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Susan Cole -- November 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)November 22 - December 3, 2000 Cast of Characters:
Preshow: A little history - I had been to Disney World twice as a child in '76 and '78. Dad had never been. We went together while we were still dating in '87. We went as a family in December 1998 (see trip report on Brian Bennett's site) and I went on a business trip in April 1999. Well, we had such a wonderful time in 1998 that we couldn't wait to come back. We couldn't really justify the cost in 1999, but decided we would be able to swing it this year. We planned to go over Thanksgiving weekend, so that Austin would only miss 6 days of school, but we would be able to spend a full 12 days in Florida. I planned to spend every waking moment we had off from work and school in Florida. So, I bought airline tickets for 8am in the morning our first day which involved us leaving our house at 4:30 in the morning. My return flight was 7:50 pm, which got us back to our house at midnight on Sunday night. With all of us returning to work and school on Monday morning. I made reservations at the Condolodge in Kissimmee. This is where we stayed in 1998 and really liked it. We had a two bedroom, two bathroom unit. We were able to park directly in front of our unit and we had no stairs to climb or elevators to wait for. It contained a full kitchen, dining area, living room and screened patio and laundry. There were remote controlled TV's in the living room and master bedroom. Our condo was about 15-20 minutes from Disney World, due to the construction on 192. We paid $59.00 per night (magicard rate) I bought annual passes to Sea World by phone a month before the trip. Kids really enjoyed Sea World last time so we planned to go there a couple times this trip. Annual passes were cheaper than two 1 day passes. I was unsure as to what Disney media we would buy, so I waited until we arrived to buy it. I made a bunch of Priority Seatings - Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and 1900 Park Fare (villain dinner), Ice Cream Social at Garden Grill. The Trip Day 1 - Wednesday, November 22, 2000 - Arrival, Chef Mickey's, Magic Kingdom No major issues with flight down. Kids were really excited. We arrived around 11am. One if our strollers was broken on the flight down. Continental gave us a loaner. We quickly got our rental car from National without any wait. I had a free upgrade coupon and was given a full-sized car for the midsize price of $144 per week. We went directly to the Condolodge and were able to check in. It was around 1:00. We unpacked then went to Friendly's for lunch. We then headed to the Kash N Karry supermarket for breakfast, lunch and some dinner items. Dropped everything off at the condo (just 1 block away) and then went to Downtown Disney. We went to the Lego store and the Disney store, this was our first experience with the holiday crowds. It was extremely busy. We went to Chef Mickey's for dinner (5pm PS). Very enjoyable, kids had fun with the characters. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip, Dale and Donald Duck were all there. Austin loves getting autographs. Great time ($103 with tip, $25 was picture) After dinner, we decided to splurge on Annual Passes (I had been debating it for weeks). We had to go to one of the parks to buy them, so we took the monorail to MK. We bought the AP's ($1212 with MKC discount) and we walked into the park. It was 7pm and the Electric Light Parade was going to start at 7:30. Main Street was absolutely mobbed. We decided to get on the train and ride to Frontierland. We road on the Big Thunder Mountain RR (only a 10 minute wait) Excellent ride. Great fun in the dark. We then headed down to see if we could get a spot near the rope for the Electric Parade. I was completely amazed to find a spot right next to the rope. We waited about 10 minutes and watched the parade. Outstanding. Tucker loved the Captain Hook ship. The canon went off right in front of Tucker. He thought he was shot. He had been Captain Hook for Halloween, so he really enjoyed seeing him. We decided to try to beat the crowds out. It had been a very long day and the kids were cold, so we headed out to the monorail, back to the contemporary and headed back to the condo. We saw the MK Fireworks from the monorail. It was a great end to a great day. Day 2 - Thursday, November 23, 2000 (Thanksgiving Day) - Sea World, MGM We did Sea World today, as the kids wanted to do Shamu's Happy Harbor as much as they wanted to see Mickey. We took our time this morning and were out of the condo by 8:30am. Ended up getting to Sea World at 9:30, my mistake - a few wrong turns. We finally had to stop and ask for directions. We met Baby Shamu and Clyde sea lion when we finally got through the gates. Kids got autographs and pictures. We rode the Wild Artic Helicopter Ride. Tucker just made the 42" height requirement with the help of new shoes with 1" soles. Tucker didn't really like the ride at all. He was scared. Austin loved it. We enjoyed the arctic animals, especially the Polar Bear, which was catching fish while we were watching him. We then went to the Shamu show. They showed off the newest baby whale. I think it was only two weeks old. Really cute. We ate lunch (sandwiches that we had brought in) while we watched it. The show was really short. I think they were just exposing the new whale to the audience and stuff. We then went to Happy Harbor. Kids loved it. Went on everything. Spent over an hour. We then went to the sea lion and Otter show. Outstanding, very good show. Very funny and well done. We rode in the tall capsule ride, it is normally $3 per person, but it is free to Annual Pass holders. This was very fun, I really enjoyed it. You can see very far. I could see the Contemporary and Space Mountain. We then went to Journey to Atlantis. Tucker didn't want to ride, so Austin and I put on our ponchos and headed on - no line, we walked right on. Great Ride. Austin went on again with Dad. We were all glad that we wore our ponchos or we would have been soaked. We went to the sting ray area. We met a few characters there. Arthur Turtle, Penny Penguin and Shivers the Polar Bear. The kids got a couple autographs before they left for break. We walked through the penguin exhibit, shark exhibit and then saw the Clydesdales. Then we headed back to Shamu's Happy Harbor. After we let the kids play for awhile, we left the park. We had dinner in the condo and then decided to use our Disney