Okay-a quick explanation: My Husband Joe, My daughter Katie(12) and I had to go to a 25th Anniversary party on Saturday, April 29, in Tampa. SO...we couldn't exactly drive all the way down from NJ for one day, so we decided to spend a day at Epcot. Then we decided to spend another day at MK. Then...it turned into 3 days , the last one at the Animal Kingdom. SO, there goes the budget. Anyway...
April 25-26
We left NJ on Tuesday morning, stayed that night in Lumberton, NC and got to Kissimmee on Weds. Evening. We went from our hotel-Quality Inn at Lake Cecile, (Avoid this at all costs-a major dump-(we couldn't book anywhere in Disney, since this was Easter week and the party was a last minute surprise), we had stayed one at a residence Inn at Lake Cecile, which was very nice, so we thought the Quality Inn(3 diamonds in AAA) would be similar. Wrong.))... Anyway, we went straight to the Marketplace and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Only had to wait 30 minutes to sit-amazing for Easter Week. We walked around for a couple of hours to suck up the mood, then went back to the Bates Motel and Fly convention to sleep.
April 27
Thurs. Morning, we were up and out by 8am, to the MK. Bliss. I'm sorry, but there is no greater high than walking under the train station into Main street when the morning dew is still on the pavement.
The day started out Chilly, about 65 but the temps climbed into he low 80's by noon-gorgeous and sunny. We went to Adventure land and rode the Jungle cruise-no wait! What is the story with avoiding Easter week? It was less crowded than some of the down times when we've been there. We climbed up the SF Treehouse-since Katie had never been (we always rush past it, but she got a kick out of it)-I was surprised they didn't rename it after Tarzan.
We walked on to POC, no wait as usual. Didn't notice any change at all from last visit, I guess the clean-up wasn't that extensive. Joe said he thought the sound was clearer-he could hear more of the Pirates stories and conversations-I think it's his imagination. The Pirate whose foot hangs over the bridge had wetter feet-and if that bit of info interests you in any way, you have too many issues to be dealt with on this NG.
The line for SM was long. We waited about an hour, but it was worth it. The best part of that is watching the people come off and looking at their picture-they get such a huge kick out of themselves! By this time I was starting to get the Disney Grin.
Haunted Mansion was about a ten minute wait-it still cracks me up when you get 50 year old guys screaming when the light go out! "Oh No! AHHH!!" Some Moron was smoking in line, under the canopy, even though it is pretty clearly posted all over the place that there are now designated smoking areas. We only ran into 4 or 5 of these people, and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and assume some of them did not read English.
I had to go to Hall of Presidents, before it's gone, and guess what? This attraction that looks like it may close due to lack of interest had an almost full house! They can't possibly just dump these figures can they? They should at least put them in The American Pavillion at Epcot, as a pre-show or something. If not, I'd like to put in my bid now for the Teddy Roosevelt figure-do you think they's sell him for 20 or 30 bucks?
We ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch, and then broke up for a couple of hours(At this point we thought we were only going to be at DW for 2 days, ). I wanted to go to AK and Joe and Katie wanted to go to MGM.
I went to AK , alone, which was heaven. I walked along though the Pangani Forest and the Indian Trail(I forget the name of that one) and actually looked at the animals in Peace and for as long as I wanted. I sat under a tree and had a raspberry Ice and watched some bug people sign autographs for the kiddies. Peace.
Joe and Katie tried to get on RNRC but the wait was 2 hours, and fast pass would have been 3, and they were meeting me back at the MK at 4. So they did TOT and the Great Movie ride.
After we met up again, we did Alien Encounter(I tried to avoid the should brace from being too tight by raising my shoulders when it first comes down, which worked, at first, but later it came crashing down just as hard as before). COP was open, and we saw the last show of the day-it's Katie's favorite attraction. Strange kid.
At 5pm, we walked down Main Street to Tony's for dinner. We assumed it would be a while for a priority seating assignment. But, this is what happened...
- We went up to the CM who was greeting people on the porch.
- Joe asked, "How long is the wait?"
- CM, "Oh, just about 5 or 10 minutes, go right in and check in at the desk".
- We were shocked. However... When we get up to the inside desk, 3 seconds later,
- Joe: "We'd like a table for 3 please."
- DESK CM< "The next seating available is 8:30pm."
- ME: "Um, the woman on the porch said it was walk in -5 or 10 minute wait"
- DESK CM: "Well, we just stopped walk-ins" (This said with a snooty attitude)
- ME: "UM, well, the woman on the porch is telling people to walk in"
- DESK CM_VERY SNOOTY< "Well, she's been informed"
- We walk out, amazed at the idea of a snooty CM at Disney, and run into the Porch CM.
