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Sheri Niklewski -- September 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)September 23 - October 1, 2000 "How the Certifiable Disney Nut Managed a Third Trip in One Year" or "How to Take a Solo Trip to Disney World on a Budget"Introduction
Background and Miscellaneous Planning Information I am a Disney fan and, as far as my friends, family, and co-workers are concerned, a Disney freak. I came up with this trip totally with luck and shear Disney planning. All my earlier work has paid off with this trip. Here's the story ("of a lovely lady"): My husband, Rich, and I are going to Walt Disney World October 28 - November 5 with his parents. We'll all meet down there for Rich's parents' convention. They will arrive earlier than the convention and we'll all stay four nights at the Boardwalk in a one-bedroom suite. Rich and I will then move somewhere else (Coronado Springs after much internal debate on my part) and his parents will move offsite for the convention. Rich and I, along with our son, Chris, had a trip planned in late June (which was fantastic - see this site for the full report). So I was currently planning the November trip. One of the obstacles in living outside Omaha, NE is that airline fares really stink. You have to be patient for a deal and be really flexible or you will pay premium dollars. I think the airlines think we are out in the middle of nowhere. Oh, we are. Anyway, previewtravel.com and travelocity.com recently merged and I was trying out the new site to see what airfares were available for November. I got Midwest Express non stop down, non stop on the way back, Saturday to Sunday for just $269. We love Midwest Express and are willing to pay up to an extra $100/ticket for them. The cheapest we've ever flown out of Omaha to Orlando, with a layover (not Midwest Express), has been $229. So we booked the November tickets. I had a ton of Paid Time Off thanks to our company changing their vacation/sick time policy effective 1/1/00. I have to use 31 days or roll it over to the new year or have the company buy it back at 50%. I don't want to roll it over since I get yet another 20 days next year and I'm limited to when I can take time off. I didn't want to be in this same situation next year. And I'm certainly not selling it back at 50%. After the June trip and the November trip, I would still have 10 days PTO (if an emergency happens, I have over 40 days banked in emergency reserve so I don't have to worry about any long term illnesses). I checked to see if the same Midwest Express deal was available for a down time for me - the last week in September. It was. And that cost of $269 was after taxes. Could I make some sort of magic happen here? First thing to happen was to get my boss, Karen, and co-worker, Judi, to let me go. They were fine with the dates until they found out where I wanted to go. Karen has been to Disney World once for a conference and didn't see the "purpose". Judi has never been (she's only cruised twice and that's been the extent of her vacations). They just didn't understand why I wanted to go again. But they really didn't have very much of a choice. I have the time and it's not busy at work so they reluctantly said yes. Pixie Dust started to gather. I convinced Rich that I could do this for as cheap as any Disney trip has ever been done. If I could have driven, I would have saved on airfare and rental car but you just can't do that in the Midwest (or at least on your own). So that added to the price but I was determined to make it under $1000. Rich said that was fine and traded a couple of out-of-town football games for it (one flying to Atlanta and one driving to Kansas City). So, my mission, and I did choose to accept it, was to make this trip as magical as possible as cheaply as possible. I booked the airfare and it's non-refundable so I'm going. No one can stop me now (cue the sounds of mad cackling in the background). Rental Car I've always used Dollar in Orlando and have always been happy with them. I joined their FastLane membership and have had no problems. So I'll stick with them. I honestly haven't seen any cheaper prices with any of the other airport rental agencies and I'm not renting with anyone that offers a shuttle to an offsite location. I booked the standard economy car that we had in June (Plymouth Neon and it's NOT going to be white or I'm giving it back) with manual locks and windows but I'm just one person. I won't have to listen to "come on Mom, get the door open" or "gee dear, you think you could move slower" this trip. Cost is $125.99 for the week and $24.99 for the extra day. That does not include all those extra fees and taxes. Looking at my receipt from June, I figure total cost for the car to be $196.14 but I'll round up to $200. Those fees are extreme! And then they charge you 6% sales tax on top on all the fees. I did call Dollar a month in advance of the trip and requested a non-white car. The agent just laughed and agreed with me that just about every rental car in the state of Florida is white. I had a hard time finding the car in June and since I'm going totally solo, I'm *not* going to do the white car thing this time. Give me green, red, blue, anything but white! And then more pixie dust. I am never satisfied with what I have. I always believe you should check back often because rates change as often as Madonna changes styles. So I went onto Dollar's site the last day in August and checked out what they had. I just about choked when the compact rate came in at $110/week. And the intermediate at $112/week. And a full size at $116/week. The extra day was more expensive but I did the math and it would cost me $1 more for the entire time if I did the full size car. Needless to say, the first reservation got canceled and I booked the full size. I feel a little odd since it'll be just me but I think I'll be driving a lot and I darn well deserve this. I'm not even going to request a non-white car. I'll be happy with what I get. Passes Obviously, I would never have even thought of this trip if I didn't have the Premium Annual Pass. If you want to do a cheap trip and can drive, substitute the cost of passes for my airfare and rental car. And I didn't use this trip as an excuse to use the AP yet again and cut down on the "per day" rate. Honestly, won't ever get mentioned in our house again about how I'm making use of this pass. Honestly. Not again. Really. Motel One of the few areas I could control pricing. Through www.floridakiss.com, I got a $29.99 rate at the Econolodge Maingate Hawaiian. I stayed here in June, 1999 and thought it was fine. My friend, Belinda, stayed here this past June and hated it. But she hated it for reasons that aren't going to affect me. She stayed with four adults and one crib in the room. The rooms aren't huge by any stretch of the imagination but Belinda insisted they just needed a room. She quickly found out what most people find out. You use the room a lot more than you think. Also, they were put way at the back of the motel and had a walk to the pool and an even longer one to the lobby and the bar. For me, one person, the room size is fine. The pool holds no interest to me since I can go to the Disney water parks. And I'll have wine in my room and not have to rely on the bar. And then I went and did a dumb thing. After I booked the Econolodge, I still went on looking for a hotel room (I told you I am never satisfied). Dumb, dumb, dumb. Because you always find something else. I found the Holiday Inn Maingate East for $45/night on www.travelscape.com. It has a refrigerator and microwave. Plus, all of 192 is undergoing construction and both the Econolodge and the Holiday Inn would have the same problems. But, the Holiday Inn sounded nicer and I knew that getting in and out of the place wouldn't be a problem. The Econolodge would be. But, remember the budget. I played around with the numbers (I'm an accountant and can do that quite well). I'm going to get two free meals (see the next section) so I lowered my food allowance and decided that I could do the Holiday Inn for five nights and the Econolodge for 3. My wonderful husband was fine with the Holiday Inn for all eight nights but I'm determined to stay within my budget. Stubborn me. I'll see if this works! Total cost for hotels - including tax at 12% (wow!) - is $353. Food I can control this area quite well. Right now, I'm up to $818 for airfare, car, and motel. For my eight days, I'll have a food budget of about $30/day if I push the $1000 limit. I can live with this. Breakfast will be in the room. Powdered doughnuts and Sprite or water works for me. I can get snacks at Publix so I should only need one meal during the day. I'm perfectly satisfied with egg rolls and fortune cookies at Lotus Blossom Café or a nice huge soft pretzel at Magic Kingdom. A baked potato also works. The pizza window at the Boardwalk is very good. I do want to try and save a couple of extra bucks so I can have a nice dinner at Cape May Buffet on my own (clams, and mussels, and shrimp, oh my) and a couple of other meals with friends (see next section). I handle a couple of Freeride accounts (see www.freeride.com for details) so I have enough points for a few free meals. One will be at Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom. I'm scheduling that for the day I change rooms. Another one will be Red Lobster on 192 (or Olive Garden or Bahama Breeze since the certificates are good for any one of them). Meeting People I'm going a thousand miles from home but I have plans to meet up with several sets of people. The first is a family that I met through the trip reports. Donna saw my June, 2000 pre planning report on this site and then sent me an email. We've corresponded ever since then. Her family (husband and two girls) will be down there the same time as me. They will be wrapping up their vacation as I start mine. I've never met Donna but we're planning to get together for lunch at the 50s Prime Time Café on Sunday, the 24th. I asked Donna's daughters to pick the place. I've always wanted to try Prime Time but I didn't think Rich or Chris would get into the interaction. Now I can enjoy without them but not be on my own. Perfect. Thank you Donna! The second meet will be with another person I met through trip reports. Joe is currently on the College Program and has taken several trips to Disney World and written fabulous trip reports about them. He was also on the College Program a few years ago and wrote a report detailing his entire summer. Since he's going to be there for nine months, he wrote on the newsgroup in June that if anyone was going to be visiting, to let him know and he'd try and meet up. I emailed him for the June trip but we never connected since he had just started work and was still trying to adjust to his schedule. However, he emailed me in July and we arranged to get together at Epcot, his home base. We'll do dinner on Wednesday, the 27th at France, a place neither of us has ever been to. And yet a third meet through trip reports. Lindy has also written several reports and she and I corresponded after my June pre planning report was published. I had written that I really want to see Hunchback of Notre Dame at MGM. But I never did in June. Lindy is the biggest Hunchback fan I've seen. So she emailed me that her and her sister, Della, would be there the same time as me. I asked if they would mind taking me to see Hunchback since they are the experts. She agreed. The fourth meet might be with a former co-worker who will be there to attend a conference. Said conference is somewhere out by the airport and if you thought I was doing this trip on a budget, well, Gregg, is going to be tighter than I am! Gregg will be taking his wife and three kids with him. They will stay offsite, near the airport for the conference. But they will do Disney World three days and Universal two days. I offered to meet up with them during their Disney time. Since Gregg has three kids and will be offsite, I'm leaving it up to him to suggest the place and time. His schedule will be more rigid than mine. As it turned out, I won't be meeting with Gregg. The three days at Disney turned into just one for him which is the day I arrive. I am not planning to meet up with anyone on that first day. I just don't know how tired I'll be so I don't want to plan anything. Oh well, I had fun planning Gregg's trip with him. Other Thoughts This is a totally unexpected trip this year. It came up fast and I took advantage of it. Knowing how to get deals helped out a lot. The Annual Passport helped out. I won't be on property to be able to take advantage of that Disney magic but I will be able to create my own. I probably could go anywhere I want for this vacation. I chose to go somewhere I've already been to once this year (and twice in 1999 and once in 1998) and will go to again just 27 days after I get back this time. Why do I do it? Because I can! In June, I got weepy on the plane touching down, at the fountain show at Epcot, twice at Tapestry of Nations, and when we were packing to come back here. Why not go to a place that inspires all your senses? Sight, taste, touch, smell, and sound? The sights of Main Street and the monorail. The taste of a Dole Whip or a pastry at the Fountain View Bakery. The touch of a characters' hand. The smell of the popcorn and (forgive me) turkey legs (I don't eat them but there's something about the smell that screams Disney). The sound of the fireworks and the music that is piped in everywhere. The things us Disney freaks enjoy most are what people miss when they rush from attraction to attraction. The sound of the Disney train conductor announcing the train is boarding. The bunnies living at Epcot (what other major theme park has "wild" bunnies all throughout?). The big ole anteater at Animal Kingdom. The whimsy of the entire Muppet area outside of the 4D show. That's why I'm going. But I can't get anyone to understand that. Except one person. I totally converted my husband, Rich, with the last trip. He didn't even put up too much of a fuss before we left when I cornered him on this trip. He's Disney transformed. He gets it. But he's so conservative and macho that he's not going to admit it. But, come on, this is a 40 year old man who has a stuffed Skippy next to his computer terminal. And sends me emails during the day saying "Skippy says hi". He also has a figure of Pooh and Roo at home with Roo sleeping contently in Pooh's lap just like the cat does with Rich at home. Trust me, if Rich could get more time off, he'd be along for the ride. In June, I made it a point to choose a "kid of the day". A person (and it wasn't always a kid) who was just enjoying Disney. I'm going to continue that with every trip. It made me open my eyes to a lot more than the attractions and what we were going to do next. I'm adding something this trip. The Sense of the Day. A smell, a taste, a touch, a sound, a sight. Something most people will overlook. