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Joanne Ernest -- October 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite, GFRS)

The Cast:

• Cruella (that's me) aka Joanne, age 46, my 8th trip to WDW
• Mickey, my DH aka Tim, age 40, his 7th trip to WDW
• Grumpy. My 14 year old son, aka David, his 3rd trip to WDW
• Goofy, my 10 year old son, aka Andrew, his 2nd trip to WDW
• Maleficent, my MIL, aka Marilynn, age, ?, her 1st trip to WDW

Resorts:

• Four Points Resort , 10/27 & 28
• Grand Floridian. 10/29 - 11/4 (we stayed in Sago Cay with an MK view - beautiful!)

Introduction:

Planning began on this trip in January 2000, while I was confined to the house following surgery. It was such a long time to wait! But as a consequence, we planned the heck out of this trip. Every minute was accounted for in our schedule, though, of course, things went awry almost from the start! We tried to go with the flow, though, and ended up having a marvelous trip.

It has always been a dream of Mickey and mine to stay at the Grand Floridian and we were determined to take advantage of it this time around. We made our reservations with Disney Travel, using the Discovery Magic Plan. I know, you can do it cheaper by doing all the components separately, but I wanted to have the flex features to use for meals and with the MKC discount we got a pretty good deal. About May, my DH came to me and asked if I would mind adding his mother to our trip as she had never been to WDW and she wasn't likely to ever go with my FIL, who cannot understand what people see in a vacation spot such as this (!), so I rearranged flights and our reservations to accommodate one more person. The hardest part was re-doing all the PS I had done up to that point. It turns out, they can't just add an extra person, they have to cancel and start all over again! This caused me a few minutes of anxiety until I fortunately hooked up with Joann in Guest Services, who made sure that we were still booked for all the things we wanted to see. Thanks Joann. (I made sure to send a congratulatory letter to Disney commending her service and great magical personality!).

This trip is a little late in getting posted, but towards the end of last year my father, who lives with us (as does my mother) became very ill. He had Alzheimer's and lost the ability to swallow, contracting aspirating pneumonia. There followed 3 months of hospitalizations and rehab, during which I visited with him every day for 2-5 hours to keep his spirits up. I also trained to take care of him when we brought him home, no easy task since he was fed through a stomach tube, had diabetes, had lost the ability to walk and had contracted some very nasty sores due to being in bed so much. I eventually did bring him home on February 27th, and I could tell he was glad to be back. I think he was just waiting to get home to us all, because he quietly slipped away in his sleep early on March 1st. It has been very hectic around here since then, but I finally had a chance to finish this report and send it off to be posted. Better late than never!

So here it is - Our Trip of a Lifetime! I really hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Day 1 - Thursday, October 26th

Things went well today. We pretty much finished up our packing last night and I didn't have to work today (Yeah!), so Tim and I tried to rest a little before his mother arrived around 2:30. The boys came home from school around 3:30 and we did last minute chores (I was still doing laundry! I never get a break from that!) and getting the house ready for my brother and sister-in-law, who were coming to spend the weekend with my parents, and then my sister, who was coming on Monday and staying with them until we arrived home.

Andrew had requested that he be able to attend his Religious Education class tonight, so we had an early dinner and sent him off to class. We finally left the house at 7:15 to pick him up at 7:30 and get on our way. We made a quick stop at the local CVS to get a small flashlight so I could read the directions to Tim, but we had not gone 2 miles when the thing exploded in my hands! We turned back to return it and got another one and we were off. We had an uneventful ride, listening to Disney music all the way, and arrived at the Comfort Inn at Albany Airport a little before 10PM. We quickly got ready for bed and then did channel surfing between the last game of the World Series (Go Yankees!) and ER. When we finally saw our team win, we decided that it was time to sleep. We left a wake up call for 4:45 AM and tried to contain our excitement. Tomorrow we'll be in the Happiest Place on Earth!

Day 2 - Friday, October 27th

Up at 4:45 AM! I didn't think we could do it! But we did, and we got to the airport by 5:45 AM! After checking our many pieces of luggage curbside, we grabbed our carry-on stuff and made a quick stop at Burger King for breakfast. Shortly after, we were boarding our plane. The boys were a little nervous, since it was really their first time flying (David had flown in 1989 when he was 3, but didn't really remember it), but Tim sat with David and I sat with Andrew, so they were fine during take-off. Marilynn got to sit all by herself. It was an uneventful flight and we all slept part of the way to make up for our early rising.

As usual with U.S. Airways, we arrived a little ahead of time. I can't say enough about this airline! We used them in September and again for this trip. No changes, cancellations or postponements - they leave on time every time and usually arrive early at the destination. Of course, you don't get anything to eat and just a small glass of soft drink, but we plan ahead for that, so that's fine. The important thing is that they get us where we're going early!

Once in Orlando, we were happily surprised by the fact that we didn't get hit in the face with the same humidity that plagued us on our September trip. The temperature was 79 and the day was beautiful! Tim, Marilynn and Andrew went to get a skycap and the luggage while David and I went to get the car. Here again I was pleasantly surprised. When we arrived at the National desk there was quite a long line, but the line moved very quickly and before we knew it, we were getting our paperwork and moving to the garage to choose our car. We were getting a full-size 4 door and, if you had seen our luggage, you'd probably realize that we should have upgraded to a minivan, but instead I looked for the largest, non-white, car I could find. We met up with Tim, Marilynn and Andrew outside baggage claim and just made all the luggage fit! It was a tight squeeze to say the least! This would become more important when we were going home, since we added to that luggage, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We then set off for Four Points. Now, there are two Four Points hotels. One is the Four Points Lakeside and the other is Four Points Orlando Kissimmee. We had had a bit of confusion with which one we were staying at when we made the reservation, but I thought we had straightened it out before we left home and that we were staying at Lakeside. I had even told Walker Medical to deliver the ECV to the Lakeside Hotel. Well, we arrived at Lakeside and they knew nothing about our reservation. As it turned out it was just as well. The Four Points Lakeside was a little seedy and run-down and the staff was less than helpful. It was a bad start to our vacation, but after calling Walker and advising them of the change, we set off to find the Four Points Orlando-Kissimmee. This hotel was much nicer and our room was very nice. We had two double beds and a pull out couch in what was called a junior suite. It was a pleasant place to spend 2 nights and after stowing our suitcases we took off to have lunch at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We were curious to see this resort since we had stayed here in 1989 and wanted to see what changes, if any, there had been. We loved the food court and spent about an hour after lunch strolling the grounds. What a beautiful resort! My son Andrew repeatedly asked throughout the afternoon if we could stay here on our next visit. He just loved this place!

Our next stop was the Character Premiere store where we did our first serious shopping of the vacation. We found quite a few bargains and were able to do some Christmas Shopping as well. The boys did some shopping for their friends and teachers and we left well satisfied with our haul.

We then returned to the Four Points and picked up the ECV that had been delivered in our absence. Mom took a few minutes to get used to the controls and Tim tried taking it apart and putting it together again. We changed our clothes and headed out to Downtown Disney. Before the trip I had joined the safari club, through my sister who lives near one in New Jersey, so that we could eat here on this first night in Florida. Now was the time to see if the Safari Club card would work the magic that I had heard about. I approached the check-in spot and heard the couple in front of me being told that there was a 60 minute wait for a table. Then it was my turn. One flash of the card and I was being shown directly to the elephant where we waited all of 5 minutes before we were shown to our table! Yeah! It worked! We were seated in the gorilla section and were mesmerized by what was going on all around us! It was a little difficult explaining to our server that, while we were Safari Club members, we had never eaten in a Rainforest Cafe before, but he did a great job of explaining everything to us and we had a wonderful meal. The hit of the night was the ribs and Andrew especially liked the Oreo frosty drink.

All too soon it was time for us to be moving on. Before we left home I had made arrangements to meet with Sue Kopp tonight outside of Ghiradelli's at 8:15 and we headed out to this meeting. While I waited for her and her family, the rest of my family enjoyed the fireworks that were erupting in one of the parks. I'm not sure where they were coming from, but my guess is that it had to be the Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful display and even I enjoyed it as I walked around the outside of Ghiradelli's calling Sue's name. By pre-arrangement, we waited for 20 minutes and then, sadly, realized that Sue was not going to show. We moved on to explore the World of Disney store, where I was delighted to see a very large portrait of Cruella in the window! I, of course, had to pose with her before we entered to see what they had to offer. This store was just as crazy as I had always remembered it! It was wall to wall people and waiting on line to pay for our purchases was exhausting! We had, after all, been going since 4:45 AM and it was now close to 10PM! We picked up several things here, though, including some great watches, shirts and, our biggest purchase of the trip, the monorail train with both Spaceship Earth and the Contemporary Resort! I can see them now under our Christmas tree in the family room. They are going to look so great!

After the World of Disney we headed back to our hotel for some much needed sleep. Today went exactly as we had planned. Granted, we didn't make it to more than one of the resorts for our touring afternoon, but the one we saw was great and we enjoyed spending a little time there.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a day at Typhoon Lagoon!

Day 3 - Saturday, October 28th

Tim and I were up way too early today! A couple of weeks ago a representative from Sheraton called us to ask us to attend a presentation at Vistana, a recent acquisition of the Sheraton group. This is one of those time-share things and, though we had no intention of buying into it, they were willing to pay us $80 to go have breakfast with them, so we decided to do it, since that would just about pay for our tickets to TL. So we were up at 6:00 AM and ready to leave at 6:45 for our 7:00 breakfast meeting. The breakfast was average fare and the presentation was long, but they did pay us the $80 so I guess it was worth it! In the meantime, Marilynn and the boys slept late and got breakfast at our hotel, so when we returned they were all ready to go to TL and so we were off!

We arrived at TL shortly after opening and got our tickets without much delay. We had bought some towels at World of Disney so we moved through the park and found an excellent spot, under cover, between the wave pool and Shark Reef. We then went to get a locker only to remember that you had to rent the locker in the front of the park! Duh! I don't know where my head was on that one! Anyway, Tim went back to rent the locker and the boys went off to Castaway Creek to get wet, while Marilynn and I waited for Tim to return. He came back after a short wait and, coincidentally, the boys approached the bridge where Marilynn and I were waiting at the same time. We stowed our stuff in the locker and all went off for a ride on Castaway Creek together. I thought at first that the water was cold, but soon got used to it. We formed a train by holding onto each other's tubes during the ride. It was very crowded and we had a lot of fun during the ride, except for when the people on the path started squirting us with the water guns! Marilynn had a few choice words for them!

