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Joanne Ernest -- September 2000 -- Walt Disney World (WDW Swan)The Cast:
Resort:
When:
Disclaimer: This is my very first trip report, so I'll apologize up front if I run on or bore anybody! I also want to stress that all opinions are strictly my own personal viewpoints, or my husband's, and if you don't agree, well, that's what makes the world an interesting place! :) The Planning: This was sort of a last minute trip planned only because we wanted to go meet with the authors of the PassPorter Walt Disney World and our fellow PassPorter message board moderators and friends. When Jennifer Watson and Dave Marx announced that they would be putting together a meet for our group in June, we knew that we had to be there. So, even though we were already planning an 11 day trip to WDW with our two sons for late October, we started to look for a way to make this trip a reality for us. Let me explain a bit about the PassPorter Meet. Earlier this year, when we decided to take a family trip to WDW, I began doing some research on the web to prepare for our trip. We hadn't been to the World in 5 years and I needed to get up to speed. While I was surfing, I read about this new (to me) guidebook called the PassPorter. It looked like a great book, with these fantastic pockets that would organize your plans and documents, and I just had to have it. As soon as I bought it I went onto their website to register my copy. I started logging onto their message board on a daily basis and continued for weeks. I racked up quite a few postings, let me tell you! I was pretty new to this whole message board thing, but with so much activity, Jennifer Watson and Dave Marx, the authors of the book and hosts of the website, e-mailed me and asked if I would be a moderator for their board. I jumped at the chance! I moderate the 'Touring The World' forum on the board and my DH, who is a chef and fellow Disneymaniac, has now become the moderator for the 'Feasting and Snacking' forum. We love the people we have met on the boards and we spend hours each week communicating back and forth with all of them. This meet was a great chance to not only finally meet Jennifer and Dave in person, but some of the other Passporter friends we love so much. My husband went onto Travelocity and was able to find airfare from Albany NY to Orlando on US Airways for $109 per person round trip, direct flight. OK, now we are really going! Tim works for Sheraton so we called to see if there was any vacancy in the Swan or Dolphin at employee rates. Yes! Now we're almost there! The last thing we had to arrange was someone to come and stay with my parents (my father has Alzheimer's) and our kids. Tim's parents volunteered for the job and we were all set. For the first time in my life I was going to the World two times in the same year! And just a month apart! Oh joy! And, best of all, my DH and I would get some time alone together in the World! Can life get any better? We knew that my sister would be down there the day we arrived for her last full day of vacation so we decided to hook up with her to tour the Animal Kingdom, which we had never seen. I also made PS at the Flying Fish for that first night after Illuminations. We knew that most of the next day would be spent at the PassPorter Meet which included a Treasure Hunt, dinner at Ohana's and a trip to the Adventurer's Club that night. For our last day we thought that we would spend most of it in Epcot until it was time to head back to the Swan for our trip back to the airport. I arranged for Tiffany TownCar as our airport transportation and, at the last minute, booked a hotel room outside of Albany Airport since we had a 7 AM flight and didn't want to drive the 1 & 1/2 hours there so early in the morning. Plans were done! On with the trip! Wednesday, September 20th OK, so this wasn't really a vacation day, but, as I mentioned earlier, we did drive to Albany to stay overnight, so I say it counts! Tim had worked Tuesday night from 6 PM to about 1 AM Wednesday morning, so he slept most of the day. I work from home 3 days a week (on the other days I drive into NYC to the World Trade Center) and I worked this day (something I will try not to do again - I couldn't concentrate on anything!) until about 4 PM, packing in between working on different things. Tim's parents arrived about 2 PM and the kids came in from school between 3 and 3:30. At 5 we had everything together, said our goodbyes all around and finally took off about 5:15. Our mapquest directions were right on the money, except for one spot where we quickly figured out the correct route, and we arrived at the hotel at 7 PM, after stopping for gas on the way. Check-in was quick and easy. We stayed here on a park-and-fly program which allows us to park for up to 2 weeks and they shuttle us to and from the airport. A pretty good deal and we'll be using this again when we return to WDW for our October trip. The next order of business was dinner. We ventured forth into the streets of Latham, NY and found the Village Diner. We were very hungry and this meal hit the spot. We each had a glass of White Zinfandel; Tim had beef barley soup and we each had a salad. I had Chicken Cordon Bleu, which had stuffing in addition to the ham and cheese (something I had never had before in this dish, but tasty) and Tim had Atenian Chicken which was stuffed with crabmeat filling. We both ordered dessert to go so we could take it back to the room. The total including tax and tip was $40.00 and we felt it was a good dinner. But maybe the fact that we were eating without interruptions or kids had something to do with that! :) We returned to the Comfort Inn and watched some TV while we ate our dessert. We were in bed and asleep by 10 PM. Tomorrow is a big day! Thursday, September 21st The alarm went off today at 5 AM and we were up and at 'em, knowing we would be arriving soon at WDW! :) We checked out (total for room, tax and parking was $105.45) and caught the shuttle to the airport at 5:45. At the airport, we checked in at the desk and showed our picture ID (we had electronic tickets, very convenient!) and were on our way to the gate at 6 AM. We were flying US Airways on a direct flight ($109 per person). On