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. Better check the kids and get something to drink. Again, I went overboard but it's my trip report, ya know. The Week Before Hurricane Gordon blew through. And then so did Helene. I found out a lot of people really don't understand hurricanes or Florida geography. They kept asking if the airports were going to be closed. So I gave up, made a sign, stuck it outside my office cube. It said "No, the hurricane will not be affecting me". I also reconfirmed all the reservations. The airline is an e-ticket thing and I have never done one of those before. I'm the type of person that has to check the tickets 52 times before I leave. I can't do that! But I can call Midwest Express several times just to make sure I still exist in their eyes. I also made sure Dollar had my reservation in the system. And that I had the reservation number. I will be prepared with my driver's license, my FastLane card, my credit card, and my reservation number. My check in should take about five minutes. No sense in wasting time at the airport when Disney calls, right? I also reconfirmed all the meets. Donna left a week before I did but we're set for lunch. We even gave each other detailed descriptions of each other so we'll be able to find each other. I am now officially the "Piglet Lady". I guess I could be described worse. I will be meeting Lindy and Della outside the Hunchback of Notre Dame theatre before the first showing on Monday. If that show isn't a good one, we have five more to go. This will be a first for me - a day at the parks with nothing planned except to see a show. And it turned out that Joe is off work on the day we planned dinner so he suggested lunch at France instead. Perfect - it's cheaper! So I called and got that time changed with no problems at all. So I'm packed and ready to go. Fortunately, the night before is a bowling night so I will be occupied. Work was torture on Friday. Time just seemed to go by so slowly. But soon it was 4:15 and I was out the door and officially on vacation. My last vision was of my boss, Karen, saying "I can't believe you're going to the same place twice within one month". Maybe if I could get her to sit still long enough and read one of these reports, she might understand. Oh, the heck with her. If you're reading this, *you* get it. That's all that matters. After typing this for a while I thought I'd come back and tell you what I was carrying during this trip. I'm always interested in just what people tote around the parks. So I'm sharing my experiences. I have a bag I bought over the internet from Eddie Bauer. It's a shoulder bag that measures about (I'm estimating very badly here) 11"x8"x4". Very nice size and not very big. It carried my wallet with my money, pass, credit cards, drivers license; my camera; a notebook for trip report notes; my roll of quarters and pennies for pressing; my keys; chapstick; and a brush. I also bought a water and a bottle strap later in the trip and I carried that as well. That's it. I left the video camera at home because I'll have the pack mule, er, husband with me in November. Day One - Saturday, September 23, 2000 Normally, I don't like foreshadowing in trip reports but I have to give you warning on this first day. This section is titled "how many bathrooms can Sheri visit in one day" or "how the first day on this vacation turned into the worst day I have ever encountered on a vacation". I woke up at 2:45 AM and then slept on and off until the alarms went off at 6:00. I had to set two alarms since I did not want to oversleep. I thought I was pretty calm about this trip but the excitement got to me this morning. I practically bounded around the house getting ready. My stomach was in knots (remember that). Rich struggled up to get me to the airport. We even left earlier than planned because I just wanted to be on my way. After a slight detour through downtown Omaha (everything is under construction and looks horrible), we made it to the airport around 7:15. Rich just dropped me off at the terminal. Check in with Midwest Express was quick and easy, as usual. I was a little concerned with the e-ticket but not a problem at all. I went to the airport shop to get some puzzle books to do on the plane. I wanted some diversion but knew I needed something other than a novel. It's a three hour flight and I knew I'd get bored just doing one thing. Cost was $7.48. I waited to board and tried to calm my stomach. I'm usually nervous until I see that there is an actual plane at the gate and attendants in sight. There was and I just chalked my queasiness up to taking this trip on my own. We boarded and I was at the window with a seatmate of a father whose wife and three teenage girls were in the row in front of us. We took off fine and I just tried to relax. Midwest Express serves real food and I figured that a nice breakfast would help me. We also get champagne and I figured that wouldn't hurt, either. We had some turbulence and I wanted to go to the bathroom and regroup before the food was served. But the seat belt sign was on so I was good girl and waited. Of course, by the time the light went off, the food and beverage carts were in the aisle. Now things got interesting. I started to sweat and get the shakes. That is not normal for me. Once the food got to our seats, I thought I'd be OK. I even got the champagne. I got the fruit and cereal since the other choice was an omelet and I didn't think eggs would go very well. I ate a little and then decided this was not going to work. I bothered my seatmate a lot since I had to get up and use the bathroom. Midwest Express has extra wide seating but it was still a struggle. And it didn't help that I practically ran to the bathroom. Ten minutes later I felt better but thought the food would stay on the tray. I dozed and this is when I knew I was in trouble. I started have these weird "visions". Not dreams but disjointed snatches of dreams. And I started sweating and shaking again. I made two more trips to the bathroom before we finally landed. I have never been so happy to get off a plane as I was then. I thought the ground would help. Not a chance. I visited the first bathroom off the plane and stayed there for a while. This is not good. Then down to the baggage claim where, of course, my bag is the last one off. And here was another sign I was sick. I didn't even recognize my bag until it was right on top of me. And there were only five bags left. Now, here I am, a solo, sick person, with a bag, a laptop, and a shoulder bag. No more visits to the bathroom - where would I leave my bags? So I suffered and walked down to Dollar. Here's where I could give FastLane a kiss. There were about 25-30 people in line. There's no way in heck I would have been able to stand in that line. I was the second person helped since I was in the FastLane line. I got my full size car within five minutes. Now, all I had to do was walk over there, get the car, load it up, turn on the air conditioning and hopefully feel better. (Inserted after feeling much better. FastLane is the way to go. Free sign up over the internet and you get the next available agent. They even have all your preferences already coded in the system so your paperwork is ready to go. Fast and easy and it really saved me this time.) I did cheer up a little when I saw my car - it's black! Not white! And it's a lot nicer than the Neon we had in June. This one is an Intrepid and it has electronic locks and windows and everything else a nice car should have. I turned the engine on and it was so quiet! I had to double check to make sure it had started. However, it also has a ton of blind spots and I nearly got nailed merging out of the parking lot. Then I had to deal with road rage, of all things. Using the south exit, I was going to get onto the Greeneway. The road out of the south exit has a 45 MPH speed limit which is what I was going. That wasn't good enough for the guy behind me. He tail gated me and made all kinds of gestures. He couldn't pass me and I did get a perverse pleasure out of that. Right before the Greeneway, the road goes to two lanes so he made sure he whipped around me and made the universal finger gesture. I ignored him. Once on the Greeneway, I made a good decision. I had planned the traditional stop at the Publix on the John Young Parkway to get some essentials. But I wasn't feeling good at all so I decided to just go to the hotel and lie down for a while. Surely some rest would help me. So I drove straight on to the Oseola Parkway and then to 192 (paid $2.25 in tolls). My first hotel is the Econolodge Hawaiian Maingate and I had to go past it and turn around with all the construction going on. But I made it and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one waiting at check in and I was helped by a very friendly employee. She said everything was guaranteed on my reservation and to check back after 4:00 for the room. It was only 1:30! I kind of sagged on the counter and asked if there was anything available now since I was sick and really needed to lie down. She said she'd see what she could do but it could be 15-20 minutes. I could wait in the lobby. So I did and chose a seat where she could see me. I tried not to look too bad. About 10 minutes later, I had a room. I'm all the way in the back of the hotel (room 2360), which is where my friend, Belinda, was in June. It is kind of far away but not that far. But I'm on the second floor. That's fine normally but I now had to lug my stuff up the stairs (no elevator). So I took the shoulder bag and the laptop up and made amble use of the bathroom. The sweats and shakes were back. I had to bring up my suitcase since that's where my contact case was and, once I was laying down, there was no way I was going to be able to get back up for a while. So I psyched myself up with the thought that once I did this, I'd be set for a long time. I made it. Threw open the suitcase, grabbed the toiletry bag, got out the contacts, and dove into bed (the one closest to the bathroom). By this time, it was 2:00. For the next three hours, I threw up, sweated, shook, and slept. Nice way to start a vacation. Surely all this rest was going to solve the problem, right? At 5:00, I got up and decided I'd go to Publix to get those supplies. I especially wanted some Sprite for the stomach. Made use of the bathroom again and started to get dressed. I made it to the shoes and then the shakes and sweats came back again. At that point, I decided I wasn't going to go anywhere at all anymore that day. I had some alka-seltzer in my bag and tried that. It worked for a while but my stomach had other ideas. I watched TV for a while until I started getting tired again. I actually had to turn off the TV because they kept showing food ads. Yeck! Once the alka-seltzer stopped working, I called it a night around 7:00. I woke up several times during the night and into the morning. Around 1:30 AM, I realized that my stomach didn't hurt anymore and the water I had been sipping to ward off dehydration stayed down. I about cried. After that, it was a matter of getting my strength back. What a horrible first day but at least I'm here. One thing about the solo traveling. I didn't have anyone to help me when I was sick. No one to help with the bags, no one to get the car for me, no one to check into the hotel for me. On the other hand, I could rest and recover like I needed without having to worry I was ruining the day for someone else. I didn't get to Epcot like I planned but it isn't going anywhere. I'll try for that tomorrow after meeting Donna for lunch. Sense of the day - the feel of the cold porcelain. Kid of the day - the little girl sitting behind me on the plane who was taking her first plane ride. It's very nice to hear that commentary of things I take for granted. Day Two - Sunday, September 24, 2000 I slept in until after shortly after 8:00. That meant I slept a total of fifteen hours yesterday. I guess I needed it. Showered and dressed. I felt hungry and thirsty but didn't have any supplies. Belinda had said what an extremely long walk it was to the lobby and I