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Donna Morrissey -- September 2000 -- Walt Disney World (DL, WL)

September 14 - 25, 2000

Cast of Characters

• Donna (40) - me, Mom, Trip Writer, Disney Obsessed Enthusiast, Accountant, 7th WDW trip, 2 trips to Disneyland where the obsession started
• Richard (39) - Dad, Disney fan, Foreman for an electrical contractor, 7th WDW trip, many trips to Disneyland
• Jillian (just turned 11) - 5th WDW trip, finally brave enough to try the big rides and incredibly good sport
• Grace (about to turn 6) -2nd WDW trip, amazing, tried anything once

I started to write a trip report for our last trip in 1997. I never finished it because I didn't take notes and my memory failed me! I love to go back and read about that trip so this time I'm going to try very hard to complete it. I also have a new e-mail friend that has promised to hound me to get it done. I love to read trip reports so this is my way of paying Brian back for his wonderful website. My memory also failed me this time, but I kept notes along with tons of questions to my husband and kids who remember everything. These reports are definitely easier to read than to write but I was determined to finish it. This is a long detailed trip report, just the way I like them, so sit back and hopefully enjoy.

Planning Trip Report - January 2000

We decided in January that maybe, just maybe we could take a trip to WDW in the year 2000. Our last visit was in the summer of 1997 when we vowed we would never visit WDW in August again with the kids if we could help it. We try to visit every 2 - 3 years, so this was the year. Initially I thought June, right when the kids get out of the school for the summer. Then Richard suggested September when things would be a bit slower at the World. So begins Debate Number 1. Do our kids miss school? Our oldest will be entering 6th grade and will miss school for seven days. Her middle school runs on a 7 day rotation so she will only miss one day of each rotation. I talked with the Middle School Principal and he was all for it. Our youngest will be in Kindergarten and I think her missing school is a non issue. She went to preschool at the town elementary school so she is familiar with the school and teachers. We went to Disney World for 11 days in September when Jillian was in Kindergarten and there was no problem at all. Richard thinks that the whole "take the kids out of school" issue is a non issue so I decided that mid-September would be best. School will have been in session for about a week and we should be able to get a good handle on the work required by then. The plan was that Jillian would make up some of the work before we go but the teachers didn't assign it until the night before we left. The school allows one day for each day missed to make up the remainder of the work once she gets back. I made copies of the textbook pages she needed before we left so that she didn't have to lug the textbooks to Florida. This worked very well because she could write directly on these sheets and not worry about losing the work. We did homework on the plane but really didn't do too much at Disney. Jill did okay getting back into the swing of things. She did miss a lot but we worked with her teachers to get her caught up. It took about 2 weeks. Would we do it again? I don't know, but it worked this time. Grace didn't miss a beat and returned to kindergarten with no problems.

Hotel

I called the MCK 800 number with our dates ready to make our reservations. The CM was very nice, but not very helpful about MCK discounts. I asked about rates for the Polynesian and was quoted $280/nite, MCK discounts not available. Then I asked about Wilderness Lodge and quoted $239/nite, still no MCK discounts available, so I took that price and made the reservation for 5 nights. Then I tried Dixie Landings for the first five nights, still no MCK discounts available. I don't know if she didn't know where to look for MCK discounts or if there were really none available for any of the resorts I was asking about but I kept asking. I think the CM got tired of me asking about MCK discounts because all of a sudden she said let me try something here. Lo and behold, MCK discounts....5 nights at Dixie Landings (standard view) for $550 and the next 5 nights at Wilderness Lodge (woods view) changed to $906, including taxes. I remember the CM mentioning that trip insurance was included in the price. I declined the insurance, we have never purchased it before and I really didn't think we would be necessary with room only reservations. When we received our confirmation I was really surprised to see that there was a trip insurance charge and a round of miniature golf included in the reservation. I called back and asked for the trip insurance charge to be removed from both reservations. The CM I talked to gladly took it off and double checked the existing reservations. The first reservation was for Sept 14 - 18 and the next for the 19 - 24. She asked me if we were staying anywhere for the night in between. In between what?, I asked. Well, in between the nights at Dixie Landings and Wilderness Lodge. No, they are supposed to be continuous. She states that they are not continuous but there is a night in between with no reservation. What? How can that be? The CM said no problem and corrected the reservations with the rates intact. Boy, am I really glad that I called back to check on the insurance charge. I would never have picked up on that error!! As it stands now, I am pretty happy with these reservations.

After a few days, we decided to extend the Wilderness Lodge reservation to include the last Sunday night to give us an extra full day. Easier said than done. The first time I called CRO the extra night wasn't available with the MCK discount. The next day I called the extra night wasn't available at all. The third time I called still nothing available. I hung up and called the 800 number again, this time trying a different tactic. I was able to secure MCK discounts for September 18 - 25 for a Wilderness Lodge standard view room I actually wanted to get the standard room rate for the Wilderness Lodge in place of woods view. As long as we have a balcony we really don't care what the view is. Persistence pays off. I was able to get 7 nights standard for $906 including tax. Then I asked the CM to please move the deposit from the old reservation to the new one with the extra night. She said that I couldn't do that because I had made the reservation with 2 different companies. I explained that I always call the same 800 number and thought that I was talking to Walt Disney Travel Co. Little did I know that I was talking to CRO. She stated that when there is an overflow the calls get picked up by CRO and vice versa. She transferred me to Gertrude who knows both systems. Gertrude was able to work her magic and straighten the whole thing out. She was able to cancel the Disney Travel reservation, make the CRO reservation and move the deposit over accordingly. She told me to call CRO in 48 hours to make sure the deposit was applied properly, which it was. She also explained to me the difference in procedures. Walt Disney Travel is a wholesaler, the cancellation and payment policies are different than at CRO. At CRO, the deposit is one night's rate, at Disney Travel Co. it was a straight $200. Also, with CRO you can pay the remaining room balance at check in/out. At Disney Travel you have to pay in full about 5 weeks prior to arrival. During one of my calls I asked what happens if you don't pay the full balance before you arrive, and the CM told me nothing happens you just pay the remainder at check in. If possible I recommend talking with CRO. When the annual passport rates came out for September I called back and was able to get a discounted rate at Dixie Landings. The new rate was $440 for 4 nights including tax. I was not able to get an Annual Pass rate at Wilderness Lodge for the dates I wanted.

Tickets

We initially decided to go with 7 day Park Hopper Plus tickets for the girls rather than the Unlimited Magic Pass. Richard and I will get an Annual Pass, especially since we were able to benefit from Annual Passholder discounts. The tickets were ordered from home so that we will have them in hand when we get to the parks. We have a few days left on old passes if we decide to spend another day in the parks. This time around we have planned more Disney park days and built in more flexibility. We later decided to upgrade the girls hoppers to annual passes to give us even more flexibility. We didn't get the premium passes since we would probably spend only one day at a water park. We are planning only 2 (maybe 3) non Disney days. We will not go to Sea World or the Kennedy Space Center this time, just Universal and Islands of Adventure. Richard is a big time movie fan and loves Universal Studios. I purchased 3 day Universal Escape passes (3 adult and 1 child) that I saw mentioned on RADP by calling 800-447-0665. They were 10% off the regular price for a total of $360 for 4 passes. The tickets came with some coupons for 10% off certain purchases and restaurants that we never used.

Airfare

We got great airfare. When I booked the hotels in January the flights from Boston to Orlando were hovering around $230 round trip. I looked at the prices on the internet daily. We have never paid more than $200 round trip and I was sure something would come along. We live about the same distance from Boston and Providence so Providence is an option for us. I was able to get Southwest tickets for $140 round trip. These are direct flights from Providence to Orlando. The parking is cheaper and closer to the terminal at the Providence airport rather than Logan. It also saves us the hassle of driving into Boston during rush hour. I would definitely recommend the TF Green Airport to any one who lives south west of Boston. We drove to the airport during morning rush hour and found the ride to be pleasant and traffic free. The airport itself is very easy to navigate and the Southwest Terminal was quite clean compared to Logan.

Car Rental

Initially we thought about taking a town car to and from the airport and renting a car for a few days to go to Universal/IOA. We don't use the rental car too much but it's nice to have that option, especially since we planned a couple of nights out without the kids. I checked the National and Dollar web sites frequently. If we rented a midsize car for a week from National at the MCK Car Care Center and used the town car it would come out to about the same as renting a full size car from Dollar for the entire trip. I rented a intermediate car from Dollar with the hope of using the upgrade to next size coupon available on their website (not a guaranteed upgrade...usable only if cars are available). The estimated rental for 14 days is $320 including tax and other charges. I thought this was the cheapest we were going to get for a full size car that we weren't actually guaranteed to get. About 4 weeks before the trip I was in RADP and saw a thread on budget options. One place it noted to look for bargains was the boards on Pete Werner's site. I had never looked here before but I love a good bargain. I saw a thread about reduced rates at National for September. I went to the National site and was able to snag a full size car for less than $270 including taxes and other fees. It pays to keep looking even if you think you have a good deal. I also joined the National Emerald Club for free from another tip on the same board. As usual, we relied heavily on Disney transportation, but it was nice to have the car for the trips to Universal/IOA and for our nights out at Pleasure Island.

Touring

A month or so before we left I made a calendar spreadsheet on Excel and sat with Richard to determine a rough schedule. We decided which park to be in on which days, taking into account early entry days, e-ticket night and the evening activities that we had planned. We only scheduled a few priority seatings and I made Hoop Dee Doo Revue reservations right after our hotel was set. The schedule worked great for us. We pretty much stuck to the schedule and it relieved most of the stress about which parks to visit when. It was very flexible in that we could have changed it if we wanted. The last Saturday we were there we left as a kid's pick park day and they didn't choose where to go until the night before. I will definitely do this again.

The Trip ...... Been There, Done That, Going Back!!

Day 1, Thursday, September 14 ...... Travel Day, Epcot

We left the house on time and arrived at the airport with time to spare. Richard dropped us at the curb along with the luggage and went to park the car in the long term parking area. ($44/wk, $11 each additional day) I checked the luggage at the curb and he arrived at the terminal shortly thereafter. Southwest does not have assigned seating. They give out boarding passes on a first come first served basis an hour before the flight departure time. We were second in line and among the first passengers to board unlike our return flight. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Orlando on time. We did not have to wait for our luggage. It was coming around on the carousel as we approached. From there we went to the National counter and had a 5 minute wait to check in, then out to pick the car. Since Richard would be doing most of the driving he got to choose the car. He chose an Oldsmobile Intrigue, there was not really much of a selection at that time.. It was white, but we had no trouble finding it because the last two digits of the license plate were 3D and we looked for that clue everywhere we went. The car was comfortable. It had a very roomy trunk and all the luggage (four suitcases and 3 backpacks) fit nicely, even when we had two extra duffel bags on our way back to the airport.