the way to the gate, we stopped for a bite of breakfast at McD's (2 bacon, egg and cheese bagels; OJ for me and Diet Coke for Tim, about $7) and then we were boarding. We had a bumpy but uneventful flight. It wasn't a full flight so we were able to spread out a little by putting up the armrests and sharing the three seats on our side of the aisle, which made things much more comfortable. We had a family of four in front of us and the two little boys were very cute to watch as they gazed out the window on what was obviously their first flight. It turned out that they had flown before, but as infants, so they didn't remember. Their father was right in front of us and he explained they were going to WDW for 4 days and looking forward to touring the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. The kids, in their cool sunglasses with their matchbox cars, made the flight go very fast! We touched down at Orlando Int'l at 9:45, a full 10 minutes early! Tim and I had only carry-on luggage but we started for the baggage claim anyway to meet Tiffany Towncar. As we got to the bottom of the escalator, there was the sign with our name and we were being greeted by Mohamed! I have read so much about Mohamed in several trip reports that I felt like he was an old friend! :) He was a great conversationalist on our trip to the Swan, where we were staying, and asked about our PassPorter pins right off! He told us that Jennifer and Dave were at the World this week and we explained about the PassPorter Meet. He was impressed that we would fly in from all over to get together. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the Swan and after paying for our round trip ($72.00 with the PassPorter coupon) and tipping Mohamed ($10), he told us he would meet us back here at 4 PM on Saturday. Check-in at the Swan was very quick and easy. We were able to get our special request (king bed) and were in our room by 10:40. The room was very nice with the regular amenities and a small but nice balcony with a view of the boat dock between the Swan and Dolphin. I was surprised that the rooms were so nicely themed since I hadn't expected that from a non-Disney owned resort. I was thrilled to find at least 2 hidden Mickeys in the first 10 minutes! We quickly unpacked and were ready to go. My sister had been in Orlando since the previous Saturday and we had planned to spend the afternoon and evening with her on her last full day. So Tim went to the lobby to wait for her and I went to get our UMPs at the Swan Guest Services Desk. Unfortunately, their computers were down, so I ended up going over to the Dolphin to get the tickets ($301.06 for 2 adult 3 day UMPs with MKC Discount.) When I returned to the Swan lobby, Joyce, my sister, had not yet shown up, so I told Tim to go look in the gift shop and I would wait for her. She arrived about 5 minutes later and we joined Tim in the gift shop. Big mistake! $75 later, we took our new purchases (some socks, two hats and assorted sundries) up to the room so that Joyce could see it since she's never been in the Swan. We then left the hotel for the Animal Kingdom (our first look ever!) in Joyce's rental car. We got so excited just driving around the property and eventually arrived at the AK at 12:15 PM, parked the car and caught the tram to the gate. As we entered the park, we were greeted by Donald, Mickey, Goofy and Pluto posing for pictures and signing autographs. We took a few pictures of them and waved, but didn't wait for an official greeting since we were on a very tight time schedule. We know we'll be back with our sons in a month and will probably take time to meet and talk to characters then. We were also very impressed with the waterfall outside the Rainforest Café. We walked thru the oasis area but, unfortunately, didn't stop to wander the many trails. What we did see was beautiful, though. All the foliage and the remarkable birds and animals! I know that on our next trip I will definitely plan to spend some time here! We were stopped on the bridge by a Disney photographer and we had our picture taken, planning to check it out before we left. Our first stop was Dinosaur, which is Joyce's favorite attraction here. The line was a little long, so we took this opportunity to experience FastPass for the first time. It's so easy! You just walk up to the machines, insert your admission ticket and remove both your ticket and your FastPass. It shows the time window when you can return to go directly onto the attraction, bypassing the standby line. I don't understand why guests seem to have such a hard time with this! While we were waiting for our time window, we walked over to the Tree of Life and walked thru the queue for It's Tough To Be A Bug. We loved this tree! We could have spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the beautifully carved animals! I have to admit, that seeing the tree in pictures just doesn't do it justice. You must see it in person to realize just how majestic and huge it is. I can imagine that identifying the animals would keep you busy on a crowded line, but, alas, today it was a walk-on. We didn't hurry, however, letting several groups pass us as we tried to take in as much of the tree as possible and enjoyed the cute movie posters along the way. We got into the theatre and Joyce told us to prepare to see a lot of children get upset, but I don't remember any child screaming with fear. It seemed more like they were deliciously frightened, if you know what I mean. I thought that the movie was cute and amusing and the special effects were very good. I will say that it appeared to me that you get the most complete effects if you are seated in the front and middle of the theatre as opposed to the sides or the back, but, as we all know, you have to 'move to the end of the row' so this is pretty much the luck of the draw. We sat on the side and still enjoyed the effects. After exiting the tree, looking at still more carved animals, we slowly made our way back to Dinosaur since it was time for our FastPass. On the way I stopped to make my first pin trade! We had purchased a number of Disneyland pins on the internet to use for trading and we passed a CM who greeted us by name (he saw our PassPorter pins - this happened a lot to us. The