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Carol Kelley -- June 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)Disney Trip Report, June 22-26, 2000 Howdy all! This is an account of a quick trip to Walt Disney World that I took by myself just because I could with my Annual Pass :-). Now don't feel bad about the rest of my family. They boys had their own activities that didn't include mom & dad anyway and my hubby had some "guy" things going on. So it was off to Florida for mom! Planning: Almost none. I secured a room for June 23-25 at the Sleep Inn on 192 West at a Choice Business Rate of $55.00 a night plus tax. (www.choicehotels.com) I was planning to drive through the night on the 22nd and not have hotel that first night. It didn't turn out that way though. I also called CRO several times to see if anything would open up at All-Stars, but nothing ever did. Chatting on #radp-friends during the week, I found out Susan was going to be at WDW that weekend as well, so I made PS at LeCellier for four on Saturday at 11:30 am. Now, you ask why four, well it was mentioned that Kenny might also be along and you never know who he might have with him, so that's why the PS was for four. I had decided to go to Animal Kingdom in the Morning on Friday, the Studios in the afternoon on Friday, Epcot on Saturday, and Magic Kingdom on Sunday. I was avoiding EE parks and especially trying to avoid Magic Kingdom on Saturday. I also had plans to go to Adventurer's Club at least one evening. Everybody Neat and Pretty?? Then on with the Show!!! Day 0, Thursday, June 22, 2000 I had just finished a very lengthy and difficult project at work and already had 40 hours when I left work on Wednesday, so that was the main reason I was able to go. I was planning on leaving early evening so as to arrive in the WDW area early Friday morning. I laid around the house and rested most of the morning, but by 2pm I was really itching to get on the road, so I left the house about 2:30 pm CDT planning to stop somewhere around the Florida border. I stopped near Valdosta, GA to fill up the car and had a dinner of Chicken Gumbo soup, cheese fries, and a Coke at Steak 'n Shake ($8.00), and then continued on toward the Florida line. I made extremely good time, however, and arrived on Highway 192 in Kissimmee about 2:00 am EDT and checked my hotel to see if I could get an extra night. They were all booked up. However, the Travelodge right next door had rooms, so I got a standard room ($44.74 with tax). The room was nothing exceptional, but it was clean and I was only there for about 4 hours so, it served it's purpose. I arrived in the room, called home to let my family know I had arrived, took a quick shower, and settled into sleep as quickly as possible. Day 1, Friday, June 23, 2000 The wakeup call came at 6:30 just as I had requested, but it only consisted of the phone ringing. I turned on the television while I got dressed and found a version of the Disney Resort Channel! It was the same show as the on-property loop, but instead of on-site tips, they were pushing purchasing multi-day passports at the ticket desk at your hotel. Also, the hotel map was printed on Disney Multi-Day ticket brochures. After getting ready, I drove around front, checked out and signed my credit slip and headed for Disney property! I headed for Animal Kingdom and was waved through the parking gates by showing my Annual Pass. I was able to park close enough to not need the tram and I got to the gates shortly after opening. There were long lines going past the ticket booths and instead of getting into one of those lines I went into the courtyard past the ticket booths and found a very short entrance line and proceeded into the park. I went first to It's Tough to Be A Bug. I wandered slowly through the line examining a lot of the tree as I went along. When I arrived inside they were just finishing up the morning test runthrough, so I had a few minutes till the first show of the day began. I wandered around looking at the show posters and was let into the show within a couple of minutes. I really enjoy all of the 3D presentations at WDW, and this is no exception. :-) I thought it was a funny show. I do, however, lean forward to avoid getting poked in the back as I've heard if it hits you just right it can hurt. I then left and headed towards Harambe and picked up a FastPass for Kilimanjaro Safari and then went over to Tusker House and had a Ham, Egg, & Cheese Croissant and an Apple Juice for breakfast ($6.62) (8:35 am). This was quite tasty and the service was good. After eating, I still had time till my FastPass so I went to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and wandered through there. Everything was beautiful