We arrived at Dixie Landings around 2:30pm and I had no wait checking in. Richard and the girls waited in the car with the luggage. CM Steven did joke with me that he couldn't find me in the computer, but after he saw the look on my face he quickly "found" our reservation. I did not fax a room request before our arrival but I did request Alligator Bayou when I made our reservations and was initially disappointed to get a room in Magnolia Terrace. We were assigned a corner room (8766) on the second floor. It looked out over a lovely rose garden on the river side of the building. We were a short 5 minute walk to the bridge connecting to Ol' Man Island and then Colonel's Cotton Mill. We were also a 5 minute walk to the East Depot bus stop. I really liked this location and didn't mind not being in the Bayou Section. The one mistake we made was that we dragged the luggage to the room ourselves. We didn't even think to take the luggage out of the car at check in. It was a pain in the neck to bring it to our room since we were on an inside corner and had to navigate the many corners from the car to our building. We had to make it in two trips and our room was a hike from the parking area. The girls and I went out to explore our surroundings and look for the pressed penny machines while Richard stayed in the room and relaxed. After our little expedition, we all went for a quick swim and then we were off to Epcot. It was wonderful being on Disney property and we were all beaming. The bus arrived very quickly. Our timing on this trip was excellent, with only 2 exceptions during the entire trip the bus transportation worked wonderfully for us. .

Upon arrival to Epcot we were fascinated with Spaceship Earth. The girls kept talking about how awesome it looked. We went to Guest Relations to trade in our vouchers for passes and to upgrade the girl's hoppers to annual passes. As we got closer, we got a better look and the girls especially loved the stars on Spaceship Earth, with Mickey's hand and the red 2000 glimmering. They took lots of pictures with their own cameras. Before the trip I bought them each two disposable cameras to use as they wished. We ended up buying them a third camera each on our trip to Walmart. They loved being able to take their own pictures. Upon entering Epcot we noticed that the place is practically empty. Our first stop was a ride on Spaceship Earth since it was a walk on. By this time we were all starving so we stopped at the Electric Umbrella for dinner ($30). We couldn't believe how deserted everything was. We were there with only 2 other parties and it was right around 5:00 pm. Where were all the people? We went to take a look at Test Track, as we were all anxious to ride this since it wasn't running during our last visit. We were able to walk right on. It was great! We all loved it except Grace who gave it a "2 eyes closed", a rating system she made up and we used for the rest of the trip. If she didn't like a ride, she would simply close her eyes and wait until it was over, hence the two eyes closed. If she felt a little braver she would open one eye. If she liked the ride it was a 2 eyes open. She was such a trooper. She actually only disliked the very fast part of Test Track which was the part that the rest of us loved.

From there we walked over to Mexico and rode El Rio del Tempo. This is a lovely attraction. We wanted to be sure to visit this country so we did it early in the trip. Jillian is taking Spanish this term and her Spanish assignment was to visit all the Spanish speaking exhibits and report back to class. She also picked up any brochures she could find in Spanish, so she was busy collecting those as well. After our ride through Mexico Richard and I decided to cool down with Margaritas from the stand next to the Cantina de San Angel. Boy, are they good. Richard had Strawberry and I tried the Fiesta (layer of all flavors), all I can say is YUM! People were starting to line up for the Tapestry of Nations parade so we decided to leave World Showcase. The girls were also thirsty, so off to Ice Cool Station. This was also a first for us. They both tried most of the flavors and only liked one or two. They especially loved walking through the snowy room and asked to visit that room several times during our trip. After our long day we decided to head back to Dixie Landings. We stopped on the way out to look at the picture we had taken upon entering Epcot and decided to purchase it. This is the only Disney picture we bought during the entire trip. We made the long walk back to the bus. We got off at the Main depot, picked up a few things at the General store, got 2 margaritas to go from the pool bar and lights out by 10:00 pm.

Day 2, Friday, September 15 Magic Kingdom, MGM

This day we were using the day after early entry strategy and boy did it work. The Magic Kingdom was relatively empty and with the exception of a few we were able to walk on all of the attractions. We were up by 7:30 and out by 8:30, off to a good start. The bus came within 5 minutes and we were on our way to my favorite park. We were strolling down Main Street just before 9:00. I have been dreaming about this day for nine months and I could not stop smiling. The castle looked wonderful and we especially loved the lights that made it change into different colors. Main Street looked great and we took our time strolling toward the castle taking in all the activity going on around us.

We walked directly back to Splash Mountain and walked right on. Big Thunder Mountain was next and it was also a walk on. When we were done it was time for our 9:50 priority seating at Cinderella's Royal Table. We signed in about 9:45 and were seated around 10:00. I loved waiting in that big waiting area. It was very Gothic looking and we were able to sit on the blue velvet chair while we waited for our name to be called. I love the way they ring that gong/bell before they call out a name to be seated. I was disappointed to see that The Fairy Godmother was not there greeting guests. The breakfast ($60) was very good and we would do it again. Our service was excellent and the characters on hand were Aurora, Prince Charming, Aladdin, Cinderella, and Belle. They were all delightful, especially Prince Charming, who spent some time talking with the girls. After our lovely breakfast, we headed to Fantasyland where we walked on to Peter Pan and It's a Small World. The girls absolutely love this ride, they were singing along and taking everything in. Then we picked up our first fastpasses for the Pooh ride, which had a 30 minute standby time. We headed over to Toontown to check out the Barnstormer. There was no wait and the girls were able to ride it 3 times in a row without getting off! They could have ridden more but decided that three times was enough. I rode with them once but decided to sit out the other rides. The place was practically empty and it was about 11:30. We then took a walk through Minnie's House, which was very cute. There was actually a crowd of people in here so it was a little bit hot and congested. We decided to look for characters and headed to the Hall of Fame for pictures with Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. My suggestion is to hang back and be the last family leaving the area. The characters can get very playful when the area is almost empty. Jillian is a big time Eeyore fan and he was very impressed with her Eeyore accessories. We were able to get some great pictures of the girls and their favorite characters! We used our fast passes to ride Pooh for the first time and we all loved it! What a cute attraction. Next, we were off to the Teacups for a spin. The girls rode the teacups while Richard and I sat in the shade and waited. When they got off, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and the Mad Hatter were out so we stopped for autographs and pictures. I hope that my girls never outgrow their fondness for the characters. It was such a delight to see how excited they were every time we came upon a character. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Next stop was Buzz, where we walked on, then got fastpasses to do it again. We all LOVED this ride. It is definitely a family favorite. Then a familiar ride on the TTA, then over to Carousel of Progress. My girls know "It's a great big beautiful tomorrow" from listening to Disney tapes from birth so they both loved this attraction. Again, they were both singing along with the music as the place rotated. Grace wanted to do it again but sadly we never got around to it. This is one of my personal favorites because it reminds me of the way Disney World used to be before all the high tech stuff came along. Next we used our fastpass to battle Zurg again. Our scores were slightly better than the first time but we are still only in the 40k range. How do you people get such high scores?

We have covered a lot of territory on our first full day so we head to Main Street for a not so quick stop at the Main Street Confectionery for some goodies (fudge and chocolate covered pretzels) to take back to our room. Wherever we go on vacation, my girls always know where to look for a candy store! We notice that the front half of the Emporium is closed but that it is open later in the week. Back to Dixie for a quick swim, hot dogs and drinks by the pool. The love bugs were out in full force but luckily they did not bother us too much. The girls love this pool, especially the water slide. Grace loves that the pool has a shallow end and she can actually touch the bottom and stand with her head and shoulders above the water. They both love to swim and their favorite part of the vacation was swimming everyday. We had a horrible summer weatherwise and were not able to swim in our pool everyday.

Around five we boarded the bus to MGM Studios. This is Richard's favorite park and he is thrilled we are visiting it this early into the trip, usually we don't see it until around day 4 or 5. We walk directly to Tower of Terror to check out the wait. It was posted as 10 minutes but we actually walked right on. Richard and I love this ride. Grace was tall enough and willing to give it a try. Jillian needed a little coaxing but she was game. This ride turns out to be another family favorite. Jill and Grace are a little nervous with the preshow area, but love the drops!!! Richard and I crossed our arms over Grace with our hands turned up under the railing so that she didn't have that much room to fly up. Grace initially gave it a "two eyes closed" and she kept yelling "hold me down Mom" when she lifted off the seat. She is such a peanut so there was a lot of space between her lap and the bar. She was such a good sport and went on just about everything. Jill wasn't too sure about going on at first. This was the first of the big rides for her and she did fine. She actually liked it and wanted to do it again. We got fastpass for Rock'n'Roller coaster and watched streetmosphere performer Dellman the Bellman while we were waiting. He was so funny. There was a woman talking on a cell phone walking done the street and he was following her screaming "Quiet, she's on the phone" pointing to her the whole time. He was so loud, she kept turning around to look at him, but kept right on talking. Quite a crowd was gathering around him watching this occur. Then he did a balancing/juggling act that we all enjoyed. When he was done the girls asked him to sign their autograph books and he wrote something funny and different in each one. Then back to turn in our fastpasses for our first ride with Aerosmith. Grace was too short to ride (and very disappointed) so Richard and Jill rode first while Grace and I got a coke and strolled around the area, then Jill and I rode while Richard waited with Grace. This ride is awesome. I am a big Aerosmith fan and loved the music combined with the ride. It was very dark and fast so I was sure to tell Grace that she would not have enjoyed it even if she was tall enough. After I rode Rock n Roller coaster I bent down to tie Grace's sneaker and Jill then notices that my shirt is on inside out. I have been walking around MGM with my shirt inside out and no one in my family notices! Now I know that the young people like to wear there clothes inside out but I'm kind of a conservative dresser! People in the park must have seen my tag hanging out in the back. I was laughing so hard that I'm sure people noticed me when I went into a ladies room to change it around. At this point we decide we have had enough park for one day. We see all the people streaming in to watch Fantasmic and are glad that we decide to skip it for tonight. We are all hot and tired, so we head back to Dixie for a relatively early night.

