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Roger Reini -- August 2000 -- Walt Disney World (VDI)August 6 to 12, 2000 Cast of Characters (other than myself): S (a.k.a. Mommy), my sister R (a.k.a. Daddy), her husband and my brother-in-law C, their oldest child and my older niece (9) H, their middle child and younger daughter, as well as my younger niece (7) B, their youngest child, only son and my nephew (10 months) Day 0, Aug. 6 - Arrival Today we arrived at Disney World. We arrived separately, each taking a side trip before our main DW experience. My sister and her family were coming from Texas, having visited relatives and friends there, while I was coming from Titusville, having toured the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. We planned to arrive at the Disney Institute between 11 AM and noon, and it worked out well. I got to the institute first and checked us in. Just as I was pulling out to head to our Treehouse Villa, I saw a familiar car driving up. Yes, it was S and family. I told them to follow me to the villa. When we arrived at the gate, I used my pass to open the gate, and they followed me inside. We stayed at villa 439, and the bellman helped us unload our cars and take the luggage to the villa. Most of the rest of the day was spent getting situated and settled in. Our villa had a kitchen, so we needed to go get some groceries for the week. We went to the Gooding's at the Crossroads shopping center. The store appeared to be somewhat upscale, and the prices proved it. S complained about how everything was so expensive here compared to back home in Virginia. Still, we got enough food to load our refrigerator - and more. The villas didn't have a pantry, so much of what we bought had to go on the table. Later on, I took a short ride around the area in order to capture some of it on video, especially the entrance to DW. Still later, we walked to the welcome center and its gift shop, as I wanted to drop off a roll of film for developing. We saw a number of boats passing by on the canal, and we could see the buildings of Downtown Disney in the distance. We didn't visit any parks today, although H was anxious to go to one. But we were going to go tomorrow and visit the Magic Kingdom. Day 1, Aug. 7 - Magic Kingdom We got off to an early start, heading for the bus stop before 7:30 AM. We had to wait some 15 to 20 minutes for our bus to arrive. By the time the bus had visited the rest of the stops at the institute and driven to the Magic Kingdom, 30 more minutes had elapsed. This was not my first Disney park experience; I had visited Disneyland in March. However, it was my first trip to DW, and it was their first trip to any Disney park. One of the first things we saw upon entering the MK was a statue of Goofy, and everyone had their picture taken with it. We then proceeded down Main Street to Cinderella's Castle and into Fantasyland. H really wanted to ride the carousel, so she did that along with her sister and father, while Mommy and I stayed with baby B. They rode twice in a row, in fact. Next, C and R rode the Dumbo ride, after which H decided she wanted to ride it, too. So I rode with C, and R rode with H. The girls wanted to meet as many characters as possible and get their autographs, and they started with Ariel in her grotto. First, they visited the fountain and got soaked. Then, they waited along with S and me (we had camera duty) to visit Ariel. After they met her, we went towards the Mad Tea Party but got sidetracked by another opportunity to meet characters; this time, it was Chip, Dale and Susie Mouse from "Cinderella". As we went to the teacups, who did we see but Tweedledum and Tweedledee? Now R has been known to call his daughters Tweedledee and Tweedledum on occasion (they fight over who's Tweedledee, 'cause neither wants to be Tweedledum), so they had to go and meet them. It took a while, because the characters went off for two short breaks, but they finally met them. In one picture I took, one of them had messed us C's hair so that she looked like Cousin Itt from "The Addams Family". By this time, the baby was fussing, so we decided to return to our villa for lunch. I walked to the welcome center to pick up my pictures, but they hadn't arrived. We went back to the MK around 3:30. This time, we took the MK railroad around the park to Toontown Fair, which was convenient to the teacups. We finally rode the teacups; the girls did OK, but I got a little dizzy. Next was the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. I rode with C, while R took H. C had