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Rodney Perry -- September 2000 -- Walt Disney World (BVIR)September 13-17, 2000
Background/Planning This is my first trip report so I hope I can bring something interesting to all who read it. I have very strong ties to WDW as I grew up with the park. I was born in 1961 which made me one excited 10 yr old for opening day, a perfect age to discover WDW. I got to witness the park being built as my father's company produced all the name tags for opening day and the first few years of the park's operation. I was usually able to tag along for delivery trips to the park under construction. My stepmother's sister was also an opening day employee working at what is now known as Tony's Town Square on Main Street. Since our family had vendor and CM connections I got to attend two different dress rehearsal nights in September of 1971. Pretty cool to brag to your schoolmates that you had already visited Disney twice before it even opened. My personal CM experience started in the winter of 1976 when I auditioned for and was selected from a pool over 2000 applicants to join the Character Dept for the Christmas Parade and then the remaining runs of the Bicentennial Parade. Sometime in 1977 the new parade started which required less characters and I was asked if I would like to transfer somewhere else in the park. I chose the Merchandise div and spent almost 1 year at the Emporium on Main Street, then transferring to Tinkerbell's Toy Shop in Fantasyland until leaving for college in August 1979. Fast forward to 1996 when I discover that my wife to be has never been to WDW. Well after rectifying that situation in November of '96, I have again begun to embrace Disney again, just not through rose colored glasses. Yes, as an old timer from opening day, I can see that it's not quite the same, but I still enjoy it and adore seeing my wife's face light up every time we walk down Main Street towards the castle. Well enough background and onto the planning. The mission, as it were, on this trip was to see the MSEP, which I remember listening to twice a night during those magical summers of the late 70's when I had a good job and was having normal high school with the extra spending money. I had not seen the parade since August of 1979 and it was definitely my favorite Disney parade ever. We planned a September trip in spite of having gone last year and being caught in the Hurricane Floyd debacle. The plan all along was to stay in the Boardwalk Villas as a step up in accommodations and to see if we liked it well enough to consider DVC membership. My youngest sister had just started at Rollins College in nearby Winter Park, so the plan was to stay offsite for 2 nights and visit with her before plunging in for 4 nights and 5 days at WDW. We made an initial reservation at regular prices and decided we would try for a MKC discount when they became available and surprise, they did. So now that we were set on rooms, studio, I made a few PS for dining. We chose the Brown Derby, Le Cellier and a Garden Grill character breakfast, all places we had never eaten at before. I decided to follow Deb's advice from www.wdwig.com and send our room request 4 days before our arrival. In my request I asked for a non smoking studio with a Boardwalk view if possible and thanked them for their efforts, being an ex-CM. Little did I know how they would help me until check in. The Trip We left our home in the Great Smoky Mountains on a beautiful Sunday morning with the plan to take no interstates until middle or southern Georgia. We did this via old US 441 South which enabled us to see some beautiful old antebellum homes in Monticello and Madison, Georgia. We originally planned to stop around Valdosta, GA or Lake City, FL, but we made such good time we drove all the way to Wildwood, FL for the night. We slept in so as to arrive in Orlando after morning rush hour. We spent most of the day driving around looking at my old stomping grounds before picking up my sister, Jennifer, for a trip to Downtown Disney. The plan was for dinner at the House Of Blues, then a little shopping before returning Jennifer to her dorm. My wife, who is as Cajun as they come, really wanted to try the Cajun inspired menu at HOB since I had bragged about how good it was on a couple of business trips to FL. No, really, they were business trips and yes, I turned in a HOB receipt to the company for reimbursement. To tell you how Cajun Melissa is, her father is a sugar cane farmer from Napoleonville, LA and we have a sign in our garden that says " Geaux Tigers" Translation is Go Tigers as in LSU Tigers. It's a Cajun thing. The food was every bit as good as my prior trips and my spouse declared it pretty close to real Cajun. After returning Jennifer to her dorm, we went back to our offsite hotel, the Econolodge Maingate Hawaiian. We found it to be clean and neat at the bargain price of $36 per night. Our only problem at this point was a car problem that stressing me out a bit, since we had just paid to fix the same problem right before we left. The problem was a power steering fluid leak which created the most embarrassing groaning sound when turning the wheel. This would impact