We took one and a half turns around the park and then exited to try our hand at the wave pool. The kids just loved this one! The waves were a big hit with them! Tim and I enjoyed it too, but Marilynn didn't fare too well here. She was around the corner from the main section and was still bowled over by the first wave. After that, she retired to the lounge chair and didn't go near the wave pool again. I joined her after a while, because I was just pooped from the amount of energy that it takes to ride every wave! When we had been here in 1995, I lost my sunglasses with the first wave and had to go to lost and found to get them back. Well, darn if the same thing didn't happen to me again! Fortunately, Andrew came to my rescue this time finding not only my glasses but the string holder I had put on them to keep them on my head. I know, you're saying "Why did she wear her glasses?" but I am totally blind without them and wanted to see the waves coming! Anyway, I was more careful with them after that!

Tim and the boys stayed with the waves for a while and then went to try out the slides for a bit, knowing that I would not be interested in them. When they returned, we decided to go for lunch at Low Tide Lou's, where the birds were quite aggressive! We had hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches, but the highlight of lunch for me was those wonderful chocolate chip cookies! Yum!

Following lunch, we went off to explore in Shark Reef. Tim and I love this place! Marilynn decided to watch us from the side and the boys were a little nervous of doing this, but as we went across, swimming with the fish and sharks, Andrew just loved it. David had some trouble with the heavy breathing that results from snorkeling, so he opted out for the second time around, but Tim, Andrew and I did it again, loving every minute!

After Shark Reef, we decided to try Gangplank Falls, but the line was sooooo long and we heard Castaway Creek calling to us, so we skipped out of the line and made our way back to the slow, lazy creek for another go around (or two). Then we returned to the wave pool where we discovered that we were able to help the boys do a somersault in the wave if we held them just right when it crashed down on us! This was FUN!

We left Andrew enjoying the waves while Tim, David and I went to check out the souvenir shop. We saw a River Country towel for sale that had Goofy on it that we knew we had to get for Andrew and David saw a shirt that he just had to have, so I told Tim that I would go back to the locker and get some money, while he stayed at the shop. We had been watching the time pretty closely on the park clock, since we had reservations for the Grosvenor MurderWatch Mystery Dinner Theatre tonight at 6PM, and as I passed the clock on my way to the locker it showed 3:15. I knew we had to get moving so I decided to clean out the locker and check with Marilynn to let her know we would be leaving soon. When I got back to the chairs she was frantic! It was really 4:15! I guess TL had already turned their clocks back, though I don't know why, since they were closing for refurbishment after today!

Well, now we were really in trouble! I got everything together, got Marilynn on her ECV and we made our way back to the shop. While I paid for the stuff, Tim went to find the boys and we rushed out of that park so fast and hightailed back to the hotel! We didn't have time for showers, so we cleaned up as best we could, changed to our clothes and rushed right out again and back to Downtown Disney to find the Grosvenor. Fortunately, we were able to find it pretty quickly, surrendered our car to the valet and rushed to check in for dinner.

Once we checked in, we were told to wait in the bar area until we would be escorted to our table. In just a few minutes, we were at our table and the buffet was being described to us. Shortly after we sat down, "Shirley" Holmes came by and introduced herself to us. She told us that strange things were happening here tonight and that we should all keep our eyes open and try to help her solve whatever mysteries happened. Andrew had really been looking forward to this event and his excitement must have shown because Shirley deputized all the kids in the dining room to help her, but chose Andrew to be "Shortlock" Holmes, her special assistant! He got a big kick out of this and took his job very seriously, questioning suspects all night!

I don't want to give the plot away here, in case any of you decide to go, but this is great fun! The suspects mingle with the guests as they tour the room. They sit down to eat with you and chat away in character. Everyone is involved in all aspects of the mystery until, at the end, all the guests have to choose who they think the murderer is from the four suspects. Ironically, Andrew was the only one in our group who chose the wrong murderer. The rest of us received certificates for divining the correct suspect, but Andrew got a special certificate as a detective for his role as well as a MurderWatch water bottle. He had a great time, as did we all, and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening!

It was still early when we got out, but we decided to go back to the hotel because we had a big day coming tomorrow. David had stopped at the Nike outlet yesterday and bought a really great pair of sneakers, so we stopped on the way home at another outlet to let Andrew pick a pair of shoes. We also had to stop for David to get some Nike shirts and then Tim stopped to get some shirts for his cub scout den, so by the time we got back to the hotel it wasn't so early anymore! We made sure everything was packed up for our move tomorrow and got to bed. The plan was for Tim and I to take most of the luggage to the GF tomorrow and, while I checked in, Tim would go back for Marilynn, the boys and the ECV, plus the few bits of luggage that they needed in the morning. So, another early day for Tim and myself! But we're going to the GF! How good can life get?

Day 4 - Sunday, October 29th

Just a short note about Day 3 that I forgot to include. After we got back to Four Points at night, the boys wanted to go to the pool and try out the outdoor Jacuzzi. I agreed to accompany them, thinking that I could soak my feet in the Jacuzzi even though I had already put my Mickey pjs on. There were a few parties going on around the pool, but no one was in the water or in the Jacuzzi. We had to walk past all these parties since the Jacuzzi was located at the other end of the pool from the walkway. When we got there, I reached down to sit on the edge and dangle my feet but lost my balance and fell in! The boys really enjoyed this even though it meant that I had to walk back past all those people in my soaking wet pajamas! Kids can be so heartless! Needless to say, Marilynn and Tim got a good chuckle at my expense as well when we returned to the room! Anyway, Tim would not let me leave that little anecdote out. He said something about the report being true and honest. Hogwash!

Today is special for two big reasons! First, today is David's 14th birthday and then, secondly, we are checking into the Grand Floridian for a whole week! As planned, Tim and I rose early and packed the car with most of the luggage. We then set off for the GF. As we drove onto the grounds, I was taken with the beauty of this hotel from every angle, a beauty that the remaining scaffolding from the recent refurbishment cannot dim. As we drove up to the portico, we were suddenly surrounded by men and women dressed in knickers and caps, opening our doors, helping us out, asking us if we are checking in. And this before 7AM! I was amazed.

After making arrangements to store our luggage until our room is ready, Tim and I part, I to check us all in and Tim to return to the Four Points for Marilynn and the boys. I approached the lobby and took my time looking at the wonderful ceiling, the birdcage elevator, the elegant seating groups scattered throughout, before I finally searched out the front desk. There was only one person on duty here, but she was fast and efficient. She confirmed that we will not be able to get a dormer room, since these sleep 4 not 5, but assured me we will have a MK view. Yeah! She gave me all of the necessary documents for our stay, including the all important room key/park admission/charge card for each of the people in our party. I was quick to stow them in my trusty PassPorter, lest I lose them, and she becomes the first CM to ask about my book. We chatted for a few minutes about the PassPorter (she is very impressed) and then I stepped over to the Guest Services Desk to take care of a few things.

First, since we left TL so abruptly yesterday, we never returned the locker key and I wanted to turn it in since it was now closed for 2 months. The CM that took care of me didn't look very happy to have to take care of the key, but he eventually took it since he could see that if he didn't it would be going home with us to NY as a souvenir! Next, I told them that today was my son's 14th birthday and I wanted to see if they could do something for him, like a card from the characters. The CM was less than accommodating, telling me that arrangements for this had to be done 48 hours in advance. I pointed out to him that I had confirmed our reservations 3 days ago and reminded them about my son's birthday, but he said it didn't matter since Guest Services had not been alerted, but he would see what he could do (apparently not much, since David never received anything for his birthday. The resort did, however, send Tim and myself a bottle of champagne for our anniversary and I never said a word about that to anyone except V&A's. Go figure!) This was the first in a series of disappointing conversations that I had at the Guest Services desk, but I'm again getting ahead of myself. Guest Services was the only place where I was disappointed in this resort. They always gave me the feeling that I was unworthy of their effort and a little slow to boot!

After this disappointing encounter, I took another turn around the lobby, drinking it all in. I was able to see the gardens in the back of the hotel, the Garden View Lounge, where tea is served daily, and the shop called Summer Lace, which carries all things Victorian including scents, jewelry, decorations, tea cups and accessories and knick knacks. They were also in the process of turning the shop over to Christmas and I spend a lot of time looking in their windows.

I began to think that Tim should be arriving back soon, so I retraced my steps to the arrival area and sat down to wait for him. John, the valet who took charge of our luggage, approached and asked if he could help me with anything. I explained that I was waiting for my husband to return with the rest of our party and that we planned to catch 8AM Mass at the Polynesian. He offered to drive us over there in his golf cart as soon as they arrived. I thanked him and told him I'd ask for him when they returned.

It was getting perilously close to 8AM and I was beginning to get worried when I spied our rental car turning into the resort. Tim was alone in the car and explained to me that he had dropped Marilynn and the boys at the Polynesian, telling them we would join them as soon as possible. We hurried over there and got there just in time for the sermon. The Mass is held in Luau Cove and was very nice, though the sermon was a bit long.

I was feeling a little chilly towards the end, and asked the boys if anyone remembered to take my jacket out of the wardrobe at the Four Points before they left. Oh oh! No one noticed it, so after Mass we zoomed back to the hotel and I got into the room to get my jacket. It's a good thing we went back because there in the closet was the dress bag that holds all our costumes for MNSSHP tonight! We load this into the car and decide to stop for breakfast on the way back to the GF at BK. After a quick bite it's back to the GF where we make our way through the lobby to the birdcage elevator and travel up to the second floor to catch the monorail. We're on our way to the MK!

The first thing we did when we hit Main Street was head straight for City Hall to get David's Birthday pin. The CM there was very nice and told him that they had taken a phone message for him and would he pick up the phone to get his call? Tears almost came to my eyes as I saw this teenager (almost man) smile broadly as he listened to Goofy wish him a Happy Birthday!

After that, we split up for a while. Tim, Marilynn and the boys strolled along Main Street checking everything out while I quick-stepped to the Castle to check on wondcat's tapestry. I found the one she had described and went off to call her and tell her it was there. When I got her on the phone, she told me that she had straightened everything out with the Merchandising Dept. and they were sending her the correct one, finally. So, I took the path behind the Castle, stopping to check out the Fairytale Garden on the way. This was something I had never see before and thought it was just lovely. Then I made my way over to Tomorrowland where I met up with the others.

Our first attraction was Alien Encounter. The boys were a little nervous about this one, but they ended up liking it because it was so scary. Even Andrew liked it but said that he wasn't ready to do it again anytime soon! LOL! We then went over to Timekeeper, but it was down for mechanical difficulties. Tim and Andrew went off to get Fastpasses for Space Mountain. While the rest of us waited for them. When they returned we went on TTA and really enjoyed the running commentary about the attractions in Tomorrowland. As I've said before, this is the only way I'll ever see the inside of Space Mountain (an irrational fear, I will concede). After TTA, we all got a drink and then Tim and Andrew went to use their Fastpasses while Marilynn, David and I rode the Carousel of Progress, an oldie but goodie in my opinion.

