Katie and Nephew Billy and were going to attempt to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from either the Contemporary Resort's balcony or the beach at the Polynesian. We met at 7pm and had time before the fireworks so we decided to go over to the Wilderness Lodge. We took one minivan and parked at the Contemporary Resort. We took a very nice boat ride over to the Lodge. In four planned attempts in the past I tried to see the geyser erupt, but never timed it right. Of course, just as we were walking by it this time it erupted. After watching the geyser and walking around the Resort lobby and pool area we headed back to the boat. We waited quite awhile for the boat to come. We finally got back to the Contemporary, jumped on a monorail and headed to the Poly Beach. Because of the long wait for the boat at the Wilderness Lodge we ended up watching the fireworks from the monorail. They were doing construction at the Polynesian so we weren't able to go down to the beach but we did get to see the "Electric Water Pageant" from the boat docks. At this point we dragged a very tired family back to the Condo. (7 miles walked) Day 11 Sunday (10/15/00) This was the day that my sisters family was heading home. They had flown into Tampa Bay so they were leaving from there also. They had a late flight so we were able to spend half a day with them. We all headed to the heated/waterslide pool at the back of the resort. We had a lot of fun just relaxing at the pool for a change. Jean, Bill, Katie, Billy and Chris said their goodbyes and left us at Noon. We decided to spend the rest of the day exploring. We changed and then headed over to Billy Wongs (one of our favorite restaurants) for lunch. After lunch we went to the Beltz Outlets again and then decided to check out "Cityside". Cityside is Universal's answer to Pleasure Island. We had fun looking at all the unique stores and restaurants. From Cityside we went to the "Welcome Party" at Orange Lake Resort" which is held every Sunday night. They supplied free drinks, wine, beer, entertainment and munchies. My brother Wayne was the only one who attended the previous Sunday when the whole family arrived. This would have been a good time if we all could have met there. (walked 8 miles) Day 12 Monday (10/16/00) This was our "Islands of Adventure" day with my brother Dan. Dan was dropping Lisa of at the airport and then meeting us at the Condo. Dan got there at 8am and we headed over. I have never been to any park anywhere that had such small crowds as IOA did today. We not only got to do everything we wanted to, but got to do our favorites more than once. Our first stop was Spiderman which everyone loved except my daughter. Next we went to cartoon Island. Brother Dan, Son Johnny and I went on "Ripshaw Falls" and then we took turns going on the "Jurassic Park River Adventure" twice. Next everyone but me went on the slowest loading ride in the world, the "Pterandon Flyers". They had several great playgrounds for the kids at this park that the kids used at different times during the day. It was time for Seuss Landing. This turn out to be a great area for all of us. We first rode (what turned out to be one of our favorite rides in the whole park) the "Cat in the Hat". Next we went on IOA's more exciting version of the Dumbo ride "One Fish Two Fish". You controlled the giant fish the same way you control Dumbo but at unexpected times it squirts water at you. We then rode the "Caro-seuss-el" which is an interactive merry-go-round. We left Seuss Landing and went to see the special affects show called "Poseidon's Fury". It had the most incredible special affect using a water vortex. It was now time for lunch. If you thought Disney was expensive, both IOA and Universal Studios were terrible. It cost us $38 for (hamburgers) for 2 adult/2 kids. Once lunch was over we went to IOA version of a stunt show called "Sinbad". We all got the urge to do "Cat in the Hat" again so we headed back to Seuss Landing and then did IOA version of the tea cups called "Storm Force" (twice). This ride was smoother and better than the traditional tea cups we were use to. As we got off the ride the streets were littered with Super Heroes (Spiderman/ Dr. Doom/ Wolverine/ Gremlin/ Captain America/ etc) so we got as many pictures as we could with them. Once the Heroes disappeared Dan and I took a ride on "Popeye's Rafts". In case you are wondering the people across from us got absolutely soaked but we were only damp. As we walked through "Cartoon Island" we walked right into a bunch of characters (Rocky/ Bullwinkle / Beetle Bailey/ Dudley Do Right/ Brutus/ Popeye/ Olive Olye). After many pictures we let the kids climb on "Me Ship Olive" and then took another ride on the "Ripshaw Falls". Another trip on the "Jurassic Park River