and it is a wonderful walking trail. The gorillas were out some, but not quite as much as I had seen in the past. I then called the house to say good morning to my family. The only one home was my hubby. The boys had both already gone for their respective weekend sleepover plans. I chatted with him for a bit, then called Disney Dining and made a 2:30 pm PS for the Brown Derby over at the Studios. It was then time for my Safari, so I went that direction, and got on a truck within about 10 minutes. The safari was quite enjoyable and most of the animals were out. The cheetahs were visible, but hiding on the edge of the brush and the lions were lazy on their rocks. Oh, and Little Red is OK! After riding the Safari, I headed towards Asia and picked up a Fast Pass for Kali River Rapids, then went over to Flights of Wonder and saw that show. This was one I had not seen yet, and was very pleased with it. The birds are quite beautiful and amazing! The owl was wonderful and that little bird that kept bashing things on the rocks was funny! After exiting the show I went over to walk the Maharajah Jungle trek. This was also a delightful stroll through some beautiful scenery and wonderful animals. The tigers and the bats are both amazing creatures! Finally, it was time for Kali River Rapids. I had never ridden this attraction either because the weather has never been warm enough for me. I took my socks & shoes off and placed them and my waist pouch in the center compartment and off we went. The ride was quite fun and although short I thought it was well done. I did get rather wet, but with the warm weather I wasn't uncomfortable. After getting off the ride I put my socks and shoes back on and found a restroom to run a brush through my hair and dry off my glasses. A word of advice, DON'T block the exit to put your shoes back on. The path is rather smooth and the concrete is not hot. Keep going down the path a ways and you will find a large number of benches to put your shoes back on without blocking the pathway. I then went into DinoLand USA to pick up a FastPass for Dinosaur and then went over to Camp Minnie-Mickey and got in just in time for Festival of the Lion King! I love this show. As the show began, it started to rain, and they announced that they might not be able to complete the show if the storm got bad enough. They did complete the entire show, however the monkey's did not do their gymnastics routines, they just danced around during the Hakuna Matata number. I asked about it afterwards and was told, that during rain, they don't chance the bars and rings, etc. due to the moisture. After Festival of the Lion King, I donned my clear disposable poncho and sloshed my way back to DinoLand to ride Dinosaur. Folks have always said don't leave the parks just because of rain, just put on rain gear and keep going. Well in the cooler months that is probably fine, but in the summer, walking around under a large sheet of plastic in the heat is just darn unfcomfortable. Just as I was arriving at Dinosaur they were clearing the line because of technical difficulties. Well since this was the last thing I was planning on doing before heading over to the Studios, I hung around for a bit and gave myself a 1:45 deadline to give it up. Well luckily they did get the ride going again and I was one of the first on after the restart! WooHoo!! The ride was running well and seemed plenty rough to me! All of the dinosaur elements seemed to be there too! I then proceeded to the exit of the park and since the rain had cleared up some I ditched my wet poncho and grabbed a fresh one out of my suitcase. Those things do NOT fold up back in the little pouch they come in. I drove over to the Studios parking lot and was once again waved right in upon showing my AP. Upon arriving in the park, I went down Sunset Boulevard and got two FastPass's for Rock 'n Roller Coaster using two of the Disney cards I had in my possesion, and got two FastPass's for Tower of Terror using two other of the Disney cards I had. I then went over to the Brown Derby and checked in for my Priority Seating. The restaurant was really beautiful inside and looked exactly as it had been described. There was a piano player in a tuxedo playing music and all the drawings were all over the walls. It was a nice place. I was seated and ordered a mudslide. Even though I was driving, it was only 2:30 pm and would be 11:30 pm before I was getting behind the wheel, so that was acceptable. I really didn't want a big lunch so for my entrée I ordered the Mushroom Lasagne appetizer. It was really wonderful and fit the bill perfectly. ($14.94) (3:00 pm) I still had time until my FastPasses down Sunset Boulevard so I went over and picked up another