We then left Tomorrowland and made our way over to the Haunted Mansion. Because Marilynn was in the ECV, we missed doing the stretch room; instead they steered us in the exit and we got right on our doom buggies. We promised the boys that we would do this again tonight so they could see the library and all the effects. We then tried to do the Hall of Presidents, but it was down for mechanical difficulties, so we moved on to lunch at Pecos Bill's. Now, I have to tell you that the park was much more crowded than we expected it to be. We had always heard that late October, early November was a slow time, but you couldn't prove it by the number of people in the MK that day. (The same would prove true of every park throughout our trip!) But there were so many people in Pecos Bill's that I almost gave up while waiting in line. To make matters worse, the CMs behind the counter were definitely have some problems. Tim, the boys and Marilynn went to find a table while I waited on line to order and then get the food. After 20 minutes I finally made it to the counter and, right on schedule, my food appeared. Unfortunately, the CMs were about 12 orders behind on the drinks, so I waited and waited. Well, you get the picture. These poor guys were so confused that you had to feel sorry for them, but enough is enough. I finally just asked a passing CM for the drinks I was supposed to get and got the heck out of there. Fortunately, the boys came back to help me carry everything.

Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean and we all loved this. It was great to see David and Andrew's reactions when we went down the dip and came in view of the pirate ship! Those things are what made this trip so special! It was getting to be 3:00 o'clock now, so we made our way out of the park and took the monorail back to the GF to check out our room!

The desk had given me the famous 'little card' when I checked in earlier so that I could call and get my room information later in the day. There were 2 phone numbers on the card. One could be used to call from any phone in the parks, and I had tried this one several times from the MK without being able to be connected. So we decided to go back to the resort and use the second number, which could be dialed from any phone in the resort.

We took our monorail ride around the Seven Seas Lagoon and rode through the Contemporary Resort for the first time. We were also on the lookout for the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian and we reminded ourselves that we would have to stop at the TTA to look for our brick before we went home! We arrived back at the GF and went to use a lobby phone to get our room number. We were in Sago Cay and I thought the room number they gave me was 5445. We got to the Sago Cay building and I put my card in the door of 5445 and...nothing! We tried with each of the cards before I went back to the lobby to use the house phone and recheck the room number. Oh, it was 5245! OK, so we went to the second floor and do the key card routine again and we were into our bright and beautiful room for the next week.

As we walked into the room the closet was on the left and inside was a rather large safe. This was handy for holding the PassPockets for upcoming days with all our various tickets and our tip money. Also, David has recently become in jewelry, and insisted on putting his various necklaces and bracelets in the safe when he wasn't wearing them.

To the right was the bathroom suite. I say suite because there was a small room that contains a large marble double sink, a towel rack, a laundry hamper and a wall mounted hair dryer. Opening off that room was the actual bathroom with tub/shower and commode. There was also a generous supply of soaps (2 kinds), shampoo and conditioner and body lotion as well as 2 personal grooming kits (containing 2 Q tips, 2 cotton balls and an emery board in each) and a small tin with a sewing kit inside. I have to say that the shampoo and conditioner were the best I have ever used at a hotel. I have very dry hair and brought my own but I could have saved myself the trouble.

Straight ahead was the balcony door. To the right, beyond the bathroom suite, were two queen beds decorated with spreads and throw pillows of 'The Wind in the Willows'. Another throw pillow on the bed had the words to 'When You Wish Upon a Star'. To the left was a door leading into the next room, which was locked, then the snack cabinet, followed by an armoire which contained drawers for clothing as well as the TV, and finally the daybed. Across from the daybed, on the other side of the balcony door, was a small table and two chairs. There were both lace curtains and room-darkening drapes on the balcony door, and on the balcony were two chairs and a small table. There was also the most breathtaking view of Cinderella's Castle and Space Mountain! We could see the monorail make it's way from the GF to the MK and we saw where they stash the Electrical Water Pageant when it's not making its way around the lagoon. To the right of our balcony, below us, was the GF marina with all the mouse boats lined up in a row. We were enchanted with the room and the view! We called to have our luggage delivered as soon as we had taken a look around and it came very quickly. We unpacked hurriedly and then began to get into our costumes. Tonight we had dinner at Chef Mickey's and then Tim, David, Andrew and I were going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Marilynn would be returning to the room to rest after dinner.

Walking from Sago Cay to the monorail got us quite a few stares! Tim was dressed as Yensid, the wizard that owns the hat Mickey borrows in 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'; I, of course, was dressed as Cruella De Vil; David was dressed as his favorite character, Grumpy and Andrew was dressed as his favorite character, Goofy. Even Marilynn joined in by dressing as Maleficent, in a costume that Tim had borrowed from a coworker. We made quite a group walking through the lobby of the GF!

We arrived at the Contemporary and made the walk to Chef Mickey's. There were quite a lot of children dressed in costumes here, but not a lot of adults, so we got some chuckles and some oohs and ahhs. After checking in, we went to have our picture taken and the photographer was laughing so hard at us I didn't think she'd be able to take it! After the picture (which we bought, of course) we went to the waiting area to be called to our table. We ran right into Goofy, who was dressed as a chef, and he got a big kick out of Andrew. In addition to being dressed as Goofy, Andrew had two Goofy beanies on a chain around his neck and Goofy loved those too! Donald was also there and we got some pictures with him too. Several mothers approached me and asked if they could take my picture with their kids and I was happy to oblige. We were all having the best time, and eventually we were called to our table where our server also got a kick out of this strangely dressed group.

The food was very good here (especially those great garlic mashed potatoes) and we had a really good meal while we were interacting with the characters. Mickey really appreciated seeing us in costume tittered when he came up to the table. Chip and Dale, being furry creatures, were very afraid of me, but I managed to let them know that chipmunk fur was not my taste! We did the cupcake thing for David's birthday and the napkin whirling for party time and we all had a lot of fun.

After dinner was over, we headed back to the monorail. There was quite a crowd waiting to get on to head to MNSSHP! We took the elevator up the one floor to the monorail station and then couldn't get out of it, there were so many people crowded by the door! Eventually we made it onto a monorail and after seeing Marilynn off at the GF, we got to the MK. The kids were given trick or treat bags with some candy at the gate and then we were in.

The MK looked very dark and scary, bathed in purple light and with 2 huge pumpkins and a Mickey Ghost rising high in the air, tethered to the roof of the train station. As we walked onto Main Street we were surrounded by fog. The lighting here, too, was very eerie, with lighted witches, bats and ghosts dancing on all the buildings. The Castle was lit with purple light and was looking very dark and decidedly un-Cinderella-like.

We made our way to Tomorrowland where we all rode Buzz and then Tim and Andrew rode Space Mountain while David and I rode Buzz again. The park was really crowded, though, and the lines for the rides were much longer than we had expected. We saw two stations where we could get our complimentary picture taken but it looked like it would take about an hour to get to the photographer, so we passed on by. They also had many trick or treat stations where the kids could get candy, but we were so full from dinner that we didn't stop for these either.

We walked thru Fantasyland but didn't stop for any attractions. Everything was way too crowded! When we passed IASW, however, we spied another photographer set-up with a very short line, so we had our picture done. (It was waiting for us when we got home!) We then went to the Haunted Mansion, which also had a very long line but we had to do this for the Halloween Party, so we got on the line and it actually moved very quickly. The Haunted Mansion was a masterpiece of evil, with purple lighting and the wails of goblins and ghouls. It looked even scarier than it normally does! The boys finally got to experience the stretch room and the CMs were fabulously scary on this special night! What a blast!

We next made our way over to BTMRR and rode this after a short wait. There was a little princess on line in front of us with her father and she wasn't sure she wanted to do this, but she made it through! I'm sure, however, that she didn't do it again any time soon! We bypassed Splash because we didn't want to get our costumes wet, so we went on POC next and then finished up with a nighttime Jungle Cruise. I was very happy that this reopened in time for our trip. We were all looking forward to it and doing it at night is a lot of fun. None of us had ever done it at night before.

Our only disappointment of the evening was that we missed the special fireworks this evening. As near as I can figure, we must have been in POC when they went off. Oh well!

It was now close to 10PM and Tim and I were very tired since we had been up so early the past few days, so we decided to leave and head back to the GF. I wanted to try the boat and, since it isn't equipped to take Marilynn's ECV, I thought that this would be the perfect chance. When we got about halfway back, the skipper cut the engines and we came to a stop. He explained that we would have to wait there for a few minutes to let the Electrical Water Pageant pass by. We had never seen this and it was great to have it pass so close! It was a wonderful end to a great day.

We got back to the room and while we finished unpacking Marilynn told us that she had had a little trouble finding her way back to the room but a friendly CM helped her out. She also said that she had seen the fireworks from the balcony and they were just beautiful! We put in our wake-up call and fell asleep watching the Castle changing colors through the window. I could get used to this!

Tomorrow the plan calls for a day at Epcot! Can't wait!

Day 5 - Monday, October 30th

We had planned to get going early today, but after our late night we put in a wake-up call for 8AM instead and ended up getting breakfast from Gasparilla Grill and bringing it back to the room. Just a note here: we purchased the GF mugs and they more than paid for themselves during our stay! Plus, we got a great souvenir to bring home. Our mugs were in white and yellow and had a cute picture of Mickey & Minnie dressed in Victorian style surrounded by flowers, but I knew it was an old cup since it said Grand Floridian Beach Resort on it. Sure enough, during our stay they started distributing the new cup, done in brown and just the new resort identification, no Mickey or Minnie! I was sure glad we got the old cups!

After our breakfast we headed to the monorail and traveled to the TTC. Once there, the boys and I requested a seat in the front of the monorail heading to Epcot and our wish was granted! Tim traveled in the Wheelchair accessible car with Marilynn. We had a good conductor who answered our many questions about monorail travel, but he didn't offer any of his own info. In fact, he said we sounded like we knew more about WDW than he did! The boys got their copilot licenses and we just loved being in front for that trip around Epcot before we pulled into the station.

After entering Future World, we checked the time and knew we wouldn't have much time to see things before our lunch PS at Japan's Teppanyaki, so we decided to do the Living Seas. We were successful in fooling Marilynn into believing that we were actually descending under water in the hydrolators (Tee Hee!) and then I told her the story about the woman who tried to sue WDW for damage done to her daughter's ears during the descent, not realizing that you only go 2 inches down before being let out!

We only had a short time to glance around before it was time to leave for Japan. On the way, I stopped at Rose and Crown to nicely ask if it would be possible to sit outside for our 7:50 PS that evening so we could get a front row seat for Illuminations. The CM was so funny! She said that they were wise to the fact that most people with a PS after 7:30 were looking for outdoor seating, and there shouldn't be a problem. Yeah!

We then continued on our way to Japan and checked in for our PS. After waiting a few minutes, the five of us and another party of three were called to our table. After ordering drinks and our food, we started talking to the other party. During the course of conversation, Tim and I mentioned the PassPorter and our enjoyment of the website. Much to our surprise, one of the other party members told us that she knew the website and visited often as a lurker! We identified ourselves as Cruella and WildForWd and she said she felt like she knew us! Her name on the web is Gina Goofy (which Andrew loved!) and she was there with her mother and father. We had a lovely meal with them and I hope they had as good a vacation as we did! Hi Gina Goofy, wherever you are!

