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David McQuaid -- October 2000 -- Walt Disney World (ASSR)

October 18-22, 2000

Introduction: I wrote this report in several stages to post to a Disney e-group right after we returned in October of 2000. However, with Brian's recent requests for additional reports, I thought I would dust this one off, just in case anyone might be interested. I realize that several of the references are out of date (specifically Early Entry), but I hope the readers will enjoy the report nonetheless.

My oldest son had 2 days off of school in mid-October, and it had been 3 years since our last Disney visit, so we decided we would do a whirlwind trip over the "long" weekend. We knew we wouldn't be able to do everything, but we thought we would see how much we could accomplish.

Day one, Wed., 10/18

We (me, my wife, ages 33 & 35, and 2 sons, ages 7 and 4 months) left South Carolina at 3 PM (an hour later than I wanted) by car for Disney. Was hoping to check in AS Sports by midnight. Fortunately, most speed limits in SC, GA and FL were 70, so the trip went faster than expected, and we got in at 12:30. The CM at the front desk (Tasha, I think) was REALLY helpful and a lot more cheerful than she needed to be at that hour. We had pre-requested first floor Football (not too far from the bus stop, but away from the noisy pool) and I was a little surprised that we actually got it -- the only problem was, it was the farthest 1st floor football room from the bus stops possible! Oh well. VERY quiet -- never heard anything after 11:00 p.m. Got to bed about 1:30. Ugh.

Day two, Thurs.

Got up at 6:30 to make Early Entry at the MK. Trying to cram everything (especially for the baby -- bottles, diapers, change of clothes, cereal, etc., plus a 35mm and a video camera) in a backpack and the basket of an umbrella stroller was a challenge, but we survived, somehow. (We bought an InStep umbrella stroller just for the trip, as our Graco was too bulky to haul on and off the buses, etc. -- it worked pretty well, and the extendible handles were nice for me (tall), but the plastic clips for the basket and the fold lock started to stretch by the end of the trip.) No wait at the bus stop, and we got to the park at about 7:45. A beautiful day -- we passed 3 or 4 hot air balloons on the way.

We stopped to take pix & video at the castle, then on to Dumbo (5 min. wait). Everybody rode, including the baby -- he took everything in stride the entire week, including laughing at Robin Williams' robot on the Timekeeper and trying to eat the costume of the Test Track Dummies at Test Track. Rode Peter Pan (no wait) and got a fast pass for Pooh, then went to Space Mountain (no wait). Left mom & baby with the Motorola radio while my son and I rode.  He liked Space Mtn. when he was 4, but he was less excited this time. The ride seemed rougher and darker to me than it did 3 years ago, too.

(Side note: I highly recommend using those 2-mile range radios and FRESH batteries -- we got the Motorola FR60 model, which has 14 channels plus 38 subchannels. We thought the extra subchannels might be overkill, but we encountered people on our pre-arranged channel at least 5 times over the trip. We had a call signal that would notify each other that we were switching channels if ours was in use, and twice someone was on our secondary channel, too (including someone who identified themselves as being with emergency services fireworks fallout patrol, which seemed a little bizarre.)) By the time we finished Space Mtn., the park was open for all guests, so we ran over to Big Thunder Mountain (my son rode twice in a row, once with me & once with my wife, with no waiting), then Splash Mountain (20 minute wait by this time.) Then we did Haunted Mansion and Pooh on our fast pass. Had an early lunch at Cosmic Rays -- big selection, but you have to wait in separate lines for different kinds of food. Then on to Buzz Lightyear (15 minute wait), the Timekeeper (walked right in -- we LOVE this show!) and the Indy cars -- 30 minute wait (TIP: they only had 3 lanes running -- if that's the case, DON'T get in the line that feeds to the single lane, even if it looks shorter, since it will go half as slow).

By now, it was about 2pm and the park was PACKED, so we did Swiss Family Treehouse (walked right on) and Pirates (we walked right on). Jungle Cruise was under extensive renovation (fences, tractors, and everything). We stopped and watched the acrobats across from Pirates -- they are AMAZING (and probably keep a full-time chiropracter), then we decided to run over to MGM.