pins are in the same shape as the CM pins or the Guest of Honor pins, so CMs were always looking at them) so we stopped to chat. I traded him a Rocket Rods pin for a very cool Test Track pin in the shape of Mickey. WooHoo! We walked right past the standby line and into the Dino Institute to view the pre-show and then on to board our Land Rover. The CM at the head of the line suddenly said to me 'Joanne, there's no talking in line!' I was so surprised until I realized he had read my name off my PassPorter pin! It was really great to be addressed personally by so many CMs. :) We loved this attraction! It is dark, scary, bumpy and thrilling. After we exited Joyce told us that there had been a breakdown during the ride, a spot where the Land Rover slowed down when it was supposed to speed up. We wouldn't have noticed anything if she hadn't mentioned it, but we did notice a difference later when we rode a second time. On the way out of the attraction we stopped at Chester & Hester's and picked up a couple of pins for the boys. Tim and I also bought some tank tops to change to since we were just too hot in the polos we had worn for our trip. Total was $28.61. Next we went over to Africa. Our objective was to go to Tusker House for lunch but we wanted to stop at Kilamanjaro Safari for a FastPass first. When we got to the Safari it was only a 10 minute wait so we went right on. What a fabulous attraction! The animals were so beautiful, in their natural setting, and our guide was very funny and entertaining. Joyce, who has been on this a few times, remarked that this was the best guide she had had. Wish I'd caught his name! :( We saw the male and female lions on the rock; giraffes; gazelles; hippos, both submerged and poking out of the water; black rhino and many, many more. This ride goes so fast that it would be best if you planned on taking it many times to catch all the individual animals. We were in the back of the vehicle and when I go again I would like to be in the front to hear the guide better as he/she identifies the animals. The boards that they put up in the vehicle to help you identify them are very difficult to use because you're moving so fast. I just want to mention a bit about the weather at this point. It was VERY HOT and VERY HUMID on this day, so humid that you felt as if you were walking through a sauna as you moved through the park. This was more like the weather I remembered experiencing in late July and early August when we used to visit. It was impossible to remain dry and the sun was beating down on us unmercifully. So it's no surprise that we were happy to take an air-conditioned break at the Tusker House for lunch. We didn't break for lunch until about 3 PM since we were scheduled to have a late dinner after Illuminations. For lunch Joyce had the veggie sandwich, I had the Turkey sandwich and Tim had the chicken sandwich. We all enjoyed our selections, pronouncing them very tasty. We also shared a cheesecake and, of course, had some soda to quench our thirst ($32.46). It was a lovely break and we were ready to move on in the heat outside. Our next stop was Asia for a trip down Kali River Rapids. WE took off our shoes and socks, but otherwise braved the elements as we traveled down the river. It was a wonderful, cool, refreshing experience, especially on this hot day! We liked it so much we did it again immediately, since there was little to no wait. We walked off dripping wet and loving it in the heat. On our way out we stopped to make the elephants spray the travelers on their rafts as they approached the exit. We got some very satisfactory reactions from them :). We decided that now was a good time to take the Maharajah Jungle Trek so that we could dry off a bit (Ha! As if we could in this weather!) so we turned in and began walking. This was a great respite in our day, beautifully landscaped and themed. The animals, bats and birds were incredible to see. The highlight of the trek for us was seeing all 6 of the tiger sisters at play. Some of them even descended to the water to play and bat at each other. What beautiful creatures! I also enjoyed that fact that you could go at your own pace, taking as much time, or as little, as you wanted. The CMs were very informative, helpful and interesting, but never intrusive. We all enjoyed this very much. It was now getting close to closing time so, at Joyce's request, we headed back to Dinosaur for a second ride. We made a stop at Wonders of the Wild and picked up several t-shirts for ourselves as well as as our two boys, and a really nice lamp for my MIL for Christmas ($133.55). This is a great store and I could have spent a lot more time in here:) but Dinosaur was waiting. This time we did the standby line with very little wait. And, as Joyce had pointed out before, it was easy for Tim and I to see where the ride had gone wrong the first time. This time was so much better! We knew when they were going to take the picture this time, too, so we decided to ham it up a little. When we saw the picture, we laughed so hard at ourselves, posing in fear, that we had to buy it. The CM got a pretty good chuckle from our photo as well. We headed out of the AK, planning to check out the photo that had been taken when we entered, but the line was just too long. We made it back to the car and headed back to the Swan. I was happy that we had gotten to cover so much of the AK in our short time there. It is a beautiful park and I can't wait to spend more time strolling the paths and catching the things we missed when we return next month. I am especially looking forward to catching the shows, something we knew we wouldn't have time for today. And, after our great experience on the Maharajah Jungle Trek, I am very much looking forward to doing the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Once back at the Swan, Tim and I decided it was imperative that we shower if we were going to be fit for human company that evening. Joyce didn't want to shower, but we did offer a clean shirt from the ones we had purchased at the AK to make her more comfortable. Soon we were ready to go again! We walked from the Swan to the Yacht and Beach Clubs and boarded the boat for the International Gateway, stopping at Boardwalk on the way. This