- Me, "Excuse me, the man inside said seating wasn't for 3 1/2 hours, while you told us 5 or ten minutes"
- DESK CM< SMILING SARCASTICALLY>"Sorry"
So, I go over to City hall(Oh yeah, when did they start having the CM walking around dressed and acting as Mayor of Main Street? That's cool)...Anyway, City Hall-I asked the Cm at the desk if there were any Priority seatings for that evening anywhere in DW, and I told her what happed at Tony's. She immediately called Tony's, told us to go right over and they would seat us immediately!
But, and this is strange, we got over there, and while they were preparing our table, we saw at least 3 parties walk in, with priority seating, and they were all told that they would be seated in 30 to 40 minutes! Why were we told no more walk ins? Why were we told 8:30? Do we have BO? I mean, we're not that weird looking-a suburban family unit of nominal parameters, I think.
Anyway, dinner was good, except that they lost our order, and it took an hour to serve us. And then they brought me a coke in a cracked glass. But it is a lovely spot to sit and people watch. If you like chewing glass shards.
After dinner, we went to Fantasy Land and did ISAAC, and shopped a little. We stood in the bushes in front of the castle and watched the Electrical Light Parade. I got teary as usual.
My feet were killing me as we hobbled back down Main Street to the bus(We parked at the Marketplace, to avoid the parking fee because we are cheap little people). It took 20 minutes for the bus, and they 20 minutes to drive back to the hotel. Never staying outside the park again.
April 28
SO, today, after taping up my blisters and putting salve on my "Disney Disease"(See separate post), we headed off to Epcot.
Got to the gate at 9am opening. It was the first day of the Flower and Garden show, so there was a podium set up by SE for the speeches and a brief pyrotechnic display. Everything looked particularly beautiful, due partly to the flower show displays and partly to the fact that last visit Epcot was being ripped apart for the millennium celebration.
I actually love the way SE looks with the 2000 wand. I HATED what they did to the castle during the 25th birthday, but this looks cool.
When we were here in August, TT broke down right as we got to the front of the line, so this time we jumped right on the ride because we kept the "Sorry we screwed up" passes. Love that ride-lots of fun, (Yes, I really liked World of Motion, but this is an adequate replacement).
Then, we walked to Imagination with dread, the lines of the poet, "When rough beast, its hour having come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born" kept running through my head. How bad could JIYI be?
Pretty bad.
What the hell was that, anyway? A couple of cute little images, some strange noise, and alot of nuttin'. Huh? And, we were the only ones on the ride-alone, no one else in the whole line in front or behind. Spooky. Is there a boycott I haven't heard of?
We went to the millennium village not expecting much. Surprise! What a sweet delight! Meeting the CM's from all these different countries was great, and Katie loved the Mini golf set-up in Scotland and the Soccer in Brazil. Having a mini-food court with tastes from many countries was a great idea, and the whole area had a lovely brotherly kinda feeling. I know, I'm a sap. (Although the Israel motion simulator was a little bizarre, "look Catholics! Bank to the left! Oh no, here come the Jews, Bank to the right!")
The day was so perfect, 83 degrees, sunny, not humid, that strolling through world showcase was even nicer than usual(no ducking into stores just to escape the heat). The flowers were spectacular. Every country had a different garden set-up.
We ate lunch in America, as usual (Katie will not do "exotic", and to her, "exotic" means not a hamburger.) The American Adventure had a little tech glitch.. Every once in a while the film would go blank for a second. Luckily, I've got the damn thing memorized, "Two brothers on their way , two brothers on their way, one wore blue and one wore gray..."
Enjoyed riding El Rio De Tiempo again. It was closed last summer. Same Guy trying to sell you stuff in the market, same song, same ride-still love it. Yes, I AM a sap.
The new Innoventions seemed to have a little less stuff than the old, but we enjoyed the presentation about the home theater. God! would I love that, they even had the bass enhancers under your seats to increase the feeling of being in the movie. Of course, they said to put a similar set up in your home, would cost between 80,000 and 100,000 dollars. A mere Bag of shells!
Had dinner at the Garden Grill because it's Katie's favorite place. I still don't know how to react to the characters. I feel dumb talking to them, but they seem to expect it. I just know that chip is this girl in a suit thinking, "Look at this fool". The chicken at that place falls off the bone-sooo good(not the steak, that's like boot leather).
They cancelled the Parade of Nations because of wind-we were disappointed. Do they close that often?, because there was hardly a real breeze.