FastPass with yet another card I had in my possession for Star Tours, then got in line and watched/listened to Sounds Dangerous. Even though it's kindof cheesy, I like the sound effects :-). Still having time till my FastPass windows, I went to the Great Movie Ride. I remembered to get in the correct line for the Cowboy side and really enjoyed it. By now, my Star Tours FastPass window opened up, so I got in line to ride that. This ride is always a lot of fun for me. However, I noticed on the seat where I was sitting, they had used duct tape to repair some broken plastic. BAD SHOW!!! It was now finally time to ride Tower of Terror, so I headed up Sunset Boulevard and walked straight into the library show. There was, however, a wait in the boiler room. I love the new drop sequence, but I always have a really stupid expression on my face for the picture cause I don't know where it's taken at. After getting off, I went right back around and rode again. Lot's of fun! But still a dorky picture. By now, my Rock n' Roller Coaster FastPass window had finally opened up, so I got in line for that and walked straight into the studio. I really love RnRC!! It is one of my favorite attractions at WDW! I jammed with AeroSmith, then went out and went right back around again and used my second FastPass. On the second trip around, I was on the front row and my picture turned out great! I purchased it and sent it to package pickup. ($17.29) By this time the rain had picked back up again, so I drug out my other disposable poncho and continued over to the New York Street area and saw Muppet Vision! This 3D movie is lots of fun and full of silliness!!! I then ran over to catch the last performance of Hunchback at the Backlot Theater and was I surprised to find they had started the show about 5 minutes early. What was left of the show was excellent as always and I enjoyed every minute of it! By then I was getting hungry and decided to see if the SciFi Drive Inn could seat me. They could with a few minutes wait, so I went into the old Buy the Book and wandered around and was taken in short order to the back seat of one of the cars. The theming in this place was GREAT!!! You really feel like your in a drive-in theater!! The clips were definitely over the top and extremely kooky, but that added to the fun!! Now about the food. I just ordered a coke and a burger with swiss cheese, sauteed onions, and mushrooms which turned out pretty good. ($17.29) (8:11 pm) None of the other items on the menu looked interesting however, and I really try to avoid burgers at WDW, so in that aspect I was disappointed. After leaving the restaurant, I had planned on catching the Backlot Tour, but just missed the last one. I checked the offerings available and found my only choices left on that side of the park was the last Animation Tour at 9:30 pm or the last Little Mermaid showing at 9:30 pm. I chose the Animation tour. I am a huge fan of Disney animation because I believe that is the core of the company and why everything else we love about the Disney Theme Parks exists. The tour didn't really reveal anything new, however there was some work laying around that was not part of anything that was being currently advertised. I asked the on duty animator if the Florida Studio was going to lead another animation project and was told to look for something about Hawaii within the next three years. That was all he could say at that time. By the time the animation tour was over, I just wandered around the park. I was trying to avoid swimming upstream against those leaving the early Fantasmic show. I went over to the marketplace area and got myself a soda and a big bucket of caramel popcorn and found myself a bench and just relaxed. About 10:15 they started letting folks in for the 11:00 pm Fantasmic! and I just waited until the bulk of the crowd had gone in and then calmly walked in and took a seat. The group that was there for the late show barely filled the Mickey section. The first time I saw Fantasmic I was not really all that impressed. However, now that I've seen it a few times, I am following the story and it makes lots more sense to me. The first time I saw it, it seemed more like disjointed images with no continuity. I really enjoy it now, so much that I bought the cassette and listened to it several times for the drive home. After Fantasmic was over, I had planned to wander the shops and let the bulk of the crowd get past me, but there were so few of us left that none of the shops except at the very front entrance were open. I went by package pickup and got the Rock n' Roller Coaster picture I had purchased earlier and then headed for the car and over to my hotel. By this time of night there was virtually no traffic