some difficulty holding down the gas pedal all the way, so after a short distance, we decided to split functions. She'd steer, while I'd work the gas. It was a good thing we had the guide rail, for we had a bumpy ride! But what do you expect from a 9-year-old who'd never driven before? Afterwards, we rested for a bit while the baby got a bottle. By this time, I was rather tired and hungry, and I also had sore feet, so I didn't want to stay for the parade and fireworks. But the others did want to stay, so I went back to the villa, picked up my pictures, dropped off another roll and made some spaghetti for supper. Afterwards, I visited the Virgin Megastore at Downtown Disney and picked up the CD version of the Bangles' "Different Light" (I'd owned the LP since '86). I went through the Guitar Gallery there but saw only one guitar worthy of interest: a Jetglo-black Rickenbacker 330-12. The West Side of Downtown Disney is packed with restaurants and shops - the House of Blues, Bongos Café, AMC movie theaters, etc. It'd be a good place to hang out, but not tonight, as I was tired and needed rest. Day 2, August 8 - Epcot We got a late start today, as the baby had had a rough night; he develops a cough quite easily and requires periodic breathing treatments. These treatments would dictate our future park stays to be around four hours long. We got to Epcot after 10 and spent much of our time in the indoor exhibits, such as Innoventions. I saw the Ultimate Home Theater exhibition, while I went with R and C to see Motorola's exhibit. Next, we spent some time in line to meet Goofy and Mickey Mouse. We got our pictures taken with them; later, we'd select the three best to keep. After meeting each character, we were directed through the exit and into the large Mouse Gear store, which has a LOT of stuff. We spent quite a bit of time and money there; I bought the new Buzz Lightyear DVD and a video of the millennium celebrations at Epcot. Baby B got Baby Mickey and Baby Tigger, and everyone else got something as well. We also visited the Coca-Cola exhibit where you could sample various soft drinks from around the world. Nobody cared for the bitter Beverly from Italy, but I really liked the German mixer. By this time, we had to return to the villa for lunch and to give B his breathing treatment. Lunch came from Texas: chopped beef barbecue from Joe's BBQ in Alvin, a longtime family favorite. It was VERY good! Afterwards, I went to pick up my pictures. The neighbors were riding by on their motorized cart, and they offered me a lift, which was very much appreciated in the hot Florida afternoon. The pictures turned out well. We were planning on returning to Epcot, but the baby was fussing, so we canceled our plans. Instead, we went to a nearby Wal-Mart for more groceries, especially bottled water. The prices were much better than Gooding's; however, the store was much farther away. Later on, we had some ice cream, and we attempted to watch the Buzz Lightyear DVD on my laptop computer. Unfortunately, the sound was too difficult to hear, so we gave up on it. I then proceeded to soak my feet in a bath of Johnson's Foot Soap. Day 3, August 9 - MGM and Epcot Today, we set off for the Disney-MGM Studios. Before entering the park, the girls were able to meet four characters: Gov. Ratcliffe from "Pocahontas", Rafiki from "The Lion King", Mu-Shu from "Mulan", and a Green Army Man from "Toy Story." Inside, we took the Great Movie Ride, which everyone enjoyed, even the baby. Then we saw the live "Beauty and the Beast" show, something H had really wanted to see. It was OK. We didn't go on any other rides, as it was time to return to our villa. We started to heat more barbecue, but while I was enjoying my BBQ sandwiches, the lights went out. Apparently they went out all around the villas. This prompted me to go to the AMC theaters at Downtown Disney and see the new movie "Space Cowboys". Fortunately, the problem affecting the villas was not affecting the theaters, so I was able to enjoy the movie. By the time the movie ended and I returned home, the lights had come back on. It had gotten quite warm inside the villa, S said, but things were back to normal. Tonight, we finished our tour of Epcot. The lines for Spaceship Earth were nonexistent, so we rode it. The baby was fascinated by the telegraph exhibit; perhaps he heard the high-pitched tones of the telegraph signal. When we were done, R and I and the girls decided to ride it again. The girls really wanted to ride it again, and this time R and I could experience the ride without the