Walked right in to Honey, I shrunk the Audience. I thought the guy next to me was gonna have a kitten when the "mice" ran under his feet. He freaked!
We got our place for Illuminations 2000, right in front of the gate, facing the American Adventure. The fireworks were great, I love the music for this one. But the fire was a bit much, I felt like I was at a barbecue gone wrong. (The girl next to me kept asking, "Is that supposed to happen?" over and over again).
Leaving the park, some woman in her little scooter thing ran over my foot. I let out a whelp that could be heard in the parking lot, I'm sure. She just looked at me sheepishly and trucked on. "one guy who saw the incident said, "If she had done that to me, I would have slapped her upside the head".
Amazingly, we were out of the parking lot and back to the hotel by 9:50. And I was asleep by 10pm. Oh, my feet!
April 30
Okay, now for an explanation. We were first going to Florida as a last minute thing for the 25th anniversary party of my best friend, who lives near Tampa. My husband agreed to a quick drive from Jersey, one day at Epcot, one day at the party, and then a quick drive home-gonna do it cheap-$700. But the week before hand, I approached my Hubby: "Dear, don't you think driving all that way for 1 day at Epcot is silly, why don't we do the MK for one day, also. We can leave a day early, we'll do it cheap. I promise" (See, we already are going for a 2 week summer vacation to Virginia, so that budget is shot.) Well, he agreed(he's a Disney freak, too)
However, once we were done with our 2 allotted Disney Days, I didn't want to go home, so...
"Dear, why don't we go to the Animal Kingdom tomorrow instead of starting the drive home, we already have the day left on our passes and we can leave in the late afternoon and drive till 10 or so, to make up the time.. it won't cost much more...whine, whine, whine".
He caved. So, a $700 quick trip turned into a $1300 less quick trip-still a good buy for the money, if you ask me!
So, after spending Saturday at the party, which was held in Fort DeSoto park, a Beautiful spot on the gulf, near St. Petersburg on Mullet Key)., we went to the Animal Kingdom on Sunday morning-opening time:8am.
The Animal Kingdom has the most Goose bump inspiring opening of all the parks IMHO. When "The Circle of Life" blasts out of the speakers and all the faux animals(I don't know how else to explain the bird, lizard and butterfly people), parade around the entrance, I wanna cry.
Let me repeat: I AM A SAP!!!!
We went on Dinosaur, first(was CTX). The ride is, of course, the same with a different name. They are putting displays around the attraction entrance from the movie, but they were unfinished as of Sunday. We rode twice, as there was no line. Contrary to what I've heard, the ride was no tamer than last year's version.
Then we went to the Kilimanjaro Safari-where we grabbed a fast pass, since the line was 45 minutes and FP return was in 50 minutes. During the wait, we walked through Harambe and then watched the Gorillas at Pangani Forest.
I have to say-and nobody have a fit here, please, that, although the execution of the safari is good, there really are very few animals to see, as compared with, say, Six Flags safari here in NJ. I have ridden(is that a word) this ride 4 times, and still haven't been too impressed.
Then, big mistake on a day that was barely 80 degrees, we went on the river rapids. Soaked. I mean, soaked , drenched, drown. Do you understand? WET!!!! It took 3 hours for me to dry, and I was in light linen fabric. But it's a good ride. Laughed the whole time. Katie looked like Leo Decaprio at the end of "Titanic"(I'll never let go, I'll never lets go" as she lets Leo drop to the bottom). I digress.
We had lunch at Pizzafari. Pasta there is a great deal. $5.99 for a big bowl of baked Penne with Mozzarella, a garlic roll, and a small Caesar salad. Tasty. Joe and Katie had the Pepperoni Pizza.
Oh, we passed a food cart that sells Potato parfaits. They are these parfait glasses filled with layers of Mashed potatoes, sour cream, cheese, and something else. I was gonna puke just looking at it.
We went to the Indian nature trail-Why can't I ever remember the name of that?-and saw the bats and tigers. The bats were actually flying around, which is unusual. One lady, watching the fruit bats, looked like she was going to lose it. Kinda like I felt looking at the Potato parfaits.
We waited till we were completely dry to go into "It's tough to be a bug". I like this better each time-lotsa fun. I made sure to sit up, though-SPOILER so I wouldn't get "Stung".
We had a popcorn snack and counted the animal carvings on the Tree of Life, and by then it was 3pm.
I tried to talk Joe into abandoning our home, his job and our other two children , and stay in Disney World for the rest of our lives, but this time he held his ground.
SO, we're back. And, like the bumper sticker we bought in MK says, "Been there, done that, going back."
Kathy Cook
jkcook2@worldnet.com