Went to MGM about 3:45 and watched the Mulan parade -- nice, but not as fun (in my opinion) as the Toy Story one. Then went to Star Tours, got photos with Buzz & Woody at Al's Toy Barn, ate dinner at Pizza Planet (better quality pizzas than the last time we were there), then went to get seats for Fantasmic. The Unofficial Guide said 60-90 minutes before was a good time to get good seats, so we were VERY surprised when we got there 100 minutes early (5:50 for the 7:30 show) and 2/3 of the arena was filled! We didn't fancy waiting that long with a 4-month old, but didn't have much choice, as the CMs were saying that if even a portion of your party left the arena there was no guarantee that the seats would still be available. A comedian came and did a very funny bit of schtick with tape and a couple of chairs at about 7:10, but we got pretty bored in the meantime, although my wife did make one trek to do a diaper change.

(A little (gross) side note here for those of you with children in diapers still: our 4-month old was diagnosed with a slight ear infection just before we left. The doctor gave us a prescription for Zithromax, which we debated whether we should start or not. We did start it, and it provided for some real adventures in diaper changing (and sore bottoms) for the next 4 days. If we had it to do over again, we might have waited on the medication, but at least the Disney bathrooms make changing diapers about as pleasant as it can be in a public place.) Once the Fantasmic show started, though, it was certainly worth the wait. The technology is really cool, and the pyrotechnics are pretty neat, too. It's a great show -- highly recommended.

As you can imagine, 10,000 people leaving at the same time made for some major congestion, and the stroller parking area, while kept neat by the CMs, is not the most brilliant design in the world. We sortof waited around in the arena for about 15 minutes to let the crowds thin, and that made life a little easier getting out. We made the first bus back (standing room only) and got to the hotel by about 10:20. To bed by 11:30 after washing bottles and getting the next day's stuff prepared.

Day three, Friday 10/20

Up at 6:30 or so to make Early Entry at Epcot. Great weather again; we got to the park via the bus (again, got on without too much waiting) and took a couple of pictures of the big Mickey wand on Spaceship earth -- it's not as bad as I thought it might be. The Leave a Legacy stone sculpture area, though, looks awful in my opinion. The tiny pictures are really hard to see, and the big marble slabs are not attractive. My opinion, though.

Went straight to Test Track, and there was already a 20-minute wait at 8:10. Got a FastPass and went back and did Spaceship Earth -- they've changed the ending a little. I still like it. Went back to TT and used the fastpass. The only bad thing about that was the line was so short, we had to RUN through the queing area, which is REALLY neat, at least for a car nut. My son and I went together, and my wife went to the end to do the baby swap. We got in pretty quick -- I enjoyed this ride a great deal -- one of my favorites. The acid bath area is a stroke of psychological genius, and the little trip outside takes your breath away. We met my wife and the baby at the picture area, and she and my son went through the exit to do the baby swap while I waited with the baby. About 20 minutes later, I knew something was wrong when the pictures on the monitors hadn't changed for 10 minutes. Sure enough, we found out that the car JUST before them broke down, which required 8 employees pushing it up a hill, and then all of the cars currently on the track running through without riders. 40 minutes (and a fussy baby) later, they were through.

We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which THOROUGHLY freaked out my 7-year old son, but prepared us for Bug's Life (I won't divulge any details, but leave it at this -- the methods you can use at HISTA to avoid being terrorized DON'T work at Bug's Life =) Rode through Journey into Your Imagination. Nice -- not as good as I remembered the old Figment show to be, but not as boring as the last time we were there. We did a photo morph and sent it in an e-mail from their little computer station.

We then ran over to the Living Seas, and, although the crowds had been slim to that point, for some reason, there were hundreds of people in line. We bypassed the first part and went straight to the hydrolater, but it was too crowded, so we left for our 11:40 PS at Rose & Crown.

Lunch was great -- the portions were HUGE, and our waitress was very helpful. I couldn't believe it, but our son actually tried a (relatively) authentic choice (fish & chips) from the kids menu instead of mac & cheese or chicken fingers. After lunch, we played hide & seek in the little boxwood garden in the corner of UK (a family tradition), and then watched O Canada. The film is really showing its age, but it was still pretty nice.

On to the Millenium Showcase -- it was surprisingly well-done for a "temporary" exhibit. I think we could have easily spent 5 hours in there, but we just sortof bounced from exhibit to exhibit. Sweden's (I think?) climate controlled season exhibit was pretty neat, and they had a little food court with samples from around the world.