was a very pleasant boat ride and I enjoyed getting my first glimpse of these 3 resorts. After we docked we headed right over to Test Track to see if we would be able to ride in the single rider line. The wait was minimal and even though we were in different cars, we felt that this was definitely the way to do this attraction! We loved Test Track! I especially liked the speed of the outside portion (it reminded me of my commute to and from NYC twice a week!) and it was wonderful at night in the dark. After Test Track we made our way over to Mexico and began to look for a spot to watch the 8:10 TON parade. We finally found a pretty good spot in China and sat down to wait just as the music was beginning. I loved this! I was very familiar with the music since we have the CD, so I was dancing and clapping along and the puppets would come over and touch my hands or my head. It was wonderful! I think that the puppets get a kick out of the spectators who are participating and gravitate towards them. We were all amazed at the talented puppeteers and how easily they manipulated those huge puppets. I was particularly impressed by the fact that, if you watch the puppets, without looking at the people, you can forget for a moment that they are controlled by humans and see how they come alive with expression and dance. I was mesmerized by them over and over. What a beautiful sight! If you like interaction, though, I would suggest that you station yourselves at the lagoon side of the parade. The people that continue to wander WS during the parade are directed on paths on the pavilion side of the parade and they tend to discourage interaction. Next, we scouted out a spot for Illuminations 2000: Reflections of Earth. We found a bench in front of Norway lagoonside and I sat down to wait while Joyce and Tim went in search of liquid refreshment. Tim came back with a strawberry margarita for me and had to go back to get himself one because we forgot about the one drink per valid driver's license rule at WS. He and Joyce returned with Fiesta margaritas (total $20.67) and they sure hit the spot while we waited and then watched the incredible Millennium Celebration that we have looked forward to all year. There is not enough I can say about Reflections of Earth. It is a spectacle that is so amazing in its precision and so graceful in its beauty that it literally brings tears to the eyes. Alas, it was over too soon. I am very much looking forward to seeing it again next month, several times. We just sat and waited for some of the crowds to clear out before we started out toward the International Gateway via Germany, Italy, etc. It was quite a treat to walk around the World Showcase with hardly anyone there and we got several great pictures. We still had one more special event for this evening, dinner at the Flying Fish Café on the Boardwalk, before returning to the Swan. We approached the International Gateway and then decided to drop in at the World Traveler shop to pick up the Millennium Celebration video, so we could share it with the kids. We also bought the paperback Pictorial Souvenir book of the Millennium Celebration and I got a silver charm bracelet ($28.56). We then went to catch the boat for the Boardwalk. We were a few minutes late for our 9:45PM PS at Flying Fish, but we were seated right away in the Carnival tent in the rear of the restaurant. Our server was Franky and he was great. Full of suggestions and very attentive without being too attentive. We all decided to have another margarita and Tim and I started with the crab cakes while Joyce had the hot oysters. Very tasty. For the entrée, I chose the strip steak, which was charcoal broiled on the outside and pink and juicy on the inside. It came with roasted Yukon Gold potatoes, blue cheese butter, buttermilk fried onion rings and Heirloom tomatoes. Yummmm! Joyce had the Fresh Space Coast Shrimp with handmade pasta, arugula, tomato concasse, toasted garlic and Manchego cheese. Also very good. Tim had the house specialty, Potato Wrapped Florida Snapper with creamy leek fondue and merlot reduction, another winner. Of course, we all shared everything and declared our dinner a wonderful success! :) We did the same thing for dessert; we all ordered something different and shared. Joyce ordered the black and white crème brulee, Tim had the banana napoleon and I, of course, ordered the lava cake. Each was wonderful in its own way but we all decided the lava cake was the absolute best! This is like a chocolate souffle and when you sink your fork into it hot chocolate comes pouring out. Delicious! They served tarragon ice cream with it, which I didn't really like, but the cake was to die for! Joyce and Tim even liked the ice cream. There was a large table of people next to us who were very loud, but we didn't pay too much attention to them, being intent on our own conversation and food. When Franky brought the check, he apologized to us for that group's loudness and their language. I thought that was very nice of him even though they hadn't bothered us. Dinner here was very expensive ($203.94 with tax and tip) but we felt it was really worth it. We had a wonderful meal in a beautifully themed restaurant and felt it was the perfect ending to our first day of this short vacation. After leaving the Flying Fish we strolled along the boardwalk, went into the Boardwalk Inn to snoop around the lobby, shops and out to the pool. We slowly walked back to the Swan where we sat for a few minutes and talked, then said goodbye to Joyce, since she was flying back home tomorrow. Then Tim walked her out to her car. We got to bed about 1:00 AM after leaving a wake-up call for 7AM. What a great day! And tomorrow is the Big PassPorter Meet! Can't wait! Thursday, September 21st We woke right on time (with the help of the wake-up call :)) and got ready to go. At 8:30 we were in front of the Swan waiting for the MK bus. We had just missed one so we thought we were in for a wait, but another came along in less than 5 minutes. On the way to the MK we had a great chat with a British family on the bus. They were doing the world and very excited about everything they had seen or were going to see. I love it when people love their vacations there! We arrived at the front gates