our plans for the remainder of the week. Our check in day was Wednesday, so we had Tuesday to visit something non-Disney and we chose Sea World. We are big animal people, my brother is a zookeeper, so Sea World was very enjoyable for us. We liked all the shows and exhibits, especially the interactive feeding areas. Discovery Cove may be in the cards for us in the future. I did, however, strain my neck on their Wild Arctic simulator, which bothered me for quite a few days and kept me off some favorites at WDW. While we did not encounter any rude employees, we felt like Sea World had lower hiring standards than WDW in appearance i.e. visible tattoos, piercings. Overall a pleasant day in a nice environment. Isn't that what vacations are supposed to be about? My day in Sea World had helped me to forget my groaning power steering pump which intruded back into my world upon starting the car. We limped back to the Econolodge where I added more fluid. Since the car was acting up, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant which was a pleasant surprise. It featured a large dining area with comfortable booths, good service and good food served at a fair price. I had a NY strip that was good and Melissa had a shrimp and steak special. We retired to our room to get a good night's sleep in anticipation of hitting BWV check in by 8 am. September 13 Day1 WDW We got up around 6:30, showered, packed and loaded up for our short drive to WDW. We actually pulled up to the Boardwalk guard building at 7:45. although we had walked through the Boardwalk area before, I don't remember it looking quite as good as when you know it's your home for the next five days. We pulled up to the front door and checked our luggage with a very friendly bell services gentleman. Now, this was something we had never used in our previous visits. I then self parked the car because of my embarrassment and concern over that noisy power steering pump. After hiking back from the parking lot, I was very glad we had chosen to use bell services, as I could not imagine dragging our luggage all the way from the parking lot to our room in multiple trips. When we approached the front desk it was still a few minutes shy of 8 am and our clerk appeared startled when I told her we were checking in. After she mentally shifted gears, she launched into the normal procedures. Remember our room request for a Boardwalk view? Well our clerk informs us that they did not available and even DVC members have a tough time getting that request filled, but that we had received a free room upgrade to a 1 bedroom villa. Now I hadn't even asked or hinted for this in any way. Maybe, this was due to my ex-CM status. Whatever the reason, I wasn't going to object. Melissa wanted to know how different was this room from what we had originally booked and I just told her that she would be amazed and pleased when we got into our room this afternoon. We had chosen to just use Unlimited Magic for our admission during our stay, so after completing the check in process we headed to a park. Our planned first park was the Studios where had a 1:30 PS at the Brown Derby. So off we head to the boat launches and of course one is just pulling out. Not to worry, we'll just head off to Boardwalk Bakery for a nice quick breakfast. Melissa and I split one of their huge, delicious cinnamon rolls, while I had milk and Melissa her coffee. This plan worked well, because just as we threw away our garbage another boat pulled up for the Studios. Our only goal for this park was to revisit our favorites and try to catch a performance of the Hunchback of Notre Dame show, which we had never seen. We started out at Great Movie Ride and got the cowboy side yet again, boy I'd sure like to get the gangster side again as I haven't seen that in my last 3 trips through. From there, it was on to the Muppets, one of my favorites, where we got to see almost the whole pre-show. After that we headed for Star Tours, my favorite simulator based ride in the world. Although I've enjoyed this ride for many years, I agree it's time for an update. I would like to see a Phantom Menace version that incorporated trailing behind young Anakin though the canyons during his pod race before blasting up into space or down into Jar Jar Binks underwater world. We then stopped at the Backlot Express for some fries and a coke to tide us over until lunch. We then crossed over to the other side of the park for the Animation Tour. Since it was a Wednesday Morning we thought we might actually see some animators at work, which we did for a change. I'm sure I don't speak for everyone, but I love both films shown on the Tour. While the first one with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkrite always makes me laugh, the second one never fails to bring a tear, while Melissa always goes for the tissues to dry her face. After the Tour I started to develop a bit of a headache, so I took some Excedrin while we rested and people watched for a while. After our brief rest, we wandered over to the NY street area and caught a performance by a band called the Godfathers. I recognized some of the trumpet players from Epcot's Future Corps which no longer perform there. They have