Day 3, Saturday September 16th, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom-Main St Electrical Parade, Fireworks

Today we had the longest wait for the Animal Kingdom bus. We got up and out nice and early but we didn't arrive at Animal Kingdom until 8:30. Many other busses went by before an Animal Kingdom bus showed up. Based on suggestions from several cast members we went directly to Kilimanjaro Safari and waited about 10 minutes to board. We saw lots of animals and the girls loved taking pictures. We were able to see a crocodile, ostrich, some giraffes, a baby elephant, cheetah, a few lions, a couple of warthogs and plenty of gazelles. The girls didn't even pay attention to the story line of the attraction, they were happy looking at the animals. We were disappointed however, because our video camera kept coming up with a condensation message and would not allow us to tape anything. We experienced this problem throughout the whole trip because the humidity levels were so high. Finally toward the end of the trip we put the camera out on the balcony when we got up in the morning so that it could adjust to the weather before we hit the parks. This trick worked and we were sorry that we didn't think of it sooner. By now, we were hungry so we stopped at the Tusker House for breakfast ($23). Man, that was really good coffee! The girls found some pressed penny machines and our collection grows.

Next it was It's Tough to be a Bug! There was no wait so we walked slowly through the queue, yelling out animals as we saw them. That tree is marvelous! We all loved it and took many pictures. Next was Tarzan Rocks. We play the Tarzan CD at home all the time and are familiar with the music so we really liked this show. It is basically a rock concert, with high energy performers doing rope stunts and rollerblading to the music. Then Tarzan, Jane and Terk also make an appearance. We all loved this show, especially Grace and Jillian. Next we walked back to Dinosaur and had about a 10 minute wait. Grace gave it a "2 eyes closed" and Jill covered her face a few times but all in all it wasn't too bad. A short stop at the Boneyard play area for the kids, then off to get wet at Kali River Rapids. We walked right on and rode 2x's in a row without getting off and probably would have ridden again if it didn't start to rain. I know we were already wet but I just don't like being rained on! This ride is great but short! The girls love this kind of ride and like to get wet so they were pretty happy. It was hot and humid so the ride down the rapids cooled us off! We were all drenched and didn't want to have lunch in soaking wet clothes so we stopped to buy new T-shirts on the way to the Rainforest Café. I had been accumulating freeride points (www.freeride.com) since April and we had quite a few gift certificates to use. I also joined the Rainforest Safari Club ($10) over the summer and it does work. Just show your card upon arrival and you are put directly into the waiting to be seated line. We were seated in about 5 minutes. The girls love this place because it is so unusual. We all had a lovely lunch, our server was great and the food arrived promptly. Richard and I both had an awesome drink called the Margarilla, which is basically a frozen margarita with an orange kick. It was delicious! The bill came to $80 and I was glad we had the gift certificates to use.

We head back to the hotel for a swim and rest because tonight is going to be a late night at the Magic Kingdom. While Richard and the girls nap, I get some laundry done and even though it is raining I sit out by the quiet pool with a book. Those pesky lovebugs are everywhere and want to share my umbrella with me. It is raining steadily now and I hope that it lets up for the fireworks. When I get back to the room, everyone is out like a light so I let them sleep a little longer. I get them up and we head out the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fireworks. It is about 6:30 and the Magic Kingdom is crowded. Since the parade and fireworks are only scheduled on Saturdays in September everyone else has the same idea. We immediately decide to find spots for the parade. We love to watch it from Main Street but it was just too crowded to find any good viewing spots, the curb was already lined with people. We head to Liberty Square and found an empty ledge in front of the entrance to Hall of Presidents. I left Richard and the girls to hold our spots and ran down to Peco Bill's to get some food for dinner. Initially we thought we would have time to sit down to eat before the parade but the crowds took us by surprise. Along the way I saw plenty of space along the lines they have set up for the parade. I debated about going back to tell them there were spaces along the rope but decided against it. When I got back our area is now packed with people and they were trying to move in on our spots! We stood our ground, ate our hot dogs and had a short wait until the parade began. Luckily, it had stopped raining but it was still very wet and humid. We let our girls stand on the brick ledge and they could see fine. We stood beside them and could see over the people in front of us. I can't believe that people were actually standing inside the fenced off areas in the gardens and hanging onto the trees to watch the parade. The girls loved the parade, especially seeing the characters. They loved the lighted costumes the best. Grace saw Prince Charming waving and was sure he remembered her from breakfast the other morning. Priceless! After the parade we tried to make it out to Main Street to see Tinkerbell fly and the fireworks. The place was absolutely mobbed. We saw Tinkerbell fly from behind the castle and never made it to Main Street. We saw the fireworks from the same spot and we got caught in the main rush out of the park. We wanted to stop at the Candy Store and had the hardest time just getting over to the other side of Main Street. We split into parties of 2 and made our way across the wall to wall people finally meeting up at our favorite store. We bought some more stuff to take back to the hotel.

Little did we know that things would be much worse after we left the park. The lines for the busses were horrible. The area was so packed with people we couldn't even get to the Dixie Landings bus stop. Richard finally got through and we followed. We had to wait in line about 40 minutes until we were finally able to get on a standing room only bus. I couldn't believe that they didn't have busses lined up waiting to take people back to the resorts. It seems to me that since all of the other parks had already closed more busses should have been sent to the Magic Kingdom. Anyhow, back to Dixie Landings. We watch the news for a while and see that the weather for tomorrow does not look good.

Day 4, Sunday September 17th, Universal Studios and Hurricane Gordon, Pleasure Island

Richard woke up early and watched the weather forecast. It did not look promising, but debated briefly about staying at the hotel all day or just going out and see what happens. We thought that we would stick to our original plan and head to Universal. This was a good idea because most of the stuff we wanted to do was inside. Being from the Northeast we are familiar with hurricanes and were not very alarmed when they said it would be wet all day, but not severely windy. Well, we put on our ponchos and out we went. It turned out to be a great decision.

We got to Universal around 8:30 and it was virtually empty and stayed that way most of the day. We rented a stroller for Grace and she loved being carted around all day. We went directly to Men in Black and rode it 3 times but had to exit and reenter each time. We were the only ones on the ride for the first two go arounds. This ride is awesome. I loved that movie and the ride is great, sort of a more sophisticated Buzz ride. After our battle with aliens, we went on Back to the Future, ET and 3D Terminator, all walk-ons. The CM at ET was hysterical, at the preshow area he asked that all FOUR of us move all the way in to make way for the other people...oh never mind, just come in. We were the only 4 people in the preshow. It was great because the girls actually got to hear their names clearly at the end because no one else was on the ride. Then we stopped for a quick breakfast at the Boulangerie. Then on to Hanna Barbera, Twister, Kongfrontation, again all walk-ons. It was wonderful to have the park to ourselves. We were wondering if this is what celebrities feel like. We actually felt quite odd being the only ones on rides. At a few attractions, the attendants were actually deciding who would be the one to go home since the park attendance was so low. We were already wet from the rain so we decided to go on Jaws. In all the years we have been visiting Universal we have never been able to see this attraction, it has always been down. Richard was on the side that got soaked but luckily he had his poncho on since it was still raining. We had a wonderful boat driver and she did a really good job. Since we were at the back of the park we decide to head over to Men In Black for a last ride, again we walked right in. The girls wanted to check out the kid's coaster so we headed over to the Looney Tune area. They rode it three times in a row until it started to pour again.

By now it is about 1:15 and we decide to head to our last attraction, the Nickelodeon Studio Tour. On our way over we see many people now starting to enter the park. The weather has not turned out nearly as bad as the forecast. The weather was starting to clear a little and you could see blue sky once in a while. Our girls watch Nick so this was a must for them. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for the next tour to start which was wonderful timing. It was super because there were only about 1/3 as many people as usual and both girls were able to participate in the games, which is the highlight of the tour. We did the tour in 97 and somehow, Jillian was chosen to be slimed at the end of the show. Slimed is where the chosen kid sits in a small plastic pool and they pour green slime over that kids head. Then that kid has about 5 minutes to take a shower to get the slime off them and out of their hair! Now I am not a killjoy, this was awesome once but I thought she should make sure that someone else got a chance. I asked her please not to volunteer this time and she obliged. It actually turned out nice because they chose a kid from a special wish program who everyone cheered madly for. She did volunteer to play the kids games and she also volunteered me. Yup, that's right. I got to wear a lovely costume that made me one half of the cat/dog combination from the Cat/dog program. I don't even know if I was the cat or dog end. The kids on Jill's team had to throw hoops over my head. We did pretty good but ended up losing by only one hoop. The girls thought I looked wonderfully ridiculous and made sure that Richard took my picture! It was really nice to be part of a small group for this because all the kids in the audience got a chance to play the games. We bought Nickelodeon t-shirts for the girls and then back to Dixie Landings for lunch at the food court ($29).

Richard decided to have a nap and the girls and I went to find Wal-mart to buy a stroller. Grace was getting tired trying to keep up with all the walking. We rented a stroller at Universal and at MGM. She actually needed the stroller for the walk to and from the bus stops in addition to the parks so buying one was the solution. I got directions to Wal-mart before we left Boston (thanks! Sheri) and found it with no problems. Man was this place packed. I mean wall to wall people packed. We found an inexpensive Cosco brand umbrella stroller for $11 (less than 2 days of rentals). The stroller worked great for us. Grace fit perfectly and it folded up quite easily for the bus rides. Jill voluntarily did a great job at pushing the stroller around the parks! I also bought the girls some more FUJI disposable cameras for $3.96 each. Can't beat that price!

We head back to Dixie Landings to get ready for our adult night out. The girls are going to the Neverland Club ($80) at the Polynesian and we are headed to Pleasure Island. We drove over to the Polynesian and got the girls settled into the Neverland Club. There are several play areas and a big screen TV area with tiered steps where the children can sit or lie down and watch a movie. My girls loved this club. They did lots of crafts, watched a movie, played arcade games and colored. They also had dinner and a snack there. They got to choose from a selection of kid friendly items. They said they had a lot of fun and asked to go back again. We were given a pager so that they could get in touch with us if need be.

We drove over to Pleasure Island and easily found a space to park the car. We bought our tickets with MCK discount ($34) and entered. It was still early so we walked around a little bit and looked in the shops. We got sandwiches and beer at the Missing Link ($14) and sat outside at a table to eat. Initially we were going to go to the early comedy show, but it was cancelled. We went to the Adventurer's Club and stayed there the entire evening. It was so much fun. I love the way the actors interact with the audience, especially this night when they make fun of the clothes that people wear. They picked on Richard because of his shirt and he loved every minute of it. We stayed for 3 library shows and then had to leave to pick up the girls. They were both awake when we got there at 11:15. Grace was fast asleep by the time we got back to Dixie Landings.