After lunch we started in with some serious touring of the different countries, starting with Japan. We toured the Japanese toys exhibit and enjoyed it very much. I especially liked the animated china dolls that performed and Tim and the boys liked the singing, dancing dragon. Then we walked thru the Mitsukoshi Dept. Store, picking up a few things. Andrew also got his first entry in his passport and really enjoyed talking to the CM there! We finished in Japan by taking a stroll thru the Japanese garden and, as full as we were, we had to get a Kaki Gori to share!

It was then on to the American Adventure where we were thrilled to find out that we were just in time to hear the Voices of Liberty. These are a particular favorite of mine and I have often thought that if I worked at WDW I would love to be in this group, so it was a real stroke of luck to be able to hear them today! They were more members of the group (7) than when I had seen them previously (4). We ended up listening to them from the balcony above, since Marilynn was in the wheelchair, but they sounded wonderful. If you get a chance to hear them, sit right with them in the circle under the rotunda. They sound the best from there.

We all enjoyed the show and Marilynn and the kids were amazed at the audio-animatronics and what they could do. Afterwards, I ducked into the gift shop to pick up a CD of the Voices of Liberty (and I got a tape for Tim too!) to play in my car in the months to come. And, of course, Andrew got his passport signed, but they made him answer a few tough questions about the show before they would do it! He did pretty good and boy, was I proud!

Italy was next and Tim and I started our tour here with a glass of wine. And, of course, I got some chocolates! Yum! David had been asking and asking when we would get to Italy and now we found out why - he had jewelry on the mind again and couldn't wait to plunk down some of his Disney Dollars for a great sterling silver necklace. We loved looking at the architecture here and spent some time just walking around and then strolling to the gondolas. I was sorry that we didn't get to see the performers or the musicians, but it was time to move on.

Germany was next and I was waylaid by a cart between Italy and Germany for a few minutes because my eye was caught by a crystal Tinkerbell ornament. If I didn't identify so much with Cruella, I would definitely have chosen Tink as my name since I think she is the perfect combination of sassy and cute. She just seems like she's more realistic than the princesses!

We spent quite a lot of time checking out the miniature trains, loving the detail shown and picking out as many hidden Mickeys as we could find. Then we checked out the shops, buying some Christmas ornaments. We were also lucky enough to catch the clock chiming the hour!

China was next and we had hoped to catch the movie, but when we noticed the time we were afraid we would miss TON if we went, so we spent some time in the shop before getting our seats for the Parade. I picked up a Buddha that is supposed to instill peace and harmony on the owner (boy I hope it works!) and it is staring at me from the top of my computer right now! Tim found a few junks that he wanted me to get for him (including one that cost $5,000) but, sadly, I had to say no!

As we were leaving to get our spot for the parade, the acrobats came out and Andrew and I stayed to watch while Tim, David and Marilynn went to save some seats. These acrobats were wonderful! I could hardly believe some of the feats that they performed! When their show came to an end we went in search of the others and sat down to wait for the start of the parade. Tim, bless his little heart, headed off to Mexico to get us each a margarita. While we were waiting, a boy sitting in front of us was juggling with those sticks where you use two sticks to toss a third one up in the air and then catch it. David was so taken with these sticks that he had to buy a set from a nearby cart. He's been using them ever since and has become quite good at juggling them!

We still had some time to wait for the parade to start, so David, Andrew and I headed off to Norway to see if we could get on Maelstrom. There looked to be a medium line, but it was moving very quickly, so we decided to chance it. The ride was great and the boys really enjoyed the trolls. As we were walking out thru the store, we came up to the giant troll there and he suddenly talked to us! I didn't remember this troll being able to talk and the boys were so startled that they jumped in the air! Then, from behind the troll, out walked a CM laughing out loud at the boys reaction! He had used one of those emergency cones to talk through and mask his voice and he truly did get all three of us. I laughed quite a bit at that one myself!

The parade then started and it was as wonderful as Tim and I remembered! This time, however, we were seated on a bench with several people in front of us, so we didn't get much interaction with the puppets, like we did last time. Some of the puppeteers did wave their puppets to us as they were passing, though! It absolutely made my night. The CMs in this parade have got to be among the happiest at WDW! They are all having such a good time! It's amazing!

When the parade was over Tim, Marilynn and the boys went to do Maelstrom a second time and I ended up talking with a CM as I looked at the beautiful pictures of his country. I talked with many CMs during this trip and started by asking them all the same question - would they be glad to get back home at the end of their time here? They all answered the same way. They loved being in America and would be sad when it came time for them to go home. I was so surprised! They come from some of the most exotic and beautiful countries in the world, and they want to stay here. Is this a case of the grass is always greener or an example of the Disney magic? Since they work and live at the happiest place on earth do they know what reality is like in our country?

When the guys finished with Maelstrom we realized that it was time to go check in for our PS at Rose and Crown. We made our way around to the WS and checked in a little early, again asking for an outdoor table They assured us they would do their best and gave us the beeper saying it would be about 10 minutes. With some time to kill, we of course went to check out the shops! BTW, thank goodness for the delivery service to the resort! By now we would have been loaded down with things if we hadn't sent them all to the resort all day long! It was also a great surprise every day to return to the room and open all the packages! The only thing we didn't have sent back to the room was David's juggling sticks, because he wouldn't allow it! He walked around juggling all night long!

Anyway, within 5 minutes we were being called to our table. We were escorted to a table on the lower tier of the patio right in front of where the globe eventually came to rest! What a great viewing spot! We had really lucked out! We had a very good CM here too and a delicious meal, but by far the best thing of the day was sitting here to watch Illuminations. I got a little teary eyed during the show and I enjoyed seeing the boys mesmerized by the spectacle that was going on around them. Marilynn loved the show as well and couldn't get over how beautiful it was. For Tim and myself, it was so much better seeing it from this close! What a great end to a terrific day!

When the show was over, we expected our CM to ask us if we wanted to have dessert, but she just automatically brought our bill! It seemed like she couldn't wait for us to leave, but we were certainly not the only people still there, so we asked if we could have dessert and she grudgingly asked us what we wanted. I would have felt guilty if I hadn't been looking forward to the Guinness cake! It was wonderful and well worth staying for, even though our CM wasn't too happy about it! We had planned to stay a little after the show anyway, to allow the worst of the crowds to get out first, and we figured we might as well have dessert while we waited!

We finally made our way out of Epcot, tired from touring so many countries but sad that we had missed so much here today! We knew that we would have to come back later in the trip and spend quite a bit more time here to cover more of Future World as well as the countries we had missed and the Millennium Village.

Two monorail trips later we were back at GF. We were surprised to find all of our beanies strategically placed in the beds (how did they know which ones went where?) and the beds were turned down and chocolates had been placed there! Tim and I had also gotten a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate our anniversary! We were quick to get ready for bed. Tomorrow we have to be up early, cause we are going to Animal Kingdom and Tim and I are having our romantic dinner at the Chef's Table at V&A! Goodnight all!

Day 6 - Tuesday, October 31st

We were awake early today so that we could get to Donald's Breakfastosaurus at AK. We arrived a little before our PS time of 7:30 and were pointed towards a special line for the breakfast. Once we had checked in, we were escorted through the park, in a large group, to the restaurant. We waited outside until our name was called and, finally, we were inside! As we walked into the dining room, we passed by one of the CMs who worked at bringing food out to the buffet. As soon as we passed by him, he started shooting at us with the water pistol he had hidden behind his back! This was just the start of the loony time we spent at this breakfast! Our server, Neal, was super! He enjoyed fooling with the boys. At one point he came up to the table with a tray that was holding two Styrofoam cups. He told the boys that he had made them his special hot chocolate, but they had to be careful since it was very hot. At this point he tripped spilling the cups over them. The boys jumped up out of their seats before they realized that the cups were empty!

The food here was very varied and very good. We were there early, so I got a chance to try the Mickey pancakes (after a while they stopped making these because they had to cook the pancakes too quickly to make Mickeys) and I enjoyed them very much. They had a variety of hot and cold cereals, eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, French toast, bagels and other assorted breakfast pastries. If you can't find something you like here, it probably doesn't exist! We also got a great chance to spend some quality time with Goofy and Mickey!

Since we were already in that part of the park, our first stop was Dinosaur, which the boys liked a lot! They had a great time seeing the dinos rage over us. This ride was just a little too jumpy for Marilyn, though. She remarked that she would have been happy to just wait for us outside!

After Dinosaur, we headed over to the Safari, which was already quite busy. Rather than wait in line, we decided to grab some Fastpasses and go over to Conservation Station to look around. I have heard this attraction referred to, many times, as a sleeper and not worth the time, but we enjoyed the train ride and the exhibits, especially the sounds of the Rainforest. Affection Station was a little disappointing, however, because the boys only found a few goats inside. Maybe it was too early for the rest of the animals.

We took the train back and made our way back over to the Safari, where we went thru the Fastpass line but still ended up waiting for some time because of Marilyn's wheelchair. Here, they like to accumulate a few wheelchair guests at a time and then they divert a Safari vehicle from the regular loading area to a second platform where the wheelchair guests and their parties are waiting. Our Safari was very good, with a great view of the lions and giraffes as well as the hippos and rhinos and assorted other wild creatures. I am fascinated at how content these animals are in their created habitat.

When our safari was over, we saw that it was time to head out to the Rainforest Café for our meet with colesmom! We met Cathy Copenhagen, her husband Michael, their son Cole, as well as Amanda, Jamie and their children outside the restaurant and checked in. They took us to our tables, side by side, and we split up with the boys and the kids, other than Cole at one table and the adults, for the most part, at the other. This meeting was truly one of the highlights of our trip! We spent 2 hours over lunch talking about our trips so far and what we still planned to do. If you have ever arranged to meet over the internet, you know that you get a little nervous as the meeting time approaches, because it's scary meeting strangers. But, in this case, there were no worries! We felt right at home right from the meeting and it was a wonderful way to spend some quality time with true friends! I only hope that the rest of their vacation went well and we all thank them for spending that time with us! What a good time we had!

We finished up by taking some pictures outside before we split up to resume our schedules. Then we headed back inside the park to do two more things - It's Tough To Be A Bug and the Festival of the Lion King. The kids were blown away by the up-close sight of the Tree of Life as we walked to the Theatre for ITTBAB, stopping often to work out and identify the sculptures. They loved the movie as well, laughing and jumping and yelling at the different special effects. A good time was had by all!