before 9:00 and went through the station, getting a locker on the way. Then it was off to Tomorrowland and Buzz Lightyear! We figured we would start with Tomorrowland and work our way around to Adventureland where we were planning to meet the PassPorter group between 2PM and 3PM. BL was a walkon and we took our first ride with Tim controlling the car (big mistake for me! :)) No surprise that his score was 54,200 this first time and mine was 2900 :(. I certainly wasn't going to let things end there, so we went right back on. This time around the ride came to a halt in the middle and stayed that way for almost 10 minutes! Needless to say, we both became Galactic Heroes this time around, but I'm proud to say that I reached that goal before my DH! This ride is a lot of fun but I find it very hard to aim since I really can't see the red laser when I'm shooting and when I do see it I can't be sure if it is mine or someone else's. But it is a cool ride and can produce a lot of laughs as you struggle with your partner to steer for your shots. I think next time, if it isn't busy, we should each get our own car and steer and aim for ourselves. LOL! We next tried to get on Alien Encounter, but it was down for mechanical difficulties so we took a ride on the TTA, since this is the only way that I will ever experience Space Mountain and Tim didn't want to go on by himself! I love taking this ride around Tomorrowland, but I seem to remember that the last time I did it they had a running commentary on the attractions. No commentary this time. Hmmm. Was this a problem with the ride or have they cut this out? Anyone know? After TTA we headed for Fantasyland and Pooh's Adventure since we wanted to get on this before the crowds. This is a very cute ride and the little girl who was behind us just loved it! I like the look of it (very kid friendly) and the bouncing is fun. The art work is great but I wouldn't feel the need to ride this more than once a trip, and not even that if the line was long. I'm glad I got to see it but it's definitely aimed at small children, as it should be. One thing I missed was the scene where Mr. Toad hands over the mortgage to Pooh. I'll have to remember to look for that next month. The next attraction we went on was Peter Pan's Flight, one of my all-time favorites! I seriously remember doing this on my first trip to the world and I think that the moment we flew out the window was when I was smitten with the magic of WDW! I really know I'm here when I fly through that window on every visit. I think that this ride is holding up well, considering it's been here so long. I just love it! We stopped to pick up two Guest of Honor badges ($10.60) for our sons for the next trip in Fantasy Faire and then it was on to Liberty Square where we visited the Haunted Mansion, another of my all-time favorites! After picking up our hitchhiking ghost we exited and spent some time looking for the wedding ring embedded in the stone under the green canopy. It is so small and looks so much like black wrought iron that we weren't sure we had found it, but a passing CM came over and confirmed that we were looking at it! Yeah! We next went over to Big Thunder Mountain RailRoad and hopped on the line there. I was surprised to see that this ride didn't have FastPass. I would have thought that, being one of the infamous MK Mountains, FastPass would have been put here early on. Of course, we didn't have more than a 10 minute wait for the ride and we both enjoyed it immensely! I think that the little girl right behind us wasn't quite so sure that she had a good time, though! :) After BTMRR, we thought that it was time to get a little breakfast. It was a bout 10:30 and we headed back to Main Street to see what we could find. As we passed the Crystal Palace we asked a CM if we could get in there, but they had finished breakfast and weren't yet open for lunch, so we went to the Bakery and had a great breakfast of cereal, fruit, cheese crumb cake and a great pastry called Apple Charlotte ($14.74). Yummy! We then did some shopping at the shops on Main Street. At the Emporium we picked up some water bottles for us and some for our sons and my MIL for our October trip; a Mickey Sorcerer hat for my DH's Halloween costume for our next trip, a personal fan for my DH and some earrings for me ($72.08). And at the Main Street Gallery we got 2 of the 'Celebrate Hand in Hand' t-shirts to remember this trip by ($55.12). We took these purchases to our locker and started off to Adventureland, but on the way we saw two shirts for the boys at the Main Street Athletic Club. We decided to wait to buy them and kept going. We went to see the Tiki Bird show and really enjoyed it. A big improvement over the previous one (the only attraction at WDW where we actually walked out before the end):) We found it to be very amusing. Afterwards we headed over to POC, another fav, and enjoyed the carousing pirates. I find it interesting that when they put this attraction in Paris they did a mirror image of this one and ended up doing the storyline backwards, starting with the carousing pirates and ending with the skeletons and eerie ghost ship. Kinda makes more sense that way, don't you think? We stopped at the little stand outside of POC and Tim bought a crystal Mickey Sorcerer ($12.19), which we had sent to the front for later pickup. He just loves those crystal figures and still remembers that he got a beautiful dragon here on a trip years ago. We spent some time just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. We stopped at El Pirata Y Perico for some taco salads and drinks about 1:45 ($15.35). After lunch we headed over to meet our PassPorter friends. As we approached, we saw Jennifer Watson (one of the authors of the PassPorter) there and sitting with her was a woman who introduced herself as Heidi. We introduced ourselves and sat there talking for a while and all of a sudden we were surrounded by several that we had met on the boards. Nate (Aerobics) and his friend Spencer, Tammy, James and Cameron (the4werks) and LauraBelle. We were so excited to finally be meeting all of these friends. Jennifer also introduced us to Bruce Metcalf, who'll probably be familiar to most of you, and his wife Marta. Jennifer told us that