and my drive back to the hotel was quick, however with the construction on 192 and the rain, they have some drainage problems and there was some rather high standing water in the road. Yuck :-( I arrived at the Sleep Inn that I had reserved and checked in. I had reserved the room on their website and got the Choice Business Rate. The website stated that I need proper ID to receive this rate and I brought my work badge with me just in case, but they didn't ask to see anything except my credit card. They already had my room key and check-in sheet ready, so they just scanned my credit card and gave me the key. Took all of 2 minutes. I went upstairs to the room and got in easily. The room was small, but very nice! It had one queen sized bed, a larger small fridge (with separate fridge and freezer sections), a microwave oven, a desk/dresser combo and chair with computer phone jack, and a coffee maker with coffee. In the bathroom there was a shower with glass door and a commode, then outside the bathroom was a vanity with a wall-mounted hair dryer. They had a closet rod with a suitcase bench underneath it and a small box-shaped safe under the suitcase bench. There was a 25" remote tv on the dresser. This hotel also had the modified Disney Information Channel!! There were plenty of towels and washcloths and they provided soap and shampoo. The only complaint I had was the shower could have used a bench. The shower was too large to lean against one wall and put my leg up against the other wall to shave my legs. After arriving, I unpacked my bathroom stuff, took a quick shower and crashed. It had been a long day in Walt's World and I had only 3 hours sleep the night before. Day 2, Saturday, June 24, 2000 I got up about 6:30 that morning and went downstairs and had the continental breakfast that my hotel offered. After breakfast, I ran back up to the room and grabbed one of my frozen waterbottles. I also checked with the ticket and transportation hostess if shuttle service to Pleasure Island was available in the evenings. It was NOT. So Pleasure Island would be a non-alcoholic visit for me this time. I then left the hotel for Epcot. This early in the day on Saturday, traffic was not bad at all and I got into Epcot's parking lot and parked extremely close and headed into the park. I love the entrace music for Epcot right now! I waited at the rope drop and we saw the last of the folks walking in the Transplant Olympics and then the doves were released and they opened Epcot. Instead of rushing to Test Track, I went to the Leave a Legacy station to see if I could find the picture hubby and myself had made in February. The great CM there told me where I could find my picture, and sure enough, once you know what the code means, it is quite simple. I then headed over to Test Track and grabbed a FastPass and then went over to the singles line with NO wait at all. I enjoy Test Track a bunch! It has met with lots of criticism, but it is lots of fun! As I was walking to Test Track, I noticed Ellen's Energy Adventure was closed for a private function that day. After my first ride on Test Track I went over to Wonders of Life to check out Cranium Command. It was having technical difficulties and was not open yet, so I went back to Test Track and got in the FastPass line and rode again. FastPass took me about 20 minutes to get on. I then went back to see if Cranium Command had opened and was extremely dissapointed to find that it had not. :-( Well, with Ellen closed, and Cranium Command closed, and Horizons becoming a big pile of rubble, that was about it for that side of the park. So I wandered across the central plaza and went over to The Living Seas. Heading over there I noticed the entrance to Coral Reef restaurant. It dawned on me that I had never noticed it before. I had heard of the restaurant, but had never paid attention to the entrance. When I entered The Living Seas, I chose to sit through the movie and ride the Sea Cabs, because for me that is the most interesting part of the attraction. I am not a big fan of "set your own pace" static exhibits, I guess that's why Innoventions and Millenium Village aren't high on my list of things I should see. I briefly stopped in to see the Manatees and then left to head over to The Land. There was a rather long line for Living With the Land, but since that was really the main reason I was in there I got in line. The line took a bit, I would say about 20 minutes, but the boat ride is well worth it. I really enjoy this attraction :-) By then it was getting close to the time to meet Susan and Kenny for lunch at LeCellier so I wandered over that direction. I wandered past the Imagination pavilion and continued on around to World Showcase. On the way