At that point (2 pm), we decided to go back to the hotel for a nap, as we were doing e-nights at the MK. On the way out of the park, I remembered the MouseGears meet & greet, so I checked in there and there was basically no wait for Mickey & Goofy. We got some GREAT pictures, and my oldest son had drawn a picture of Mickey that both Mickey and Goofy signed for him. Mickey, of course, acted as though it was the best he had ever seen, and Goofy, of course, pretended to be all upset that it wasn't of him. Goofy even offered his nose for my 4-month old to try to chew on -- hilarious! After a nap, we got to the MK about 5:40, and it was PACKED. We got our e-ride bracelets at city hall. Spots curbside on the parade route for the 7:30 parade was already taken, so my wife found a place in the second row with the baby, while my son and I waited in the Goofy's Barnstormer line for 40 minutes (our longest wait of the trip, thanks to fastpass). We kept in radio contact with mom, and got back about 7:00. The Main Street Electrical Parade was nice, but not as good as Spectromagic from 3 years ago (and not even as good as I remembered the old MSEP that we saw in 1991). We watched the fireworks from the little plaza below the restaurant, and they were nice, as always.

E-ride started as soon as the fireworks ended, and for a while, they made us hold up our wrists whenever we entered a ride (they enforced quite strictly -- trust me). We rode Buzz Lightyear 2 times in a row, and I must have got really lucky, 'cuz I scored 78,000 somehow (most of the rest of the times our scores were in the 2000-8000 range). I made sure to get it on videotape for perpetuity =). Big Thunder Mtn. was neat at night -- the village was on fire, and they had a few other neat effects. We also rode AstroOrbiter -- a great view of the lit park at night, Space Mountain, and watched Timekeeper again.

We tried to stop by the bakery (which our guidesheet said would be open) at 11:15, but it had already closed. I had heard rumors that they actually pipe the baked cookies smell out through the awning, and now I know it to be true -- the place was deserted, all shelves empty, etc., and it still smelled JUST like "baking cookies" outside the shop. We settled for a sundae instead, and made our way to the buses at 11:30.

After housekeeping, bottle cleaning, etc., we made it to bed about 12:45, as I recall.

Day four, Saturday, 10/21

This early morning thing was really beginning to take its toll, but we staggered out to the bus stop at about 7:35 for an 8am admission to Animal Kingdom. The line for MK was HUGE (early entry day), so I was thinking optimistically that that would mean AK would be less crowded. The bus ride was quite short, and you could see the considerable progress they're making on the new hotel just a mile or so away from the park entrance (can't remember its name -- Safari Lodge or something, maybe?) We got in line about 7:45, thinking that they would open at 7:50, as one of the guidebooks suggested. The gates did not actually open until about 8:05, which I thought was surprising. We made a beeline in the direction of the Kilamanjaro Safari -- or at least in the direction we thought it would be. I felt VERY disoriented in the park the whole day, mostly due to the tremendous amount of flora and fauna. It is evident that a ton of work went into making this place appear to be a jungle, as the plants look like they've been in place for 70 years, not 2 or 3. It still made it VERY hard to see from one area to another, or even more than 200 yards down the path in front of you -- it's the complete opposite of Epcot, and even MGM and MK. I love all the plants, however -- -and maybe it's just a personal preference -- - I had my nose in the map far more than I wanted to.

The walked right on the Safari, and it was great. Our guide/driver seemed a little over-memorized and sing-songy, which I found surprising for his first run of the morning, but we did encounter a good deal of wildlife. We we nearly charged by a rhino, which seemed to think about 10 steps into his run that we weren't worth the trouble. 3 giraffes brought the truck to a halt as the meandered up and across the road, 2 leopards were chasing one another, and a whole herd of the gazelle-like creatures were running very quickly away from something. Even the lions were out on their rock, so we felt fortunate for the number of creatures we saw. My sister spent last summer in Kenya, and based on her photos I would say that the Disney interpretation of a western African landscape is right on the money -- perhaps a little too green, but very authentic.

Speaking of authentic -- we did see 2 animals engaged in, shall we say, amorous pursuits, which elicited a question from my 7 year old that we weren't really prepared to answer on a safari vehicle bouncing along at 15 mph. I think he forgot about it, though . . .

Next we wound through the hike (sorry -- can't remember the name, as it's been over a week . . .) and saw a good deal more wildlife. After that, it was on to Kali River Rapids. My son and I went, but my wife and baby just waited at the exit. We thought we'd be smart and take ponchos -- HA! The ride was deserted, so we practically had to run through the line area (very nicely done). We got in a raft with 4 guys who were staying on for their 2nd ride. Most of the ride itself is uneventful, although nicely landscaped. The burning rain forest stands in stark contrast to the lush riverbeds.