really didn't feel like straining myself. But I decided to see if I had my sea legs yet. It isn't that long of a walk! I went into the gift shop and picked up a large blueberry muffin and a 20 oz Sprite for $3.08. I wanted to get a Sunday newspaper which was in the outside vending machine for $1.50. Too late, I realized I needed another $1 worth of quarters. I asked the guy if I could get change for a $1. He said he couldn't reopen the register unless someone bought something. OK, I'll get another Sprite - it's not going to go to waste ($1.49). Then I got my newspaper and walked back to the room. I was a little winded but not much. I'll just take it easy today. So I'm back in the room, slowly eating and drinking the Sprite. Feels good and I think I'll survive today. I'm not going to overdo it. I'm watching TV until about 10:30 when I'll go over and park the car at the Boardwalk and then go to MGM for lunch and then back to Epcot since I didn't get there last night. I hope Donna understands if I don't want to try Twilight Zone with her family today. One thing that I had forgotten about Florida in September. It's the month of love bugs. I was wondering what all these black things were on the ground at the hotel. Then I realized it was love bugs. These are little black insects that do nothing but mate during their short lives. The mate as they walk, they mate as they fly. They are everywhere. One bad thing. The doors here don't fit very tightly so the love bugs are prone to get into the rooms. They don't go very far but the floor right inside the door has some love bugs as well as the molding around the door. I know most people would freak out but love bugs don't hurt anyone and it's nature way. There's no escaping them so I might as well live with them. I headed out around 10:30 and drove to the Boardwalk to park since I was hoping to end up at Epcot later on in the day. I stopped in the very crowded Boardwalk lobby to pick up some park schedules. Unfortunately, most of them only run through Sunday so I only picked up Epcot. Then I stopped by Dundry's Sundries. I've been getting the resort magnets and didn't have one of the Boardwalk ($6.00). I'm only collecting the ones I've stayed at. Then, I thought I'd check out the new walkway to MGM so I started out on that. It's very nice but not marked at all. And then I found out why. It's not finished! It goes about halfway and then it's blocked off. So I had to cross over the canal bridge and over to the walkway by the Swan. My original thought (before the walkway to MGM) was to take the boat from the Swolphin so that's where I was headed. It was hot (high of 92 today) so this wasn't the best thing for me after being sick. But at least I sweated off more of the bad germs I've been carrying around! The boat to MGM arrived within five minutes and away we went. I'm finally at a Disney park! I had decided to just walk around MGM, maybe take some pictures, but just take it easy until the 1:00 seating at 50s Prime Time Café. I stopped in a couple of shops on Hollywood Boulevard. Chris asked me to get his boss something movie related as a belated present. He had purchased something for all his friends in June but forgot Patti. Not a good thing to forget your boss. I saw the Director Mickey beanie and thought that would be good. I headed down Sunset Boulevard to see what kind of lines I could anticipate. Twilight Zone was 13 minutes and Rock N Roller Coaster was only 10 minutes. Those were stand by times! Wow, it was not like this in June. I thought some hops and yeast and stuff like that would be a good test of just how well I was feeling so I stopped and got a beer for $4.25. The Cast Member asked me if I was old enough! I was startled and was starting to feel very young when she kind of laughed and said "just kidding". Darn. I did tell her that not only was I old enough, I was hot enough. I took my beer and sat along Sunset Boulevard and just people watched until it was time for the seating. I loved seeing and hearing people's reactions to Twilight Zone. They walk and point and start excitedly talking about it. I think Disney did a great job of building the anticipation for this attraction even as you're walking down the street. I am not the most social person in the world and I arrived at the Prime Time with a little trepidation. But I saw this woman outside that I just knew was Donna. She looked at me and said "are you Sheri"? Of course! We hugged. We have never met but we just knew each other. Donna checked us in and then took me over and introduced me to Richard, her husband, and Jill and Grace, their two daughters. It was just like we had known each other for years and years! I told them about my experience of the last day and they told me all about their week long trip. They were leaving tomorrow and were trying to finish up everything they had left to do. We were seated in about 20 minutes. The place was pretty full. Our server was Kat and she wasn't over the top like the other server in the room which was perfect for us. I had some presents for the girls and a picture frame for Donna and Richard. And Donna and Richard had brought me some things from Boston! That was so thoughtful of them. We all had such a great time. The girls each had the kids macaroni and cheese, Richard had the meatloaf (after debating about the fried chicken), Donna had Aunt Selma's chicken salad, and I had Aunt Selma's tuna salad. The Aunt Selma's stuff came with fruit and I really needed that - nothing heavy for me, thank you very much! Richard and Grace ordered milkshakes (vanilla for Grace and strawberry for Richard). Jill and Donna had Cokes and I had my first (and not last) glass of wine of the trip. We wanted a little interaction but not much since we had so much to talk about. We had the following happen: We tried to set the table before Kat got there but we only had four settings. Richard tried to grab enough stuff out of the basket at the next table but wasn't quick enough to get a napkin. Kat wanted to know how come we didn't have a napkin. We had to fess up. Grace had her elbows on the table and got admonished for it. She looked a little scared and Kat sort of left her alone after that. Richard really got into trouble, though. He spilled his strawberry milkshake since he was pouring it out of the mixing container into the glass and he encountered a huge glob of ice cream. A ton of it went over the side of the glass. It was very messy. But, Kat had given us all the extra napkins from the extra basket we stole from so Richard quickly cleaned up. Kat still saw him. She brought out a plastic Little Mermaid bib for him and tied it around his neck. After a while, Richard took it off (broke it since Kat tied it in a knot). Jill ratted him out and Richard said that Jill took it off him. That produced squeals and giggles from both girls. Richard finished everything except his green beans but he did at least try them so that was OK. Jill finished all her macaroni and cheese but Grace thought it had too much cheese. Donna and I ate most but not all of our lunches. So Jill was the only one with a clean plate sticker. But we had to call Kat back to get that. Kat did sign the girls' autograph and personalized her signature. Nice touch. I don't know what the bill was here because Donna and Richard so very graciously picked up the check! Thank you so much! I thoroughly enjoyed my first meet and will definitely do this again. Donna told me about the RADP stuff that went on the weekend before I got there. Sorry I missed it all. Jill was quite impressed that Jennifer and Dave wrote "that book". After lunch, we parted ways with promise of keeping in touch when we get back to the real world. And Donna promises to write a trip report. I will hound her. Donna, Richard, and the girls were off to try and score Jessie's autograph and maybe Bullseye's as well. They had pretty much filled up their autograph books and this was the first time I had seen one of these things filled. What a great treat for the kids. I was also impressed with their pressed penny collection. They had decided to start one this trip and had done very well. I was going to Epcot just to walk around and take it easy. I went back and took the boat back to the Boardwalk. I took the presents from Donna and her family to my car and then headed towards Epcot. On the way there, this guy and his wife or girlfriend were walking towards me. The guy was pulling up the leg of his shorts. He had the typical tan lines and I guess he wanted to give the upper parts a little sun. He stopped and asked me if his legs looked like "chicken legs". I had to laugh. I told him no, that my husband's looked the same. Both of them laughed and thanked me and then were on their way. This was not going to be my first encounter with strangers during this trip. They have the bathrooms at the International Gateway under construction! My own personal private spot! Dang. So off to Morocco for a break. Then back to France to look at Christmas presents for my friends, Belinda and Lisa. I decided to grab a glass of wine ($2.95) and then go to the garden in United Kingdom and just sit and relax. My general plan was to go through Canada, check out a shop there and then go to the Millennium Village since I really hadn't checked that out for Christmas presents yet and then go do stuff in Future World. Well, the skies opened up while I was enjoying the wine and I just got soaked. So I stayed in a doorway for about 45 minutes, fully knowing the storm was going to pass, but decided to head out anyway. A couple of reasons. I wanted to make sure I was fully recooperated from yesterday, I hadn't even called Rich yet to give him the hotel phone number, I still had to go to Publix for supplies, and football was the TV. So I headed back to the car. After a quick stop at Publix for some wine and some snacks ($10.04), I went back to the room to get out of my soggy clothes. I got some ice (crushed which I prefer at home but not at hotels) and then called Rich. He really wanted to know why I hadn't called him the night before. I explained that it was the least of my worries! Chris confirmed that Director Mickey would be good for Patti. My football team is doing poorly today. Oh well, such is life. I thought I could get the Green Bay/Arizona game, foolishly forgetting that Green Bay would have been a regional game. I got Tampa Bay/Jets instead. Not for me. So I just surfed around for a while. One nice thing about this hotel that I wish other places would institute, especially with people who stay more than a couple of days. They have this paper that you hang from your outside doorknob that tells housekeeping when you would like your room cleaned. Since I am a late riser, this lets them know that I don't need them until after noon. I still have a "do not disturb" sign on the door but now housekeeping knows to come back later in the afternoon. I like that. And the love bugs are getting much better. They are still all over the place but they seem to stay out of the room a little more. I'm not the only one who just lets them be. When I went to Publix, there were two of them (there's *always* two of them) on the cash register doing what they do best. The cashier and the bagger didn't do anything. Hey, would you want someone interrupting you? Sense of the day - the smell of the rain. Kids of the day - Grace and Jill. Meeting them was so special. Day Three - Monday, September 25, 2000 Again, I don't like foreshadowing but if this is the day I can take with me to tell everyone why I keep coming back here, this is *the* day. This is my most perfect, wonderful, magical, Disney day. If you can package the feelings I felt during this day, you wouldn't need Regis Philbin. I slept very well and very late. I finally rolled out of bed at 9:30. I think I really needed it. Got ready, ate breakfast of muffins and Sprite and headed out to MGM at 10:30. I really don't like parking at MGM since I never thought the trams worked very well. Until today. I parked at Film 27 and I couldn't even see Twilight Zone! I thought this would be a disaster. But the Green Army Guys were out and directing us to the trams. I walked right onto one (a tram, not a Green Army Guy). No problem and we were told "stand in front of those white lines and in back of those red lines. You have trams in front of you and cars in back of you." What a riot! Quick tram ride onto MGM. Very impressive. I have got to give this Disney transportation a little more credit. Since it was close to the time to meet Lindy and Della at 11:30, I decided to just shop around MGM. I did take notice that Mickey Avenue was back to being Mickey Avenue and not Tigger Avenue anymore. I arrive at the entrance of the Hunchback of Notre Dame at 11:30 and waited for Lindy and Della. I had their physical descriptions and they had mine along with the fact that I would have something with Piglet on it. I had to just laugh at the habits of people. There were people who had no idea what they were lining up for but figured they needed to be there. There were people who had to run to the line but there was still 20 minutes to go until show time. I had a good time just looking at people. About 10 minutes to 12 (showtime was noon), I saw this wonderful woman coming towards me and I just knew it was Lindy. It helped that she had a Guest of Honor Badge and a couple of other badges with her name on it! We hugged and she immediately took me in to get a great seat. Della was coming later. I asked if Della knew where we would be and Lindy said that she should. These are experts! I