AP's again. We went to MGM and headed to Fantasmic's 2nd show of the night (8:30pm). We were seated by 8:00 and waited a half an hour. What a wonderful show. I love the boat at the end. After that we walked through the Osborne light display. Absolutely outstanding. I love the way they make it snow on NY Avenue. Austin and Tucker really enjoyed all the lights. Austin loved wearing the special glasses that make snow flakes appear around all the lights. Back to the hotel by 10:30. Another Outstanding day. Day 3 - Friday, November, 24, 2000 - Animal Kingdom Today we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. Another slow moving morning for us, After breakfast in the condo, we got to the park around 9am. We went to Camp Mickey-Minnie first as I figured the Safari would be mobbed since the park had been open since 8am. This turned out to be a great idea. Camp Mickey-Minnie was not crowded at all. Characters were just strolling around interacting with people - not in their formal lines or trails. Austin and Tucker met Br'er Bear, Br'er Fox, Tigger, Goofy, Pluto and Pooh. We waited on a short line and saw Mickey and Minnie (10 minutes). I checked the map and the Festival of the Lion King was starting in 15 minutes. We walked over and were seated in the Lion section, and had a very short wait and the show started. I REALLY love this show. I think it is the music that make this show so outstanding. We then headed over to the Kilamanjaro Safari and I obtained our 1st Fastpasses. We got 12:05-1:05. This was our first encounter with serious crowds. This area was absolutely chaotic! The crowd was unbelievable. The current Fastpass return line was LONG - it wrapped out into the walkway 40 - 50 yards. I did manage to maneuver my way in to get the Fastpasses and out again, though I got confused and had to ask for directions back to meet up with Dad and Tucker who had stayed back on the bridge to look at something. We headed over to the Tarzan Rocks show. This show was very different. Rock band and roller skaters. I liked it. We ate our lunch (sandwiches) we had brought into the park, while we watched the show. After the show we headed back over to the safari to use our Fastpasses. They worked great. The return line was much shorter now and it only took us about 5 minutes to get on when the Standby line sign said it was a one hour wait. We all enjoyed the safari. We saw quite a few animals. We retrieved our strollers and went on the gorilla walking tour. This was neat. There were two baby gorillas running around playing. After that we headed down to the Tree of Life for the It's Tough to be a Bug Show. I think we waited about 20 minutes - but it isn't really a bad line - we counted how many animals we could spot in the tree. Austin really liked the show. Tucker really doesn't have the nerves of Austin. He didn't like this show at all and kept covering his eyes. I was not sitting back in my chair, but Dad was and he said the sting in his back was very sharp. Thank goodness Tucker was bent over covering his eyes, he didn't get stung. We then went back to Dinoland and let the kids run around in the slide and dig area for awhile. They enjoyed this. It was around 3:30. I decided it would be a good idea to leave the park and go back to the condo and rest for awhile, have dinner and then maybe go back over to Epcot. We left, relaxed at the condo for an hour, switched laundry, wrote postcards and watched TV. We went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Austin started coughing, we stopped at Eckerd for some cough medicine. During dinner, the medicine pretty much knocked Austin out and since we had had 2 late nights already, we decided to call it a night. We stopped at a supermarket and picked up some breakfast items. We then went back to the condo and gave the kids baths, made lunch for tomorrow, relaxed and went to bed early. Day 4 - Saturday, November 25, 2000 - Epcot Early start for us today, we were through the Epcot gates by 8:30. Official opening time was 9:00. We walked right on Spaceship Earth. I really love this ride. We then mailed our postcards and got a new lens cover from the camera shop. We had lost ours on the first day. We got Fastpasses to Test Track (9:35-10:35). We went on Ellen's Energy Adventure with little wait. Kids love dinosaurs. We then went back to Test Track to use our Fastpasses. Again they worked great. The standby line wait was 50 minutes. We walked on the ride in about 5 minutes and that included some technical problems with the ride for a couple minutes. This is a really fun ride. We all enjoyed it. Kids met the Crash Dummy on the way out. Dad checked out the Hummer. I couldn't believe it was cost over $98,000. From there we went to Journey of the Imagination ride. It was OK. The best part was the upside down section. We then saw Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Great Show. Much better than the Bug Show. Tucker faired pretty well. I just covered his eyes during the lion and the snake parts. The mice didn't bother him because he had his feet up on the chair. After that we enjoyed the jumping fountains and then sat down on a bench and ate our sandwiches. After lunch we went on the Living Seas. It was a little better than I remembered. We stayed for one of the diving presentations which was very well done. We had really not encountered lines all day so far. We went over to the Land. The Circle of Life show was not working. We got on line for the Land boat ride. First long line of the day, we waited about 15 minutes. I enjoyed this ride. Tucker really enjoyed it. He jabbered through the entire ride. "Oh, a storm", "Look a desert", "What are those, Mom?", "Look, Peppers, Bananas......" It was very cute. We then watched Food Rocks. Well done show. It made me feel guilty that in an hour we had a PS at Garden Grill for an Ice Cream Social with Mickey Mouse. Very comfortable seats, I could have napped there. We tried Circle of Life again and it was working. We watched the show with only a few minutes wait. It was now 3:00. Time for our Ice Cream Social with Mickey at Garden Grill. This was a lot of fun. It was not as expensive as a full character meal would have been, but they still got to enjoy all the character interactions. Mickey, Chip and Dale were all there and they were very lively. The kids had a really good time here. After that we headed over to the World Showcase. We went on the boat ride in Mexico. It was OK. When we came out of Mexico, we saw the Holiday Bus carrying all the characters drive by. We followed