It was a little crowded as we were leaving, and I worried that we would miss the next showing of Festival of the Lion King. I had heard so much about this show and really wanted to see it, so we made the effort to get there. When we arrived they explained that the wheelchair seating was full, but we could walk up to the theatre. We decided to try it, and with Tim staying behind with his mother (since she had to walk slowly) we ran ahead and got some seats. Just before Tim and his mother arrived I heard a lady complaining to the CM near our seats that we shouldn't be able to save seats. I'm sorry if she felt we were taking advantage, but I didn't think it was terrible of us to save two seats for Tim and his Mom. After all, we were only the third row from the top so it wasn't like we had gotten great seats or anything. Oh well, I guess there will always be people who complain about something!

This show was a lot of fun and the performers were wonderful. It was everything I had heard it was and more. I particularly liked the flying bird - I thought she was wonderful and really enjoyed her 'flight'! When the show was over, we slowly made our way out to the front and reclaimed the wheelchair. We knew it was time to leave the park if we wanted to rest and get ready for Victoria and Albert's, so we headed out, just stopping to watch Mickey and Goofy fishing and enjoying the 'jumping waters' in their stream for a few minutes.

We went back to the GF and Tim and I started to get ready for our 6PM PS at V&A's. The boys planned to play some games at Gasparilla Grill and Games and Marilynn was going to join them later for dinner. After donning our fancy duds, Tim and I took the walk over to the main building and went one flight to the restaurant. As we approached, the CM there instinctively knew what our destination was (I mean, where else do you get really dressed up in WDW?) and gestured us over to V&A's'door. We stepped inside and immediately heard the beautiful harp music as we were greeted by the maitre d'. He asked us to have a seat for a few minutes while they readies our table in the kitchen and notified the chef that we had arrived. We were very excited and spent the few minutes we waited checking out the dining room. It was beautifully decorated and the tables were far apart, allowing for some privacy. We were finally escorted through the dining room to the rear of the kitchen, where our private table was set up. Albert got us seated and asked us if we would like a glass of champagne. He then explained that Scott Hunnel, the chef, would be with us shortly to share some champagne and discuss our dinner. Scott was very nice and put us at ease immediately, not even laughing when I explained that I was not overly fond of veggies but would eat chocolate in any form. He did warn me to pace myself throughout dinner to make sure that I left room for dessert!

I know that Tim will go into more detail about the meals on the Feasting and Snacking forum of the website, but I'll just give you an overview of the meal as a whole. Victoria and Albert attended to our every need, replenishing our glasses even before we were finished and serving us with each course. Each course was followed by a visit by Scott or one of his sous chefs, to explain what it was and how it had been prepared, before we started in on it. For the beginning courses, Tim and I had different dishes, each prepared to our own individual tastes. My dishes skewed heavily towards seafood while his contained mushrooms and beef. Our entrée was the same and we were served with three desserts, all of which contained chocolate to some degree. One of them had been featured on the cover of the Disney magazine in Fall 2000! We were also served, throughout the night, with tidbits of dishes that had been prepared for other diners.

As a background to our meal, we were visited often by many of the under chefs in the kitchen. It was also explained to us that most of the kitchen staff were working on preparations for a presentation that was scheduled for the Epcot Food and Wine Festival the next day. Our dining was accompanied by all the chopping, dicing and sautéing that was being done both for the Festival and for the diners at the restaurant. It was an amazing sight and one which Tim and I enjoyed thoroughly. Our dinner lasted a full 31/2 hours and was a wonderful event. Before we left the restaurant, we waited for an opportunity to thank Scott for his wonderful creations and promised that we would be back in the future.

I had hoped that we would be able to catch the fireworks at the MK tonight from our room, but it wasn't meant to be. We arrived back at our room shortly before 10PM to find Andrew dead asleep and David and Marilynn ready to join him. Tim and I changed our clothes and I decided that I would do some laundry downstairs before retiring. BIG mistake!

It took me a couple of hours to figure out that one of the two dryers wasn't working! By this time, I had been joined by a lovely couple from Baltimore who were leaving on a cruise on Thursday and were settling in to do their laundry no matter how long it took! By the time I dried the loads I had washed it was 2:30AM and they were just starting, but I really have to thank them for keeping me company on that night. They were delightful to talk to and made the time go very quickly. At 2:45 AM I crawled into bed, grateful to be there and hoping that by the miracle of some time-warp continuum, morning would not arrive until 8 hours had gone by!

Day 7 - Wednesday, Nov. 1st

Today was another early rising (groan) and a quick breakfast at Gasparilla Grill, once again using our wonderful mugs for drinks, and then it was off to MGM studios. I had tried to book the Dinner and a show package for Fantasmic, but, alas, there were no openings. We also had 5:00 PM reservations for the Brown Derby, but we realized that if we were going to see Fantasmic, we would have to give up on having dinner there, so I cancelled our reservation as soon as we got there. What a shame! I did so want to see what that restaurant was like! But seeing Fantasmic was much more important to us, so Brown Derby will just have to wait for our next trip!

We also decided to rent a wheelchair for Andrew today at the park. He has shin splints and his legs had been bothering him for the past couple of days, so we decided he needed a little help with getting around. I also felt better walking around when I pushed him, since I had something to lean on when we were in line!

Our first attraction at the Studios was The Great Movie Ride. This was one of the few things that Andrew remembered from his first trip. He had gone on it with me 3 or 4 times, while Tim, David, my brother and sister did some of the more thrilling rides. David was also looking forward to this and so was Marilynn. We had a wonderful CM on this ride! We were in the front row right behind the driver because of Marilynn and Andrew being wheelchairs, and she took every opportunity to give us the inside scoop on some of the movies that they showcase. For example, did you know that before they settled on Johnny Weissmuller for Tarzan, they had actually considered another actor for the role? None other than Clark Gable! I found this to be very funny, since he wouldn't have needed vines to get around; he could have flapped his ears and flown like Dumbo! The gangster that we got also paid quite a bit of attention to Andrew and myself, telling us that he would be happy to shoot us since we were so vocal! It was a lot of fun and we decided when we left that we would visit again and request the cowboy side.

Our next stop was Star Tours and we were surprised to see that the wait was long enough that we would be better off getting a Fastpass. This done, we headed over to the Studios Backlot Tour, stopping at the Singing In The Rain umbrella. David was quite upset when the water started, saying he didn't know we were gonna get wet! We saw the special effects sea battle, starring two members of the tour that were really good, and then went on the ride to Catastrophe Canyon, which was a big hit with the boys. They liked seeing the various vehicles that were in the 'graveyard' as well, since they recognized some of them from their favorite movies!

We then went back to use our Fastpasses on Star Tours. The boys are big fans of the Star Wars series of films and this ride made them feel as if they were in the movie! We had to spend a little time in the gift shop afterwards, of course, and Tim and I wondered when they had replaced Darth Vader with the Energizer Bunny! I had noticed the posters on the wall as we left the attraction, too. No doubt about who sponsors this ride!

Backstage Pass was next, and we learned all about how they used a mixture of real animals and audio-animatronics to achieve the special effects in '101 Dalmatians'. We also got to see the back of the set for Sheena (big deal - I could have lived without seeing the back of the flats!) and the two sound stages that they had opened up in preparation for the new 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' game that they are starting next Spring. I found the info on this to be very interesting. The audience in the set will be the audience help, but the tour group will be the 'phone a friend' help. The contestant will get to ask a tour member for help on his answer. Seems to be a bit of a logistics problem to me (how do they know a tour will be going thru just when the contestant asks for 'phone a friend'?) but I'm sure everything will work out in the end. I also happened to know that the next day, Thursday, they would be holding open auditions for the future 'Regis Philbin's' who be the emcees for the show. Oh, if only I had the guts to audition! Surely, if Regis can do, I can do it! :)

Then it was on to the best part of the tour, for me! We got to see the sets of Cruella's home in 101 Dalmatians and several of Glenn Close's costumes. It amuses me how she was able to turn Cruella into a fashion plate, as opposed to the tacky representation in the original animated version. Those costumes were gorgeous! Having recently seen the new movie, I noticed that she became even more chic in that!

Now it was time for our 12:20 PS at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, so we went to check in there and were lucky enough to get a car to sit in (well, the boys were impressed, but I think Marilynn was a little less than thrilled!). We loved those trailers and we had a great lunch of burgers, fries and those delicious shakes that they do so well there!

After lunch, we did the Muppets 3D attraction, where I was disappointed not to be able to stop inside the door to check under the mat for the key. But I did point out the Net Full of Jell-O to everyone and we all enjoyed this presentation. The boys especially liked the interactive theatre and the cannon blast.

We next went off to the Hunchback show which was a first for all of us. This show was fantastic! It started with a preshow done by Matt the Juggler, who was great! Very funny and entertaining. Then, we saw a condensed version of the Hunchback story with some really excellent performers in the lead roles. Unfortunately, we were all so tired and full of lunch, that a few of us did start to nod off in this show, but we applauded loudly and enthusiastically at the conclusion!

We walked around New York Avenue for a while, listening to a great jazz group playing there and appreciating the effect of forced perspective that they use to make you believe that you are in the midst of all those skyscrapers. I travel to NYC twice a week for work, so it's a sight I'm very familiar with, and this view of it still impresses me.

We then decided to work our way over to Fantasmic. We knew we would have to be there early, but when we got to the theatre, we were practically the only ones there! Since we had the two wheelchairs, we were escorted down to the first row, right in the center. You couldn't have asked for better seats! I do want to warn you, though, that in this position you will definitely get wet during the parts with the water screens. By the time the fire came, we were all glad to warm up a little!

The CMs here were great, talking to us and making the time before the show started go very fast! We decided to have hot dogs and popcorn for dinner, which they sell in the theatre. They even have people circulating with these things and drinks and ice cream up until the actual show starts. One of the CMs had the Mickey Mouse hands and was getting the audience to do the wave back and forth in the theatre. Delman the Bellman was great too! He picked this poor guy to help him and then ridiculed him when he couldn't get more than one plate spinning at a time. I'm certainly glad he didn't pick me to help him. We had a guy sitting behind us that worked at WDW and was there with his parents. He was comparing WDW's Fantasmic to Disneyland's show and said he really appreciated the seats that were here in the theatre!

What can I say about Fantasmic? We agreed that this is the best show at WDW with its effects and music. We sat mesmerized throughout the whole thing (even though we were sprayed upon quite a bit from the water screens, more of a constant misting) and we just sat and talked about it after the show was over when everyone else was rushing to leave. Since we were practically the last to leave, and we did stop at the merchandise stalls outside the theatre for a while, we were given an escort to Sunset Boulevard. I'm not sure if they felt we would get lost on the way out or if they just wanted to make sure that we would, at some point, actually leave!