thought we'd be in the back but we ended up about five rows from the front on the right hand side. Great seats! Lindy says she's "shy" but she's not! I saved a seat for Della who showed up shortly after and we had a little of a talk before the show. Della wanted to know where my Piglet shirt was. I had only packed Piglet T-shirts and I wasn't wearing anything with sleeves because of the heat. But I did show her my Piglet on my shoulder bag. Lindy said her "contact" wasn't working so we couldn't sit in the VIP seats. As far as I could see, these seats were great! And Lindy said that her usher friend said that Robby would "probably" be working the first show (our show!). According to Lindy, Robby is *the* Quasi. So I was psyched. My first Hunchback show and I might get *the* Quasi. Cue the lights, cue the action (remember, I told you this was the all time Disney Day!). It's Quasi - it's Robby! It's my first time seeing this presentation. What can I say? I'm coming back! There's so much stuff going on that you can't even think about seeing it just once. If I get back to MGM, I'm going again. I will take Rich in November. And I have to say that Lindy did almost nothing except watch Robby the entire time. Poor Esmerelda is singing her heart out and Lindy is watching Quasi. With a huge smile on her face. Heck, she didn't even move when the confetti came down. This woman is hooked! After the show, Lindy and Della and I parted ways. This really was the first day of my vacation since I finally was feeling well. Lindy and Della were leaving on Wednesday (big boo hoo from both of them!). We talked for a while and then they went off to do their thing and I went off to finally do MGM. Thank you Lindy and Della for a wonderful experience. My second meet lived up to the first one and I thank you guys so, so much! I never would have done this without you guys and I'm just so happy I did this. I'm bringing the in-laws in November! I was kind of hungry but still not ready for a heavy meal. So I went to the Soundstage Catering Co. and just got ice cream and a bottle of water (the Hunchback arena is very hot). Cost of $7 total. I ate and drank and then went and got a bottle strap for $3. I'm official now. I have a water bottle strap. I walked back by the Star Search display and again was amazed by the talent that was discovered here. Sharon Stone? Lara Flynn Boyle? What did they do? And I saw that Tigger was the most popular of the Pooh characters. But there was no Piglet! Dang! Eeyore and Pooh were there but no pink pig. Oh well, I have enough of him at home to keep me happy. I walked right onto the Great Movie Ride. I was in the back (three rows from the back) so I knew I'd have the gangster scene. Terrific gangster and hostess and I figured I'd have to tape this in November. I've seen it enough that I don't have to pay attention to it anymore. But where do you find the time to get the hidden Mickeys and Donalds in the hieroglyphics? There's so many! I gave up after about 5 seconds. After this was a chance for Star Tours but the stand by line was 15 minutes and I knew I could do this quicker later. So I passed. Then on to Sounds Dangerous with a 6 minute wait. I love this show. A lot of people really liked it. Except....for this little kid behind be who just didn't get it. I'm sorry, this is the second time this happened to me. I thought this kid would be about three and he turned out to be about seven or so. His dad told him repeatedly (I'm talking repeatedly) to basically be quiet (his dad was a lot more polite) or to shut up (which is what I wanted to tell him to do) and the kid just talked throughout the whole thing. This is called "Sounds" Dangerous and it was hard to do with someone right behind you talking the whole time. Rant off. Sorry but people need to realize that their actions (and those of their kids) affect other people. I stopped in one of the shops on the way out and got some stuff. Oh, not much. Just the Director Mickey, two pressed penny holders, two magnetic frames, and two keychains with flashlights. Total $43.36. But there's justification. The Director Mickey is for Chris' boss. The frames and keychains are for welcome packages I'm putting together for Rich's parents for November. So the only things I got were the pressed penny holders. Thank you Donna for letting me know Disney World *finally* has these. How can you have pressed penny machines all over the place and not sell holders? Then out to a waiting tram and back to the lot within minutes. Again, have to re-evaluate the Disney transportation. Or maybe I'm just becoming more patient? I had decided to go to Epcot and finish the few remaining pennies I had to get there. A word about the pennies. I started collecting only the designs I liked back in October, 1998. Once I had those, I did a dumb thing and printed out the checklists. Now I need to fill in all those boxes. Epcot has the fewest pennies so I thought I'd just concentrate on those for now. But did I bring the checklist? Nope - back in the room so offsite I go. The other reason to go back to the room (besides food and drink for "free") was to call Rich. While at MGM, I saw Starting Lineups in fake Wheaties boxes. Rich is a huge sports memorabilia collector so I thought these were interesting and I didn't think he had said anything about them. So I needed to find out if this was something I should be picking up for him. Plus, I left the prepaid phone card in the room (I'm not thinking straight on this trip) and I couldn't call him from MGM. I called Rich and he said just to pick up a Cal Ripken if they have one (Cal is our favorite player) but not to bother with anything else. I'll point out the place in November and maybe it'll produce some drool then. I refreshed myself and then headed out to Epcot. I parked at the Boardwalk again (only a month and I'll be living here) and tried to get a slice of pizza at the Spoodles take out window. But I stood there for over five minutes and no one acknowledged me. The sign and condiments were out so I assumed they were open. Oh well, onto Epcot. My first goal was to see the boys, otherwise known as Off Kilter. We had completely missed them in June and I wasn't going to let that happen again. It was about 3:55 and they had just performed at 3:30. Drat. But they were going to be back at 5:00. OK, I can do some stuff for a while and then come back. I went back to the Millennium Village to look for food and to shop. Oh, and for the air conditioning too. Florida is hot in September, did you know? I didn't find anything I wanted although there were plenty of interesting items. But I think I'll avoid this place in the future. I've been there, done that, and I probably won't mourn it's passing. Great idea and it reinforces the Millennium with everyone working hand in hand. Just didn't thrill me. I walked around to Disney Traders at the beginning of World Showcase to get the two pressed pennies I needed. A father and his daughter were hovering around the machine. I hate when that happens. But it turns out they were just waiting for Mom to come with two quarters to get a penny. They let me press my pennies and we talked a little about them. The little girl had been collecting them whenever she spotted a machine. I was going to show them my checklist and then decided that they would have more fun just randomly seeing the machines. That's how I started. It really is a lot more fun without the checklists but now I'm on a mission. The little girl is way to young to have a mission. Onto Mouse Gear for another penny but the fountain went off and I had to watch it. This is my favorite view. The fountain show with Spaceship Earth in the background. Then I made my way to Mouse Gear for the penny. It was approaching 4:30 so I thought I'd go back and grab a beer and wait for the guys. But the Refreshment Port caught my eye first. They have wine here! I never knew that. This will be a frequent stop for me. $3.98 later I was a happy camper. Onto Canada to wait for Off Kilter - one show I will wait for. I sat on the benches outside of their performance area. I was quite content to stay there for the show. A couple showed up and I moved over on the bench so they would have room to sit. And then they started to smoke. I have no idea where the smoking areas are at Epcot and from looking at the maps, I think they are poorly marked. These people really didn't know they weren't supposed to be smoking there and I wasn't going to tell them. I don't want confrontations and I'm sure neither did they. Fortunately, the wind was blowing the other way (about as fast as a Florida wind on a 92 degree sunny day can blow) so it was OK. I honestly think Disney did the smoking ban just to keep us non-smokers happy. I really didn't see much enforcement. And those green ashtrays or whatever they are in the actual smoking sections are just gross looking. OK, smoking rant off - we go back to the trip report. One amusing thing while I was sitting there (after I moved over one bench). A little girl came across the walkway. Her parents were on the other side and it was obvious that the girl was a little miffed. The parents kept an eye on her and she sat next to me. She was about two or three. After a while, she said under her breath but I could still hear her "Daddy, I'm trouble, I'm angry". She said it a couple of times, throwing in "trouble" every once in a while. Her parents gestured to her and she slooowwlly got off the bench. Her parents were walking towards the Millennium Village and I said that they were going without her. She got off the bench, looked at her parents, smiled, and then ran off to be with them. I think this was a case of a child meltdown that the parents handled well. Let the kid relax a bit and then try it again. At 5:00 the boys came out and did part of a set I remember from last year. Great as always but they are only on stage for fifteen minutes. I seem to remember a longer playing time last year. But that just means I'll have to see them again (did I?). After seeing the boys, I ventured off towards America to get my last two pennies. But on the way, the call of French wine was sounding so I stopped in for a rose this time. Cost was $3.95. Very nice. I just walked around and decided to go into the Japanese department store and have another look at those black lucky cats. I still need to get one to promise me good health. I've only had one major health crisis which I've only just recovered from (see the June report for full details) and I don't ever want to go through that again. And purchasing an $11 cat from the Japanese pavilion at Epcot will prevent that. No, I'm not superstitious at all. Then I made it to America and got my last pennies. My Epcot pennies are complete! Until they come out with new ones. I looked at the American Adventure times and saw a show was starting in just five minutes. The crowds were low so I figured I'd be able to get in with no problem. And I'd be out with about ten minutes to spare before Tapestry of Nations. Perfect timing. So I went in to a show I hadn't seen since about 1993. Did I say this was a Disney Day? I know people think this show is boring - the guy in front of me fell asleep. I honestly can't see how you can. I sat riveted, watching the animatronics and our whole history unfold. I thought the presentation was wonderful and it did show the good, the bad, and the ugly. It presented the slavery issue as a huge mistake on our part which it was. I don't think it covered up anything. I thought the most, well, depressing scene, was the one of the Great Depression. That affected all Americans and it took a long time to get over that. And then "Golden Dreams" came on with all those pictures of great Americans and I just lost it. The Challenger crew, Ryan White and his fight against AIDS, Walt Disney, Jim Henson, John Kennedy and little John Kennedy, Jr. saluting the casket. Patriotic mode coming on - our country might not always do the right thing but we have the power to voice our opinions. In some countries, this trip report would not even be allowed to be written. I have the freedom to do this and to exercise all my opinions and choices. We have a Presidential election coming up. My husband and son like one candidate, I like another. We debate, discuss, even challenge each other about it. But we can do that. We have the freedom. Patriotic mode off. Thank you very much. My favorite quote - "America is the only country who waits until it's in a war to get ready for a war" - Will Rogers After wiping the tears from my eyes, I exited the theatre (a few people were dabbing at their eyes as well) and hustled over to Germany for Tapestry of Nations. I grabbed a traditional beer (wishing Rich were here to enjoy with me - $6) and went to get a spot. I found what I think is a great spot. It's not along the parade route so you won't get the puppets' interaction but it's behind a little garden area towards the lagoon. I set up on top of the trash can. I was able to put my stuff on the top and not bother anyone who needed to use the trash can. I could write things down and change film. And it was a great spot for taking pictures. You had to wait until things were in between the trees but it must have worked since I took a roll and a half of film. This parade just still blows me away. I loved it in June and bought the CD after. I have listened to that CD just about every day since then. What music! After our section of the parade ended, I turned around (blinking away the tears again - what a baby) and saw the other sections still going on around