The ride down the plume is really not very exciting, but through careful water management (I think a very shallow pool at the end of the drop), there is NO PLACE for the water to go except up a good 8 or 9 feet and back down, into the boat. At least 2 people (usually the ones going down the plume backwards) WILL, no exceptions, get absolutely and completely drenched with at least 30 gallons of water on every trip down the river. The first trip, it wasn't us. There was no one in the line when we got back, so the CM asked if we wanted to ride again. Like idiots, we said yes. This time, we got soaked. There was so much water that it actually tore my poncho where it connected to the hood, with disastrous results for those among us who wanted to stay dry. It started to sprinkle for about 10 minutes right after we finished the ride, so at least I was already wet . . . The sun came out about 15 minutes later, though.

We then walked through the palace ruins, which are beautifully detailed, and saw the bats and the tigers. They were feeding the tigers from some hidden perch, and it was neat to watch them jump for the food.

Next we went on to Dinosaur. There was about a 15 minute wait here, which was the first wait we had encountered at AK. The premise is a little dull, in my estimation, and the ride, while nicely detailed (esp. the loading area and the vehicle) was a little confusing and not really that scary. I'm not sure why (my son was pretty frightened), but I didn't find it all that great.

Next stop was the fossil dig, and I spent 5 minutes trying to keep up with my son while holding a video camera. (Warning: 6 foot 1 adults with hiking boots do not fit down the spiral slide well.) It's nicely themed, and a great place for kids to run around for a while. I only saw one entrance/exit (could be wrong), so it seemed like a relatively safe place for parents to rest near the entrance while the kids played.

We did It's Tough to Be a Bug next. The sign read 0 minute wait, but it was WRONG. We spent at least 15 minutes slowly winding around the tree, then another 15 waiting to get in. The tree is beautiful, and the show is fun. However, if you sit in your own seat, you CANNOT get away from the little surprises. Heed the warning signs they have posted every 15 feet or so if your young ones are squeamish about bugs. The ones on the screen are fine, but, well, I'll leave it at that.

We had lunch next -- got a meal for my son at the Restaurantasouras and bbq chicken and the chicken salad in garlic bowl for us at the Flame Tree, and ate out by the river. Next was on to the 1:30 (I think) showing of Tarzan Rocks. We got in line 35 minutes before, and it was a LONG line. They moved the barricades, which allowed us to move up considerably, but about 10 minutes before showtime there was a rumble through the crowd about the show being cancelled. Sure enough, 3 minutes later the CMs started making announcements that there had been technical difficulties and to come back for the 3:30 pm show. Nobody was very happy, as I think we all would have liked to have known BEFORE we spent a half hour in line, but the CMs were very nice. My son was very disappointed, though, as this was the thing he most wanted to see at AK.

We decided to try to run all the way across the park to make the 1:45 (I think) Lion King show, and we walked in with about 3 minutes to spare (and got great seats on the second row right on the end, I think since we were carrying a baby). It's a stunning show -- very well done, and the talent is great. While there, the skies let loose with about a 5 minute thunderstorm. The stroller stayed relatively dry, though, so we headed back towards the entrance in pretty good shape. We happened to see a board that announced they had added a 2:45 Tarzan show, so we turned that way, parked the stroller, and went into the show just as the skies let loose again. (When we came back out there was 2 inches of water standing in the stroller!) The show was pretty good, but BOY was it LOUD. The gymnastics and lights were great, but I wasn't real wild about the rock concert theme (I suppose that's why they call it Tarzan Rocks . . .=) After the show the sun had come back out. I parked the stroller in the sun, hoping to dry it out, while we shopped for a few minutes, then went back to the hotel.

We rested for a while, then left for Epcot. We got there at 5:30 and tried to get FastPasses for TestTrack, but they weren't issuing any more for the day (sob). We decided to go back to Millenium Village and ate at the food court -- not bad for an international sampler. By this time our legs were killing us, so we just sat on the curb for about a half hour, then decided to just stroll through the countries. The Food and Wine Festival had just started, and the World Showcase area was quite packed. We were too sore to really enjoy it though, so about 7:45 we just grabbed a spot by the fence between Italy and Germany, I think (open, surprisingly) and waited for Illuminations.

The Tapestry of Nations parade went by not too far from there, so my son and I moved to the other side of the street and videotaped it. It's sortof bizarre with all the puppets and the drums/clocks, but it was neat to watch. (We had bought the Energizer batteries at ToysRUs and gotten the free Disney CD, so we recognized the music.) Illuminations was WONDERFUL. I videotaped the whole thing, so I was watching most of it through the LCD screen, but it was really a great experience, especially how the timing of the fireworks was tied to the music. The symbolism at the end of the rockets from each country shooting back out toward the opening globe and "igniting" it was really neat. We would have gone back again if we had had time.