some very talented high note specialists who I love to listen to. My father and grandfather were both trumpet players so I've always appreciated a great player. Following our musical interlude, we dropped in on Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous which we enjoy. Maybe because we're both big Drew fans. From there it was onto the Brown Derby for lunch. I have been eagerly anticipating this meal for quite sometime. I had downloaded menus and read reviews until my mouth was watering. After a short wait, we were seated and let me say it exceeded all my expectations. Our waiter was absolutely perfect providing the perfect balance of attention and information without being condescending or annoying. He questioned us about our tastes and made several recommendations that proved to be spot on. Melissa had the Sesame Tuna which was wonderful. I know because she allowed me a bite, while my grouper in a lemon tomato butter sauce with chickpeas and fennels was incredible. I normally do not eat such vegetables as chickpeas and fennels, but found them to be quite edible when prepared by the talented staff of the Brown Derby. My palette does not normally run to such exotic fare, but this provided a nice change from the fast food I knew we would consume later in our trip. James, our waiter, returned at an appropriate time to ask if we had made a dessert selection to which my reply was " Yes, about 6 months ago" Grapefruit cake it must be for my wife and me. It too, lived up to and exceeded our taste bud's expectations. All in all a very pleasant dining experience. After lunch we headed over to catch the HoND show. While I have not been a fan of shows or for that matter much of Disney's newer animation efforts, I did enjoy this show. A mix of a classic story and talented performers kept my interest through the whole show. Afterwards we slowly headed back towards the Boardwalk, pausing to look in a few shops on the way. I couldn't wait to see Melissa's face when we entered our room. We caught the boat back to BWV and called from one of the lobby phones while relaxing on one of their large comfortable sofas. We received our room number and arranged to have bell services bring up our luggage. When we opened the door to our room, even I was surprised and I had done enough research to knot what kind of room we had been upgraded to. Our view was of the Luna Park pool and straight across to the ToT at the Studios. It may not have been a Boardwalk view but it was pretty special to us. I think their kitchen was more complete than ours at home. I could not get over the scope of utensils and cooking aids furnished. There was even a colander and a casserole dish. Underneath the sink we discovered a fresh roll of paper towels, dish washer soap and more. The washer and dryer even had a small box of detergent sitting there. Ah, that famous Disney attention to detail! Everything in our room was spotless and beautiful. The balcony size was great, allowing us to sit out and enjoy it with elbow room to spare. While we still reveling in our luxury, George from bell services arrived with our luggage. He was most friendly and wanted to make sure we knew where everything was from our room furnishings to transportation. The time and effort saved by utilizing bell services was a godsend and I consider the tip given to George, money well spent. After unpacking and relaxing for a bit we decided to head back to the Studios to grab a quick bite and try to hit Fantasmic by 6:30 for an 8:00 show. After our return to the park we hit some pin carts and browsed a bit before getting some burgers at Rosie's. The line was quite long, but we looked to be OK on time. We did get seated in time to see Delman, who didn't seem quite as funny as last time. We do like Fantasmic, but parts of it don't seem to fit very well and seem forced into the show, breaking up its flow. For us the Pocahontas sequence should be deleted and replaced with a Peter Pan section as we have heard they do at DL. After the normal fight back through the masses to the boat launch, we were fortunate to see portions of Illuminations 2000 on our boat journey back to BWV. What a nice ending to our first day back at WDW. Day 2 WDW September 14 This was our Animal Kingdom with no PS and just one goal, to see the Festival of the Lion King show. Somehow we had never caught this show. We took the bus over to AK and right away I could tell my back and neck were going to be limiting my day, but I figured we would see some sights we normally don't slow down to look at. The first attraction we decided to visit was It's Tough to be a Bug. I did get a little aggravated at some groups of people who would come to a complete stop and block the walkway to look at the Tree of Life even when there was no one in front of them. I love all the intricate details of the Tree, but please let others pass who have seen it before. After ITTBAB, we wandered over to walk through the Pangani Trail. Last time we lucked out and saw the whole family group of gorillas, but this time we only saw the male silverback. Upon finishing here, we worked our way over towards Camp Minnie Mickey so that we could see the FotLK show. I think I might becoming a