it over to the World Showcase entrance area. The characters got out and split up all over the area and an announcer said they would see "as many people as they could". We ended up in the Minnie Mouse line before we realized that they were splitting up all over the area. We got a nice picture of the kids with Minnie and we got on line to meet Esmerelda. She was wonderful. Very interactive and photogenic. Tucker did not want to meet her, but we got a great picture of her with Austin. We got on line for Meeko (the raccoon) and then for Eeyore (the only one Tucker wanted to see). We then got on line for Mary Poppins. We were 2 away from meeting her and the announcer said something like "keep track of your watches everyone, we have many things to do". Mary Poppins finished with the person she was with and she just walked away. Not even looking back at the line of children waiting to meet her, she didn't say "I'm sorry, I have to go", she didn't even wave goodbye. I was disappointed. This was the only chance or place in Epcot to see characters (other than the character meal at Garden Grill). The characters off the bus stayed for about 15-20 minutes max. I feel very lucky that we managed to see 4 characters in that time. The only way we accomplished this was to have me stand in line for one of the characters while Dad had the children in line for another. Then when they were done he brought them over by me. Epcot used to have characters located throughout the World Showcase. I do not understand this new approach. There were about 12 - 15 characters that came off the bus and I bet the majority of the people there only saw 2-4 max. I saw children crying when the characters got back on the bus and drove away. Why doesn't Disney have something like Toontown Fair or Camp Mickey-Minnie here? Oh well, enough about that. About this time I was beginning to notice that Disney was doing everything early today. According to my park map, the characters were not supposed to arrive until 5:05. But according to my watch it was 5:05 and the characters were driving away. I didn't end up thinking much more about this. We decided to eat dinner at the Liberty Inn and then find a spot to watch the Tapestry of Nations parade. So we hoofed it over to the American Adventure, got dinner, ate and then walked outside to see if we could find a spot for the parade. By my watch it was 6:00 and the parade was supposed to start until 6:10. We walked outside to see the end of the parade going by. I asked Dad what time he had on his watch - 6:30. Somehow my watch was not set right (oops!) I corrected the time and didn't have problems with it again. We went to Norway and rode Maelstrom. Great ride. The kids played on the Viking Ship outside. I noticed the kidspot. Austin and Tucker got masks and started coloring. I quickly figured out that the kids would get stamps and additions to their masks with each country we visited. Austin thought this sounded great. We went to Mexico and got a stamp and an earring. Tucker wanted to ride the friendship boat across the lagoon. As we got on, it started to rain, fairly hard and steady. Instead of staying around for Illuminations like we had originally planned, we left the park. We got back to the condo by 9:30. It had been a very busy, fun filled day. Day 5 - Sunday, November 26, 2000 - Magic Kingdom (RAIN) I will try to remember everything. It was a very rough day. It rained nearly all day. The day started out OK. It was a little cloudy. We headed to the Magic Kingdom and we were in the castle for the 9:00am rope drop. We headed straight for Peter Pan at the children's request. Then we did It's a Small World. Both were walk-ons. We headed over to do the new Pooh ride when the kids decided they wanted to ride Dumbo. If I had known they wanted to ride Dumbo, I definitely would have gone there first. We ended up waiting 20-25 minutes for Dumbo. During this wait it began to rain steady. We got off the ride and put on our ponchos and headed over to the Pooh ride. We saw Timon and Rafiki were in the character area across from the Pooh ride. I decided to get Fastpasses for Pooh while the kids went in with the characters. Our Fastpass time was in 45 minutes. We walked down and went on the Tea Cups. It was still raining hard and steady. We left our strollers under some shelter at the Tea Cups and headed back to the Pooh ride. We really love Fastpass. We walked on despite a very long 45 minute standby line. We all loved this ride. Very well done. We went on Snow White - very short wait. We then walked over to the Haunted Mansion. Short wait, GREAT ride. We all loved it. It is still raining. We are wearing ponchos, but I am still wet, from my elbows down, the bottom of my jeans, my socks and sneakers are soaked through. And it is cool out compared to yesterday when we were all wearing shorts. I was cold and wet and not really enjoying MK the way I normally do. The kids were not being good either. They were not listening to us very well. We decided to go on Splash Mountain, we were already wet. We basically walked right on. This is a very fun ride. Tucker liked everything but the big drop. We met Br'er Fox on the way out. We decided to take the train over to Toontown to retrieve our strollers and lunch which we had left at the Tea Cups. It is still raining and Tucker is soaked from his knees down and Austin is not much better. And while we were on Splash Mountain our boat stopped by the waterfall for about 5 minutes and water had managed to seep to the seat of my pants. I am pretty much wet or damp all over. And I have been carrying a heavy backpack, which when wearing a poncho is very hard to get on and off rides with. We got to Toontown and the kids wanted to go in Mickey and Minnie's houses. Kids were not listening well at all for of all things - putting fingers in their mouths and thumb sucking (Tucker). We have been trying to break Tucker of this habit but he just seems to be getting worse. Well in Minnie's house, Dad and I just snapped and ended up marching the kids straight out of the park and drove back to the condo. We ate lunch there and changed into dry clothes and put our shoes in the dryer. That felt so much better. We told the kids that we would try to go back to the park, but if they didn't listen we would leave again. It stopped raining FINALLY. I think it was around 2:30. I blow dried the strollers and we packed up the car again, but I did not bring my backpack which contained film, video camera and clothes. I just didn't want to lug it around. Well, of course