We meandered about the park, waiting for the lines at the buses to go down, for about 30 minutes (I wish they would keep SOMETHING open in the park, but everything pretty much shuts down). (We did hear TestTrack running and even thought about heading over there, but then we saw streams of high schoolers in tuxes and evening gowns heading that direction, too. I guessed it was some sort of prom night thing, although I can't imagine WHY anyone would wear eveningwear to ride TestTrack. Oh well!) We got to the buses about 10, caught the first one back, and made it to bed by 11:15.

Only one more day at Disney . .. =(

Day five, Sunday, 10/22

Up at 6:15 to pack the car, check out, etc. before leaving for early entry at MGM. They had forgotten to mark our room as a quick check-out room, so I had to swing by the front desk, but I got in and out in about 2 minutes. Not bad.

We made it to the park by about 8:05, and by the time we got to Rock & Roller Coaster, there was already a 15-minute line. My son and I rode it -- the theming in the line area is great (the alley theme looks very much like under some of the bridges in downtown Chicago). I had the silly idea to take my camcorder on the ride -- don't ask why! I tried to cram it under my arm, but the safety bar came down tight enough I was afraid I'd cracked it. (It made it through unscathed.) The launch was even better than I had anticipated -- I'd ride it 40 times just for the launch alone. You could tell the ride corkscrewed and went upside down, but since we were in the dark mostly, it didn't have quite the same impact as when you can see what's happening to you. I thought the ride was smoother than Space Mountain, and the LA-at-night theme was a little weak. The ride was DEFINITELY too short, but it was fun nonetheless.

We decided to skip Tower of Terror -- I was the only one who wanted to do it, and I'd done it before, so we passed due to our limited time (we had to drive back to SC, and I had really hoped to start the 8-hour trip by 4 pm -- -more on that later). My wife and son rode Star Tours (again), no wait., then we did Muppets 4-D. We were the 2nd family in the holding area, so I got to see the video all the way through for the first time. VERY funny! The Backstage Pass walking tour looked interesting since they had the Home Improvement set up, but it wasn't worth the time -- 80% of it was the same as 3 years ago. We did the Great Movie Ride (same old same old) and then had lunch at the ABC Commissary -- not bad for fast food at Disney.

At this point it was 1:00, and we had a high-level meeting about whether to try Ariel and Indiana Jones or whether to try to get back to Epcot one more time (and for one more attempt at Test Track). Epcot won, so we went over there and headed straight for Test Track. And my heart sank. Again. The fast passes they were issuing were for 6:30, which was WAY after we needed to be on the road. Oh well -- I guess one time was enough for me (sniff, sniff).

We corralled a family to take our picture in front of the fountains, bought $60 worth of souvenirs (we were way ahead of budget, so I didn't cringe too badly), and took the boat over (VERY slowly!) to France. We saw Impressions de France (a beautiful show -- showing its age, but it reminded us of our trip to Europe 2 summers ago) and "sampled" the pastries, delicious as always (peach tart, chocolate eclair and some chocolate mountain thing with chocolate filling that I don't remember the name of). It was already 3:30, but we made one more stop in the Millennium Village so my son could play golf in Scotland (those little courses they had set up are hard!), and we decided to take the Monorail over to MK and catch a bus from there, since that's the one thing we hadn't done that we planned to. We requested to sit in the front car, which meant waiting for the next Monorail. The driver was great, though, and she answered my son's dozens of questions.

By 5 we had caught a bus from MK back to AS Sports, collected our luggage, and hit the road at 6:05 pm. We made the trip back in 8 hrs. 30 minutes, but I'm afraid there are large portions of road I have no recollection driving over -- it was certainly a miracle we made it back in one piece. After putting the boys to bed and unloading the car, we were in bed by 3 am . . . .  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Overall, a whirlwind trip, but we went knowing we couldn't run at full speed with a baby and a 7-year old, and that we wouldn't have time to do everything, so we left quite satisfied with what we did get to do and elated with the nice weather we had. I'd do it again next weekend if I had $1400 to spend (and the time!!). The trip lives on in 2 hours of digital video (maybe someday I'll get real ambitious and edit it all together on my iMac!), 5 rolls of developed pictures, and a few souvenirs.

David McQuaid dmcquaid@bju.edu

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