Day 5, Monday September 18, Resort Switch to Wilderness Lodge, MGM Studios

Today was the day we have been waiting for. We were moving to Wilderness Lodge to finish our vacation. Richard didn't want to stay at Dixie Landings at all, but I knew the girls would love it there. Since we were staying for 12 nights, I wanted to try 2 different resorts. Richard and Jillian slept in and I got up when Grace did at 7:30! Why are 5 year olds always the first ones up when you want to sleep late! Grace and I decided to pick up our tickets for tonight's Hoop De Doo Revue and Tuesday's E-ticket night while the others slept. We went to the food court for a quick breakfast for two. Grace was thrilled to have this time alone with me. We had a lovely breakfast talking about our trip the entire time. We refilled our mug with coffee for Richard and purchased some breakfast items and milk for Jill. I forgot to mention that the coffee at the Dixie Landings food court is very good. We later found the coffee at Roaring Forks at Wilderness Lodge to be horrible. We tried it twice and both times it was gross. Grace and I returned to the room and found them both still sleeping. It was about 10:15 and we had to be out by 11:00 so we woke them up.

I packed us up, which was easy because we had lived out of our suitcases these last few days. We placed a call to bell services to have our luggage transferred to Wilderness Lodge and they arrived in less than 10 minutes. We were just leaving when the bellman arrived, so we were able to tip him in person rather than leaving it on top of the luggage, which the person on the phone had suggested. We all piled into the car and drove over to Wilderness Lodge. WOW!! I love this lobby and could sit in it for hours. I can only imagine what it is like in winter. I checked in with no wait and no problems. We were given our room keys but not our room number. We were told to call back around 3:00 for our room assignment. Again, I did not fax in any special requests. We got a great rate for the standard view and anything would be fine. The CM told me the general location of the room and that if we didn't like our room location we could probably be assigned another room but not until tomorrow. We didn't even consider changing our room, we paid for a standard view and that is what we got. I forgot to ask about being flag family and didn't think of it again until later in the trip.

We had planned MGM for today, so we parked the car in the Wilderness Lodge lot and walked to the bus stop. We had a short wait for the bus and I chatted with a lovely woman from New Hampshire who always stays at the Wilderness Lodge. Her husband and daughter were off at a convention and she was planning of going to see Hunchback. We were there in no time.

Our first stop was the 1:15 showing of Indiana Jones. Richard loves this show and we missed it on our last trip. We had great seats down front and could feel the heat from the explosions. The girls and Richard decided to have snow cones (shaved ice) because they saw so many people in the theater eating them, so I went out to find some. Earlier in the week, we bought temporary tattoos of Pooh and friends and I had one on my upper arm. I went out the entrance and stopped to ask the CM where the snow cone cart was (around to the right of the Indiana Jones entrance). He asked me if I knew that I had pooh on my arm. Silly guy! I thanked him and off I went to find the snow cones. On the way back he remembered me (how could he not remember me now that I was balancing 3 blue raspberry shaved ice in the heat) and told me I still had Pooh on my arm. He also said no thanks to the snow cone since his favorite is strawberry. Too funny! The show was great and we had some great audience participation members. Jill and Grace really enjoyed this show.

We then picked up fastpasses for Star Tours. The standby line was posted as 10 minutes but we were anxious to see if Jesse was out at Al's Toy Barn. She was not out but Buzz and Woody were there so we decided to get pictures and autographs of them and continue to be on the lookout for Jessie. She is one of Grace's favorite characters so she is definitely a must see! We saw one green army man but was not able to get his picture because it was time for him to go in. We headed back to use our fastpass for our ride to Endor. Grace thinks we were actually flying and loves this ride. She gives it a "two eyes open". We walked over to the Great Movie Ride and stopped to get autographs from Donald Duck and Pinocchio, who were hanging around out front. The wait was posted as 0 minutes but we waited about 10 minutes. I think they were just waiting for the queue area to fill up because when they let us in through the doors to the awaiting cars, no one was coming out. We got the cowboy side and I'm sorry to say that the actress playing the cowgirl was horrible. Our driver was great but this actress could barely run up the stairs in the Indiana Jones section. Richard and I kind of looked at each other and rolled our eyes. We love this ride so we weren't going to let it bother us but when did they start hiring cowgirls instead of cowboys! I am all for equal opportunity employment but..... bring back the cowboys!! The girls loved the Wizard of Oz room and the grand finale where they show all the movie clips. Richard is a huge movie fan so they were familiar with a lot of the clips.

From there we walked over to Sunset Boulevard to check out Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. Tower of Terror was a walk on so we decided to do that. The wait at Rock n Roller coaster was about 30 minutes and the fastpass time was 60 minutes so we skipped it. We went to get lunch at the food area on Sunset Boulevard. Richard and I got excellent baked potatoes from the cart out front and the girls got a cheeseburger and pizza. It was all very good, especially the baked potatoes with the works. All the extra stuff (butter, salsa, sour cream, bacon bits, cheese sauce) comes in individual containers so you could put as much or little as you wanted on your potato. YUM! The girls decided to finish MGM with an ice cream from the stand nearby. We had to get dishes because it was just too hot to get it on a cone. It would have melted down their arms faster than they could eat it. We saw several children nearby with melting cones!!! We had a leisurely walk out, stopping at a few pressed penny machines on the way. Our collection continues to grow. We have just about filled one of the pressed penny books that you can buy most anywhere at the parks. The girls love choosing the designs and have just as much fun spotting the machines. I came prepared with rolls of quarters and pennies specifically to do this and am glad that this is a highlight of our trip.

While we were out we never called to get our room number. When we entered Wilderness Lodge a bellman greeted us so we asked him about having our luggage sent up but we didn't know the room yet. He was able to check for us and told us to wait while he got our luggage. He gave us a little explanation about Wilderness Lodge, showed us around the awesome lobby and brought us up to room #3116. The room and location were fine and we were eager to get officially unpacked and settled so we never requested another location. We didn't really care about the room location. Our room was on the south side close to the front of the building and faced the Villas. It was on the 3rd floor so we were not high up. We could see the path to the bus stop and the sand pit outside the Cub's Den from our balcony. We sat on the balcony a few times and really enjoyed the solitude that we felt. It was fun to watch the small animals in the woods. I suppose there will be a lot of foot traffic in that area once the Villas are up and running, but it was nice and quiet for us. When I made our reservations I asked for bunk beds, which we got. The girls loved having them and took turns with the top bunk. A light was over the top bunk so we did not find it dark as reported in other trip reports. I will say that our 10 year old could not sit up on the bottom bunk because she was too tall, our 5 year old could sit up just fine. If your kids don't like close spaces I would not recommend the bunks. The room is not as large as I expected but it was larger than the room at Dixie Landings. I loved having the double sinks outside the bathroom in both hotels, it was so convenient for all of us to get at the same time.

I unpacked our stuff so that we could get ready for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. We were living out of our suitcases at Dixie Landings. There was plenty of drawer space here for all of our stuff to fit. We head out to the boat dock, which is on the other side of the hotel, to catch the boat to Fort Wilderness. We are pretty lucky and it is pulling in as we arrive. We have one stop at the Contemporary and then we head directly to Ft. Wilderness. I didn't realize how close this hotel is to the Contemporary, by boat it is only about 5 minutes. This is such a convenient way to travel to Fort Wilderness in total it took about 15 minutes.

We arrived later than we would have liked but still in plenty of time and there is a huge line to check in. Richard checked us in while the girls and I go hunting for pressed pennies at the Trading Post. When we get back we are escorted directly to get our picture taken. When did Disney start doing so much of this? It seems everywhere you go someone is ready to take your picture. We are seated right up front against center stage and the girls are thrilled. I booked the show in February, so I am really glad we got great seats. We all just love the hokiness of this show, especially the kids. Six Bits and his gang did a great job entertaining us. We remember the actor who played Six Bits from our trip in 97 and he was better this time. He ad libbed a little and got the entire cast and audience in hysterics. The food is good, especially the chicken, and there is plenty of it. Our waiter was awesome, he kept coming to the table to check on us. The place was loaded with people from Massachusetts, the cast asks the audience members where they are from and four or five tables said Massachusetts. Jillian remembered this show from our last trip, especially playing the washboard, and specifically requested that we did it when we were planning. We really enjoyed ourselves and are glad that Jillian insisted we did this again. The picture did not come out as well as we would have liked so we did not buy it. We only had a few minutes wait for the return boat trip back to our hotel, it is so nice and relaxing taking that ride back at night.

We watched the Water Pageant from the Wilderness Lodge dock and the girls really enjoyed it. They were guessing what the lights might be and loved that the figures actually had "moving" parts. This is truly something that is simple yet lovely. So many people don't make it a point to see. The music is pure Disney. We then walked slowly back to our room for quiet time and lights out.

Day 6, Tuesday, September 19 Epcot, E ride Night at Magic Kingdom

We set the alarm for 7:30 and we all got up easily in spite of our late night out. Last night the kids and Richard decided that they would like to have breakfast at Artist Pointe with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. They saw an advertisement when they went down to Roaring Forks so we decided to try it. I did not call ahead for priority seating and we just showed up at the restaurant. Luckily we were seated in about 5 minutes. This was a lovely non rushed breakfast. Our server was excellent and she smiled the whole time. A selection of breads (banana, blueberry and apple) was brought to the table with coffee (very good) and orange juice. The girls don't like orange juice so they asked for milk. Then each person was presented with a plate of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage and home fried potatoes if I remember correctly. You could ask for seconds on anything, but we were pretty full with what they gave us. While we were eating the characters came around and we got plenty of pictures. This breakfast was very relaxing because it was not extremely crowded like other character meals we have been too. There was plenty of room around the tables and I didn't feel like we were rushed with the characters. This was a wonderful way to start our day. On several occasions we also saw Eeyore, Tigger and Pooh in the lobby interacting with guests.

Then we were off to tour Epcot. The girls have been dying to ride the monorail so we took the boat to the Magic Kingdom. This is the first time that we took the boat that we realized we were going over the water bridge with the roadway underneath. The girls were fascinated with the cars and trucks going underneath us. We caught the monorail to Epcot. There were a fair amount of people waiting for the monorail but I asked about sitting up front anyway. Well no one had asked so we were told to wait at the bench up front. Yahoo!!! We got a bird's eye view on the longest stretch of the monorail ride. The girls were thrilled, especially when Spaceship Earth came into view. We all love the hand and the 2000 addition. We thanked the driver and off we went.

We were on our way to get fastpass for Test Track and came upon the Jammitors so we stopped to watch. These guys are awesome! We really enjoyed their show and were lucky to happen upon them. Our fastpass time was about 90 minutes away so we head over to Innoventions West to email a postcard that I had heard so much about. We have never really spent any time in here so it was nice to see what it was all about. Then onto Honey I Shrunk the Audience. It was about a five minute wait and we all enjoyed it. The kids really love these 3D movies this trip. I was sure that we had seen it before, but none of us remembered any of it so this was a first. We must have been thinking of something else. Then it was over to Journey into Your Imagination which I know we have never seen before, now or the original. I can only say that we all liked the upside down room and the girls especially liked the black light areas that made their sneakers purple!