on the way back to MK, it began to rain again - STEADY. Well, I was determined to stay as dry as possible and enjoy myself. We took the monorail over to MK. I asked to sit in front. This is one of the things I really wanted to do for the kids this trip. We hadn't gotten to in 1998. We ended up having to wait for 2 monorail trains, but it was worth it. The kids thought it was cool and I was still dry! We got to MK and headed over to Buzz Lightyear. There was a long line. I got Fastpasses and we jumped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We are still relatively dry! I love this ride. Austin and Tucker are also behaving very well now. We still had time before Buzz, so we went on the Carousel of Progress. (nice dry show) We hadn't done this in 1998 either, I really liked it. We then used our Buzz Fastpasses. Love that ride. I was RANGER 1st CLASS. I also love Fastpass. Walking past people that are standing in a very long line is pretty cool. We got Fastpasses for Space Mountain and then walked over to Toontown Fair (characters - DRY). I finally stepped in one too many puddles this afternoon and my shoes and socks are now wet. Oh well. We saw Donald Duck, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger, all with little or no wait. I had thought it would have been mobbed with all the rain. The kids went on Barnstormer a couple times then we headed back over to Space Mountain. Tucker is still too short. I went on with Austin - walked right on despite a 40 minute standby line. Can't say enough about Fastpass - Outstanding! Dad went on with Austin after we came out. I waited with Tucker in the arcade. The park was closing at 7:00. It was now about 6:20. Tucker wanted to go on Peter Pan again so we headed over there. We probably waited about 8 minutes. When we got off the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks were going off. Wow - Fireworks in the rain, never thought I would ever see that. We hightailed it really quick over to The Pirates of the Caribbean. We all enjoyed it. There was no one there and we had the entire boat to ourselves. Tucker loved it. He has a thing for pirates. Well, he wanted to go on again, so we looped around and went on again. It was a few minutes before 7:00. Again we had the boat to ourselves. Very cool. We ended up stopping at Wendy's for dinner on the way back to the condo. Day 6 - Monday, November 27, 2000 - MGM and Epcot I don't have a lot of detailed notes for today. The sun was out today - thank goodness. We decided to go to MGM today. We had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and were in the MGM parking lot around 8:45am. Park opening was 9:00. We met Green Army Men in the parking lot. There was a whole bunch of them. A Sergeant and his troops, they drove out in their own van. They were there to "Ensure we arrived on the tram safely". The Sergeant was hysterical. Joking with people. He asked Dad where we were from. He said, "New Jersey". The Sergeant said , "Sorry" - as if he didn't hear him. Dad said, "New Jersey" - louder and the Sergeant said, "No, I heard you, I am sorry". Everyone laughed. I can't think of all the funny things he said but it really was cute. We went on Star Tours (Tucker did well) and Muppet Vision 3D without any wait. We went to Al Toy Barn and met Buzz, Woody and Jessie. We went on the Backlot Tour. We met Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet on Mickey Avenue. We met Gideon and Donald Duck in front of the Great Movie Ride. We rode on the Great Movie ride. We had lunch in the Commissary. We saw the Hunchback of ND - my favorite show at Disney World. We watched Beauty and the Beast show - OK. Next, Austin and I went on the Tower of Terror - short wait 5-10 minutes. I had never been on this ride and was nervous. I honestly did not think I would like it at all, but I have heard so many people rave about, I had to try it. Well, I absolutely loved it. What a great ride. Austin liked it, too. We all met up and saw Doug Live. This is a cute show. We then went and watched the Bear in the Big Blue House show. I then brought the whole family back to Tower of Terror. Tucker was just tall enough so we all went on. I loved it again. Dad hated it, he didn't ever want to ever go on again. Tucker said he liked it, but he also didn't want to go again. I went on the Rock and Roller Coaster alone. Dad didn't want to and both kids were too short. Another outstanding ride. Loved it. We ate dinner in MGM - burgers I think. We then went over to Epcot since we had already seen Fantasmic and we hadn't seen Illuminations yet. We walked on Spaceship Earth and Body Wars (I think this is rougher than Star Tours). We then found a spot for Illuminations. Great show. But, I think I liked 1998's version better. Another Great Day! Day 7 - Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - Magic Kingdom, MGM (picture pickup), Villain Dinner Late start today, didn't pull into Disney World until a little after 9:00 and were through the gates at Magic Kingdom around 9:30. We went to Buzz Lightyear. I got a Fastpass because I knew the kids would want to go on twice and we got in line. It was only about a 5 minute wait. Super Fun ride. We then went over to the Tomorrowland Speedway. There was a long wait - about 20-25 minutes. This was very enjoyable. Austin loved driving. Tucker didn't want to drive, but he enjoyed going for the ride. We still had time before our Buzz Lightyear Fastpass so we went over to Goofy's Barnstormer. We all rode twice with very little wait. Austin is so cute, he rides with his hands straight up in the air the whole ride. And Tucker screams the whole ride - why? - because Austin said to. We then went back to Buzz to use our Fastpasses. The ride actually stopped for a little while we were riding. Needless to say we had our best scores yet. We ate lunch in Tomorrowland, turkey legs for us and PB&J we brought in for the kids. We went by the Tea Cups and met the Mad Hatter and Tweedle Dum. We had to wait about 10 minutes to meet the Mad Hatter. He is a face character and talks to the people. It was worth the wait. He was very entertaining. Dad, who takes all our still pictures, was standing back to take a picture of the kids with the Mad Hatter. He was wearing his shirt he got back in 1998 - it has loads of characters on the front and back. The Mad Hatter called Dad over to him and made him turn around. The Mad Hatter was one of the characters on the back of Dad's T-Shirt. The Mad Hatter found himself on Dad's shirt and said, "Look here I am, I'm going to