Dave Marx (the other author of the PassPorter) had gone to a meeting but promised to be there by 3PM, so we all just talked and waited and complained about the weather (it was still very hot and humid, but cloudy today). We were all dripping wet! Dave & Jennifer had put together a Treasure Hunt for us to do in Adventureland and Frontierland as the first event of the meet, and Jennifer now distributed the sheets that we were to use. My goodness, they were a work of art! They were sealed and we weren't allowed to open them until the official start time of 3PM. Dave finally arrived and we all introduced ourselves and then it was off to the hunt! Each adult was supposed to search alone, but Tim and I disqualified ourselves from competition to hunt together. We don't get to spend much time alone together (this was our first vacation alone together in 6 years) and we weren't about to split up! The hunt was really tough and made you look at all the theming in the park in a way that is totally different from your normal touring. It made me realize that there are many things all around you as you tour the parks that you never really see. The funniest thing about this hunt was that there were several of us wandering around looking very confused. Now, the CMs at WDW are trained to come to your aid if you're looking confused, so we were asked repeatedly if we needed help! We explained to them that we were doing a treasure hunt and they wanted to see it and help us, but they didn't know the answers to the questions on the hunt either! We felt bad that they wanted to help us since we were supposed to be doing it alone, but we had already disqualified ourselves anyway and we didn't want to be rude to them when they were being so nice! :) We managed to fill in some answer to every question and got back to the group by the ending time of 4:30. We were all laughing about how hard this hunt was and we had now been joined by a few more friends that we had to meet, so time went quickly while Dave tallied the scores. I was surprised at how well Tim and I did, since we really spent more time talking to the nice CMs than we did looking. We got 22 out of the 25 questions correct! Laura won with 24 out of the 25. Bruce got a perfect score, but Jennifer and Dave kinda knew he would, so he wasn't eligible for the prize; he just got a certificate saying he was brilliant! :) We were all tired and hot and ready to move on to an air-conditioned dinner. The rest of the group started for the boat to take them to the Polynesian, but Tim and I had to get those 2 shirts for the boys, pick up Tim's crystal figure at package pickup and get our stuff from the locker, so we said we would meet them there. We ended up taking the monorail over to the Poly and met them in the lobby before they went to the restaurant. After a short bathroom break, we were in the dining room, shouting ALOHA! To the chefs and being seated. We were joined at Ohana's by Jean and her husband Larry and Joanne from the UK, the one who does that great web site 'Joanne's Unofficial Guide to WDW' that I have visited many times. Dinner was great with good food (spring rolls, salmon, turkey, steak, dumplings and more) and even better company. We joined in the fun going on around us, too! James and I got up and joined the kids who were doing the hula hoops. What a blast! I was terrible at it, but had the best time trying! We all had fun saying ALOHA to our cousins over and over. All too soon dinner was done and it was time to head to the third event of the evening, Pleasure Island and the Adventurer's Club. With a short stop in the lobby for group photos, we were off to the bus. By this time we had lost some of our group due to conflicts in their schedules. We were down to Tammy, James, Cameron, Jean, Larry, LauraBelle, Jennifer, Dave, Tim and myself. Nate and Spence said they would try to join us later after they checked into the All Stars for the night. I would have liked the ride better if it wasn't so humid outside. It had rained very heavily while we were in Ohana's and the windows of the bus were so fogged from humidity that you couldn't see anything. But we had a lovely conversation with Jean and Larry who were just starting a long vacation that included a cruise. It was nice to get a chance to chat with them since they'd been at the opposite end of the table at dinner. Jean moderates the 'Ask the Travel Agent' forum on the boards and is a great source of information for planning your vacation! We arrived at PI and everyone made their way to the Adventurer's Club. For those of you who have never been there, let me tell you a bit about this wonderful place. You walk in to a balcony that allows you to look down and see the main room of the club. You make your way downstairs looking at all the artifacts they have adorning the walls and strategically placed around the area. In this club you find surprises everywhere. For example, as we went to the stairs, Dave opened the drawers of a desk and found little messages written on napkins inside, things like 'Space for rent' or 'Do I look through your drawers when I visit you?'. Just one of those special touches that you find all over Disney! Once you get to the bottom of the stairs, there is a large room with a bar and doorways into several other rooms. In these rooms there are periodic shows throughout the night. Across from the bar, there are double doors that lead to the library where the main shows take place. I have never been here when it wasn't crowded and tonight was no exception. We made our way into the mask room and sat down. There were two masks on the wall that were having an amusing conversation. Almost as soon as we sat down, one of the 'players', Samantha, entered the room and joined in the conversation with the masks. We had missed the beginning of the show, but apparently one of the masks had fallen into a sleep trance and could only be awakened by doing the frond ceremony. This ceremony was to be performed by someone chosen from the audience - guess who? Yup, Samantha asked me if I would come up front and I immediately said 'Yes'! Samantha was great and even noticed that I was wearing an original Adventurer's Club pin, something they no longer sell there. I was laughing so hard that it