the lagoon. So I went over to the Kodak picture spot and snapped some more shots. I have no idea if anyone except me is going to know what these things are but it was a very special time for me. The music was still going on in Germany although the parade had ended. But I stayed and just watched across the water. While I was there, I took pictures for about five different families and couples. That's a great spot for taking a picture with Spaceship Earth in the background. I thought the day just couldn't get any better and it was turning out to be a lot later than I wanted to be out. So I started walking around to get the car. I even passed up a Fiesta Margarita. But then I looked at my watch. It was 7:15. Off Kilter's last show was 7:30. Should I stay? Is this a Disney Day? Of course! I did stop in at the Refreshment Port again for a wine for $3.98. Watching the boys is hard work. I got to Canada and saw there was one empty seat in the front row of the viewing area (I wish they had more seats). I asked the couple sitting there if the seat was taken. They said no with very strong accents. I thought the woman had been there at 5:00 but she said no, they had just happened along and saw a Celtic band was about to play and thought they'd watch it. I asked where they were from. Now, I almost never talk to people, I leave that to Rich. But this was a Disney Day. They said they were from Scotland. I almost asked if they knew Larry Wilmot but thought that would be stupid - Scotland is a big place! They asked me where I was from and when I said Nebraska, the guy said that he really had no idea where that was. He said he was still amazed just how big America is. Man, I just came from the American Adventure where I thought the same thing. I told him to take a map of America and I'd be right in the middle of it. I told them that they should like Off Kilter. It's bagpipes with a rock twist. They thought it sounded great. The guys came out and did a completely different set. The 5:00 show featured Randy on the guitar and this one featured Jaime on the bagpipes. Their rendition of "Amazing Grace" is just, amazing! Rich has got to hear this! Rich is a huge bagpipe fan and just loves "Amazing Grace" performed on them. Throw some rocking guitar in there and I'm sure he's going to eat it up. I might have to become one of those groupies and find out which session they perform this song so I can make sure Rich hears it. One word of caution to anyone who doesn't like loud things. Don't sit in the front row here. I think my ears are still vibrating and it's the next day! By the way, the couple from Scotland thought Off Kilter was "awesome". I really thought about staying for the second Tapestry of Nations but didn't want to push my luck. So out of Epcot and over to the Boardwalk. I did stop and get 4 day hopper passes for my in-laws for November. I am not giving them any options on their tickets since they would just get confused. So I'm pre-buying them so they don't have a choice. Total price was $373.12 and in my euphoria, I forgot to use the Magic Kingdom Club discount. Oh well, call it a finders fee for all the trip planning. I tried the Spoodles window again (I really needed food) and was helped immediately. Maybe I just hit it at an off time before. A slice of cheese pizza (a really big slice) and a glass of wine later ($7.69), I was a happy camper. I sat at a table overlooking Crescent Lake and daydreamed (well, nightdreamed) about November when I'd be here again. My notes for today - "What a GREAT DAY!" Kid of the Day - Lindy enjoying Hunchback and especially Robby. I can't describe the look on her face watching him. Pure contentment. Senses of the Day - the overwhelming patriotism I felt at the American Adventure. The touch of the puppets to the kids during Tapestry of Nations. The sounds of Off Kilter. Heck, the look of Off Kilter. The smell of the Boardwalk at night. The taste of the pizza. I could go on and on with this day. But you get the drift. Day Four - Tuesday, September 26, 2000 I was awake at 8:00 but didn't get out of bed until an hour later. I had nothing to do and wanted to check out as late as possible. I ate the remaining muffins and typed up the report. I loved reliving the last day. I packed everything up. I'm now up to two suitcases. How did I do that? I packed a smaller suitcase into my larger one on the way down. You'll see why later on in the day. Packed up the car and checked out with no problems. Total for the three days was $119.44 which included $2.94 per day for the phone. This area really does rip you off for phone charges. All my phone calls were with a prepaid phone card but I still had to pay this. It's not just this hotel, either. Can you say "tourist trap"? After I checked out, I headed to Animal Kingdom and parked close to the entrance. I had that priority seating at Rainforest Café with the gift certificates and wanted to make ample use. I arrived right around 11:30 and took notice it looked a little crowded. I walked by Chris' anteater (he says we always have to see the anteater) and then looked to see what the wait times were. Not a good thing to do. I really wanted to do Dinosaur since that knocked me for a loop in June with my bad shoulder. But the stand by was 50 minutes and I didn't want a FastPass since I had a priority seating. But that's OK. Animal Kingdom is my favorite on my own for just walking around. So that's what I did. I walked around. I went over towards Dinosaur and then saw that Tarzan Rocks started in just 15 minutes. I love this show. So I went in. I scored a great seat. Center section, two rows from the start of the upper section. The first row was roped off for VIPs. I didn't care. I knew a lot of the action happened in that middle walkway. I talked briefly with the grandfather type next to me and said we had the best seats in the house. So I just sat and people watched for a while. There was a foreign man across the aisle with a small boy with him. The man was intently watching for someone and then his wife (I'm assuming) and an infant came down to sit with him. The problem was that the Disney Cast Members already went through and did their "move all the way to your left" thing so there was no room for the wife and infant. The man took the infant and went about five rows up to sit. My seat was great but these people needed to be together. So I went back to the husband and told him to sit in my seat. He was very grateful. After a couple of minutes, they opened the VIP seating in the front row and the guy tried to get me in there but the Cast Members had some families sit there instead. That's fine. I'm OK with where I am. But the foreign guy motioned for me to come back down and sit with him in the second row. He was just totally so grateful during the whole show. We did have great seats and I just liked being able to let a family be almost together. There was a preshow of some sort here as well. A couple of kids got to do the Tarzan yell and they were pretty good. They were asked where they were from and they said Scotland. Did Larry Wilmot bring the whole country along with him? The kids were so cute and did an excellent job. They were given certificates for participating. I also liked that they were selling drinks and ice cream before the show. I don't think they did that last year. I know people complain that the arenas should have roofs to keep out the sun but once you do that, you capture the humidity in there as well. Both Hunchback and Tarzan were very shaded but very hot. The show was wonderful but totally different from last September. When the lead singer came out I thought "dang, it's going to be Tarzan sung by Donny Osmond". Well, Donny sang Mulan well so let's see. The show I saw last year was more of an upbeat, rocking Tarzan. This one was kind of a contemporary rocking tune. I can't describe it anymore than that. It's just that it was different but I still loved it. The grandfather next to me (by that time I was back to where I started from) really got into the interactive stuff with Turk. Those rollerbladers are awesome and I got several (OK, that's an understatement) photo opportunities. Can't wait to see what the pictures look like. On the way out of the theatre a lady was asking what Flights of Wonder was. I told her it was a bird show and she shouldn't miss it. She thanked me. Where the heck is that shy woman from Nebraska? What am I doing? It was after noon and I hadn't had a beer yet (what is up with that?) so I stopped at the stand and got "an ice cold beer" for $4.23. While I was there, a woman came up and asked if there were any straws. I said that there weren't any in the park. She agreed. Can I be a Disney Cast Member please? I took my beer and went to "my place" overlooking the Tree of Life (gotta go back to June of 1999 to find that reference) and just sat and relaxed and waited for my seating. I had a couple of interesting encounters. Where is that shy woman from Nebraska? A guy came down and said that it would take a while to find the Hidden Mickey in the Tree. I said I knew where it was but he was on his way out and didn't stop to chat. A lot of people just came down, took a picture and left. There was this one group that just made the day. There were two separate units and there was one woman in a wheelchair. The whole group stayed a while and the Dad took some pictures. The Dad had finished a roll of film and handed that over to his son saying "put this in the fanny pack" which the son was carrying. The Dad then proceeded to take grandmother's wheelchair and push it out of the area. The son said "why do I have to do all this work?". I just had to laugh and say "you could be pushing the wheelchair. I'd take carrying the used film to pushing the wheelchair". Everyone just cracked up. One woman said "she got you there!". The son looked very amused but surprised that I said anything. The Dad said "yeah, you push grandma, I'll carry the film". What ever happened to that shy woman from Nebraska? I did a lot of thinking while I was sitting there. Mostly about being able to be here on my own. I have a great family to let me do this. I have a great work situation so I can take so many vacations to the same place. My thought this time was that I am alone but I'm not alone. How can you be alone at Walt Disney World? There's always someone to talk to. The Cast Members go out of their way to chat with you and really make you feel special. It was time for my seating at Rainforest so I headed over there. I really do hate the way they seat people here. You have to first check into the elephant head and then they direct you over to the gorillas. Please. And then they take your slips and if I hadn't really been paying attention (it was hard with the little kids running around looking at all the fishes in the tanks), I would have missed this. I did get seated and, guess what, for a party of one, I was seated next to the kitchen. But I did have a decent view of the "action". I'm just underwhelmed with Rainforest. Other people have a great time but it just doesn't do it for me. My server was fine. I ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken which I thought would be served like in the Midwest but actually turned out better. And a glass of wine (but you knew that already, right?). The server asked me where I was from and I told her. Then I said that I left the husband and son at home and was on my own. She told me to go to Downtown Disney for some action and then I had to tell her that I've been here twelve times so I kind of knew what I was doing. But she was impressed I was here by myself. Why would that impress anyone? Am I, in the immortal words of Star Trek, an anomaly? Total cost was $22 which was $18.69 for the lunch and the rest as tip. I left the two gift certificates ($10 each) and $2. Very cheap lunch. After the lunch, I went back into Animal Kingdom to see if that line for Dinosaur had gotten any shorter. Well, it was 25 minutes but I was getting tired so it was back to the car for me. But, It's Tough to Be a Bug had just a 0 minute wait so off I went. I just love hearing and seeing people's reactions to the Tree. The little girls in front of me - "we're going *into* the Tree!". And everyone else - "it's a" - fill in the blank - alligator, bunny, goat, lion, eagle, tiger, etc. I just passed by everyone since I've seen it a lot. I'll have to slow down with the in-laws in November. Went right into the show and enjoyed it very much. I did have a devoted Mom who held her son during the show. That's fine but she held him very high! Much higher than a normal person who would have been sitting. My personal opinion (and remember, I can do that since this is America) is that if your kids' head is higher than yours, than its too high. I always made sure Chris was even with me and I'm only 5'1" so he got to see a lot of things with the tops of other peoples heads in the way. Out of the crowds and back towards the car. I needed a rest and a break. I hoped the Holiday Inn didn't have such a check in policy like the Econolodge. Headed back towards 192 - this time to the East instead of the West. Hey! This place is right at a traffic light! Wonderful during the construction (a full and complete critique at the end of the report). Pulled in and checked in without a problem. I'm in room 644 if that matters (second floor). I'm in the second building and all I can say is, why the heck wasn't I here for all eight days!? It's not that the Econolodge was that bad (a full and complete critique at the end of the report) but this is just so