be on your back all day". It was really cute. We worked our way into Fantasyland and got in line in the character area there. While Dad had the kids in line, I went over and got Fastpasses for Pooh Bear. Time we got (2:00 - 3:00). We met Baloo and Prince John in the character area. We were probably in the character area for about 20 minutes and by the time we left I noticed that the Pooh Bear Fastpass return time was up to 2:50-3:50. I recommend anyone wanting to ride Pooh Bear, either ride first thing in the morning or get Fastpasses early in the day. I noticed that the Pooh ride often ran out of Fastpasses by early afternoon. If you get your Fastpass early you can ride early and then get a Fastpass for something else. If you wait until later to get your Fastpass you risk not getting one at all or getting one that the return time is so late you cannot use any other Fastpasses for the majority of the day. Tucker really wanted to ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean again so we headed over that way. On the way we bumped into more characters. They were on the path between the Frontierland entrance and the Adventureland bridge. We met Liverlips Bear, Friar Tuck and Prince John again. We told the kids he had moved really fast to get there before we did. These characters were not listed on the guide map. I recommend walking through there if you are on a hunt for characters. You never know. We walked onto and through the Swiss Family tree house. We finally made it over to the Pirates of the Caribbean and who should we meet but Captain Hook himself and Mr. Smee. Tucker was in his glory. He was so excited. Got some great pictures and then went on the ride with very little wait. We then rode Jungle Cruise (10 minute wait). We had the same exact driver we had two years ago. I have it on video. Same exact jokes. On our way back over to Pooh Bear, we stopped for ice cream and sat by the water looking out onto Tom Sawyer's Island and the riverboat. Very relaxing. We got back to Pooh Bear. This is the 1st time we ever had to wait to get on a ride with Fastpasses. We waited about 8 minutes to get on. We all really like this ride. Very cute. We rode Snow White with a short wait. We then headed onto Main Street to claim some curb for the Magical Moments parade. We found a spot right next to the tape on the street and parked our strollers. It was about 2:40. While waiting for the parade, I walked over to the camera center to check our pictures that were taken in front of the castle as we walked into the park this morning. Picture was absolutely adorable. It is just us and the whole castle centered behind us. We had it taken by the very last camera man at the very end of Main Street, just before the circle in front of the castle. I recommend waiting until the end of Main Street to get your picture taken. The castle is bigger and you get less of the busyness of Main Street in the photo. Well, the picture was great. But when they print it for you they include the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Tinkerbell and Pluto) and Magic Kingdom 2000 all around the sides and the bottom. I asked if I could get it without all the characters draped around the sides of it. To me it was just too busy and overbearing. She said no. I bought it anyway because it was such a great picture of all of us. As it was printing out another woman bagged it for me. She must have overheard me ask about removing the characters, and she said, "Let me see what I can do." It was my lucky day. She printed the picture without the character overlay and gave me it and said I could keep the other one for free. 2 for 1. What a deal. I went back to Dad and the kids and waited for the parade to begin. Parade was outstanding. Austin and Tucker got to go out into the parade. They set the table for Beauty and the Beast and banged drums on the Lion King float. Truly magical moments. After the parade, we left the park and caught a bus over to MGM. I had forgotten to look at our pictures that were taken of us with Buzz and Woody yesterday. Disney only keeps the pictures for 1 extra day before getting rid of them. I bought 1 picture of the 4 of us. It is OK. I don't like it as much as the picture of one in front of the castle. We left MGM and caught a bus to the Grand Floridian. We had a priority seating at 5:15 for the Villain Dinner character meal at 1900 Park Fare. I have never been in the Grand Floridian. It is beautiful. The Christmas tree in the lobby is incredibly beautiful. We had a great time at the character meal. We met the Queen of Hearts, Prince John, Captain Hook and Governor Ratcliff.
We wandered around the Grand Floridian for awhile after dinner. The pool was very nice. I couldn't believe that people were swimming. It was a cool evening. We felt the water. It was really warm. Our pool at the condo is ice cold compared to that. If I paid for a room in the Grand Floridian I would want a really hot pool too. It's all what you pay for. We stopped at the supermarket for a few supplies before getting back to the condo for the night. Day 8 - Wednesday, November 29, 2000 - Magic Kingdom We got an early start today. We went back to Magic Kingdom. We were in the castle for the rope drop at 9:00am. I carefully maneuvered my way up to the Royal Table entrance and asked about making a priority seating for dinner tonight. I had tried to get a breakfast PS at home 2 months ago but was unable to. Even though I had called a little before 7am EST, I was told it was full when I got through at 7:01am. Oh, well. I made out well this morning and got a 5:30 PS for dinner. At the rope drop we headed to the Pooh Bear ride. It was insane. As we parked our strollers and approached the ride, Dad and I got split up as I entered the queue with Austin. When I turned around I couldn't even see him. He was at least 15 people behind me. He said Tucker nearly got run over by someone's stroller and nearly trampled as he approached the entrance. Well, we made it on the ride. Loved it again. After Pooh, we walked over to Peter Pan. We met Rafiki on the way. Then decided to meet Ariel in her Grotto. No wait at all. We finally made it to Peter Pan and rode with very little wait. We went on the Haunted Mansion with no wait. After that we headed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean, but it wasn't working so we went back and rode Splash Mountain. Tucker didn't want to ride so we did the baby swap. Great ride. I managed to get soaked by the spray that shoots out onto the walking bridge. We went back to