We slowly made our way to the front of the park, stopping to shop once or twice along the way, and finally retrieved our car and got back to the GF at about 9PM. We dropped Marilynn at the room and Tim, I and the boys ventured out to DisneyQuest. This place is just great! We had no idea what to expect from this and we were thrilled from the moment we stepped into the elevator and embarked on our exploration. We began with the virtual reality games, starting with the magic carpet ride, which I loved! We were successful in thwarting Jafar and then we moved on to the Jungle Cruise. This was a little disappointing because it is very hard to control the direction of your boat and it just seems to go any which way no matter how hard you paddle! But it was still fun. Then we tried Treasure of the Incas, where you drive actual small jeeps via remote control to capture hidden treasure. You can have a member of the family standing above where the jeeps are driving to direct you on where to go, but with so much noise in this place, it's very difficult to hear them or distinguish them from the other groups. Then we did what we felt was the best VR ride there - Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold. We just loved this one! I steered the ship, while Tim and the boys fired their cannons at the surrounding pirate ships. We accumulated quite a lot of gold, but at the end of the ride you have to battle the ghost pirate to retain your gold and there, I'm afraid, we met our doom! But we were laughing so hard that it didn't matter a bit! If you only have time to try one thing here, this is the one to try!

After POC we went to the Cheesecake Factory to have some dessert and send a few e-mails to our friends at home. These are a lot of fun. They are pre-composed post cards that you fill in some blanks on and then send. The computers here were in need of some repair, but I got a few messages out while we were eating. Then we tried out Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin 3 or 4 times. The boys really liked this one, but it definitely made me dizzy since I was always being hit and spun around! Once again, we closed the place and they practically had to force us to leave! What great fun we had here!

We were back in the room by 12:40 and quickly got into bed. Tomorrow is another early day for Tim and the boys, but Marilynn and I are going to sleep in and then go for some pampering at the GF Spa!

Day 8 - Thursday, Nov. 2nd

Either I was very tired or Tim was especially quiet with the boys this morning, because I never even woke up when they got ready and then left to do EE at the MK! Marilynn and I slept in, waking at about 8:30, and then we took our time getting ready, stopping at Gasparilla Grill for a bite to eat on our way to the GF Spa. We were each scheduled for two treatments today, and I was really looking forward to it. I kind of had to talk Marilynn into it, but she was ready to try it, so off we went.

The Spa building is between the Main building and the Wedding Chapel. In fact, you get a great view of the Wedding Chapel from the front door of the Spa. We arrived about 15 minutes ahead of schedule and checked in at the front desk. We were then seated in the waiting room until someone came to get us and gave us robes and slippers to put on. The way they phrased it to us, we were to wear whatever was 'most comfortable for us' under the robe. We were shown the Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room and told we could use them all day. I eyed the Jacuzzi and really wanted to get in, but without my bathing suit I wouldn't have the nerve even though they told us it would be OK. They provide everything for you here! There are lockers, towels, deodorant, hair spray, Q-tips, cotton balls, the most wonderful smelling shampoo and conditioner and they even have razors if you want to shave! They also offered us a paper bathing suit for the Jacuzzi, but I was afraid that it might disintegrate in the water! After changing, we took a very comfortable seat in the ladies lounge and sipped some water while waiting to be called for our appointments. Marilynn had scheduled a head, scalp and shoulder massage as her first treatment and I was getting a sinus relief treatment massage. They came for Marilynn first but I only had to wait another 5 minutes before I was called.

Brian escorted me to my treatment room, where the strains of classical music were already relaxing me. He told me to make myself comfortable on the table, under the sheet, and to ring a little bell when I was ready for him to come back. I got myself under the sheet and comfortable and then rang. He began by gently massaging the sinus pressure points on my face, starting with the area above the nasal passages between the eyes. This felt wonderful and even though I thought that I could never be comfortable getting a massage, I was in heaven. After getting to my temples and the rest of my facial area, he progressed to my hands and feet. He explained that by stimulating the blood flow in the extremities, it frees the sinus area every time you breathe. He said that this was a form of reflexology. He also held some eucalyptus under my nose periodically and told me to take deep breaths to clear the nasal passages.

By the time we were done, I was limp! Brian told me to take my time getting back into my robe and come into the hall when I was ready. When I emerged from the treatment room, he was there holding a glass of spring water for me to sip as he escorted me back to the lounge. When I entered, there was Marilynn, looking as relaxed as I've ever seen her. She said her treatment was wonderful and that she felt great! She said she was glad that I talked her into getting a treatment or two! In just a few minutes, we were both called for our second treatment of the day, called Fancy Feet. As you might imagine, this involved a foot massage, something we were both looking forward to after our days of tramping around.

We were escorted to a room that had three chairs with tubs attached at the bottom. The middle chair was already occupied and Marilynn and I were shown to the other two. The tubs were filled with swirling water, like Jacuzzis for feet only, and we were told to place our feet in the tubs and let them soak. They then fiddled with the back of the chairs we were in and they suddenly began to vibrate all over, running up and down my spine. It was wonderful! TC, who was doing my massage told me to relax for a few minutes and then she would be back to start my foot massage. I was drifting off in complete contentment when the massage suddenly stopped. Within a few seconds TC was at my feet beginning the gentle kneading that made me believe that my feet might survive this vacation! Her touch was wonderful and by the time she finished I was ready to tackle the parks again. Marilynn wasn't quite as lucky as I was. Her attendant didn't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about rubbing her feet, but she still felt good when it was done.

We were again escorted back to the lounge where we showered, shampooed, dressed and made our way back to the front desk. Here we paused for a minute to leave tips for the people that had given us such pleasure (in little envelopes provided for this purpose and on which you write the attendant's name) and then, vowing to visit this place again before we left, I strolled and Marilynn rode back to the main building of the hotel. I'm telling you, no matter where you are staying on Disney property, do yourself a favor and arrange to spend some time at this Spa. You will not regret it!

Back at the main building, Marilynn and I checked out the shop Summer Lace and made mental notes on the Christmas decorations we would like to get before we left and have shipped home. We also loved looking at the Victorian items and were surprised to see the bedding from the hotel rooms on sale here. I was tempted to buy the pillow with the words to 'When You Wish Upon A Star' on it, but I restrained myself since the color didn't go with my room at home. We also found out that we could have other items that we had bought during our stay at WDW shipped home with whatever we bought here, a fact we didn't take enough advantage of as you'll see later. By now it was 12:15 and we started over to the marina to pick up Andrew. Tim was supposed to have dropped Andrew off at the marina at 10:15 for the pirate cruise and he was supposed to be back between 12:15 and 12:30. At least that's what we thought! I had arranged to pick him up since Tim said he may take David back to MK after dropping Andrew off.

When we got to the marina, however, the captain told us that the Pirate Cruise had returned at 12:00 Noon and that each child had been picked up by a parent. We went back to the room where we found Tim and the boys. They gave us the whole story of what they did this day.

They arrived early at MK and spent a lot of their time in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland before getting Andrew back to the GF marina at 10:15 AM, as we had been told to do. Unfortunately, the cruise left at 10:00AM. Since we had been told the wrong time, not only did they send Andrew to meet the cruise in a speedboat, but they didn't charge us for the cruise! I'm so glad that Andrew didn't miss this. In his words, the cruise was 'totally awesome' and he had the best time traveling around the Seven Seas Lagoon and stopping at each resort beach to hunt for treasure. He came back with a bag full of treasure and his pirate garb (a patch and head kerchief) very excited with his morning! While he was looting, Tim and David went back to MK and spent some time at Tom Sawyer's Island.

We decided that we all needed lunch and we decided to break up. Marilynn and the boys ate at Gasparilla Grill while Tim and I went to have a quiet lunch at the GF Café. This was one of the nicest meals we had on the trip. It was quiet, we had a great server and the food, including that famous Lobster Shepherd's Pie that Tim posted on the boards, was wonderful! After lunch we had planned to go back over to Epcot, but everyone was in relax mode, so we thought it would be better to rent some mouse boats and spend some time around the GF pool. Unfortunately, this meant that we would miss our PS at Mickey's Ice Cream Social, but we canceled those and rested instead.

First we got the mouse boats. Andrew rode with me, which didn't make him happy, and Tim and David got their own boats. It was fun tooling around the Seven Seas Lagoon and we went over to WL, the Polynesian and the Contemporary, but I found the boat uncomfortable, maybe because there were 2 of us in there and it was a tad crowded. We spent the better part of the afternoon at the pool after the boats, returning to the room at about 4PM to get ready for the Polynesian Luau.

We arrived at the Polynesian Luau a few minutes late, but we didn't miss anything. We sat down to our noodles and drinks and watched the show. David refused to go up when they asked if anyone was celebrating their birthday, but I made Tim go up with me for the anniversaries. We were up there with about 7 other couples and all of the rest of them were newlyweds! We were the only ones who had been married for a while and our 17 years brought a cheer from the crowd! We participated in the hula lesson (Well, Goofy and I participated - the rest of them just sat there!) and when they left the stage and brought out dinner, we thought it was over! We weren't really impressed and the only good thing about it that we could see was that we would get out earlier than we thought for E-Ride night! But, then, after dinner and dessert, the real show started. Well, we were impressed with that - especially that fire guy! He was great! So we didn't get out in time for the start of E-Ride night, but we did get to see a great show! The food wasn't great but we managed to eat enough to fill us and we enjoyed the whole atmosphere.

Once again, Marilynn opted to return to the hotel for the evening and Tim and the boys and I headed out to the MK for our special night! We got a wheelchair for Andrew again and traded our tickets for the wrist bands. We loved being able to go on the rides multiple times, but there was a bit of a crowd, as there had been all week, and we didn't exactly walk right on the rides. Once again, David and I spent a lot of time on Buzz while Tim and Andrew went on Space Mountain. They tried to convince me that Space Mountain was no worse than BTMRR, but I wasn't falling for that one! We also did Time Traveler and then headed to Haunted Mansion where, in spite of the wheelchair, we waited on line so the boys could see the stretch room and the hanging body. The CM at the end did let us go around twice, though, without getting off. I don't think I'll ever see everything on this ride! I saw the gatekeeper's knees knocking this time.

We wound up our night with Splash Mountain. I have to tell you that I really don't like this ride! Every little dip has me convinced that it's the big one, so by the time we got to the big drop, I was exhausted! It always hits me this way! Anyway, when we got to the end, the CM asked us if we wanted to go around again. I said no thank you! And David did too, but Tim and Andrew hung on for the second go around while we waited and looked at the hysterical photos. When we saw the photo that had been taken of us on the first go around, we laughed so hard! David was so far down in his seat that you couldn't even tell that he was in the log! We stopped in the gift shop to get something for my sister, who's a huge Br'er Rabbit fan. I have a WDW charm bracelet on which I have representations of the family's favorite characters. I've been able to get Cruella, Mickey, Grumpy, Goofy, Tinkerbell, Pluto and Pooh, but no Br'er Rabbit. If anyone out there knows where I can get one, I'd sure be glad to find it! Just e-mail me.

Since E-Ride night was now officially over, we headed to Main Street. We stopped at the Bakery to get a bite to eat and once again we were some of the last people to leave the park! We seemed to make a habit of this! We did get to hear the goodnight kiss and we were fascinated by the fact that they were filming something at the castle (they seemed to be filming everywhere this week - wonder if it's the 2001 commercials? One morning I walked out on our balcony when the sun was just coming up and was surprised to see them filming below us in one of the GF suites!) and it was all lit up and changing colors, with the sparkles going non-stop, long after we left.