Then back to Fast Track to use our fastpass stopping at the coke station to cool off in the mist! Originally Grace did not want to do this again, so she and I were going to sit out, but at the last minute she decided she would go on. This was our longest wait with Fast Pass but we got to see the queue area. The standby line was 90 minutes and it took us about 20 minutes to board with Fastpass, quite different from when we walked on the other day. Grace decided she liked it a little better this time, but feels like she is going to fly out of the seat during the fast part because there is no roof on the car. This time she gave it a "one eye closed". On our last trip we didn't hit the World Showcase at all so we wanted to try and spend a little more time there this trip. We skipped Mexico since we had seen it the other day and headed to Norway to take a ride with the trolls. The girls were not especially thrilled with this but they did like the drop. We skipped the movie, looked through the shops and continued our stroll.

The girls stopped to play the drums near the refreshment post for a while. I am so glad that they have added so many interactive areas for kids. They were thrilled and tried each one! We stopped in the shops in Germany and Jillian was fascinated with the woman painting the Hummel figurines. She has two that were given to her as gifts and was thrilled to see someone actually painting one. She watched for about 15 minutes and we had to pull her away. Then we stopped to watch the trains outside Germany. Another thing my girls could have watched for hours! They loved every bit of detail and kept pointing different things out. We skipped Italy planning to go back another time. Then we went to check out the character area at the American Adventure. The girls spotted the Kidcot area and away they went to do a craft. They made masks and loved every minute of it. They could have spent the afternoon at that table. While they were crafting they saw a very chatty Esmerelda who spent a lot of time talking to the girls and a very nice Snow White. The girls got their pictures and autographs of both princesses and were pretty happy. Then they went back to making their craft. While they were crafting, Richard and I took turns looking in the American Shop. Our family room has a flag theme and we were hoping we could pick up some Americana accessories there. We found a fireplace match holder that we bought and a nicely framed sign that had the Pledge of Allegiance written on it that we planned on buying later. We also bought passports for the kids to get stamped at the various countries, but never really got a chance to do.

We stopped in Japan for Kaki Goris. YUM!! These are the best snow cones ever! The flavors are awesome. Richard and Jill had strawberry, and I had rainbow, which is a little of each flavor. Grace chose a Disney Popsicle Treat from a nearby stand and we sat at the American Gardens Theater to eat our treats quickly so they wouldn't melt. As we were eating our treats, we had the best surprise of the day. The double decker character bus! At 2:45 a red bus filled with characters stops at Japan for pictures and autographs. We had no idea, so it was a wonderful surprise. Party music is playing from the bus and an announcement that the characters will be stopping to greet guests is made. There were about 10 characters but you really only have time to get pictures and autographs with 2 or 3. Goofy came off the bus, grabbed Grace's hand and went to his designated spot with her in tow! It was priceless. Quite a crowd had gathered so the girls got pictures with Goofy, Terk, and a very pink Piglet. Daisy, Donald, Tigger, Chip, Dale, Minnie and Mickey were the others that I remember but I think there were actually more. They stayed for about 15 minutes and then back on the bus and off they went. This was one of the best character greetings we had. The bus arrival was wonderful. The characters were waving and dancing and so were my girls.

We strolled the remaining way around World Showcase only stopping to watch the Living Statue for a while, another first for us. The statue played with Jill for a few minutes, and tried to get Grace to touch her but Grace kept taking her hand away. I don't think Grace quite knew what to make of this statue. Jill was more playful and the statue leaned on her head. We walked all the way to the front of Epcot and caught the bus back to Wilderness Lodge with no wait.

We got changed and went for a quick swim to cool off in the pool. The girls love this part of the day best, but today is only a quick swim because we are getting ready for E night. Yahoo!! It started to pour just after the boat took off for the Magic Kingdom. It is a good thing that I brought our ponchos! We went directly to City Hall to exchange our vouchers for wristbands.

It was about 6:00 and we decided to see if we could eat at Tony's Town Square Restaurant. We put our names in and were called in about 5 minutes. Did I mention I love being here in September! This is such a nice restaurant. The girls were given a copy of the Main Street Gazette Comics, which served as the children's menu that had plenty of kid's activities to keep them busy. The food was really good but it was very expensive spaghetti! Richard and the girls had spaghetti and meatballs, and I got Tony's version of Eggplant Parmesan also with spaghetti. We didn't get dessert because we planned on stopping at the Bakery at the end of the night. Richard and I did get coffee and it was really good! Our server was excellent, she was very child friendly and we had a lovely dinner. She gave the girls stickers and sprinkled shiny Mickey confetti on their placemats after they had finished. Luckily, I had a small zip lock bag with me (from a cheap 50 cent plastic raincoat) so we were able to scoop up the confetti and bring it home with us, which positively thrilled the girls. The bill came to $70 including tip.

It was about 7:00 pm when we battled our way up Main Street against the crowd. We went directly to Buzz Lightyear and walked on three times in a row. Each time we passed the attendant we could hear him explaining to people why they couldn't ride now, they didn't have wristbands and thought the park was open late. We just held up our arms so he could see our wristbands and walked on in. The girls wanted to ride again but we thought we should get moving on to the other rides. Grace and Jill debated all day on whether they would ride Space Mountain. They decided to give it a try and loved it. Believe it or not, Grace gave it a 2 eyes open. She didn't like that she had to sit alone so I sat in back and stretched my arm out so that I could touch her head or shoulder while we were riding and she felt fine with that. We walked on 2 more times and probably would have ridden it again if it weren't for the workout just to get on and off that ride. The girls really wanted to go on the Astro Orbiter so we waited about 10 minutes for that. I went up in the elevator with them but did not ride. They had the biggest smiles on their faces when they got off so it was well worth the wait.

It was now about 8:45 and we thought it was time to head over to Frontierland. Jillian and Richard rode Splash Mountain while Grace and I waited at the play area near the exit. I like this attraction but I hate the drop so once a trip is enough for me. Grace couldn't wait to ride this the first time, but didn't like the drop either so she also sat out. We waited about 25 minutes for Jill and Richard and it was a welcome break from the pace we had been keeping. Then we walked over to Big Thunder Mountain. We rode 2 times and loved it. This ride is so much more awesome in the dark. You could see the castle and its changing colors in the distance. As we were heading through Frontierland we decided to stop at the Haunted Mansion for our last attraction. This attraction also takes on a different character in the evening. It is much eerier to walk up to the Haunted Mansion in the dark! We had just a few minutes wait before we were let in to see the 999 ghostly residents. What a great way to end E-ticket night.

We head out down Main Street, to find that the bakery was closed, so we sacrificed and stopped at the Candy Store instead. The only downside to this night was getting back to our hotel. The boat to Wilderness Lodge didn't run after the official park closing time and the person at the gate told us we could catch a bus. We walked to the bus terminal and we were told there that we had to take the monorail to the TTC and get a bus from there! Luckily we had the stroller for Grace and she didn't have to do all that extra walking. We should have checked out the transportation options a little more carefully but despite the transportation issue it was a magical evening.

Day 7, Wednesday, September 20 - Islands of Adventure

This is a new park for us so we tried to get up early to take advantage of Universal's rendition of early entry. With a multiday pass you can ride several rides before official park opening at specified times. We didn't arrive until 9:00 and the parking lot was much more crowded today than on Sunday. We parked in the Jaws section and started the long walk to the entrance.

We had no plan of attack so we grabbed maps and decided to head for the back of the park to start with the Jurassic Park River Adventure. This is easier said than done. Our first impression of this park is that it is not laid out well at all. We kept going down dead ends to try and find the ride after we finally reached the Jurassic Park area. This place needs more signs. We finally find the ride and walk right on. We had this couple in back of us where the woman was a wreck. Her boyfriend must have told her horrible things about the drop because she was absolutely frantic. My girls had already been on a big drop ride before so they were more nervous about the dinosaurs. They told her not to worry, that the drop would be over before she knew it. Grace gave the ride 2 eyes closed because of the dinosaurs and Jill closed her eyes too!

With Jurassic Park out of the way we then head over to Toon Lagoon to ride Dudley Do Right Falls. Well, could the queue for this ride be any longer! We walked and walked and walked and finally made it to the boarding area and walked right on! We are enjoying this ride until our car stops at what we think is right before the drop. We are stopped for a full 10 minutes with Dudley and Snidely talking back and forth very loudly, and the please stay in your car announcement blaring, all the while I'm getting more and more nervous about the drop. Finally an attendant comes up and tells us to stay in our cars because the ride will start momentarily. Well it doesn't! I have Jillian leaning on me, the place is terribly hot and the noise is starting to get to me. I want out!!! I look at the attendant with the most pitiful look I can muster and she understands. She was told specifically not to let anyone out, but she knew that I could not sit there another minute. Jill and I get out, she goes over to talk to Richard and Grace and they get out, then the couple in the next car get out. So ha, it wasn't just me!!!! As we were waiting for all of us to get together, the head maintenance guy comes up and questions the attendant. She did not get in trouble when she explains the panic attack. He then tells me that if we want to ride again, to walk in through the exit and bypass the lines later. Okay fine, but not me! We all have to walk through a door, to outside the attraction, down a flight of stairs and we are at ground level. Richard and Jill are disappointed, but I am glad to be on the ground.

We then head to Marvel Super Hero Island to try Spiderman. It is now past official opening time and the lines are starting to build up. We have a 15 minute wait but it was worth it. Jill was a little nervous, and since Richard and I had never been on it we didn't know what to tell her. Jill is much better off when she knows what to expect. So the man in front of us overheard, and graciously told her what to expect and not to worry. Well, needless to say we all loved it. It is really taking a ride to the next level. When we went to retrieve our stroller we couldn't find it. There were about 10 strollers in the stroller area and one looked like ours but didn't have our name on it. The attendant helped us look and told us to take the one that looked like ours because another party probably took ours by mistake. We felt really awkward about doing this and hung around for a few more minutes, but we finally did. We looked for our stroller the entire day, but I think many other people had the same idea and bought the Cosco Stroller too. There were tons of brand new strollers throughout the park! Later in the day we tied a pink streamer to our stroller and never had that problem again. The funny thing is, we usually do tie something obvious to our stroller, but we hadn't used one in such a long time it slipped our minds.