was difficult to perform the ceremony just right, but I did succeed in waking the mask from his trance. From then on, any CM who walked past me that night would make some remark about my incredible ability in the frond waving department, something like 'I know you. You're Joanne. I hear you're great with a frond!' Not being exactly shy, I really enjoyed the joking and attention. When the show in the mask room was over, we made our way to the library doors for the first (9PM) show of the evening. We wanted to get a front table for this show, so we hung out 'til they opened the doors and ran like mad! I'm telling you, this should be an Olympic sport! We succeeded in getting three front tables and waited for the fun to begin. I don't want to give away what happens in the shows, because you may want to see for yourself, but each show has a plot. The first show was a radio-thon to raise money for the club. The performers here are all great and they do a wonderful job of ad-libbing with the guests in the audience. I once again got a chance to embarrass myself during this show. The chairs here have wheels on them and when Hawthorne Brown, the resident ladies' man, was singing a romantic song, he suddenly whipped my chair around and wheeled me to the front of the room and sang just to me, while kissing my hand. I was laughing hysterically, of course, and enjoyed myself no end. We attended four of the library shows and had a great time at each one. Tim and I also consumed more than our share of the house drink, the Kungaloosh! We also all learned the AC salute (you'll have to find out yourself, though. My lips are sealed!) Nate and Spence even showed up around the third show and joined in the fun. Just before midnight, Tim and I decided that it was time to head back to our room. We thanked Jennifer and Dave for a wonderful day and said goodbye to the rest of the group. Nate, Spence, Laura, Jean and Larry decided to leave as well, and we all headed for the stairs. On the way out we passed some people sitting on a love seat on the stairs and I jokingly said KUNGALOOSH! to them. They said that they had been sitting there all night waiting for someone to talk to them and handed us coupons for free drinks! Tim and I had consumed enough, so we gave our coupons away to some very grateful guests on the way out, but somehow we lost Nate, Spence and LauraBelle at the bar as we were leaving. Jean, Larry, Tim and I made our way through the heavy crowds gathering for the New Year's Eve celebration and made it to the front gates just as the countdown to midnight began and we watched the fireworks while walking to the bus stop. We didn't have long to wait for the busses. Jean and Larry boarded one to take them back to the Poly, where they had left their car, and Tim and I boarded the one for the Swan. We got to bed about 1:30, exhausted but very happy that we had gotten to meet these wonderful people and have a terrific day with them! Saturday, September 23rd Our wake up call came at 7:30 and, oh, I didn't want to get out of bed today! My feet were starting to hurt and I just wanted to sleep, but then I remembered! We're in WDW! Got to get up and going! So by 8:30 we were on our way to the boat to take us to MGM Studios. We had only planned to go to Epcot today, but my sister told me about a Cruella hat that was for sale in the Villains store and I wanted to get it for my Halloween costume. It's a cap covered with feathers, one side black and one side white. It would be perfect, especially since I hadn't found a wig that was comfortable and didn't really want to dye my hair. So we decided to take a quick trip to the studios to pick it up. Unfortunately, I left my PassPorter in the room this morning and my admission ticket was in it, so we had a lovely ride to the Studios and then back to the Swan and then back to the Studios! That'll teach me to keep my PassPorter with me at all times! LOL! We finally walked into the park a little after 9 and, as we were walking towards Sunset Blvd., I started thinking about how good Tim is to me and the least I could do was go on one of the thrill rides with him, much as I hate the fear they strike up in me. He didn't want to leave me and do them himself, so I screwed up my courage and told him that I would be willing to ride RnR and TOT with him if he wanted to do that. He was smiling ear to ear as we hurried to RnR and walked on with no wait. I could have used just a little more time to get myself ready for this, but before we knew it, we were in our limo and ready to go. I had a quiet chuckle when I read the sign "Prepare to merge as you have never merged before!" and then we were off. I started with my eyes closed, but by the time we were coming out of the first inversion, I opened them and was surprised to see that the ride wasn't as dark as I had thought. It was very well themed and the music was great. That takeoff is a killer, though! :) I did enjoy this ride and will probably do it again with my kids next month, but as we were walking out I felt a little queasy and asked Tim if we could postpone TOT. I know, a total wimp, but I didn't want to embarrass myself by getting sick in the elevator! Tim was very happy that he had gotten to go on RnR! :) We went to get the hat and a few other items at the Villain Store (I love this place) such as a Fantasia ornament set and some chocolate pretzels ($74.15) and then we thought we would go on the Great Movie Ride, in case they decided to close this before we came back. It was momentarily down for mechanical difficulties, so we headed over to Star Tours hoping it would be back up after that. Star Tours was having a few problems this morning. We got on with no wait, but they couldn't get the doors closed and then, when they did, they had trouble starting the ride. The CM here was great. He was asking us if this was our first flight to Endor and asked where we were from. He told us that we would be getting extra miles for our troubles this morning :). I think it's great when you have a CM who can ad-lib when there's trouble. It makes things so much easier if you're laughing in the face of trouble. They finally got the doors closed again and the CM left us to our voyage and - nothing happened! After a few minutes, our CM