We got back to the room about 10:30 and checked the packages that had been delivered that day, always a very exciting thing for the boys! We got to bed fairly early after deciding that we would cancel the Family Magic Tour the following day and devote ourselves once more to Epcot, since there was still so much that we wanted to see. More to come!

Day 9 - Friday, November 3rd

Today we were originally scheduled to have breakfast at the Crystal Palace and then Tim, the boys and had reservations to do the Family Magic tour, but this was one day where the plans went out the window. We were up early and managed to cancel our reservations before our time arrived, but we really wanted to spend some additional time in Epcot to finish the World Showcase, spend some time in Future World and get a chance to go through the Millennium Village. We had dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Café, which we kept since we still planned on eating there.

We skipped breakfast and headed right out to the monorail in the hopes of getting to Epcot in time for the opening ceremonies. Unfortunately, we were held up between the Contemporary Resort and the TTC and, while we still made it there by 8AM, the park was already open when we arrived. We stopped to get Andrew a wheelchair and I made a reservation at Le Cellier for an early lunch and then we headed straight to Spaceship Earth. We actually found a line (gasp!) when we arrived there! Of course, with the two wheelchairs it didn't impact us too much, but I knew that this meant it would be a crowded day. The boys and Marilyn were impressed with Spaceship Earth and Tim and I enjoyed it as much as we did a month ago. I just love the scope of this attraction and the way it makes me proud to be a part of this wonderful world with such a great heritage and history. And something inside me thrills to the sight of all the stars at the top of the sphere.

After SE, Marilyn, Andrew and I waited inside the shop across the way while Tim and David went to get Fastpasses for Test Track and then we decided to get a bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella. As soon as we finished eating, we headed over to Test Track (Marilyn decided to sit this one out) and took our turn around the track. The boys really loved this ride and wanted to go on it again right away, but even the single rider line was too long, and there was so much that we wanted to see, so we moved on. We did, however, stop on the way out to let the boys climb into the cars on display and to pick up a couple of Mickey antenna balls!

Ellen's Energy Adventure was next. None of us had seen this before and it was a big all around hit. Even Marilyn enjoyed it a lot. I can remember snoozing in this attraction on previous trips except for the time that is spent with the dines, but this time I stayed awake the entire time! This has definitely been improved by Ellen, Bill Nye and the new storyline. Jamie Lee Curtis was pretty good too!

We then headed over to Wonders of Life and rode Body Wars. Marilynn said she could have done without this, but the rest of us enjoyed it. We wanted to see the Making of Me and Cranium Command, but the timing just wasn't right and, at any rate, it was getting close to our PS time for Le Cellier, so we headed over to the World Showcase.

We arrived at Le Cellier and checked in. After a few minutes we were greeted by our server, Nancy, and led to our table. Nancy was, perhaps, the best server we had during our entire time at WDW (not including V&A's). She was a tiny bundle of energy from Montreal, and she was so anxious for us to enjoy our meal here that she attended our every need almost before we knew we wanted something! She explained every dish on the menu and helped the boys pick out meals that they would enjoy. She even provided us with menus to take home and recipes for the famous cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread. Definite snaps to Nancy!

After lunch we went to see O Canada! And, despite being drowsy from our meal, we enjoyed the film. We hadn't seen this for over 10 years so we figured it was about time we did it again. Then it was on to Britain and a quick look through the shops. Marilynn spent some time here picking out a cup and saucer for her vast collection and was very happy with her eventual choice. Then we moved on to Millennium Village.

I have read many reports of Millennium Village that were less than flattering, but I really enjoyed this. There were several activities for the whole family, like mini golf in Scotland and the soccer game in Brazil, In addition, it was quite a learning experience for the boys, talking to the CMs from the different countries. They were very willing to spend a few minutes with us telling us something about their country. Andrew really did a good job here filling out his passport with the different signatures. We also went on the Jerusalem ride and, at the end of our tour around the Village, played the World Culture Game. There are six teams and Tim and David played together as did Andrew and I. At the mid-point of the game, Tim and David were in second place and Andrew and I were in last place, but we rallied on the last few questions to win the game! Andrew was so excited that we won! Tim and David also did well, coming in third. It was a lot of fun and the hosts of the game were very good. Of course, on the way out, we had to pay a visit to the famous Millennium Village bathrooms, which were quite large! All in all, we spent about 1 1/2 to 2 hours in here and considered it time well spent.

We moved on to France, where we spent some time wandering through the shops and having a glass of wine before going into Impressions de France. I really love the musical selections that were chosen for this movie and the film itself is beautiful, but we were beginning to feel our long day about now, so I can't swear that we didn't close our eyes once or twice during the film! On the way out of France we were lucky enough to see a few minutes of the Living Statues. Tim tried to get a rise out of the girl, but she didn't move until a little girl came by and then she stole her hair clip! The girl didn't even know she had taken it, she moved so fast!

Next was Morocco, one of my favorites. I love the way the paths in this country twist and turn, just like they do in the country market places, and I find it easy to get lost here. I also like the musicians, the wares, and the beautiful tiling. The art exhibit is also beautiful. I found myself promising that someday I'll find the time to take the Treasures of Morocco tour.

Andrew had forgotten to get his passport signed in Norway on Monday, so Tim took him over there to get that done and Marilynn, David and I took the Friendship Boat to the front of the showcase and met them at Mexico, which we had also missed on Monday. I love walking into the Mexico pavilion and being surprised all over again with the way they have set it up as an outdoor marketplace at night. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to spend here, so we didn't do El Rio del Tiempo. Instead, we made our way back to Future World. We were feeling pretty grungy, so we stopped to buy some shirts to change into before we went to dinner and then went over to Imagination to catch HISTA a big hit with Marilynn and the boys. After this, Marilynn and I slowly made our way out of Future World, while Tim took the boys over to ride Test Track one more time on the single rider line. We met in front of Spaceship Earth again and decided to take a taxi over to Whispering Canyon Café, since it was dangerously close to our PS time. It was quite a feat getting all of us plus the ECV into one cab! But in just minutes we were arriving at the Wilderness Lodge.

Now, the Wilderness Lodge is the favorite resort of both my brother and my sister. They never stop raving about it, so I expected to be bowled over by my first look at the lobby. Maybe they had built it up to the point where nothing could live up to the picture of it that they painted, or maybe the rustic style isn't my cup of tea, but both Tim and myself were a little disappointed when we entered. It reminded me just a little too much of the Bear Mountain Inn and didn't seem like anything special to either of us. Marilynn concurred, saying that the furniture looked worn and dusty. Granted, we never did get to see the pool area since it was dark outside and we had to check in for our dinner reservation, but give me the Grand Floridian any day. I would have liked to be able to see a room, but it was too late and so we headed over to the Whispering Canyon Café to check in.

After a short wait, we were shown to our table and our server, Wild Wild West, introduced himself. He was a lot of fun during dinner, giving the boys a hard time. When we got our drinks, David asked for a straw and he told him he would be happy to give him a 'sissy stick', which made David laugh a lot. Andrew got turned in for having gum, since everyone knows that gum is taboo on Disney property. Andrew got a kick out of participating in the races and the rest of us just enjoyed the great dinner and drinks. But, boy, was this place noisy! Forget about conversation if you go here. You'll just be mesmerized watching the servers making fun of the guests and the kids running around on wooden horses.

All too soon dinner was over and we were tired from our long day. We had planned to return to DisneyQuest tonight, but we also knew that we would be out late tomorrow night seeing the MSEP and the fireworks at MK, so we decided to go back to the GF and start in on our packing. We called for another taxi and, while we were waiting, explored the lobby area of the WL. We didn't see anything that changed our initial impression, but it was cool to see the spring that feeds the pool.

As soon as we got back to our room we started the monumental task of packing up. I could not believe the amount of souvenirs, clothes, presents, Christmas decorations, etc., we had accumulated up to this point! I began to worry that they wouldn't allow us to board the plane! But after setting aside clothes for the next two days and stowing away the rest of our stuff that we wouldn't need, we were grateful to climb into bed. We had planned to spend tomorrow at AK, but decided that what we really needed was some Rest and relaxation, so a sleep-in was what everyone opted for. The boys and Tim wanted to take another turn on the mouse boats and Marilynn and I were dying to spend some more time at the Spa, so we decided that we would change our plans for the last full day we had in WDW. See you tomorrow!

Day 10 - Saturday, November 4th

Having once again changed our plans for today, We slept in a little and, after calling for Spa availability, went for our Gasparilla Grill breakfast, mugs in hand. While chowing down, we decided that the morning should be spent in running some errands, since the first Spa availability that we could have was 3:30 in the afternoon. Marilynn said she was feeling a little tired and would spend the morning at the resort, so the rest of us headed out to Downtown Disney to use up some of our flex features on the free merchandise we were entitled to in our package. Our first stop was DisneyQuest, to get five of their backpacks. We also decided to try out the virtual POC again, but as we approached we found that David had left his pass in the room (grrr!) so I very generously gave him mine and let Tim and the boys do the ride and get the backpacks. I went to World of Disney to see if they had any jackets that we could get for Tim and the boys. When they came to meet me, I showed them what they had, but the only one who got a jacket was Andrew. After waiting on line (who said that DD is not crowded during the day?) and paying, we headed over to The Art of Disney to pick up some of those neat Millennium watches. One more stop at the Rainforest Café so Tim and David could get t-shirts and we were on our way again.

The next item on our agenda was to locate our brick. We had purchased the brick over the phone in June, just days before they stopped offering them. We were very happy that we made it under the wire and had really looked forward to seeing it, but just hadn't had a chance before now. We knew if we didn't do it now, we'd never get to see it this trip, so off we went. We pulled into the gate to the TTC and explained our mission to the CM there. He told us that we could park in the kennel parking lot for a while so we could look. We did this and, miraculously, located the brick in just a couple of minutes! I was so excited! Here was our own little piece of Disney (at least until we join the DVC) and so we had to take pictures and video of the exciting event.

Now, we were running a little late, so we had to hurry. Marilynn and I wanted to get to the Spa early, bathing suits in hand, so that we could spend some time in the Jacuzzi before our appointments for the scalp, neck and shoulder massages that we had both opted for, and Tim wanted to work out how he was going to convince the marina CM to let Andrew drive his own mouse boat, even though he was underage, so we headed back to GF. After changing, we said that we would meet again at Summer Lace at about 4:30 to look at the Christmas ornaments, then split up. Marilynn and I took the walk over to Spa, were greeted at the desk and taken back to the lounge. We spent about a half hour enjoying the spa and then toweled off and waited for our massage. It was just as wonderful as it had been the other day, the music and aromatherapy working together to make me nod off before my massage was finished.