much better. I unpacked and then I really needed a nap. So I just rested and the next thing I knew, it was after 6:00. I wanted to wait until the traffic on I4 was after rush hour so I watched TV. Wouldn't you know it, the "Roseanne" episode was the one where they went to Disney World! This was on when we were here in June. What are the chances? OK, the fact that sitcoms are repeated to death has no bearing on this discussion. Around 7:00, I headed for a little offsite fun. I had to go to Publix again for essentials since I ran out of breakfast stuff. I wanted powdered doughnuts but the boxes were too big so I settled for chocolate chip cookies (tough settlement, right?). Total cost was $11.54 (I know the costs are too much detail but this is my report). Then off to the Nike Factory Outlet. This was a pre-determined destination. I knew they had one here (they have several I have since found out) and Chris will wear nothing but Nike logo T-shirts. Let's just say his shirts need to be retired. Like two years ago retired. Like Steve Carlton needed to be retired. So I asked him that if I got to the Factory Store and got him new T-shirts, would he throw away his current stuff. He agreed. Moms, you know that's a challenge to be met. I did meet it. For $9.99 each, I got five different shirts. Total was $53.45. Score one for the Moms of the World! Then I went to check out a hotel for my friend, Adrienne, to possibly stay at next summer. It's the Renaissance Orlando Resort across from Sea World. I'm talking right across from Sea World. You can throw a stone and be in Sea World's parking lot. The hotel looked very "swanky" so if you want something nice and go to Sea World, check this place out. Then I went to search out my in-laws hotel for November. We all will be staying together for the first four nights at the Boardwalk and then they go offsite while we switch to Coronado Springs. I thought their hotel was up near the Belz Outlets so this was the time for me to check it out. It was dark by now so I was just going to look and not stop. Well, I was completely wrong (someone call Rich and tell him I confessed to that). I did find the Belz Outlets but no hotel. I did find another Nike Outlet Shop and quickly made a list of what I had already bought Chris. I went in and found another five shirts so that made a total of ten. All at $9.99 each. He better be great at tossing those old shirts into the trashbin because if he doesn't, I will! By the way, the total here for five shirts was only $52.95. There's a difference in sales tax between Orlando and Kissimmee. I saved a whole $0.50 by driving 20 minutes to get here. Try and top that! And this is why I brought the extra suitcase. I knew I'd be getting at least 10 T-shirts for Chris and I figured I'd have more souvenirs so I didn't want to have to stuff just one suitcase. I turned myself around on I-drive (I hate that place) and headed back to the Holiday Inn. But, along the way, I see a sign for the Convention Center. For some reason (don't ask me), I thought there were two Convention Centers. This one was way down on I-Drive. Where I thought the "original" Convention Center was. Guess what? It's *the* Convention Center. The in-laws' hotel is the Omni Rosen and it's the same place we stayed in 1994. I hated it then and I would hate it now. They will love it for all the convention stuff but I thought the rooms were average for the price and I just don't like the I-drive. So I'm very glad we're staying onsite for the last half of the November trip. Back to the room and just watching TV and working on the report. I also listened to the Millennium CD. I'm planning to watch Tapestry of Nations at least one more time this trip. A great parade and I hope they keep it after this year. Sense of the day - the sounds of the people looking at the Tree of Life. Kid of the day - the foreign family at Tarzan Rocks - I hope they go home thinking Americans really aren't that bad. Day Five - Wednesday, September 27, 2000 Well, can anyone have two great Disney Days on a vacation? Will that someone be me? Yes, yes, yes! I slept in until after 10:00. My neighbors are up and we have a connecting room so I hear just about everything going on in their room. Oh well. I don't think I had neighbors at the Econolodge but at least I can sleep a little here. No problem. I stayed in the room until noon and then saw the news. *Two* hurricanes coming?! Hurricane Issac should go to the north and Hurricane Joyce should stay out there until Monday. But I'll have to monitor both of these systems. I'm not going to worry about it until Friday, though. These storms can do anything so I'll just enjoy my visit. Off to Epcot a little after noon and I parked at the Beach Club. There's a ton of construction going on at the main parking lot and I'm really glad I stayed here in June and I'm not staying here next month. Progress is progress but I wasn't impressed with the construction workers I saw. Through the International Gateway and into France. I saw the World Showcase Players doing Cyrano DeBergerac with guest participation. It was pretty funny with the guests really hamming it up. After the performance, one of the Players said "join us at 2:30 in the United Kingdom when we suddenly turn British". Funny. I was a little early for the lunch with Joe so I grabbed a white wine for $2.95 and just sat for a while. The bottle ran out with my glass and the Cast Member said that, if I was married, it guaranteed me good luck for the rest of the year. I said that the last twenty years have been great so why not the rest of the year? He laughed. I checked in at Chefs de France and was seated right away. Usually, you have to wait for your entire party to get there but I thought this was better. By 1:15, I didn't think Joe would show up so I just ordered my lunch. I had the grilled ham and cheese sandwich (I won't even bother putting down the exact description because I can't pronounce it) with the red wine pairing. I also had a glass of the house Chardonnay while I was waiting. Total cost with tip was $25.61. This restaurant is so nice and I really think that Rich and I should enjoy this together. Now, this is where the Magic starts to happen. I'm sitting there, on my own and I hear the guy at the table one up and one over say to the host that he's from Scranton, PA. Rich and I met and fell in love in Wilkes-Barre, PA which is right next door. I had to eavesdrop. I hear some more and then that shy woman from Nebraska went totally away. I got up and told the guest that I knew where he was from and we talked for a while. His wife and her sister were from Germany and the sister still lived in Germany. But they were eating in France. It was kind of funny. I didn't take much of their time and thanked them for talking with me. Then, the woman at the table in front of me turned around and asked me if I was from Pennsylvania. I said, yes, originally. Turns out her husband (who was with her) was from the same small town my husband's father grew up in and where we started our family! Nanticoke, PA for all those who are interested. We talked for a while and I just had to say something about it being a small world after all. Three tables and there are four people who grew up about 20-30 miles away from each other. And we were all about the same age. After lunch, I had planned to go to Magic Kingdom for the first time this trip. But on the way I thought about trying out Test Track and the singles line. I did stop and see the last two songs of Off Kilter. This is going to be an Off Kilter record for me. After the show, I was walking towards Test Track and encountered a couple of women who were also intent on doing Test Track but were worried about the line. I suggested (I told you that shy woman left the building) that they try the singles line if they didn't mind not riding together. It turns out that they had left the husbands and kids back at the resort (I didn't ask which one) and were just doing a few things together. I asked where they were from and, get this, Pennsylvania! Where in Pennsylvania. Hershey which is about an hour from my home town of Reading. This is getting weird now! I explained the singles line and then led them into it. We went right up to the preshow and they exclaimed that they had never even heard of the singles line. Right into waiting cars. One of the ladies rode with me and the other one went into the car in front of us. Great ride. The ladies were very appreciative of me telling them about the singles line. This is a great Disney invention and it doesn't get a lot of attention. But it's the best way to go. Total time spent - about 10 minutes. Now those ladies can go off and do a lot more without their husbands and kids. Can you tell I can relate? I did Spaceship Earth on the way out since it was a walk on. Rich always falls asleep on this one but I'm going to have to video this next time. Then I was off to Magic Kingdom via monorail. One had just left but I saw the silver one coming through so I knew I'd be on in a second. There was no one in front of me so I gathered my courage (that lady is still back in Nebraska) and asked the Cast Member, Carl, if I could have the front seat. He said "sure" and invited me to sit on the white bench. My first time up front! Right after I sat down, a young woman and young man (about 15 or 16) came up and sat down next to me. I asked if they wanted to ride up front with me and they said they would. They were very shy. Their parents were there for a golf tournament and they were on their own for the time being. They had to meet up with everyone at the Contemporary and that's why they were taking the monorail. I asked Carl if it would be a problem if I added two people to the front car and he said it would be fine. So the four of us (Carl ended up being our driver) rode all the way to the Transportation and Ticket Center together. I tried to get Carl to crank it up to Test Track speed of 65 MPH but he said 40 MPH was all he could do. Drat. At the TTC, I decided to take the ferry boat over to Magic Kingdom. I hadn't done that in years. That would become a common refrain this day. I didn't realize that the ferry boat really "backs up" the entire way across the lagoon. I was at the back and had a great view of everything. Into Magic Kingdom where the parade was just ending. So I headed over to the Exposition Center and watched classic Mickey cartoons for a while. It was enhanced by four adults (about my age) really enjoying everything. I don't think I've ever heard anyone really belly-laugh at a Mickey cartoon. And Goofy joined us for a while. I headed up Main Street and went over to Adventureland. The construction here bothers me. I think it's the blue walls. I was on a quest to do things I haven't done in a while. Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was first. Nice and I got a couple of good pictures from up there. I would suggest that you let people take as much time as they need. I kind of high tailed it out of there but some families were really getting into it. Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean which was the same as always. Then to the Splash Mountain exit for three pressed pennies I wanted. Got those and headed out of there. The lines didn't seem that bad but I just wasn't in the mood for those things. I glanced at my watch and saw it was getting to be close to 5:00. I was walking by the Hall of Presidents and decided to try for the all American trip. I walked in. Let me tell you this - it's a great show. The only problem I had was, and forgive me for this, I thought Maya Angelou sounded like Tim Meadows doing his "Ladies Man" character on Saturday Night Live. I even was fine with Bill Clinton's little speech. He did have something of importance to say. I won't say where I stand on the upcoming election but .... Clinton won't be there. I did enjoy the presentation. I then thought about going on the Liberty Square Riverboat but saw that time was ticking away. I still had to exit Magic Kingdom with everyone else at 7:00. It was close to 5:30 and I didn't want to get into hoards. So I left there and went over to the Haunted Mansion. Great ride. Then onto Peter Pan which I hadn't done in years. When I told the Cast Member that I was a party of one, he made me give him a "five". Now notice that he was probably younger than my son but I had a great time anyway. A bit of a rough ending but a nice flight. Then I got myself out of Magic Kingdom before it closed down. I took the resort monorail around to the TTC and then transferred over to the Epcot monorail. Rode that over (Horizons is gone, Horizons is gone) and saw that I had an outside chance of seeing Tapestry of Nations at 6:30. Could I make it? Is this a Disney Day? I even managed to stop at the Refreshment Port and get a glass of wine for $3.98. Hey, it's been almost five hours! I wanted to watch from the United Kingdom but it was just too crowded. So I headed over the bridge and ended up between France and Morocco which was wonderful! I enjoyed this parade yet again. Off Kilter was on at 7:30 but I decided to call it a day and go back to the room. My legs were hurting and I had such a great day. So I walked back to the Beach Club and headed out to 192. Traffic was pretty bad and I found out why. There was an accident or something in the left lane. It kind of looked like there was some huge thing in that lane but I couldn't see what it was. I was too busy watching out for the traffic. But I made it through OK. I was in the right lane and let a lot of cars from the left lane