Then we were off to Suess Landing to spend some time there. We all rode Cat in the Hat, which was adorable. The girls particularly loved it because they love the book. It was so cute to see this book come to life. Then off to One Fish, Two Fish which only the girls rode. This is very similar to Dumbo and there was no line. They had fun getting wet and following along with the song. Then we all walked on the Suessical, which is a really cool merry go round with Suess characters. It was about 11:30 and since we didn't have any breakfast we decided to break for lunch. The girls wanted to try Circus McGurkus Café Stoo-pendous so we stopped in there. The girls and Richard had chicken and mashed potatoes and I had a chicken Caesar salad. The food was very good here! The kid's meals come with a drink in a plastic travel cup and the girls were delighted that they got to choose apple juice from a bottle instead of soda. This place is really cute and I'm sure the show is wonderful with a crowd of people but the place was empty except for us and two other families. A Ringmaster comes out to sing and interact with the children, but audience participation is hard when there is virtually no audience. We stayed for most of the show because it would have been very obvious when we left. The girls did enjoy the show and wanted to stay for the whole thing, but Richard and I have had enough.

We looked around Suess Landing a little while and then backtracked to Toon Lagoon We all went on Popeye's Barges and got soaked. Since they were already wet, Jill and Richard decided to try Dudley Do Right again. The attendant remembered us from earlier and they got to walk in through the exit. Grace and I waited nearby and watched the people coming down the flume. It started to rain a little while they were gone so we stood under the awning of a nearby cart. They were much wetter when they got off and they both loved it! The girls really wanted to ride the Pteranodon Flyers so back to Jurassic Park we go. The wait was posted at 45 minutes and they really wanted to do this so they were willing to wait. It is a ride for children under 56 inches so Grace got to choose who would ride with her and of course it was Jill. Richard couldn't believe that I let them go stand in line by themselves, especially because you can't see the line from anywhere. I left Richard on a bench and found the ride exit so I waited there. No wonder the wait was so long, they only had two Pteranodon's flying on the track. It was about 25 minutes before I could even see them get close to the boarding area. It started to pour just before their turn and they still wanted to go on. When they got off they were soaked but their smiles were huge, so it was worth the wait for that! One thing about this ride, single passengers are not allowed. A little boy was going on alone and the attendant asked me if I wanted to ride with him. Due to the downpour, I said no or else I would have. The attendant had to go for the ride since none of the waiting parents wanted to get wet. Again, this wait actually turned out to be a nice rest period for us.

According to the news, the humidity was about 85% today and we could really feel it when it stopped raining. The girls also wanted to ride the Flying Unicorn, a roller coaster for the younger set, so we walked back to The Lost Continent area and we all rode. We decided we had enough for today so started to head out of the park. On the way we saw that Spiderman was a walk on, so off we went for another adventure with that superhero. Then we came across a character meet and greet, so the girls got pictures with a few superheroes.

We strolled out of the park and headed toward Universal. Richard saw a hat that he wanted at Men In Black the other day and thought he could get it on our way out of the park at one of the other shops. He couldn't find it on Sunday and didn't want to walk all the way back to Men in Black in the rain. So into the park we go, just to get the hat. The standby line was only 20 minutes but none of us wanted to ride. We got the hat, stopped to get frozen lemonade and strolled out of the park. The heat and humidity was really getting to me today and I was not looking forward to the long walk back to the car, thank goodness for those moving sidewalks. Because we were unfamiliar with Islands of Adventure and were trying to hit all the things we wanted to see we did a lot of walking and backtracking. Next time, we will be more familiar with the park and hopefully plan our day better. We did not do any of the major coasters, the lines were not bad but we hadn't intended to do them anyway.

We got back to Wilderness Lodge about 4 and Richard dropped us off at the front so we could see about getting the girls' hair wrapped at the pool. The attendant is full for the day, someone was having her hair wrapped and 2 other's were waiting so we will put it off until tomorrow. The girls have really been looking forward to this and I was sorry to have them wait another day. We head back up to the room to get ready for swimming and were happy to see that our maid had made some lovely creations out of the towels. She made a smiley face toothbrush holder out of a facecloth and a little animal to keep our television clicker in hanging on our headboard. She also set out safari Tigger and safari Pooh on an adventure through the room. She continued to do something different everyday, which the girls looked forward to. Our maid at Dixie Landings did not do anything special with the towels or the stuffed animals.

We all cooled off in the pool for a while, then I left Richard and the girls there and went to get some laundry started. Our room was on the opposite side of the resort so I filled 2 bags with laundry and lugged it to the laundry room. I put the clothes in the washer and headed back to the pool to relax. Later, I went to put the laundry in the dryer and Richard and the girls head up to the room to change. Since we were so tired from today's adventure, we did not feel like going out to dinner. We decided to eat dinner in food court while the clothes are drying. The food here was good, but the food court at Dixie Landings doesn't even compare. The seating area is so small. I can imagine how crowded it must get in here during the busy season. When we finish eating, the clothes were just about dry so we went down to the laundry room to fold clothes together.

As we were walking by the lounge I decided that I would like to have a coffee drink, so Richard took the girls and the laundry up to the room and I went in to get my drink to go. I asked the bartender if she made coffee drinks and if she knew a Nutty Irishmen (coffee, Frangelico and Bailey's), she said no, she didn't know one, but she knew how to make them. I laughed and said that I was married to a Nutty Irishman but I would love a coffee drink right now. You had to be there but it was good natured fun. The bartender's name was Kitt and she made a good coffee drink. I was embarrassed to learn later that my drink is actually listed on the specialty drinks menu in this lounge, so she really did know how to make the drink. She was a good sport Then up to the room to enjoy my drink and catch up on my notes. We all collapse and get to bed relatively early.

Day 8, Thursday, September 21 - Magic Kingdom, RADP Mickey's All-American Backyard BBQ

We tried to get up early for early entry and arrived at the Magic Kingdom about 8:20. We are not morning breakfast people but we are definitely coffee people (could you tell?) so our first stop was the coffee cart outside Tony's. The coffee was horrible, it is the brew one cup at a time kind and it was not Columbian, but caffeine is caffeine and we drank it. The girls got a juice and were offered a bagel but they declined because they knew we would be having breakfast at Chef Mickey's later that morning.

We headed directly to Fantasyland and road Snow White with no wait. We thought our next stop would be Dumbo but the girls vetoed it because of the already long line. We then head over to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise, but I forgot that it was closed. Due to the construction in Adventureland we had to walk out of Adventureland, through Frontierland, back into Adventureland way around behind Peco Bill's to ride Pirates, then we had to backtrack to get back to the Tiki Birds. One thing about Pirates, it was a walk on, but while we were walking the queue there was a little boy who did not want to ride. He kept telling his dad, no I don't want to do it, but the father kept insisting that he would like it. The queue is very dark and I could see why the boy was worried. Well, needless to say this little boy was in our boat and cried the whole time. Why don't some parents listen to their kids? We have always explained the attractions that our girls are nervous about and let them decide if they will try it. What's the big deal? This kid will always remember that he was terrified of this attraction and we will always remember that he cried through the whole thing. Anyhow, rant off.

We went back around to the Tiki Bird's under New Management and waited just a few minutes before it began. We all loved it. I really do like this updated version much better than the old. The girls liked it too! We stopped at the shop outside Pirates for some pressed pennies and Grace found a flower lei that she just had to have. She wore it the whole day and looked adorable.

Then it was time to leave the park for our priority seating at Chef Mickey's. We took the monorail around to the Contemporary, and stopped for pressed pennies on the way to the restaurant. The girls had a blast and we all enjoyed the breakfast selections. We got to enjoy a cup of coffee before any of the characters came by. The girls enjoyed seeing Mickey & Minnie, since they hadn't gotten their autograph yet. After breakfast we rode around to all the monorail hotels and stopped at each for pressed pennies. It was nice to be back at the Polynesian even if only for a short visit (we stayed there the last time). Grace saw another lei that she wanted and Jill found a smaller one made to be a ponytail holder so we stopped to make that purchase. We then visited the Grand Floridian, what a lovely hotel. We had never been inside before and we were quite impressed. Hopefully we will get to stay there someday. Richard got to try out several comfortable lobby chairs while he waited for us to press pennies! We hopped back on the monorail for the Magic Kingdom and then took the boat back to Wilderness Lodge.

The girls and I were on a mission to get their hair wrapped so we went directly to the pool and Richard went up to the room to have a nap. The hair wrap person was not busy so she was able to do Jillian right away. Grace and I went up to change into our bathing suits while Jill was having her hair done. Then it was Grace's turn and Jill went up to change. Jill is a Pop Warner cheerleader so she chose her team colors, red, white and black. Grace chose blue, green and white, her favorite colors. The attendant did an excellent job and we had a nice chat while she was doing Grace's hair. They each paid with their own money. Jill's was $29 and Grace's was $26. Boy, am I glad they just trimmed about three inches off their hair before we left.

The girls and I spent the whole afternoon at the pool. I was able to finish the book I was reading while they played in the water. About 4 o'clock we went back to the room to get ready for our first ever RADP meet at the Mickey's BBQ ($124). It was organized by Joanne (from the UK) and Jennifer Watson (co-author of the Passporter guide) and was originally scheduled to be an Illuminations cruise but they couldn't get the boats. We were supposed to meet everyone outside the pavilion about 6:00 but Grace fell asleep while we were getting ready and she wasn't very willing to wake up, so we were late. We left the room about 6:00 and were lucky enough to get the boat to Fort Wilderness right away. I recognized Jennifer walking towards us and she informed us that everyone from our group was already inside. We apologized for being late and she ushered us inside to the table where everyone else was set up. There were about 20 people there and unfortunately I didn't have the chance to meet everyone. I had a lovely time with the ones I did meet. The BBQ itself was awesome. I would highly recommend it to people traveling with children. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale were all there with their western outfits on. They were introduced and then they spread out on the dance floor for an official meet and greet time. You had to stand in line to see each of the characters, but there was plenty of time to see them all. Then they left and it was time to eat. The food choices were hot dogs, chicken, ribs, potato salad, green salad, baked beans, corn of the cob and bread served buffet style. There was also watermelon, cake and soft drinks available as well as beer and wine. A country western group entertained the audience and an instructor came out to teach any interested people several country line dances. Later a rope trick cowboy came out and did rope tricks. Then Mickey and friends came out again to dance and mingle with the guests. This was a lot of fun. Grace danced with Minnie and Jill danced with Chip, creating wonderful memories. They also had a conga line going with Chip in the lead and Jillian and Grace next in line. My girls were so excited to be interacting with the characters in this way. I took so many pictures. This was by far the best character event we have ever attended. We all had a wonderful time but especially the kids. The place was not sold out but it was about 2/3 full, so I don't know if that added to the magic. We would never have done this had it not been for the RADP meet so I am very grateful to the organizers of this event. It was great to meet Joanne, Jennifer, Dave, and the others. The BBQ ended at 9:00 and the group split up. We walked to the boat dock and watched the Water Pageant from the Fort Wilderness dock with Jennifer, Dave and another couple whose names I can't remember (sorry!). Then we took the last boat back to Wilderness Lodge. We stopped by the lounge for drinks to go (strawberry margarita for Richard and another coffee drink for me). Kitt remembered me from the other night, and I introduced her to my Nutty Irishman! While we were waiting for Kitt to take our drink order, she was making a drink that looked wonderful. I asked her what it was and she said it was a Raspberry Rapids. She had a little extra in the blender so she poured a sample for us to taste. It was very good! We enjoyed our drinks in the room as we were winding down from our wonderful evening.