fan of musical shows, as Lion King was better than I expected it to be. It was now time for lunch or at least my stomach believed as such. So off we headed to the highly recommended Flame Tree Barbecue. Let's see short lines, good food at reasonable prices and a shaded setting by the river. Oh yeah, this is now one of my favorites. After lunch it was time to walk it off through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Their tigers are absolutely beautiful, exhibiting a lot of play and almost no repetitive behaviors. Those pacing and other repetitive actions are a sign of boredom and complacency and are considered evidence of a poorly adjusted animal. The bat exhibit is also unique and entertaining. Next on the agenda was the Flights of Wonder Bird show, which we had only seen one other time. The story is a little weak, but the birds are incredible and the trainer provides an excellent, informative narrative. At this point, my back was bothering me a bit more, which precluded a ride on Dinosaur, which bummed me out. We instead decided to visit Chester & Hester's for presents for my sister's 2 yr old boy, who is absolutely dino crazy. Boy I can't wait to get him here in a few years. We did a bit more shopping on the way out and headed back to BWV for a brief rest. In past trips, we have leaned towards the commando mode, but with such a wonderful room to come back to, I could really get used to these afternoon breaks. After our rest, our next destination was Disney Quest . This was probably more fun for me than Melissa, but we did find some shared activities. We ate an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory before walking over to the World of Disney for our main gift and souvenir shopping. Shortly after sunset we took the bus back to BWV and explored the Boardwalk for a while, just soaking up the atmosphere. We decided to end our evening with takeout pizza from the outside window at Spoodles which we ate on the Balcony and watched Fantasmic off in the distance. Sept 15 Day 3 WDW No specific goals for the day other than checking out the much maligned JIYI and Millennium Village. We did have a PS for breakfast at the Garden Grill and lunch at Le Cellier, Both firsts for us. We really enjoyed walking right out of BWV and straight into EPCOT. We thought, as others have, how strange it feels to walk through an empty World Showcase into Future World. We had a 9:30 PS at Garden Grill so we wanted to visit as many attractions as possible before then. We started off with Spaceship Earth and after lingering in the post show exhibit, we headed to see Cranium Command. After walking out of the Wonders of Life building, a glance at the watch showed 10 minutes until our PS. Time for a mad dash all the way across FW to the Land Pavilion. Well in spite of being 5 minutes late, we were seated after a 10 minute wait and some confusion by the host staff. Served family style was a nice mix of foods with something for most palates, especially if your palate has a southern twang to it. The cheese grits were my personal favorite. Our view on the lower circle was nice and we were visited by Farmer Mickey as well as Chip and Dale. With this layout, the character interaction seemed to be more personal as there wasn't really room or opportunity for others to intrude upon your time with the characters. We used our flex feature to pay for this meal, but we would have thought it a good value anyway. After our wonderful breakfast we took a right over towards the Imagination Pavilion. First up was HISTA, which I never seem to tire of, followed by the revised JIYI, which left me totally under whelmed. I did not feel it was terrible, just uninspired. It just left me flat, unlike most attractions when I see them for the first time. During our last visit, Innoventions was closed for renovation so we decided to check out the revised edition starting with Innoventions East. We played in the Internet Zone hoping that the line for the House of Innovations would die down, which it didn't. We promised ourselves to return later to get a tour of this home of the very near future. Upon our exit, we veered towards Ellen's Energy Adventure. I liked Ellen as a standup comedian, did not like her sitcom, but find her and Jamie Lee Curtis Funny in this attraction. After our Energy Adventure, I needed some refreshment, so off to Ice Station Cool to sample Coke products I actually like, but can't buy in America. Because of my still sore back and neck, we skipped Test Track, Body Wars and any other attraction likely to aggravate it. In other words a lot of really neat stuff. Exploring WS was next and we chose to start counterclockwise as we had a 2:00 PS at Le Cellier. We explored the shops in the UK before ducking into MV. After getting about halfway through, I noticed that once again we were minutes away from being late again. However as Le Cellier was only half full, it wouldn't have mattered. I had to try the cheddar cheese soup and felt it lived up to its billing. For entrees, I had a NY strip and I believe Melissa had a Chicken Penne Pasta. The food was good, not exceptional and our server was excellent. I wouldn't call it a favorite, but it did offer a nice quiet