the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was now working, we rode with about a 10 minute wait. We ate lunch (sandwiches we bought in) on a bench near the Pirates of the Caribbean. After lunch we decided to hunt down some more characters. We went to the Exposition Hall and hit the jackpot. Pluto was outside. Snow White, Dopey, Perla and Suzy Mice were all inside. After that we rode the train over to Toontown to meet Mickey Mouse. We waited about 15 minutes to see Mickey. We then rode Goofy's Barnstormer. On the way out of Toontown, it started raining. We went on the Tea Cups (5 minute wait) After that we put on our ponchos and headed over to Buzz Lightyear. There was a 1/2 half hour wait. I got Fastpasses. We went on the TTA and then the Timekeeper. After that it was time for Buzz Lightyear. We walked on - I love Fastpass. Great ride. My best score yet without the ride stopping - 54,800 Ranger 1st class. Dad did well over 100,000. We got Fastpasses for Space Mountain and then went on the Carousel of Progress. We were trying to stay on dry things. Austin and I went on Space Mountain. Love it. Then we all headed over and saw the Legend of the Lion King - OK. It was time for our dinner in the castle. We were seated within 10 minutes. We really enjoyed this. The food was wonderful. It was neat to be referred to as Lord, Lady and Princes. Lots of fun. After dinner we followed the Electric Light Parade to Frontierland and wrapped around to Pirates of the Caribbean - Tucker's request. We rode the last boat of the day. We then bought the kids' souvenirs. We had told them that they could each choose one thing to bring home with them to remember the trip. They had chosen a few days ago but we didn't buy anything right away in case they changed their minds. Tucker got a Mickey Mouse Pirate play set and Austin got a wooden pirate pistol. They were both very excited. The park was now closed. It took us forever to get out. There were so many people heading out at once. Overall a really great day. Day 9 - Thursday, November 30. 2000 - Sea World and Epcot It was a beautiful, Sunny day today. Yeah! We went back to Sea World. We were there as the park opened at 9am. It was nice. They played the national anthem as the park opened and everyone that was entering the park actually stood still and watched the flag until the song was over. We went through the Tropical Reef exhibit. The kids were really into this. They wanted to know what to look for in each tank. It made me want to buy a fish tank when we get home. Next we strolled over and checked out the turtles at Turtlepoint. We went to the Dolphin Feeding area and I bought some fish. It is normally $3 for 4 fish, but with my Annual Pass I got them for $2. I bought $8 worth and started feeding dolphins. Very neat experience. You can touch them under their chins and on their heads. Both the kids fed and touched the dolphins. Sea World staff takes pictures of you feeding the dolphins. We got a wonderful picture of the kids. After that we headed over to see the seals and sea lions. Their feeding time was not until 10:30, so we went over to the Seamore and Clyde show. Tucker's favorite - its got a pirate ship in it. Great show - very, very funny. There was a mime pirate that was entertaining us (the audience) as the crowd kept filing in. He was really hysterical. He made fun of people walking in - in a very good-natured way. He took the flag from the leader of one of those groups that follow the flag. That group followed him through two rows of people already seated before they caught on. He was taking maps out of peoples' back pockets without them noticing. It was really funny. After the show, we headed over to Shamu's Happy Harbor. Austin and Tucker had it totally to themselves for about 15 minutes until the Shamu show got out. We ate lunch there and stayed for a little over an hour. After that we headed towards the park exit. We wanted to go to Epcot in the afternoon. On the way out the kids saw the Flamingo paddle boats and really wanted to go on them. What the heck - so far the morning had been so nice and relaxing - why not float in the lake for half an hour? I got an AP discount - $4 per boat per 1/2 half instead of $6. I rented two boats. It was fun. It got warm this afternoon. It was actually hot paddling around the lake. We stopped at the dolphin nursery on the way out. They had 3 baby dolphins that had been born over the summer. Really cute. Some of the dolphins were playing with a big ball. They would swim with it under their bodies, holding it under water. Then one of them actually put it in its mouth and threw it out of the water. It was neat. We left the park and drove over to Epcot. We couldn't get past Spaceship Earth without riding. No wait. We headed straight to the World Showcase. The kids wanted to get more stamps on their masks. We started off in Canada. Off Kilter came out as we walked by. We had to stop and listen. I love Off Kilter. We continued around the World Showcase stopping at each county's Kidspot. We had made it to Italy when we stopped to check out the outdoor railroad next to Germany. We are crazy about trains. Our house has model trains running throughout it. We have a HO set in the garage. A G-scale on a high shelf running through our living room, dining room and kitchen. We also have a Lionel set that we haven't finished yet in our downstairs recreation room. We all thought the outdoor railroad in Epcot was outstanding. Dad wants to build a garden railroad through our front yard. We stayed there and watched the Tapestry of Nations parade. I like it a lot. One of the puppets reached out to Austin and Tucker so that they could touch it. After that we finished the kids masks. They turned out really cute. We then rode the Maelstrom again. (short wait) The kids wanted to ride the dinosaur ride again (Ellen's Energy Adventure). On our way over, I picked up Fastpasses to Test Track. We only had to wait about 45 minutes before we could use them, so we went on Ellen's Energy Adventure and then walked onto Test Track. Tucker didn't want to ride so just Austin and I rode. We then went to Pasta Piazza for dinner. We stopped at Innovations West to send a picture Email and then we left for the day. It was around 8:30. Day 10 - Friday, December 1, 2000 - Shopping, Rest, Chef Mickey's, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party We slept late. We are trying to conserve energy today since we are going to MVMCP tonight. We let the kids play in the condo with their new pirate toys and outside