Day 9, Friday September 22, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island

We got to sleep in today because we were headed to Typhoon Lagoon and it doesn't open until 10. Grace and I went down to guest services to buy our tickets ($101). The CM at guest services suggested that I take towels from our room or from the pool to the water park. She also told us to drop them in the towel bins at the water park and not lug them back to the hotel. Thank you very much!! We brought a couple of beach towels from home, but I grabbed 4 pool towels to take with us also.

We drove to Typhoon Lagoon and got there just as the park opened. We parked pretty close to the entrance and walked right in. We snagged a few chairs and an umbrella near the wave pool and set up home base. Then we were off to try some slides, we all went down the family raft ride and then the girls and I went down the storm slides. There were no lines to speak of so the walk up the stairs was quite a workout. The girls then went down the other raft rides and then it was off to Castaway Creek for a relaxing ride around the park. We stopped to get lunch at Leaning Palms and while we were being waited on the siren rang to indicate the surf waves would be starting. The girls had been waiting quite a while for this so Richard took them to the water while I waited for the food. I gathered the food and took it to the porch in front of the wave pool in two trips. The girls got milkshakes (which actually turned out to be soft serve ice cream) and they were melting all over the sides of the cup down onto the tray! What a mess! . While I was waiting for my family to return to eat their lunch I ran into Joanne who I had met the evening before at the RADP meet and we had a lovely chat. She has an awesome website and it was nice to sit and chat with her about how she keeps up with the demands of the website. My family appeared after a few minutes and ate quickly so that they could get back in the water. We said goodbye to Joanne and off to the wave pool we all went. We spent the rest of the day in the wave pool, which is a lot FUN. The girls loved the surfing waves better than the bobbing waves and they had a blast. The best part of this park is that wave pool. Man those waves can really knock you about. We all had so much fun. Grace wanted to stand by herself next to Richard and he would grab her at the last minute or I would hold her and we would go under the water when the wave hit. I love how you hear the crash and then the scream of delight from all those waiting for the perfect wave. It just makes me smile thinking of it. The weather today was warm and cloudy so it was perfect for a water park day. The sand never got too hot to walk on because of the clouds. It rained a little after lunch but not enough to spoil our day. It was actually very funny because the crash sounded indicating a wave and all of a sudden it started to pour. We were surprised to feel the rain because we hadn't noticed the rain clouds coming in. I ran to the chairs to make sure that everything was under the umbrella and then back into the water I went. It only down poured for a few minutes but it was enough to get the towels soaked. Luckily, we brought the hotel towels too. We had a great day and left the water park around 2pm.

The girls have been itching to go to Downtown Disney so this is as good a time as any. We usually go to Downtown Disney our first night, but this trip we didn't. Richard, Jill and I wanted to pick out new watches and we had to pick up a few other things so we did our one stop shopping in World of Disney. We spent about an hour there, spent a lot of money and then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for another evening out without the kids.

We dropped them off at the Den's Cub about 6:00, made arrangements for them to have dinner there and off we went to Pleasure Island. We valet parked the car this time and it started to rain as we were getting out of the car. We headed over to buy our tickets. This time the CM messed up and only charged us $10 for 2 tickets. We didn't even realize it until later because I gave him a fifty and just jammed the change in my pocket because of the rain. Just as we went through the turn style it started to pour. I mean steady heavy downpour. We ran under the awning at the Jazz Club and stood there a good 20 minutes. The club was hosting a private party so sadly we couldn't even go in to get a drink. It was funny to see all the other people hanging out under awnings and overhangs. We finally decided just to go for it so we ran from awning to awning until we came to a store that sold umbrellas. They had only one left so we bought it ($10), opened it, and ran across the street to purchase another one. Then we walked to Planet Hollywood for dinner. The wait was about 10 minutes which wasn't bad for 7:00. We were a little wet but we had a nice dinner and then headed out for the Adventurer's Club. It was only raining lightly now, so now we have to carry the umbrellas all evening.

We met up with Jennifer and Dave of Passporter fame yet again and had a great evening. They had a Passporter mega meet today, starting at the Magic Kingdom and ending at the Adventurer's Club. This place is so much fun and it was nice to be there with a group. We had a wonderful time. We saw three library shows tonight and some of the actors had different parts than the night we were there earlier in the week. We left around 11:00 so we could retrieve the car and get back to pick up the girls. Jill did not like the Den's Cub as much as the Neverland Club. It was set up as one rectangular room with different areas and she said it felt like a daycare. Grace liked both clubs but would prefer the Neverland Club if we were to do this again. This club only had a regular TV and both girls preferred the big screen at the other club. Cub's Den did have a huge Lincoln log collection and they did like playing with those. The one nice thing is that since we were staying at this hotel it was very convenient. We didn't have to go back outside to get to our room, just in to the lobby and up the elevator with 2 sleepy children.

Day 10, Saturday, September 23, Magic Kingdom, Epcot

Today we had no set park to visit and we all slept in. Our only plan for the day was to see IllumiNations. Initially we thought we would get up early and go to Animal Kingdom, but when 7:00 rolled around no one wanted to get out of bed. Grace and I got up about 8:00 and went to the food court for coffee and a quick breakfast. We went back to the room and got Jill up about 10. Richard decided to sleep in and skip going to a park with us this morning.

We hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and headed to the Magic Kingdom. The place was so hot and crowded it reminded us of our last visit in the summer, quite unlike the emptiness we have seen all week. Main Street was packed and there were long waits posted at all the attractions. We headed to Liberty Square to get a Silhouette of Grace done, and one of Grace and Jill together. We headed to Fantasyland and got fastpass for Pooh. The return time was 2 1/2 hours away! I thought for sure we would be gone by then but got them anyway, just in case. We then decided to stand in line to see Ariel. We have never done this before and don't really know why we picked today. We definitely would not have waited if Richard was with us. The line was so long and wasn't even moving. I waited in line and the girls played in the grotto. We finally got to see Ariel after 30 minutes and she was lovely. Grace swears she is the same exact Ariel that performs in The Little Mermaid at MGM. Anyone know if they do that?

We were heading to Tomorrowland to look for more pressed pennies when we came upon Gipetto and Gideon We stopped for pictures and autographs. We found the pressed penny machine we were looking for and since we were so hot we decided to have lunch at Cosmic Rays. This placed was packed. It took us so long just to find a table. I left the girls at the table and went to get lunch. I am not sure why but you have to stand in different areas to order different types of food. Of course, Grace wanted a chicken sandwich and Jill wanted a cheeseburger. I stood in line to order the cheeseburger and since there was a wait for the order, I ran over to order the chicken sandwich. Then I ran back to pick up the cheeseburger which should have been ready. But no, the girl behind the counter had no idea what she was doing and the orders were getting messed up. People behind me and another party were receiving their food before us. I called her over and told her I was just waiting for a cheeseburger and the woman in front of me was waiting for 2 hot dogs. She looked at us, took our slips and then started filling other people's orders. Excuse me, can I have my food please! I was finally able to get someone else to help us and we both got our food orders. Now I had to run back over to the chicken line to pick that up. She was calling my number as I approached but by the look she gave me I'm sure it wasn't the first time she called it. After about 20 minutes, I finally get the food to the girls who have been waiting so patiently. They said that 2 parties asked them if they were finished eating so that they could have our table. This place was crazy to say the least, people were sitting on the floor eating their lunch. As we were finishing up, people were standing behind us waiting for our table so we let them have it.

Well believe it or not with all the waiting around we did today it was time to use our fastpass. The fastpass wait for Pooh was about 15 minutes versus the posted 90 minute standby time. We rode Pooh and headed out of the park, making a last stop at the Candy Store on the way out. We took a last look at Main Street and the castle as we would not be coming back this trip.

While we were waiting for the boat we had a lovely conversation with two women from Miami who were competing in a triathalon the next morning. It was a swim in the 7 Seas Lagoon, a bike ride on Disney property and a run through the Magic Kingdom and down Main Street. The women were looking forward to competing on Disney property. The triathalon was to benefit Breast Cancer. We got back to our room about 2:00 and Richard was still asleep! The girls and I head down to the pool to cool off while Richard got ready.

We then went to Epcot for dinner and to see Illuminations. Before we left for the Magic Kingdom I called to make Priority Seating at the Rose and Crown for tonight. At first the CM said that they were booked. I then asked about early evening and she said that they had space available at 5:30 and 6:00. I'll take 6:00 thank you very much. We drove to Epcot and found a spot close to the entrance. There was some sort of GM car program going on so part of the parking lot was blocked off for that. We arrived about 5:30 and made our way directly to the United Kingdom for dinner. We checked in about 5:50 and had a 10 minute wait for a table inside, we could have been seated outside immediately. It was still very hot and humid and we wanted air conditioning! Our server was Carrie and she was very efficient. As we were finishing up our meals we could hear the announcement for the Tapestry of Nations parade. The girls went outside to see it. They managed to get curb seats right outside the Rose and Crown. Richard stayed inside to finish his coffee and I went outside to find and keep an eye on the girls. We were awestruck. The girls absolutely loved it and so did I. It blew us away. The music just stays with you. They loved when the puppets reached out to touch them. After the parade, we went back inside to get Richard. He was just finishing up with the bill. We asked Carrie for suggestions on where to view Illuminations and she suggested the beer garden next to the Rose and Crown.

We went to Millennium Village for a quick look around. We played soccer in Brazil, the girls golfed in Scotland, we checked out the Seasons in Sweden and we all played in the interactive area in the back. Then it was time to get spots for the next showing of the parade. We ended right back at United Kingdom so this time we got seats on the other side of the street. Before the Tapestry of Nations Parade started Richard left us at the curb and went to see if he could find a space in the beer garden for IllumiNations. He got a beer and watched the parade from there. This parade was just as good and the girls really got into it, reaching out for the puppets every chance they got. Those performers are so awesome and the costumes are so colorful. The evening performance seemed to touch us even more because of the added element of the lighting and torches flickering in the dark. We went back to meet Richard and he had snagged a great spot. The girls had a front row view from the beer garden and we told them to make sure they stay put or they would lose their spots. Sure enough, people start waltzing in right as it is starting and move in on the girls. They held their ground and were able to see everything. They were totally entranced by the whole thing, especially the fireworks on the water. After it was over we hung around the beer garden for about 20 minutes before heading out. It was great walking out to the car and not worry about the tram. We drove back to the resort in no time. Everyone got ready for bed and I started to pack up some of our stuff for the trip home.