over. It wasn't their fault they were in the wrong lane. They didn't know. Once in the room, I worked on the report and just watched TV until weariness took over and I was in bed by 9:00. Tomorrow will be a "take it easy" day. I haven't really been working with a plan other than the meets and priority seatings. I have a seating for dinner at Cape May Buffet at 6:30 with the original intention of then watching Tapestry of Nations and Illuminations. I might still do that or I might head to Future World to do some of that. I've been doing things that I know Rich won't want to do next month but things that I want to do. I know we'll cover Future World with the in-laws and we might see Tapestry of Nations once but I know Rich won't want to see it multiple times. I might just OD on the parade now. And I'll use the afternoon to go to the beach. Sense of the day - the music of Tapestry of Nations, the taste of the ham and cheese sandwich with the perfect compliment of the merlot (when they suggest a wine pairing, take it - they know what they are doing). Kids of the day - the two teenagers who rode with me in the front of the monorail. Very polite and well mannered. Is there hope for our future? Day Six - Thursday, September 28, 2000 I slowly got out of bed this morning. My rest was interrupted by the neighbors. I can hear just about everything through the connecting door. The Mom was screeching for a kid to get out of bed, now! She went on and on for about 15 minutes about how bad the kid was and, of course, the kid ended up crying. Nice way to start the day for the kid, the Mom, and me. I got ready and then relaxed in the room with the intention of heading towards the coast around noon. I used the maps that are laying all over the place to figure out just where I wanted to go. I didn't want to go up to Dayton Beach so I thought Cocoa Beach was the way to go. While I was watching TV and planning the day, the phone rang. The only people with the number here is Rich and work. But it turned out to be the maid. She wanted to know if I needed the room serviced. I told her that I'd be going out around noon. She said that my room was the last room in the building that she needed to do and then she could move on to the next building. So I said if she didn't mind me in the room, to come on up. I really don't need all that much service. Make the bed (I don't think my linens need to be changed everyday - I don't do that at home, why here?), and replace the towel and washcloth. That's about it. The maid arrived and attempted to change the linens and vacuum but I told her to do just the minimum. I wish there were levels of service you could request. I'd be low maintenance. I headed for the coast shortly after noon. Paid a ton in tolls ($4.75 total). My goal was to check out the area for possible living quarters. We really like the ocean and I was thinking about finding housing about halfway between Kissimmee/Orlando and the ocean. I think I'm going to have to think again. I wasn't really impressed with what was out there. And Cocoa Beach didn't knock me over either. I don't want the over-the-top tourism of Daytona but Cocoa Beach was just not was I was looking for either. But it was a nice break from the parks. I did get to see the ships at Port Canaveral. I have never cruised so I have no idea if these were big ones or not. I didn't even get out of the car and just turned around and drove back to Kissimmee. Paid another $3.50 in tolls. I really thought about looking into getting that E-Pass since I'm down here so much! My first thought was to go to Belz Outlets but then decided to try and find the new Orlando Premium Outlets near Downtown Disney. I got really turned around in this area. I don't usually need a map when I'm here but I do whenever I'm around Downtown Disney and the surrounding places. After several wrong turns and a trip by Sea World, I finally found the outlets. They need more signs. My only destination here was the Disney Character Premiere. Another reason I brought the extra suitcase. I was hoping to get some bargains on sweatshirts and possibly some early Christmas presents. Glad I brought the extra suitcase. I got a couple of black T-shirts with a nice, colorful Spaceship Earth with fireworks going off in the background. One medium for me and one large for Rich at $8.99 each. Then I got Pirates of the Caribbean sweatshirts for both of us at $19.99 each. I also picked up some stuff for just me - a Splash Mountain sweatshirt for $12.99 and a very, very nice Henley with an embroidered "Walt Disney World" on it for just $19.99. We have casual Fridays and I will be able to wear this with my jeans. I think we'll be stopping here next month. It's pretty much hit and miss - I did pick up a Countdown to Extinction keychain for $2. Had to do that since it technically doesn't exist anymore. So over $100 later, I was on the way back to the room. I had a killer headache. Clouds were rolling in and there had been a threat of rain all day. I popped a couple of Motrin in the car. I had taken my frozen water bottle with me and it was a blessing all day. I just relaxed in the room and figured out how well I was doing with the budget. Well, I think I'm going to be busting it pretty good! I can only spend $45 in the next 2-1/2 days. That ain't going to happen since I know my dinner tonight will be at least $30. I haven't really overspent so I do feel pretty good about that. It was a good goal but just not attainable this trip. I left for the Beach Club around 6:00. The gate guard took my name but I had a priority seating so I didn't care. On the way in, there was a family walking behind me. The little boy (about five) asked, very excitedly, if he would be given crayons to draw with. I turned around and asked if they were going to the buffet. The Dad said that was the plan. I told the little boy that not only would he get crayons but he would be allowed to draw on the tablecloth. He got so excited! I checked in at the podium and was seated right away. The buffet was great as always although I concentrated on the mussels and clams. I also had a nice big glass of wine to go with all of it. And the desserts here are wonderful. This woman in front of me in line kept apologizing because she kept loading her plate with just about every dessert. I told her to go for it - that's what it was there for. I actually had two servers - one lady was shadowing the server. My total for the buffet and wine was $29.10 and I left a $4.50 tip. The service was very attentive and my plates (there were way too many of those!) were cleaned off almost immediately. While I was sitting there, I decided the rest of the night. I was right here next to Epcot. It was a little after 7:00 when I left Cape May Buffet and Off Kilter's last performance for my trip was at 7:30. They wouldn't be performing again until Sunday. So off I went. I grabbed a mega-beer in Canada for $7.75 and also *finally* picked up the Off Kilter CD ($21.20). After listening to them as many times as I did this trip, how could I not? Went back to the stage and watched my last Off Kilter set until next month. As usual, very nice. After the set, I went in between France and Morocco again and grabbed a spot over by the lagoon. It was close to 8:00 and I had a great spot for both the parade and Illuminations. People started to gather and I heard a boy say "we have to wait an hour?". I wanted to tell him about the parade but he was too far away. A family of five came and asked if they could stand next to me. They were very considerate about how much space I was saving. I told them it was just me so they decided to stand there. The Dad thought a tree would obstruct their view of Illuminations but I told him that the action happened much further out in the lagoon and they would have a good view of both the parade and the show. The Mom then told me she heard the parade had been cancelled. Drat! It was very windy and I figured there was a chance of cancellation but I thought I would have heard something by this time. Oh well, I hadn't seen Illuminations yet, I had a mega-beer, and I had a great spot. I'm staying. Since that shy woman was still back in Nebraska, I started talking to the Mom. Dad had gone over to France to get some dessert. Guess where this family was from? Harrisburg, Pennsylvania! I just had to laugh. This is getting very weird. There is not a teacher's convention or anything in Pennsylvania and the schools typically don't start until after Labor Day so why there were so many people from one state here that I was meeting is beyond me. Around 8:10, an announcement came on that "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, in just five minutes, Tapestry of Nations will begin"! Wonderful! They decided to go ahead with it after all. The Mom said they had seen just a little bit of it earlier and she just loved the music. I told her about the CD and she thought she'd look into it. We also talked a little about her trip. They were staying at the Beach Club and were enjoying it. She said she thought the rooms were small (they had five, remember) but she liked the location. I asked if they were having any good meals. She said their breakfast was part of the package but they were getting tired of eating at Cape May Buffet. I'm wondering if she had a package that had breakfast at any place but she just didn't know that. I mentioned Spoodles buffet and she had no clue as to what I was talking about. This was only their second time here and the first was about six years ago. I think these people needed a serious Disney planner or advisor. That's what I want to do - advise people on their Disney trip while they are on their Disney trip. Do you think there's a place for me to do that? The parade was wonderful and the kids and Dad moved up a little and got some interaction from the puppets. Those Cast Members really had their work cut out for them since the wind was still pretty stiff. The weather today was not hot at all. Probably in the mid 80s and tonight was in the 70s. Very pleasant. Once the parade was over, it was just a matter of turning around and waiting for Illuminations. I had seen this in June but from a way back and wasn't too impressed. And that was before I bought the CD. Since I had a front row seat and knew the music, this was such a better experience. It doesn't top Tapestry of Nations but it is a great presentation. The Mom had left with her youngest since he had fallen asleep so the Dad and the two older kids were with me. The Dad said it best - "leave it to Disney to do something right". After the show, we thanked each other for the opportunity to talk and visit. I stayed where I was for a while, letting the masses exit. I listened to the music and just soaked everything in. What more magical place than World Showcase at night, watching the people, listening to the Millennium music, just enjoying life? How many more magical moments can I get on this vacation? I headed back to the room via the Beach Club. I did stop at Publix for more supplies. Cost of $8.55. The grocery stops have been great. I've only needed one meal during the day since I have stuff back at the room. The refrigerator at the Holiday Inn has been great. Once I got to the room, I had the message light on the phone lit. Again, only work and Rich have the number here. Turns out it was Rich because I told him I'd call him tonight and I hadn't. It was only 10:00 here and 9:00 there so what was the problem? I called and he chided me for being out on the town. I caught him up on everything I've been doing and he shared his awesome golf day with me. It would have been nice for both of us to have such a great day but be together anyway. I also had to do some serious trading in the fantasy football league I'm in. Three players for my one. I can do this. One note here - if you plan to call back home while you're here, I highly recommend prepaid phone cards. I have a 90 minute one and a couple of ten minute ones. I also have a cell phone with free long distance but I've been on roaming the whole time. Also, the phone restrictions at each hotel are very different. I think you might need a lawyer to decipher all the wording. I haven't had any problems with using the phone card. I keep the cell phone in the car in case of emergencies. Thankfully, I haven't had any of those. Sense of the day - the taste of the mussels and clams. Kids of the day - the three kids from Harrisburg. Oh, and I haven't mentioned them but they deserve it all the time - Off Kilter. Biggest kids I've ever seen. Day Seven - Friday, September 29, 2000 I had no definite plan in mind for today. I was woken up by the neighbors again. That Mom's voice is just so loud. It was 9:00 so I decided to get up and just wait until around noon again to go out. That would give me time to figure out what I wanted to do. After I got ready, I called housekeeping to tell them that I didn't need any service today. All I had to do was make my bed (I don't do that home but I just have to do that here) and I had extra towels so I didn't need anything. Housekeeping said no problem. At least I didn't have to worry about getting a knock on the door this morning. I did have to put up with the neighbors since they came back from breakfast and were having their normal morning arguments. I figured that the one thing that I really wanted to do that I hadn't done yet was to go on Dinosaur. That was the one attraction that bothered my shoulder in June and it was a test to see if Dr. Brown had performed the miracle that I thought he did. So off to Animal Kingdom. I stopped