comfortable meal away from the crowds. We followed our meal with a trip to catch the movie in France which we had skipped the last few times. After this, it was back to BWV for a jump in the pool. Even we hit Luna Park at around 3:00 in the afternoon on a hot day, it was not overcrowded and I enjoyed many trips down the slide. I just couldn't convince my bride to join me on the slide. This was a very enjoyable break that definitely paid off as the evening went on. With a change of clothes, we walked back over to EPCOT, a feature of staying at BWV which I really loved. We were both a little hungry, so we stopped at the fish 'n' chips cart in the UK for a snack. Just as we got our food, a light shower moved in which proved to be a harbinger of things to come. We spied an empty bench underneath an overhang on the back of the Tea shop overlooking gardens and sat down to enjoy our food. It was so peaceful sitting there watching others scurry for cover or ponchos. When it stopped we walked over to Japan to buy wind chimes for my stepmother and a small good luck cat statue for our house. Next was Italy where Melissa bought some glass colored eggs for an Easter display she is working on. Window shopping in Germany brought us close to time for the ToN parade so we found a bench between Germany and China and waited for it to work its way to us. A nice English family shared our bench with us and they kept asking if the parade would make it round to us. We reassured them that it would and we ended up with a great vantage point this parade. Its not the best Disney parade I've seen, but I did enjoy the music and enjoying the antics of the talented puppeteers. After the parade passed, we went into China for more window shopping, where I saw a fantastic rosewood table with lots of very intricate carving. I thought I might like it until I saw the price tag. Well maybe I'll hit the lottery someday. We then looked into Norway's shops with some overpriced sweaters before deciding it was once again snack time. I had my heart set on some watermelon juice from Mexico, but it was no longer on the menu. We settled on Nachos and Ice teas for now. From here it was back to Innoventions. Ok, I'll admit that I saw some gadgets and new technologies here that I really liked. Next was the West side where we played some video games, not nearly as good a selection as before. We also went through the Medicine's New Vision presentation. Now time to look through the former Centorium, where I found some more apparel from Disney's surf themed line. I love these new shirts and have bought every one I have seen. It was now getting close to Illuminations time and I realized that 1 hour before show time means all the good spots are gone. I just can't see staking out a spot 2 hours in advance, so we walked around WS to find a spot near the International Gateway for a quick exit to BWV after the show. We settled on the bridge between France and UK which turned out for 2 short people to be less than ideal. Taller people kept moving in front then moving on. I'll pass my judgment on Illuminations 2000 after I really get to see it, not just glimpses of it. After the show we beat a hasty retreat to explore the Boardwalk at night. This where our afternoon rest was so helpful. Because of the threat of light showers moving in, it was a sparse crowd. We didn't stop in to any restaurants or clubs, but made notes on where to return to next time. It was time to head back to our room as we had a full day at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow. I was hoping the weather, Hurricane Gordon, would hold off long enough for us to see the MSEP. Day 4 WDW Saturday September 16 It was an EE day at MK and we intended to take full advantage of it, at least until the crowds got too thick. After a quick bite in the room, we headed for the bus stop, where we had about a 15 minute wait. We arrived just after the turnstiles were opened and started down Main St where we were stopped to have our pictures taken. Usually it seems like they pick somebody else. We went straight to Tomorrowland to help Buzz save the universe. Emperor Zurg is in no danger from Melissa or I. Next it was across to AE to watch Skippy get fried. From here we moved over to Fantasyland to catch Pooh's Adventure. We rode Toad's Wild Ride on its last day, but don't hold a grudge against Pooh. Next was Peter Pan's Flight which we walked right on. Snack time, so off to the Main St Bake Shop for something sweet. It was now past rope drop, but we headed back to Tomorrowland to see the first CoP show of the day. Both Melissa and I will sorely miss the Carousel of Progress when it's gone. We then walked across the park to Liberty Square to visit our 999 favorite spirits and then went to check on Big Al and Company. I still love to hear Big Al moan " Blood On The Saddle." Pirates was our next stop followed by the revised Tiki Birds. I, for one, like the new show for its blending of the classic elements of the new show with the newer characters, Iago and Zazu. Next up was a quick lunch at Pecos Bill's and their great topping bar. Well, it was jam packed and it was starting to sprinkle. After soldiering through the long line, Melissa found the last