I admired all of the landscaping and gardens. They were quite beautiful. Upon reaching Canada, I wandered through their gardens and down to LeCellier restaurant. I poked my head in the door to see if anyone had arrived yet and then found a bench in the shade and just enjoyed the waterfall and fountains at the Canada pavillion. Kenny arrived a few minutes after I did and Susan arrived shortly after that. She said that Peter may be joining us so we gave him a few minutes and then decided to go ahead and get seated. The greeter at the desk recognized my radp shirt and mentioned that his brother had organized a meet up in Canada a year or so ago. Of course, then Kenny spent most of the meal trying to remember their names and where he had seen them before. :-) As we were waiting on our meal, we were also joking about why Peter didn't show and accused him of being embarrased to bring his tuna meals into the restaurant. :-) Our server was Holly and she brought us the three "Canada Province" breads which were quite good and our meals came soon after. I had the Cheddar Cheese soup and the Crab Portabello and a Coke, and Kenny & Susan both had the 5 oz Top Sirloin. My meal was delicious and I will definitely go back to LeCellier again. Our bill was $46.11 plus tip and Susan and Kenny gave me cash and I was going to put the whole thing on plastic. The server came back to us and said that the credit card system was down and they would be doing the ticket manually. I said that was fine, no big deal. (WDW did a manual ticket for me once before at the Disney Institute years ago, and I have not been charged for it yet). Anyway, the server came back several minutes later, but not with a ticket for me to sign, but with more excuses that they were rebooting the system, but would not guarantee that it would come back up. At that point, I decided to go ahead and pay cash, but was not happy about it because I purposely bring very little cash to WDW. Kenny and Susan kidded me about not holding out for the manual ticket or a comped meal, but I just don't think that way most of the time. There would be a letter to WDW guest relations once I got home. After lunch, Kenny, Susan and myself started around World Showcase. We just strolled along and enjoyed the afternoon. Both Kenny & Susan stopped several times at pin stations and Kenny had some pictures to take for his article. They were also comparing their neato digital cameras. I decided not to embarass my little disposable camera and kept it put away. :-) We stopped at Impressions de France and enjoyed the movie there. We also stopped at American Adventure. There was a very good musical group in the rotunda, called American Vibe. Although they were very good, the thing I was paying the most attention to was what they were wearing. It was definitely not "Disney Protocol". I wondered out loud to Kenny if those were costumes or their own clothes. He didn't know. Susan and myself also mentioned that it had been awhile since we had even seen the rotunda lobby. Most of the time, there were private parties being held there and they were having guests enter and exit through the exit. After leaving American Adventure, we waited in about a 30 minute line and rode Maelstrom and Kenny showed us where a group had bottomed out a Maelstrom boat and they had to drain the ride to get it going again! After Maelsrom we went and rode El Rio del Tiempo, but didn't try the Paragon challenge. Susan had an "old" Test Track back door pass, so we decided to use that and proceeded into the exit at Test Track. As we entered our vehicle, who do we run into arriving in the singles line but Peter! He got in the car behind us and we continued on through the GM testing facility. As we were finishing up the speed run, we were slowing down harder than normal and it when we got around the ride had stopped. Peter's car pulled in behind us and we spent the time waiting snapping pictures at each other. All of a sudden there was this big clap of thunder and the power went out. We were able to unbuckle our seat belts and we really started acting silly then. Shortly thereafter, someone came and walked everyone out of the ride and we left there and made a dash for Innoventions before the rain came. The ride picture system had been down all day. I would have loved to see the picture :-) We stopped at the House of the Future exhibit inside Innoventions and waited to go through there. It was rather interesting to see some of the gadgets, but most of them would be very expensive and impractical for our house. We then just wandered through some more. We tried to get weather.com on one of the go.com internet stations and was blocked at every turn. We wanted to see a radar picture to see how