Ride" and then two rides on the family rollercoaster "Unicorn" before heading once again to Seuss Landing. We took one more journey on the "Cat in the Hat", "One Fish Two Fish" and then ended our day with Spidey (Spiderman Ride). We did a little shopping outside of IOA and then went back to the Condo. Nancy and the kids went to bed while Dan and I watched the football game. (15 miles walked) Day 13 Tuesday (10/17/00) Brother Dan left for the airport and we went out to spend our last day at Disney World. First we went to MGM and watched the "Beauty and the Beast Show" and then took the "Animation Tour" which we hadn't seen in over 10 years. Since we had covered most of MGM we decided to finish our visit in Magic Kingdom. We grabbed a fastpass for "Winnie the Pooh" and then headed over to watch the 3pm parade which we had never seen. After the parade we decided to repeat the attractions that were the kids favorites. We went on "It's a Small World", "Haunted Mansion" and "Peter Pan". We then took a walk over to Tomorrowland and went on "Buzz Lightyear" and the "People Mover". Our last ride of the day would be our fastpass on "Winnie the Pooh". It was around 7pm and our typical strategy would be to go over to Epcot until close. Since we were going to Universal Studios the next day and we were getting tired, we decided to just head back to the condo. (9 miles walked) Day 14 Wednesday (10/18/00) We woke up early and headed to Universal Studios. We proceeded across the park to the "Men in Black Ride". This was a fun ride similar to Buzz Lightyear at Disney. We then did "ET" and the "Woody Woodpecker Family Coaster". Our next attraction was the "Terminator II 3D/Live Action Show". This was one of the better shows that we saw on our trip. Next we took a ride into the cartoons on the "Hanna-Barbera Ride". Our last ride before lunch was "King Kong". The biggest problem with King Kong is that the ride is so much better if you are on the outside seats. When you sit in the inside you miss so much of this ride. We then stopped for lunch at Momma Rosa's and had the most expensive pizza that we ever had. It cost $18 for a piece of cardboard with sauce. After lunch we went to "Twister" which was another attraction that we never saw before. If you aren't in the front row you will miss a lot of this attraction. At this point we let the kids pick the attractions. First it was a repeat of the "Hanna-Barbera Ride" and then our first tour of the "Nickelodeon Studios". Our kids are big fans of the Nickelodeon shows. They got to see where some of their favorite shows are filmed, where slime is made and sat in on the "Doubledare" game lab. We went to the back of the park and took a boat ride on "Jaws" (which had a 90 minute wait earlier). The park was closing in an hour so my wife took my daughter to the "Barney Show" and I took my son to the "Curious George Water Park". My wife and daughter met us there for the last half hour. The kids dried off and we headed back to the condo. (9 miles walked) Day 15 Thursday (10/19/00) This was the day that my Parents would return from the West Coast and spend the night with us before flying out on Friday. We started the day by going to the Marketplace at Downtown Disney. We went shopping at the RainForest Café, the Lego Store and the Marketplace where we finished our souvenir shopping. We went for lunch at the "Golden Corral" and then went back to the condo. We decided to swim at the front pool which turned out to be very cold. As we headed for the heated pool at the back of the resort (around 4pm) my parents arrived. After spending some time relaxing and talking to my parents we headed to the pool and they joined us after having some lunch. We spent some time relaxing around the pool. Back at the condo my wife and kids went to bed and my father and I watched the football game before going to sleep for the night. (5.5 miles walked) Day 16 Friday (10/20/00) We woke early and my Parents took us to the breakfast buffet at the Orange Lake Resort restaurant. We said our goodbyes to my parents and then headed to the pool for our last swim of the vacation. One of the things that we enjoy on our Disney trips is exploring the Disney Resorts. We had toured every resort except the new Disney All-Star Movies Resort. We had two goals this afternoon. We wanted to tour the All-Star Movies Resort and also try to find a souvenir snow globe that my wife had seen at Epcot. We ate lunch at the Resort and then headed over to All-Star Movies. We spent a couple of hours at the Movies Resort and then headed to Epcot. We wanted to take a last ride on the monorail so we parked at the Contemporary and took the monorail to Epcot. We couldn't find the globe at the gift shop at the entrance to Epcot. The woman working at the gift shop told us to ask "guest services" for an "hour-long pass" that would allow us to check a couple of gift shops inside Epcot. It took about 15 minutes for the passes to be printed up and I was assuming that the guy typing them was getting irritated with me. To my surprise he handed me a pass for each member of my family that allowed us to enjoy Epcot for the remainder of the day (5pm-9pm). We did the "Imagination Ride" for the second time and the rode my favorite "Living with the Land". We then took our third visit into the igloo and tasted the sodas from around the world. For the first time we took the boat across to Morocco. The kids were getting hungry so we ate at the "American Adventure". It was getting close to closing time so we decided to just take a slow walk back to the monorail. We did most of our packing and then climbed into bed for our last night in Florida. (10.5 miles walked) Day 17 Saturday (10/21/00) We woke at 6am and finished loading the minivan. After eating some breakfast we were on the road by 7:45am. The ride home was very similar to the ride down. I drove directly home with several mini-stops for food, bathroom breaks and power naps. The ride down had taken 29 hours, the ride back home took 28 hours. We arrived home just before noontime on Sunday October 22nd. We unloaded the van and all "crashed" for the night at 3pm. Summary This turned out to be a wonderful trip. With the diverse personalities in our large group there were times that I thought this trip would never take place. With constant emails and much compromise we made the trip become a reality. This gives us all some memories that we can look back on forever. I think the key to a trip like this with a large group of people (in various age groups) is to have a portion of family time set aside each day but also allow the bulk of the day to be left open for your individual tastes. REVIEWS: These are our reviews from our 1996 (October) trip, our 1998 (November) trip and our 2000 trip. An (*) indicates that we didn't do that particular attraction that year. Our rating system: lousy (1) - excellent (10) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Resorts (Inexpensive) All-Star Music/Sports/Movies (5)(5)(6)(1996) We didn't like the music icons. We all loved the oversized sports themes. Our room location was fantastic. We were located in the "Touchdown" building about 50 feet from the pool, foodcourt, laundry, gift shop, and ice machines (very important). The pools were alot of fun. There was a good variety of food items at the food court, even though the prices were high. The "mug" was the buy of the trip. They cost $7. 99 a mug and can be filled for free, an unlimited amount of times. Some of the resorts sell the mugs for $6. 99 and charge 79 cents for a refill (a real ripoff). We did refill our mugs (without a problem) at several other resorts. The "All-Stars" have a decent arcade, gift shop, and laundry. The room sizes were not as small as I expected. (1998)We are looking forward to the All-Star Movies. (2000) We got a chance to tour the All-Star Movies Resort before we headed home. This became our new favorite All-Star Resort. The oversized icons were a lot of fun. Resorts (Moderate) Dixie Landings (7)(8)(*) and Port Orleans (7)(8)(*) were two of our favorite resorts. Both had beautiful grounds and very attractive facilities. Both pools were very nice, with Port Orleans getting the edge because of their large dragon slide and alligator statue decor. The fact that they were both on the waterway, had access to boat rentals, and the water taxi (to the marketplace) added considerably to their appeal. (1998)We still love Dixie and Port Orleans. (1998) Coronado (*)(6)(*) is a beautiful resort. The theming is very nicely done and the resort has a lot of things to do. The biggest problem is that it is extremely spread out. There is no area that is close to everything. (1996) Caribbean Beach (6)(5)(*) was nice, but way too spread out. You needed transportation to get from one end of the resort to the other. The pools and beach areas were very nice. Resorts (Expensive) (1996)The Contemporary (8)(8)(8) and Polynesian (9)(9)(7) are still two of my favorites. You can't beat being on the monorail. Both have nice pools and restaurants. We loved the atmosphere at the Polynesian. The Polynesian also has a beautiful beach (with hammocks) and marina. There is a great view from the roof of the Contemporary. (2000)The reason for the lower rating at the Poly was because of all the construction going on. We were never able to find our way down to the beach to watch the fireworks. (1996)We visited the character breakfast at the Grand Floridian (7)(6)(*). The food was great. It was my daughters birthday, so Goofy brought out a Mickey Mouse cupcake with a candle. She loved it ! The hotel