at the Race Trac gas station since the tank was getting a little empty. I had to take notice before I started out which side of the car the gas tank was on. Cost was $21.20 and I used the credit card at the pump. The Race Trac is the cheapest gas I've seen so far. Then onto Animal Kingdom. I parked in my normal area and took notice there were a lot of tour groups (not the infamous ones) but I was only here to do one thing so that was fine. I headed over to Dinoland and snagged a FastPass for it. Standby time was 30 minutes. It was around 1:00 and my return time was between 2 and 3. Time to go back and get a beer ($4.23) and to go through the exit at It's Tough to be a Bug (not the actual exit but the path where everyone comes out) and go to a very private spot to view the tree. A tip - when you come out of It's Tough to be a Bug, take the only left off the path you can. It leads to such a nice secluded area. I sat there and sipped the beer, watched people, and was just glad to be here. When it was after 2:00, I headed back to Dinosaur. The FastPass Return line was a little congested because (1) it had started to rain and (2) there were people standing there who either didn't have FastPass or were too early for their return time. I excused myself through the people that shouldn't have been there and was into the preshow within about five minutes. I did ride with an entire car full of teenagers. I thought it would be a problem but they "calmed" down within the first couple of minutes of the ride. I think it totally overwhelmed them. But the best thing was that my shoulder was fine! Thank you Dr. Brown. I now pronounce myself 100% healed. Yea! The clouds were really rolling in and the only other thing I wanted to do was to head to Tusker House for pressed pennies and quarters. I passed by Flame Tree Barbeque and I remembered they had seasoned cheese fries. There were lines earlier but now there wasn't anyone there. And I read about their nice eating area by the water. So I ordered the fries and a beer ($8.57) and took the tray way, way back into the eating area. I was right next to the water and it was very nice back there. And then the storm came in. A big one. A French couple thought it was a hurricane. The winds were going very well but it wasn't that bad. I had to move into the center of the seating area to keep as dry as possible. There was no way anyone was going to be totally dry. I waited about an hour before it finally let up enough for me to be able to walk around. I made it over to Tusker House and got the pennies and the quarter I needed. While I was in there, even though it was sunny, it still was raining. By this time, it was around 4:00 and I figured I was done with theme parks for the day. I hadn't been to Downtown Disney so that's where I was headed. I wanted to get there before the crowds hit it for Friday night. I had been trying to call Rich all afternoon to find out if my fantasy football trade went on. If it did, I had to change my entire lineup for Sunday. I parked right at the World of Disney and went in search of a phone. Found one but no Rich at his desk. Oh well, I'm going shopping. I was on a mission to find a new ring. With the last two trips, I've bought a new ring to wear. I'll soon be up to all five fingers on both hands! I wanted something different and figured I could find something at the World of Disney. I also was looking for things for Rich's parents' welcome bags for next month. I didn't spend as much as I thought and I did get the 10% Magic Kingdom Club discount. I ended up with four candy bars, two boxes of cookies, four postcards, two sticky notes, and one "touch noses" ring. That's Mickey and Minnie touching noses. Total cost was $29.54. It was very nice being able to just walk around this shop without having to think about other members of the family either waiting or going to go ballistic at what I was spending. Then I just strolled around the Marketplace for a while. I really wasn't interested in shopping. I thought I had enough and I do enjoy shopping with Rich. But I was getting a little hungry. There's the Gourmet Pantry. Into there and I picked up a ham and swiss sandwich and a package of red licorice laces for a total of $6.43. Perfect for tonight and maybe another half tomorrow morning for breakfast. I opened the licorice on the way to the car and I'm hooked. I have to find this stuff tomorrow and take home about six packages. They just might last a week. Back to the room to just relax and rest and start packing. Housekeeping had serviced the room after all. That wasn't a problem but I had left my laptop out on the bed since I didn't think anyone would be in the room. Nothing was bothered, though. I fit all the new stuff I bought into the second suitcase. I have to remember this for next month. I'm still watching the storm systems. I should be able to get out on Sunday without a problem. That's what I thought in June and it didn't work but we'll see. I did finally hook up with Rich and he went home early with a foot injury. Seems he jammed a toe or something and couldn't walk. And he expects to bowl tonight! My trade went through so we talked a while about who to put into my lineup. It figures - I go 1,000 miles from home and have the most fantasy football action of the whole year. My team is actually doing well this year so I have to keep on top of this. And I did get to hear the cat, Todd, meowing in the background. I miss that fuzzy orange fellow. One more day. I think it'll be a MGM/Epcot day. I think I'm done with Animal Kingdom although I hardly "did" anything there. I did what I wanted. And Magic Kingdom doesn't hold much interest for me, especially since it's a Saturday. So I'll go to MGM, try and see about Rock N Roller Coaster (Rich told me to go for it) and get Rich his Wheaties if they have it. And then to Epcot for another walk around. Kids of the Day - the French couple who thought we were in the middle of a hurricane. Just wait until that happens - the rainstorm today was chicken feed. Sense of the Day - the taste of the red licorice; hearing the cat through the phone and realizing that,even thought I'm having the time of my life, there are things that I need to get back to. Day Eight - Saturday, September 30, 2000 I decided to let my neighbors wake me up this morning. But they must be gone. So I got to sleep until after 10:00. Then up and just watching Saturday morning TV until I was awake and ready to go. Housekeeping knocked on the door and this time I told them in person that I didn't need any service. Just pulled the sheets up on the bed and I still have three sets of towels to use in one day. This is my last day and I'm sure the commandos are going to just cringe. I didn't even leave the room until close to 1:00 in the afternoon. With absolutely no reason to go on to any attractions. And was it a good day? Is this vacation anything but good? I parked at the Boardwalk and went out to the boat dock where a Friendship boat for MGM had just pulled up. I had originally planned to walk over to the Swolphin to get the boat, but, hey, it was here. I sat through the Yacht and Beach Club and then the Swan and Dolphin stops and then the slow ride to MGM. Got off there and had the first line glitch of the entire trip. A guy's Annual Passport didn't work. He didn't have any ID on him and he said that his wife was inside MGM. He was directed towards Guest Relations after a long wait. The Cast Member at the gate couldn't do anything. This guy was a little ticked. I guess I would have been too but here's the warning - keep your entire party together or always carry your own ID. I have insisted Rich and Chris always have their driver's licenses with them so they can take care of things if something like this happens. But into MGM with the intent of more pressed pennies and quarters. Found them with no problem at Mickey's of Hollywood. Then by Star Tours which had a 30 minute stand by time. No thank you and I know I'll be on this one with Rich next month. Next was Muppets with a supposed 10 minute wait time. But no preshow for me and I had to pick up the 3D glasses inside - what's up with that? Into the very uncrowded show. My new favorite line (after "a salute to all nations but mostly America") is "I'm bouncing on people's heads". Then back to the shop all the way in the back. Have no idea what it's called but you have to exit it after the AFI shop after the Backlot Tour. No Cal Ripken Wheaties for Rich. They were all football ones and they were all the veterans so Rich will have to check this place out next month on his own. I didn't have instructions to get anything except Cal. Then back towards the front of the park via Mickey Avenue. My other goal was the red licorice so I stopped in the candy store along Sunset Boulevard. They had the bags but I decided to wait and get my new vice at the Boardwalk candy shop. Then I just headed back to the boat. I only spent about an hour in MGM but it was just what I wanted to do. I waited on the boat (it was just pulling up as I got there) for a good amount of time. I was close enough to the front of the boat to hear the skipper monitor when the next boat was leaving the Swolphin. I think there was some sort of snafu with the timing of the boats. This was the longest I have ever waited to depart MGM or any other Friendship launch. But no problem since I wasn't in any hurry. I deboated (is that a word?) at the Swolphin since I wanted to see if I would be able to beat the boat to the Boardwalk. Verdict - in a heartbeat! If you are especially staying towards the Atlantic Dance Hall side of the Boardwalk, take the Swolphin boat instead of the Boardwalk one to MGM. I walked through the Boardwalk and went into the candy store. Yes, they had the red licorice. So I decided to get my supply on the way out. Into Epcot and here's another Annual Pass tip. My pass didn't work! The Cast Member asked if I had just recently used it. I said, yes, at MGM. She had to reset the scanner or whatever and then waved me through. I was prepared with my driver's license but it wasn't needed. And I found out on my way out (it makes more sense to insert this here) that there is a 70 minute window with the Annual Passes. If you reuse it within that timeframe, you won't be able to get through the turnstyles. Rich and I never do the handstamps, relying on the APs. Not anymore. If we are going to be really park hopping, we'll do the handstamps in order to avoid the AP hassles at the turnstyles. I was lucky since I went through the International Gateway and had no one behind me (heck, even near me) but I think that was the guy's problem at MGM. He had just come from some other park and didn't have the handstamp. But into Epcot for my last park and my last couple (ha!) of hours. I had already decided that since it was my last day at my most favorite place in the world, I was going to do my version of responsible drinking around the world. I did check out the shops in Canada for my less than $10 souvenirs. That's my goal for November - a souvenir from every Epcot country but less than $10. I've been looking for the last two trips. And I privately saluted the empty Off Kilter stage. I'll see you guys in a month. And their CD, by the way, is awesome. I will have my Diskman plugged in all the time. Rich will be a happy camper - he won't have to listen to me! First stop was my new favorite - the Refreshment Port for a white wine ($3.98). I walked through the rose garden and hoped that Ed (my father-in-law) would like this next month. He's more into trees and stuff but this should be nice. I sat across from the Imagination pavilion and just watched people for a while and decided what to do next. Food. I didn't know what kind of food but thought The Sunshine Food Court at the Land sounded good. I liked their baked potato last year. So onto that. On the way, I was walking in front of a family who was talking about the fact that Horizons was gone. The Mom said that "something else" would replace it. Yeah, in three years if we're lucky. Anyway, the Dad said about Horizons, and I do quote (I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it) - "I was sorry to see it go. It was one of my favorite rides. Test Track is great but not everyone can go on it". I really wanted to run and get a guest comment card for him. Not *everything* has to be a thrill ride! I love Rock N Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone, and Test Track but I also like Swiss Family Treehouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, The American Adventure, well, you get the picture. A little commentary added for your pleasure and debate. The food court was utterly deserted just after 3:00 in the afternoon. I didn't see the potato I wanted on the menu but asked if I could just get a cheese and bacon one. No problem. And I added a glass of wine but you already knew that, right? Total was $7.69. Here's another tip (last day and she's finally giving tips) - if you want something that's not exactly on the menu, ask if you can get it. The potato was fine except the bacon was kind of hard. Next time, leave off the meat products (Lindy and Della will thank me, I'm sure) and just get the cheese. Enjoyed the meal and just watching people. Had a few interesting things here. The two little girls behind me in line for the potato just were totally thrilled watching the Cast Members prepare my food. This consisted of cutting the potato, pouring on cheese, and then sprinkling on bacon. I have no idea why they were so entranced. It wasn't even their food. And I did |