Day 11, Sunday September 25, MGM Studios, Meeting an e-mail friend

Today was our last day and we were all feeling the effects of the weather and the pace we were keeping. We can't believe that our vacation is coming to a close. This will be our last park for this trip. We all slept in and got to MGM about 10:15. The girls wanted to see Indiana Jones again so we went there first. We arrived just before it started so we had seats all the way to the left of the stage, not bad for such a late entrance. I really didn't want to see it again so I told them I would meet them in front of Doug and I went in search of food. I ended up at Starring Rolls bakery and got a couple of croissants, some water and juice. Then I went to Doug Live and sat on the steps to wait for the gang. They were happy with the breakfast selections and they ate just before we went into Doug Live. This was such a cute show. The girls love to watch Doug on TV and wanted to definitely see this show. The actors were excellent and it was a fun show to watch even for adults.

We walked over to The Great Movie Ride and decided to ride since there was no wait. We got the cowgirl side again, but this actress was much better than the one we saw earlier in the week. She had a little more enthusiasm for the role and was more believable. By now it was getting close to our 1:00 PS time at Prime Time so we headed there. We were meeting an email friend and I wanted to be there early since we had never met in person. I have been emailing Sheri since January. I am not especially social on the internet but I read one of her trip reports and just had to email her. She was too much like me!!! We have corresponded ever since and our September trips happened to overlap so we set up a meeting. She had me ask the girls where they would like to meet and they suggested the 50's Prime Time. It was very hot outside so Richard and the girls went inside to wait, and I stayed on the lookout for the Piglet woman (Sheri loves Piglet)!! I knew she was slight from her description so I had my eyes peeled. The minute I saw a Piglet hanging from a black bag I knew it had to be her! We hugged and it was wonderful to finally meet. I checked us in at the desk and we went to find my family. I introduced Sheri to everyone and we chatted about our trip coming to an end. Sheri told us about her terrible travel day and her plans for the week. We were seated in about 20 minutes. Sheri thoughtfully brought presents for all of us. The girls loved their gift boxes with all sorts of neat stuff, especially the Pez. Our server was Kat and we had fun with her. She was not as boisterous as the other waitress on duty in our section, but we enjoyed the subtle interaction. We had to ask for a clean plate sticker for Jillian, she was the only one who cleaned her plate. Grace felt left out and wanted a sticker too, so Kat put a big line through hers to indicate a not so clean plate. Grace didn't care, she was happy she got a sticker. The girls asked Kat to sign their autograph books and she was happy to do so. We had a great lunch with Sheri and it was nice to meet face to face. It was a very comfortable meeting and I'm glad that we did it. The girls had a great time showing Sheri their autograph books and pressed penny collection. Thank you very much Sheri, we had a great time!

After lunch we parted ways and our mission was to get Jessie's autograph. This was our last chance! Richard stopped in the shop outside Indiana Jones and we back to Al's Toy Barn, stopping on the way to get fastpass for Star Tours. Jessie was not out so I went up to the CM with Buzz and Woody and asked if she was scheduled to come out. He told me she was scheduled to come out at 2:45. It was now about 2:40. Boy, did we luck out. We were the third group in line so our wait was minimal. We got some really cute pictures of Jessie with the girls. Jessie is one of Grace's favorites and we have been on the prowl for her all week. Luckily we saw her today, our last day. As we were finishing up with Jessie, we saw the 7 dwarves and some other characters, so we ran down past the Hunchback Theater to get a look. They were just finishing up so we were only able to get Sleepy's autograph, because he was sitting on a ledge trying very hard not to fall asleep. Richard was back at Al's Toy Barn waiting for us so we headed back there.

On the way the girls decided they really wanted to see Hunchback. They went in to find seats because it was going to start very soon and I went to get Richard. He didn't want to see it so we made sure we had our radios and he went off to see if he could catch the Muppets. The girls loved the Hunchback Show. They were equally impressed with the two people signing the show to the right of the stage. Both girls noticed and watched them almost as much as they watched the stage performance. Man, that music just gets to me. I was so glad that the girls wanted to do this. I was planning on skipping it today. I had wanted to see it earlier in the week but never did. During the performance it started to pour, so when it was over people were waiting inside the entrance for the rain to let up. Of course, today we didn't bring our ponchos or umbrellas, and we weren't buying new ones since it was our last day. We called Richard on the radio and as soon as it lightened up he would meet us here. This is the only time the entire week that we used the radios. I thought that we would split up a lot but we did everything together. We waited about 10 minutes and the girls got antsy so we decided to walk over to Richard in the rain. We met Richard in the Muppets store and we ran over to Star Tours. After our voyage, we waited about 10 minutes in the store before deciding to head out again. It was still pouring so we ran to the Backlot Express for a drink and snack to get out of the rain. It really started to pour while we were snacking and the rain was pouring off the roof in sheets for a good 10 minutes during the down pour.

It finally let up a little so we decided to walk over to the other side of the park to see Bear in the Big Blue House. We had promised Grace we would see this earlier in the week and our last chance to see it was around 5:00. They were letting people inside the theater early because of the rain so we went in and grabbed a great spot on the floor near the stage. Oh my Gosh, it was freezing in there and we were all soaking wet! It was so cold we were very uncomfortable. I went out to buy T-shirts to change into. I couldn't find any I liked for the girls so I bought Richard a shirt and I bought the girls Tinkerbell beach towels to wrap themselves up in. They loved this idea and the towels warmed them up. Richard went outside to change his shirt and when he tried to get back in the place was packed. He stood at the back of the theater and watched the show from there. If you have preschoolers who are familiar with the TV show, then they would love this. All the major characters come out to sing and dance and the kids love it. Grace loved it and was thrilled to have her picture taken on Bear's porch. When we left Bear in the Big Blue House, the sun was shining and it was hot and humid once again.

We took a quick stroll through the Animation Store, oohhhinng and aahhhinng as we went. We just missed the Little Mermaid show, so we went to a bench to decide what to do. Richard and the girls wanted to do the Great Movie Ride again, but I didn't so I said I would happily wait at the bench. They walked to the ride but came right back because the line was too long. We decided just to get popcorn and a drink and before we knew it, it was time for the next Little Mermaid Show. We went for our visit under the sea and the girls loved the music and puppetry. It was approaching 7:00 now so we decided to get our seats for Fantasmic along with thousands of other people. Boy, is that walkway long. We parked the stroller in the designated area, followed the crowd and were seated in the Pocohontas section. We only went about 1/3 down from the top and these seats were fine. It was still hot and humid and I am glad we were on the end of the bench rather than the middle. As soon as our section was filled I went to get food at the stand at the top. The choices were limited and I got hot dogs and cokes for everyone ($25). After dinner, the girls got Cotton Candy from a vendor. While we were waiting, we were entertained by Delman the Bellman. We loved him when we saw him perform in the street earlier in our trip and he was great this time. We enjoyed his style of entertainment and it made the wait easier for the kids. Although we couldn't see him very well, they could hear what he was doing and it was a great diversion.

Fantasmic was wonderful! The girls especially loved seeing all the characters at the end of the show. What a great show to see to end a Disney vacation. We left with the mass of people and had to cross over to retrieve our stroller. If we didn't need it for Grace to leave the park I would have just left it there. We slowly exited the park along with everyone else. Our wait for a bus was only 5 minutes and we were amazed at how calm things were compared to leaving the Magic Kingdom after the fireworks last week. We met a family who was also from Boston on the bus and chatted the entire way back to the hotel. As if this day wasn't tiring enough, the girls wanted one last swim in the pool so Richard took them down for their only night time swim adventure. I finished packing us up while they were away. They were actually back much sooner than I expected. Although the pool is open until Midnight, the lifeguards leave at 10:00. Richard said that as soon as the lifeguards left, people in the pool were not following the rules and were very rowdy, so he and the girls left. Too many people were running and diving, and he was afraid that the girls might get hurt. After they were back, I ran down to the gift shop for some last minute things. Richard wanted the little totem pole with Disney Characters so I wanted to be sure to get that for him. I also got the Wilderness Lodge fridge magnet. Then it was back to the room and lights out about 11:30.

Day 12, Monday, September 25, Going Home

We were all slow starters this morning and decide to get something to eat at the airport rather than try and eat here. We were all packed so I called bell services while Richard and the girls went to get the car. Bell services came in about 10 minutes and he helped us get the car packed up. We were ready to leave when Jill realized she left her backpack (with all her homework) sitting on the bench. Luckily she remembered before we pulled away. We gassed up at the Exxon on property and headed to the airport. Richard dropped us at the curb to check the luggage and he went to return the rental car. Richard and the girls went to get food, and I went to the gate to find that we had a one hour delay due to mechanical problems. The time actually went by quickly and gave Jillian a chance to get some more homework done. We arrived early but there was already a line at check in. We were in the air by noon and the flight home was a little bumpy. Leaving Providence was just as easy as getting there and we were home by dinner time.

Summary

We had an awesome trip. We have many magical moments that we will cherish forever....Grace dancing with Minnie at the BBQ, Jillian wearing her Eeyore ears headband all day every day, the 2 eyes open/closed rating system, meeting Sheri, going to an RADP meet, having 2 adult nights out, the girls getting so excited every time they spotted a pressed penny machine or a character, the feeling we got watching Tapestry of Nations, hanging out by the pool at Wilderness Lodge and Dixie Landings....the list goes on and on. We found the magic in everything! We did most everything we set out to do and then some, but were surprised that ten days could go by so quickly. We liked staying at two hotels and would probably do that again, the hotel switch was seamless. This trip we seemed to focus on attractions and characters and less on shows. There were so many new things for us to see. We didn't spend as much time at Epcot as we would have liked but we spent a lot of time at MGM, which we didn't plan. We loved going in September, despite the love bugs. The crowds were so light during the week we were able to do so much, including last minute priority seatings. We didn't mind the early park closing hours because we planned many evening activities. We had a great time at E-ticket night, it was wonderful to enjoy the Magic Kingdom at night. I didn't think we would do so much together. I thought we would split up and see different things. The kids were excellent and really had a good time. They enjoyed their nights at the kid's clubs as much as we enjoyed our evenings out. They each have their own photo albums with pictures they took to help them remember their trip. . Just as I started this report, I will quote a bumper sticker we bought at WDW - BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, GOING BACK!!!!

Donna Morrissey

rdmorrissey@mediaone.net

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