long this storm would last. We were a bit thirsty by then and stopped by the Electric Umbrella. I got an order of fries and a regular coke ($3.82) (4:57 pm). We then wandered over to a pin trading station and Kenny and Susan chatted with some of the CM traders there while Peter was playing with his digital camera taking pictures of carpeted walls, go figure. His camera was even fancier, so I definitely didn't take my off-brand disposable out. :-) Since there was no line, we took a quick spin on Journey Into Your Imagination and wandered through the interactive exhibits a bit. We then discussed dinner and decided that going to an off-site restaurant was the better choice. I made a request to ride Spaceship Earth before we left so that's what we did. The attraction was enjoyable as always, although the head rests could be padded. How are you supposed to take a nap otherwise?? :-) As we exited Epcot, both Susan and myself showed everyone where our Leave a Legacy pictures were and Peter took pictures of them with his digital camera. The four of us left the park and made our way to Peter's car. I decided to leave mine in Epcot's parking lot, and we drove Susan to her spot which was further out. Kenny was parked at the Boardwalk so he rode with Susan and I rode with Peter to the restaurant. Although Peter made a detour on this little side rode which I'm not sure we were supposed to be at and snapped a few pictures of the backside of what was left of the Horizons building. We made it over to this Mexican place at Crossroads (Chevy's) without getting stopped or frisked by Disney security and enjoyed a good Mexican meal. I ordered my usual of two burritos, rice (no beans) and extra sour cream. I dumped my sour cream on top of my burritos and proceeded to mix the whole thing up like I normally do. Well Kenny got this look on his face that was hilarious. He was looking at me as if I was doing the worst thing in the world to that food. :-) It was so funnnnyyy!!! :-) After dinner, the server brings us our check and instead of simply asking for separate checks, we decide we'll just figure it out ourselves. Well it takes us four puter geeks and Peter's Palm Pilot 20 minutes to figure out who owed what! It was another funny moment :-)!!! I think my portion was about $10.00. After dinner Susan decided she would do the responsible thing and head home so we said our goodbyes and Kenny, Peter and myself hopped in Peter's car to head over to the Studios. We took a spin on Rock 'n Roller Coaster which made a GREAT picture but since I had already bought one, I passed. Peter took several pictures of Tower of Terror and then Kenny decided to head out. Peter and I departed the Studios and were heading for Pleasure Island, but we remembered that I really needed to get my car out of Epcot's lot so we backtracked over there. I made my way over to Pleasure Island and tried to use their valet parking, but couldn't figure out where it was and after a couple of loops around I gave up and found my own parking spot and went in. Adventurer's Club was the usual mixture of fun and hijinks :-) and Ramona was our fun and courteous server once again. I had two non-alcoholic specialty drinks ($10.00)(12:53 am) and headed back to my hotel room after the last Hoopla. I settled in rather quickly after a shower and a bit of TV and got ready for my last day of this really short trip :-) Day 3, Sunday, June 25, 2000 I woke up about 7:00 and made it to the Magic Kingdom with plenty of time to spare. I was not one of the first in the gates, but was one of the first few at rope drop heading towards Frontierland. While I was waiting at rope drop I overheard some folks talking about FastPass and metioning something about getting one every two hours. I started to say something, but didn't at the time. When the rope dropped, I followed the crowd to Splash Mountain intending to get a FastPass first thing, then get in the line. However, I was NOT allowed to do so, they herded everyone towards the line. Splash Mountain was a wonderful experience as always and I purposely got a back seat so I wouldn't get so wet. :-) By the time I got off the mountain, the "Rope Drop Police" had dispersed and they were allowing folks to go where they wished. After finishing Splash Mountain, I wandered up and down the "Left Side of the Park" experiencing the Jungle Cruise, the Enchanted Tiki Room, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. This side of the park was extremely uncrowded and I was able to see everything in short order. I then stopped by Columbia Harbour House for lunch and had the Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl and Fries and a Coke. ($8.70)(11:20 am). After lunch, I stopped at the Hall of Presidents