was very plush, but I have no desire to stay there. It's just to "plastic". (1998)I'm trying to force myself to like this place, but I can't. It has no warmth. (1996)The Wilderness Lodge (9)(9)(9) is very, very, impressive. The lobby is absolutely gorgeous and the pool area is something to see. There is a buffet restaurant (Whispering Canyon) in the lobby. It is a very good and filling meal, especially lunch and dinner. The biggest problem at this resort is the transportation. (1998)Transportation has gotten better, attention to detail very good. (2000)After numerous attempts over the years we finally stumbled onto the "active" geyser. This resort still needs a better food court and transportation. (1996)The Boardwalk (10)(9)(9) and the Yacht and Beach Clubs (10)(10)(10) are our two favorites. The Boardwalk resort is located on a boardwalk which has a variety of entertainment and restaurants. My favorites were the ESPN club and the Surrey bicycles. It also has a great swimming pool area (themed like an amusement park) with a big water slide. The Yacht and Beach clubs have a huge pool area with a long water slide and beach. The pool areas are the best in Disney World (not including the water parks). (2000)For the first time we used the boardwalk to go to Epcot. This is a great feature for all the resorts on the boardwalk. (1996)The Swan (9)(6)(*) and Dolphin (9)(6)(*) resorts are located near the Boardwalk. They are very fancy, but I liked the resorts with novelties better. The pools at these resorts are very ordinary. (1998)The more I visit these resorts the less I like them. Other than their location and cleanliness they don't have much going for them. (1996)The final resort that we visited was Fort Wilderness (5)(5)(*). I don't think I would chance the weather camping, but the Wilderness Homes would be very nice for a stay. The campground is much nicer than a typical campground but very spread out. You need transportation to get around it. There is an abundance of activities and Pioneer Hall and Trails End have very good food. Our favorite resorts:
Marketplace (1996)We went to the Marketplace several times by car and once using the water taxi from Port Orleans. Use the boat taxi if you can. It's a nice ride and very convenient. There are several very impressive places at the Marketplace. (1996)The Rainforest Café was fantastic for sightseeing. There is an active volcano, some great animatronic animals, jungle foliage everywhere, and a talking tree. There are huge tunnel-like aquariums and live parrots. The bar stools looked like different animals. Every hour there would be a rainstorm in the restaurant. (2000)We finally ate here for my daughter's 8th birthday. We thought the meal was good but very pricey. We enjoyed our visit but probably won't go again for awhile. (1996)Planet Hollywood was another tourist delight. There were hundreds of pieces of movie props and souvenirs. While you ate there were movie clips shown on giant screens overhead. We spent over 2 hours just walking around Planet Hollywood and the Rainforest Café. (1998)The new character shop is huge. I was a little surprised that a store that was so big didn't have a bigger selection. We did a decent amount of shopping here, but the bulk of our purchases were done elsewhere. (1996)We all loved the fountains that were at the Marketplace, Resorts, and Parks. It seemed like they were all different. The kids loved playing in them and we all enjoyed looking at them. (2000)Even as the kids got older they still enjoyed the different fountains. (1998)The marketplace is a great place to visit during the holidays. They had an actual ice rink and many attractions/events geared for the holiday season. The Lego store was very impressive. We are not into Legos but the different characters that were made from them were amazing. My kids did enjoy using the Lego play area. (2000)The kids are now into legos. Both kids bought lego kits for part of their souvenirs. Transportation We used the car most of the time. When we did use the buses, monorails, or boats we found them to be enjoyable, punctual, and relatively convenient. Character Visibility (1998)I thought this was better than in the past. The different character meeting places gave people a chance to meet the characters without a lot of pushing and shoving. We were disappointed by the number of characters actually walking around the parks. It seemed like these were greatly reduced. (2000)This was the best character interaction that we ever had. There were more character locations and characters walking around than we had ever seen in our previous trips. Our Attraction Ratings (1-10)(1996)(1998)(2000): Magic Kingdom
MGM
Epcot
Animal Kingdom
Islands of Adventure
Universal Studios
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