available inside table to enjoy our lunch. Back on with the ponchos and over to Main St for some shopping. At the Main St Barber Shop I saw something that didn't seem right. There were only females cutting hair instead of the traditional older male barbers. Theme wise, this was out of place. Old time barber shops barely tolerated women inside much less cutting hair. I hope this was a temporary situation due to staffing difficulties. On our way out, Melissa went to check on our pictures. She found one she liked and bought it before we headed back to BWV. It was still sprinkling when we got back, so we rested in our room. I made a phone call to check on the status of that night's MSEP. I was told that they would leave the decision till the last possible minute to give it every opportunity of going on. After snacking on some leftover pizza, we headed back towards the MK. The rain had not let up and I was feeling pretty doubtful about our chances of seeing the parade tonight. The parade was at 8 and it was 6:15 when we headed down a very crowded Main St. We finally found a spot in Liberty Square close to the Riverboat Launch. We sat down in our ponchos and hoped for the rain to stop. A young British couple was next to us and we chatted with them while watching the parade boundaries being laid out. The closer we got to 8, the lighter the sprinkles became. Walt was reaching down from heaven and moving the clouds away is what I told Melissa. The crowd kept getting bigger and bigger till it was larger than any September throng I could recall. I even overheard a CM mention that it seemed as big as their biggest summer crowd. I hope the size of this crowd showed management the drawing power that MSEP still has. Finally, the drizzle stopped and right on cue, the lights went down. Then, that familiar refrain could be heard over on Main St and working its way over towards us. I may have spent two summers listening to that tune twice a night, but I still haven't tired of it. Melissa had only heard it on tape, but even she was getting excited as the parade drew near. Melissa was entranced by the whole spectacle when the parade made its way to our vantage point. I saw new elements and some I couldn't remember as well as old favorites. I eagerly waited for the circus calliope and of course, Elliott the dragon. I still love his disappearing act. I've never seen Spectromagic, but it could never take the place of MSEP in my heart. After the parade we walked over to Fantasyland, as it was too crowded in front of the castle. We watched the fireworks from beside Dumbo. It was a great viewing spot, but we couldn't hear the music. Afterwards, it was just follow the masses to the bus stops, which were pretty much chaos. There were so many people trying to head to their resorts, on way too few buses that it was difficult to even find the line for your resort. It took us well over an hour to get back to BWV. Kind of a chaotic end to our last night, but with a hurricane moving towards us again, it shouldn't surprise me. Day 5 WDW Sunday September 17 We woke up to Hurricane Gordon making his presence known against the windows. At least the rain held off last night, so we could see the MSEP, which was a big priority on this visit. We leisurely packed up and tried to finish off the last of our groceries for breakfast. The weather channel forecast a really rainy Sunday, so we decided to head home, rather than slog around the parks before driving back cold and wet. We assembled our luggage and called bell services then I went down to retrieve our car. When I pulled up to the front door, Melissa and John, our bellman, were waiting on me. We loaded the car and I packed it again, so we could take one last look around. A visit to the gift shop saw us buy a BWV t shirt, Mickey BWV bellman beanie and some postcards. After soaking up that last little bit of atmosphere, we decided to start home to make it there that evening. It was an uneventful drive home, but I noticed when we were unloading our car, that our tags were expired before we even started our trip. So, I guess we did have a bit of good luck after all since we didn't get stopped. Summary
Closing Thoughts: Let me put my ex-CM hat on for a minute. When I was here in the 70's as a guest or CM, I always felt like the magic was everywhere. Now I have to look for the magic, because its certainly not all encompassing. It was probably unrealistic of me to expect that the extreme growth wouldn't affect the quality of the show, but I was hopeful. I still love going to WDW as a vacation, because I feel that it still exceeds all the alternatives. While diminished somewhat, their standards of service and cleanliness are still far beyond what lies just outside their boundaries. As long as I can escape by going there, it will remain our top choice for a vacation. Hopefully in the next year or so, we will become DVC members and be a part of the magic on a regular basis. Thanks to all who wrote trip reports before me and to all those reports to come in the future. Please feel free to e mail Melissa and I with any comments. Rodney Perry cajunmelissa@msn.com Mail a Comment to Rodney Perry |
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