and managed to stay awake for most of the presentation. :-) I love the show, I really do, but comfortable seats, and air conditioning, and overdoing it, generally make for a good nap :-) I then proceeded to Fantasyland and grabbed a FastPass for Winnie the Pooh, then went over to Tommorowland and grabbed FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. I proceeded back to Fantasyland and experienced my favorites there which are it's a small world, Peter Pan's Flight, and Snow White. My FastPass time for Pooh had not arrived yet, so I wandered through Mickey's Toon Town Fair and took the quiet path over to Tomorrowland and went to my favorite attraction in all of Walt Disney World "Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress" I was extremely pleased to see that it actually had a line! I still had time for my various FastPass windows so I went for a couple of spins on the TTA, then went to The Timekeeper and Alien Encounter. I then stopped for a quick snack at the Lunching Pad for a character cookie and a coke. ($3.61)(2:28 pm). What I thought would be a large chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a character, turned out to be nothing more than a box of "character cookies" a.k.a. "Animal Crackers" ala Disney. Oh, well. The Coke was good :-) It was then time to ride Space Mountain, so I proceeded to board my shuttle through the mountain. I love the wild rides! After leaving Space Mountain, headed over to Buzz Lightyear to defend the world against Zurg!! This is also lots of fun. My window to ride around with the Silly Ole Bear finally arrived, so back to Fantasyland I went. They did a very good job with this attraction and I had a good time with the Heffalumps and Woozles and other characters of the Hundred Acre Wood. By this time I had seriously run out of steam and decided to postpone my dinner till later in the evening and return to my hotel. As I wandered out of the park, I grabbed a park map and sure enough, the new FastPass rules stated that you could get a second FastPass after two hours if your first window hadn't opened up yet. This was great news, because some of the more popular attractions had FastPass windows four, five, and six hours later. To verify this, I also took the resort monorail and stopped off at the Contemporary and picked up park maps for the other parks and confirmed that all four parks now had this policy. As I was in the Contemporary, I noticed the shops on the 4th Floor were being remodeled and all the merchandise was on the Concourse. I continued on the monorail to the TTC and stopped by Guest Services and moved my PS at Liberty Tree Tavern to 8:00 pm, then headed to my car and back to the room. On the way out of the parking lot, I stopped by the Exxon Tiger Mart to fill up with gas ($27.00)(4:34pm). I won't complain about gas prices at home any more. We're a good 20 cents per gallon less. Back at the room, I took a good shower and just rested in the room. I don't nap very well during the day, but I may have dozed off some. I talked to the folks at home and just had a quiet couple of hours. About 7pm, I headed back to the Magic Kingdom and proceeded back to Liberty Square for my PS at Liberty Tree Tavern. After a short wait "Carol Kelley from the Southern State of Alabama" was announced for dinner. I was seated in the Benjanmin Franklin room and proceeded to have a thoroughly enjoyable meal with our Colonial Characters Goofy, Minnie, Chip & Dale. I was brought a salad of Tossed Mixed Greens, served with Tavern Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing and then a huge plate of roasted turkey breast, marinated flank steak, and honey mustard ham accompanied by home made mashed potatoes, garden vegetables, herb bread stuffing, and Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese. To drink I had a Coca-Cola. Dinner was delicious and the characters were quite friendly and funny. Goofy even joined me for a moment or two and tried to help me eat my dinner. :-) ($24.15) (9:07 pm) However, the most enjoyable part of this evening was not my dinner or the way the characters interacted with me. The best part of the evening was how the cast turned what could have been a nightmare (dinner with a 3-year old) into a truly magical evening. The story goes as such: (Copied out of my letter to guest relations) My second comment involves my meal at Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom on Sunday, June 25th, around 8:00 pm. I was seated in the Benjamin Franklin room and there was a family of five seated near me. There was a little girl around three years old who apparently declared that she didn't like anything they had. The server then asked the Chef Dennis to come out to see if he