returned and told us that they'd have to move us to another Spaceship, so if we could gather our belongings and follow him, we'd be on our way shortly. We got settled in our new ship and it finally started. I love this ride. I really feel as if I'm flying around space! The CM told us we could stay on for another ride without leaving, but we were in a time crunch to get back to the Swan to check out, so we left and headed back to the Great Movie Ride. I have always enjoyed the GMR and this time I asked to sit on the cowboy side, since I had never seen this. Our guide was pretty good and so was the cowboy and we liked the scenes that have been added to the movie at the end. My favorite in this ride is the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. She is so exactly like the movie, I'm amazed every time I see her. We then made our way out of the park, stopping for a Mouseketeer ice cream bar on the way. We walked slowly to the dock, so we could finish our ice cream before we boarded. In just a few minutes we were back at the Swan, where we got our stuff together and checked out ($164.68), storing our luggage until our limo comes at 4PM. We then headed out to Epcot and Millennium Village. We knew we didn't have enough time to see all the things in here, but we wanted to have a quick look and try some of the dishes for lunch. We walked thru the tent looking at the different countries and then headed to the Food Court. I'm not a very adventurous eater, so I chose the Euro Deli sandwich, which was delicious. Tim had the chicken salad on sweet bread and an apple pastry that was very good. I also had the flan (yum) and I tried a Vietnamese veggie roll that I didn't really care for much. Tim also felt that it was pretty tasteless. The total cost was $21.00, including drinks. After lunch we went on the Tour of Jerusalem, which we both liked a lot. They did a superb job of merging the histories of three different religions equally. We left Millennium Village discussing how we would definitely be spending a lot more time here next month with the boys, giving them a chance to talk to the CMs from the different countries and doing the family game at the end. We did check out the beautiful and LARGE bathrooms on our way out! :) We had to try the beaver tails we had heard so much about, so we got one to share as we walked past Canada ($5.50). Next we headed over to Test Track in FW for a special treat. Nate and Spencer had given us two front of the line anytime passes to this attraction that they had gotten from their check-in CM at the beginning of their vacation and they were flying home today and didn't have time to use them. This was our first experience with a with this type of pass and we loved it! We were told to walk in through the exit and the CMs just kept pointing us in the right direction until we ended up at the loading area. It was a little strange walking in the opposite direction from all the exiting guests, but we could get used to this! :) We were on the ride in no time and I was struck by how different this ride looks in the daytime. Thanks Nate and Spence for this great thrill! :) By now we knew that we didn't have time to do anything in World Showcase, as we had originally planned, so we stuck to Future World. We stopped and bought a few pins for the boys ($19.08). We did Spaceship Earth (I loved Walter Cronkite, but I also thought that Jeremy Irons did a great job) and JIYI for the first time. I must say, I didn't hate this attraction. I'm sorry that Figment doesn't play a bigger part (Tim is in mourning about this!) but I can't say that I ever liked Dreamfinder much. I was disappointed in the way they had cut down the playground area. It used to be one of my favorite places in FW! As our last attraction, we went into HISTA and enjoyed this as much as we always have. There was a family right behind us, though, that had a child who obviously wasn't enjoying it as much as us! I really thought that one of the parents should have taken this screaming child out of the theatre and calm him down, but they stayed to the bitter end. That poor kid! We slowly made our way back to the International Gateway and boarded the boat for the Swan. We met a lovely couple on the boat to the Boardwalk and told them what a lovely dinner we had had at the Flying Fish when they told us they were having dinner there on Tuesday. I love talking to people I don't know! Once we got back to the Swan, we went into the gift shop for one last shopping spree ($64.66) and then went out front to get our bags and meet Mohamed. Well, the towncar was there but we didn't have Mohamed. This new driver didn't introduce himself and wasn't very talkative. It was just as well; I was so tired that I dozed all the way to the airport. As we were getting out of the car and tipping our driver ($10) Mohamed rushed over to say goodbye. He was waiting at the airport for an arrival but wanted to see how our PassPorter meet had gone! Imagine that! We had a full plane on the way home and it was a quiet flight. Tim slept most of the way and I worked some on the notes for this report. We got back to the Albany airport about 10 minutes early, called the hotel to pick us up and get our car and started the drive home. We arrived back at the house about 11:45 to find that the kids had waited up to see us! We then had to pass out our guilt gifts right away! LOL! This was a very short trip and I can't believe how much we were able to do in the limited time we had. I really had fun doing this report because it took me back to my favorite place on earth, even if only in my mind. I can't wait to go back! We will leave again On October 26th, stay at the airport overnight again, spend the 27th and 28th offsite and then check into the GF until 11/5. This trip is the dream my DH and I have had since the GF was built. And I just know that we will have a great time with the kids and my MIL along. But this trip was special, just for us and the most last-minute trip we have ever done. It was wonderful! I hope you had a good time reading this too, If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. Have a Disney Day! Joanne Ernest Jernest1253@aol.com Mail a Comment to Joanne Ernest |
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