on the playground. We then headed out to IHOP for breakfast. IHOP is much more expensive here than at home. It cost $25 including tip for the 4 of us. We took it really easy today. We went to Downtown Disney and did a little shopping. We stopped at McDonald's and were disgusted by the lines and the prices. We drove off property to Wendy's and ate lunch for $8. Love Wendy's Dollar Menu. We drove over to the Boardwalk and wandered around. We admired the Yacht and Beach Club's pool. It looked so inviting. We rented a canopy boat and boated around by MGM, Swan, Dolphin and the Boardwalk. We all really enjoyed this. It was a very nice day. We then headed back to the condo to change into long pants and pack some sweatshirts for tonight. We rested here for about 45 minutes and then headed out to Chef Mickey's. We had a great time there. The Characters were very attentive and came by quite a bit. The kids were very excited and were dancing around, whipping their napkins around during the Celebration song. After that we headed over to MK for the MVMCP. We were let into the park at around 7:20. The official opening time was 8:00. The first hour or so that we were there was great. We walked on Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, Dumbo, It's A Small World and the Haunted Mansion. We had our picture taken, got our pins and met some characters - Chip, Dale, Pluto, Max, Jasmine and Aurora. All in an hour and 1/2 - Amazing. It was about 9:00 so we went to find a spot for the parade. The parade area was mobbed, we ended up watching from a distance on the path from the castle to Frontierland. After that the kids fell asleep in their strollers. Dad and I wandered around the park looking for characters the kids hadn't met yet. I wanted to get autographs and pictures for them. I was disappointed, per the map, characters should have been all over the place. We went to everywhere the map said they would be and 3/4's of them had no characters at all. I was also disappointed that the park was now mobbed. People were everywhere. Lines for all rides were 45 minutes or more. I thought that Disney limited tickets to MVMCP so that lines would be minimal. Also Toontown wasn't open at all. In 1998, we met a lot of characters there and also rode Goofy's Barnstormer. We watched the Fireworks. Great Show! Goofy (Santa suit) popped out of a window in the castle and Rudolph flew through the air where Tinkerbell usually does. The Show ended with perimeter fireworks shooting off in unison all around the park. Very cool. Dad and I got our picture taken with Mickey and Minnie wearing their fancy Christmas outfits. We then got a seat right on the curb in front of the Main Street Train Station and watched the parade again. Great parade. I love the way you can smell gingerbread when the kitchen float goes by. We then left and walked back to the car at the Contemporary. Day 11 - Saturday, December 2, 2000 - MGM Slow morning today after our late night yesterday. We didn't leave the condo until 9:15am. We stopped for gas and were through the MGM gates a little after 10am. It was another beautiful, sunny day. We went directly to see Mickey. We wanted to try again to get a nice picture of the four of us with him. We didn't like the first attempt. There was a very short line which was nice. This picture ended up being really nice and we ended up buying it. Mickey is dressed in a cute director's outfit and cap. We walked onto the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We took the Animation Tour. No one was around because it was Saturday. Very interesting though. We then headed over to the Backlot Tour - Tucker's request. We met some characters on the way - Clopin, Zhang, and Belle. The kids really like Catastrophe Canyon. We were hungry for lunch so we headed down Mickey Avenue in search of food. We hadn't brought any of our own in today because we hadn't gone shopping last night and we were out of bread. It took us awhile to get down Mickey Avenue because Tucker wanted to stop and visit Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger. We headed over to the pizza stand outside of the Tower of Terror. After lunch we split up. Austin and I went on the Tower of Terror and Dad and Tucker went to find some characters. ToT was only a 10 minute wait. Outstanding! We met back up with Dad and Tucker a short while later (2:30). They told us about all the characters they had found. Austin wanted to meet them too so we hightailed it over to Mickey Avenue and met Doug, the Genie, Foulfellow, Pinocchio, Mr. Smee and Donald Duck. Cool. After that we found a spot on Hollywood Avenue to watch the Mulan parade. We enjoyed the parade, but we picked a bad spot. The entire parade we were looking straight into the sun. After the parade we were all HOT and wanted some ice cream. We all had some Mickey ear ice cream sandwiches. Yum. After that we went on the Great Movie Ride at the kids request. Then we went over to Doug Live. There was about an hour before the next show so we went over to Al's Toy Barn to see who we could find. There were lots of characters there. The kids met with Bullseye, Jessie, Woody, Buzz and a Green Army Man before we went back to see the Doug show. We were hoping Austin would get picked as Quail Kid. He jumped up and down screaming, "I believe in you". But he wasn't picked. Oh, well. Great show anyway. I hadn't planned on spending the whole day here, but we were having such a good time we decided to stay to watch Fantasmic one last time. We didn't have sweatshirts with us since we didn't think we were staying that late, so we went out to the car to get them. We were amazed at the amount of people coming into MGM. The line to get through the turnstiles went all the way back to the curb where the tram drop off/pick up area is. It was about 5:30. We wondered if we whether or not we would make it back into the park for the 6:30 Fantasmic show or not. Well we got on a tram going out to the car and we sat in the very last seat. The rear tram announcer told us he couldn't believe what a crazy night it was. He said the lot was filled to capacity. If the first two weeks of December are supposed to be the least crowded time in Disney, I can't imagine what the summer is like. Well, we actually did make it back through the turnstiles by around 6:05. We made our way to Fantasmic. As we got to the entrance at the bottom of the hill, we were told by cast members that it was standing room only. Well, we trudged on. It was our last night and I was determined to see the show even if I had to stand through it. We made our way up and parked our strollers. We were directed to the Witch section, which is the farthest to the right as you look at the stage. As we walked in this section was still practically empty, we walked all the way down and sat in the very 1st row. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for the show to start. These were great seats and we didn't have to get there 2 hours early. I believe the cast members in the front of Fantasmic by the street were trying to scare people off by saying it was standing room only when it really wasn't yet. I recommend checking it out for yourself, you may be pleasantly surprised, and you can always turn around if you do not want to stand. After the show we quickly left the park and drove to Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom was mobbed, it was about 10 minutes before the Electric Light Parade was going to start. We somehow managed our way through the crowd to the Plaza eatery in Tomorrowland. We got a table by the railing facing Main Street. Dad got in line for food, we never ate dinner today in our rush to see Fantasmic. Just as Dad got back with dinner, the electric parade began to pass by. We could see most of it through the trees. It was really nice, I was glad we got a chance to see it again before our vacation ended. After dinner we went over to Buzz Lightyear ride, and their was a 45 minute wait - all Fastpasses were gone already. We said forget it and walked onto the TTA. I love the fact that this ride never has a line no matter how crowded the park is. It was about 8:50. The fireworks were going to start at 9:00. We decided to leave in order to beat the crowd out and we had to pack up the condo. We have to check out tomorrow morning to go home. Boo Hoo. Oh well, today was a really wonderful day!
Day 12 - Sunday, December 3, 2000 - Last Day - Check out, Magic Kingdom, Airport Slower start than we wanted today. We were checked out and were on our way by 8:15. We headed to MK for our last day. We tried to park in the Contemporary parking lot like we have done a few times before, but they had caught on and we were given a 3 hour parking pass. Well, we knew we were going to stay longer than that so we left and parked in the MK lot and took the ferry over. This delayed us a bit. We ended up finally through the gates at 9:30. We rode on top of the double-decker bus down to Cinderella's castle. We all enjoyed this. When Tucker got off he said, "That was a nice ride". We went over and got a Fastpass for Pooh then went on all our favorites - Snow White, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion - all walk ons. We went on BTMRR - 10 minute wait. Great ride - but I think it is even better in the dark. We then walked onto Pirates of the Caribbean and then headed back to use our Pooh Fastpasses. We basically walked on - We LOVE Fastpass. We then went over to Toontown to ride Goofy's Barnstormer - short wait. Kids love this ride. We then went to Tomorrowland to check out the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was a half hour wait so we got Fastpasses and then rode the TTA - no wait and the Tea Cups. We met Tweedle Dee there. We hadn't met him yet. We then went back to the Buzz Lightyear ride and used our Fastpasses and walked on. The standby wait was now 45 minutes. I got my best score yet - 221,500 and the ride never even stopped. I got another Fastpass for Buzz to use right after lunch as we left the ride. We all love Buzz. We zipped over to Crystal Palace for our 11:50 PS. We waited in a short line to check in. At 12:00 we were seated. We have never been to the Crystal Palace before. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked it as much as Chef Mickey's. I even thought the food was better than at Chef Mickey's. We will definitely go to Crystal Palace again. After lunch we went back to Buzz and used our second set of Fastpasses. There was actually a Fastpass line (very rare occurrence). It moved very quickly though, we were on the ride within 5-6 minutes. Great ride, but I did not score as well. I only made Ranger 1st class this time. After Buzz we went back to the Haunted Mansion - posted wait was 25 minutes, we got Fastpasses and headed over to the raft to Tom Sawyer's Island. We stayed on the island for a while. Kids really enjoyed walking through all the caves and playing in the fort. They especially liked shooting the rifles at the fort. We left Tom Sawyer's Island and noticed that the Magical Moments parade was about to start. We found a spot near the tape in Frontierland near the very beginning of the parade. My Fastpass for the Haunted Mansion was only valid until 3:20. I was willing to forgo the Fastpass because Tucker actually wanted to watch the parade and the fact that they might be a part of the parade again was also a deciding factor. Great parade. The kids got to dance with Snow White and the seven Dwarves. Very cool moment. The parade only stops once for the people at the beginning of the parade in Frontierland. After the parade I had 5 minutes before my Haunted Mansion Fastpass ended. We followed the parade as quickly as we could and somehow managed to get there by 3:20. Turns out we didn't need the Fastpasses because the standby line was walking right on. We got off the ride and decided it was time for us to leave. We had a 7:00 flight and wanted to stop for dinner too. We were amazed that the parade was still on Main Street when we were trying to leave. We had already seen the parade, walked partway across the park, rode the Haunted Mansion ride and were walking down Main Street when we ran into the parade again. We took some pictures in front of the train station by the Mickey ears in the garden. We had no major issues leaving the park or getting to the airport. We dropped off the rental car ($322 for 12 days). We ate dinner at Chili's in the airport. The kids fell asleep on the plane. We got home late around 12:30am and we all went to work and school the next morning. OUTSTANDING TRIP!!! We got our pictures developed - just shy of 1,200. You read right - 1,200. We averaged about 100 pictures a day. Cost $135 to develop them all. I have about 3 hours of video. Watched it all. Can't wait to go back again. Turns out it won't be that long. I will be going down the end of April for business. Perfect chance to use our AP's again. We will be staying at the Beach Club - can't wait to swim in that pool. Susan Cole SusanLCole@aol.com Mail a Comment to Susan Cole |
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