had anything else that the little girl might like. I wish to commend Dennis for his wonderful demeanor with this little girl. He came to the table and talked with her and made her a plate of the things on the table with just a small bite of each. He had her try one bit of macaroni, one bit of mashed potato, and one bit of carrot and it turned out she loved every bit of it. He continually checked on her throughout the meal and brought her a special treat of Mickey Shaped Watermelon and a whole pile of Pixie Dust sprinkled all over her. He alone made what could have been a very stressful meal for that family a magical evening. Please make sure that Dennis is given recognition for his efforts. Dennis is the type of Cast Member that makes Walt Disney World a pleasure to visit! I received a personal phone call from Marlana Antifit at the Executive Offices of the Walt Disney World resort several weeks later. She told me she was delighted to receive my letter and assured me that Dennis would receive special recognition for his efforts. A few days later, I got an autographed photograph from the characters and a beautiful card from Marlana. After leaving the restaurant, I took a quick ride through the Haunted Mansion and then saw Legend of the Lion King. It was almost time for Fantasy in the Sky after that, so I grabbed a soda and fries at Pinnocchio's ($4.03) (9:56 pm) and found a spot on Main Street to watch the fireworks. Tinkerbell made her flight from Cinderella's castle to start the wonderful show! After Fantasy in the Sky was over, I ducked into some shops to let the crowds exit the park. I just aimlessly wandered through, not really interested in buying anything. After a few minutes, most of the early crowd had left so I wandered to the area near the train station to find a spot for the Main Street Electrical parade. While we were waiting, the new Main Street Orchestra(?) played a few tunes for us. They were really good and quite entertaining. I found a great place right on the curb to watch the evening parade. I really enjoy MSEP, but I can't wait to see Spectromagic come back. I never got to see it in it's entirety. Well during the parade, I must have been too close to the curb, cause Tigger tripped over my feet. Ooops :-( Fortunately, he didn't fall or hurt himself, so that was good. But then Tiggers are bouncy things :-) After the parade was finished, I just wandered up and down Main Street and found a spot on the hub and just sat there looking at the castle. Security, finally, gently ushered everyone towards the train station, and I managed to be one of the last few out of the park. I was hoping to see the "Goodnight Kiss" but never did :-( I then headed toward the monorail, and then to my car and back to my hotel. I took a shower and watched tv till I fell asleep. I didn't set a wake up call as the only thing I was doing the next day was packing up and checking out. Day 4, Monday, June 26, 2000 After sleeping as late as possible, I checked out of my hotel and went to Belz Outlet mall and found the Character Premiere Store and got several things for my family at great prices. I got a 20" Rabbit Plush, the 25th Anniversary Book, Since the World Began, A Mickey Mouse Oxford button-down shirt, a pair of Mickey Mouse boxers and the Fantasmic! soundtrack cassette. ($47.65) (1:25 pm) I then hit the road toward home, stopping in Perry, GA at a Red Lobster for dinner. ($15.88)(6:59 pm) I arrived at home about midnite central time. As I was driving home, I played my new Fantasmic! cassette several times and on the full sound effect side there is this lightning bolt that made me jump every time. Summary and Stats I had a good time this trip. This was my first experience with the parks being open past 9pm and I like it. Taking a break is a lot easier when you have those extra hours. This was also the second time I had ever stayed off-site. The first time, I was relying on an outside transportation service and had to fight that continuously, but having my own car helped make staying off-site less of a hassle. Once again, the Choice Hotel line has lived up to it's reputation and I had a great stay at the Sleep Inn on 192. The only thing I really sacrificed staying off-site this time was being able to have a drink or two at Pleasure Island. There really wasn't anything I would have done differently this trip. Having no plan means there's not much that can get off track. I guess my only complaint would be the Test Track pictures being down all day. I would have liked to get a picture of Kenny, Susan, Peter and myself on the ride. What This Trip Cost:
Total $628.46 Carol Kelley ckelley@camber.com Mail a Comment to Carol Kelley |
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