All too soon our idyllic hour at the Spa was over and we hurried out to meet Tim and the boys at Summer Lace. They had been successful in persuading the Marina CM to allow Andrew to drive his own mouse boat, so they were all in a good mood. They had had a wonderful time tooling around the Seven Seas Lagoon. Tim did tell me, however, that the marina CM mentioned to him that they had used our last flex feature in renting the boats, which according to our records was not correct, so he had stopped by the desk to get a printout of our bill so we could double check.

We then went into Summer Lace to choose the Christmas decorations we were going to buy and have them shipped home. At the same time, we asked if they could ship some of the other things we had bought home, specifically those nifty gifts Tim had arranged to have waiting for us in our room when we arrived. We wanted to ship the champagne glasses from our basket and the cookie jar that he had gotten for his Mom, which we had discovered was chipped in several places and had to be replaced. Tim called the Disney Florist to get a replacement, which they were sending over to the GF, so we asked them to keep the package open until tomorrow when the replacement would arrive. The CM was great about all of this and arranged everything for us (or so we thought at the time!) and after taking some video of the lobby we returned to our room to get ready for dinner. I could hardly contain my excitement since we were dining with the Villains tonight! I was hoping with every fiber of my being that Cruella would be there!

Back at the room, I checked over the bill and, as I thought, we should still have had 5 flex features left over, which we were planning on using for tomorrow's breakfast at the Cape May Café. We got ready for dinner (for me that meant putting on my hat with all my Cruella pins on it - 7 in all) and headed over to the main building a little early so I could check with the front desk about our missing flex features. I waited my turn and then explained the problem to the CM. Her first reaction was that we should never have been given that particular printout of our account, since it's an employees only copy. She then started to look through our files, but between the waiting time and the time it was taking to check we were getting close to our PS time, so she suggested that we go to dinner and check with her when we were through. So we moved over to 1900 Park Fare to check in.

I felt such disappointment when I saw Cruella was not listed as one of the guest Villains! Andrew remarked about it and I told him that, yes, I was disappointed but I was sure we would still have a great time. With that we moved on to greet the Queen of Hearts, holding court in the lobby. We exchanged a few words, kissed her hand and mumbled 'Off with their heads' before we were shown to our table. Once we had scoped out the buffet and gotten some food it was time for our Villainous visit, Governor Radcliff. He was very royal and expected us to kiss his ring and tell him how wonderful he was. Boy, was he wrong! Andrew kept telling him that the gold wasn't his, it was ours! We provoked him so much he put his finger in my ear and did the same to David, and he tried to steal my wedding and engagement rings! Fortunately, we survived his visit intact and then we were faced with Prince John. Well, we told him we were some of Robin's men and although we could tell him where Robin was, we wouldn't. His response was to grab a knife off the table and threaten us with it! He also grabbed Andrew's camera and took a surprise picture of us (which turned out great!) and then he was gone, just in time for Captain Hook to sidle up to our table.

Now this is the one that Andrew and I had been waiting for! We started with a few quiet tick, tocks and got a little louder with each tick until Hook was slamming his hook into the walls. Then we switched to telling each other that we smelled a codfish and Hook responded by asking, not so politely, to leave! It was all great fun and, despite my disappointment at missing Cruella, I was so glad we had come.

Just then Andrew turned to me and asked 'Isn't that Cruella in the next room?' with a tiny smile. Well, of course, I thought he was having me on, but when he insisted he had seen her, I just had to go look. Sure enough! It was the Diva of Bad, herself! It took a few minutes for her to make her way across the room but, finally, she arrived at our table. I was so excited I actually became tongue tied (me!) but she saw all her pins and immediately exclaimed in delight to see herself so many times in one place! She posed for a picture with me and I told her how wonderful she looked. Then Andrew asked her if she ever got that coat. Her response? 'Did you see the movie? Am I wearing Dalmatians? What a stupid question!' and she was off. I never even got a chance to show her my Cruella watch or the Cruella charm on my bracelet! But it was wonderful and thrilling - a dream come true! How did she know? I have no idea, but I'm convinced that she came just for me and I loved every minute of it!

As great as the night had been up 'til now, it wasn't over yet! We left 1900 Park Fare and checked back with the desk. It appears that we were right, we were stilled owed 5 flex features, but because of the inconvenience they were giving us credit for 7 flex features. OK, one more obstacle successfully negotiated!

Now it was on to the MK for fireworks and the MSEP. Even Marilynn went with us tonight and we were so excited to be going! What with Cruella's appearance and the time at the front desk, we were later than we had anticipated getting to the MK. There were not a lot of places available for seeing the fireworks (even the wheelchair spots were completely filled) so we headed over to the bridge from the hub to Tomorrowland and found a seat on a bench there. We ended up having a great view of Tinkerbell's flight but the trees were in the way of the fireworks. Oh, well, at least we met a great family from Long Island while we were waiting for the show to start and had a conversation with them. And I was so glad to be able to see Tinkerbell - I've always wished I had the courage to do that flight just once! It must be a fabulous rush!

Once the fireworks were over we quickly made our way over to the hub where, as I suspected, the wheelchair area had cleared out and we were able to snag great seats for the MSEP. Of course, we had a wait of about a half hour before the parade would start, so we settled in and made friends with the CMs doing crowd control. We were particularly impressed with this one CM, who was wearing a name tag that said Jay, but confided to us that he had forgotten his name tag that day and his real name was Mike and he was from Philadelphia. But all of the CMs were great. We mentioned that we were trying to find a stand that sells Mickey and Goofy bars so we could indulge before we left the next day and one of the CMs offered to go look for us! She was great! Unfortunately, all the stalls had closed so we didn't get our ice cream, but Jay/Mike started a jump rope game with the ropes that were closing off the pathways and, being who and what I am, I just had to join in. Imagine, playing jump rope in front of Cinderella's Castle! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I wasn't about to pass it up! We were really on a roll, too, until another CM jumped in and stopped the rope. By now it was almost time for the parade and one of the CMs started the crowd chanting 'Mickey Mouse' to get the adrenaline flowing.

Then the parade began. It was just as wonderful as I remembered it from our trip in 1989. It was wonderful calling out hello to the different characters and having them nod or wave back, we were that close! All I can say is that it was over too soon and there we were, just sitting there reliving it in our minds while the crowd started to disperse. Knowing that this would be our last visit to the MK we stayed around and took some pictures in front of the Castle and waited to hear the Goodnight Kiss once more (Marilynn had not gotten a chance to hear it and the rest of us didn't mind hearing it one more time!) before we slowly made our way down Main Street. Then it was back to the GF, where I took Marilynn and my bathing suits down to dry them and then finished up the packing in preparation for tomorrow, our last day! We were looking forward to a great day, but, alas, the vacation poltergeists that had been so good to us so far would be out in force tomorrow!

Day 11 - Sunday, November 5th

Better known as the day our trip came apart at the seams! We were up early in order to pack all our last minute things and get ready to check out. We had asked for the quick check-out, where they hang your bill on the door, but when I went to look for it, it wasn't there. So I went to call the front desk and noticed that we had a message. Well, the message was to tell us that they couldn't process payment on our debit card! We knew that there was more than enough to cover it there (we checked when we got home and there was) but you can't argue with machines that don't work, so we quickly switched to plan B. While Tim and the boys called for the luggage to be picked up and stored, I went down to the desk and used the rest of our Disney Dollars and my Amex card to pay the bill. When I got back to the room, they were still loading luggage onto the cart. It seems (::blush::) we now had 23 pieces of luggage, bags and totes to lug home! And that didn't include the things we had shipped home! I think we made some kind of record or something. Anyway, this would definitely mean trouble for us later in the day, but we didn't have time to think about that - we had 8:10am PS at Cape May Café.

We headed over to the Beach Club in the car and made it in time for our PS. We checked in and waited a few minutes to be called for our table. I had made this PS with my youngest, Andrew (better known to us as Goofy) in mind, and he was very excited to be at Goofy's Breakfast Party. He had worn his Goofy hat, his Goofy watch and he had his Goofy pen ready for Goofy to sign the brim of his hat.

We were greeted at the door by Minnie, looking very fetching in her swimsuit ensemble. David told her she looked very pretty and Minnie actually blushed, which, of course, made David blush. Then we sat down and pondered the magnificent buffet that spread before us. This has got to be one of the largest breakfast spreads in WDW and the food is great! We started enjoying our breakfast and pretty soon we were joined by Chip and Dale, dressed in their surfing suits and ready for some fun. They fooled around with the boys and giggled until we were all laughing. And then the main attraction, Goofy, joined us. He was so impressed with all of Andrew's paraphernalia that he gave him a big hug and took delight in using 'his' pen to sign Andrew's hat. It was a wonderful breakfast and we enjoyed all the characters very much. I would recommend it to anyone.

After breakfast, we walked to the pier and caught the boat to the Boardwalk. We had arranged to meet Denise (denwol) on the Boardwalk at 10:15. We were a little early, so we decided to rent one of those surrey bikes and take a turn around the boardwalk while we were waiting. Those things are hard to peddle! Especially uphill! Marilynn rode along with us while we made our way back around to the pier. Tim and the boys decided to go around another time, but Marilynn wanted to look at the shops and I sat down by the pier to await the arrival of Denise. I waited about 20 minutes past our appointed time, until the boys came back and we never did see her, so we went to join Marilynn in the surrounding shops. After purchasing yet a few more items for Christmas gift giving and having them shipped home, we went back to the pier and caught the boat to MGM Studios.

As soon as we arrived, we went to Tower of Terror. The line was very long, so we opted for Fastpasses and, while we were waiting for our time window, we split up. Marilynn went shopping, Tim and Andrew went to Rock N Roller Coaster and David and I went to Star Tours. There was a 45 minute wait for Star Tours, so David and I opted to go instead to Muppets 3D and I finally got a chance to check out the 'key under the mat'! I was so excited as I could now cross one more item off my list of must-see things!

After Moppets we headed back to join the others at Tower of Terror. We all entered and looked around the lobby while on line. It was great to see this wonderfully done attraction again! I just can't get over the amount of detail that has been put into this attraction! Of course, once we watched the video in the library and headed through the basement to the elevators, Marilynn, David and I peeled off and took the coward's way out. I've done this ride once when there were only two falls and even then I swore I would never do it again. I can't imagine subjecting myself to multiple falls and Marilynn and David didn't even want to try! We waited for Tim and Andrew downstairs and, when they arrived, we all went to look at their photo. Well, Andrew was very unhappy with the picture since he had covered his face and Tim, who had taped the attraction for my brother (who's afraid of heights and has never been on) had the video camera in front of his face, so they decided they wanted to go again. We headed out to Sunset Blvd. To shop one last time and told them we would meet them at the entrance. I had looked at the pictures you could have done at the Photo Studio and thought that I might like to have one done with Cruella, but it was $35 and I didn't want to spend that much, but I did