distraction of a video camera. Not having a camera made a big difference for me, as my eyes adjusted better to the low light levels without interference from the camera's LCD display. After our second ride, we took our tour of World Showcase, including the Millennium Pavillion. I commented that passing through the Canadian pavillion was my easiest trip "into" Canada: no bridge, no tunnel, no Customs, etc. We went around counter-clockwise, pausing for the girls to meet Aladdin, Jasmine and the Genie in Morocco. We also saw a French jazz band and a Moroccan rock band, both of which were good. Later, in Germany, we saw the Seven Dwarves (no Snow White), and the girls were able to meet five of them (all but Happy and Sneezy). By the time we got to the African outpost, we thought we should look for a place to view the Tapestry of Nations and Illuminations 2000. We found our spot near Germany, close to one of the entrances for the Tapestry paraders. We also had a pretty good view of Illuminations, but we were surprised when some fireworks were launched from right in front of us. At the end of the night, our path took us through the Mouse Works store (a bad idea, in our opinion). Day 4, August 10 -- Thursday Today was one of our big meal days. We were going to have breakfast with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. We made sure to get up very early and get to the bus stop real early. As we arrived at the MK, the gates were just being opened up for early entry, and we got to the restaurant right on time for our 7:35 seating. We didn't have long to wait before meeting Pooh and Piglet, who were making the rounds of the restaurant. The girls enjoyed meeting them, as well as Eeyore and Tigger, while the baby wasn't so thrilled. In fact, he pushed Tigger's paw away. Tigger "cried" when he did that. After our meal, we went back to the carousel in Fantasyland, and everyone rode this time. We then rode It's A Small World; I had ridden it in Disneyland in March, and I thought the Disneyland version was better. We then went through Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents, got indirectly splashed by Splash Mountain, and then headed through Adventureland and out of the park. We then hopped on the monorail, just to say we'd ridden it, and went to the Grand Floridian, where we visited a gift shop there and picked up our millennium pins that came with our vacation package. Then it was back to MK and back to our villa for lunch and rest. I went to a K-Mart near the Florida Mall to get some film developed and to get some throat lozenges for R, who was complaining of a sore throat. The pictures turned out OK, but getting home proved to be difficult due to rush-hour traffic and some heavy rain. After I got back to the villa, we had to go to the store for a couple of things, so S and I went back to Gooding's for chicken and stuff. After supper, I went to the Downtown Disney Marketplace and got a T-shirt for baby B (his birthday's in October) and an Eeyore hat for myself. Day 5, August 11 -- Friday Today we visited Animal Kingdom. This proved to be my least favorite park, as it seemed hotter outside and harder on my feet. On the other hand, C and H enjoyed it, especially the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. That was the main ride they wanted to do, and we did it. We saw a few characters at AK, but there was no time to meet them. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch -- or rather, they went there; I was tired and wanted to return to the villa. They enjoyed themselves, mostly, but C was also complaining about not feeling well. Meanwhile, the skies opened up while I waited for my bus, but the waiting area was covered. That evening, we stayed in and started to pack for our trip home. Day 6, August 12 -- Saturday We loaded up the cars and left our villa around 9:30. Our tickets would be valid for the remainder of the day, but as we had long drives ahead of us, the only place we visited was the Downtown Disney Marketplace. I bought some pins for myself, some to give as birthday presents, and a Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey Mouse watch (the last bought at the advice of all three kids, even the baby). Around 11, I saw that the DD Rainforest Cafe was open and decided to have lunch there. But they'd just eaten at the AK one yesterday and didn't want to go back, so we said our goodbyes there. They hit the road for home, while I had chicken fried chicken in the company of one of the animated elephants. By noon, I was on the road for Michigan, where I'd arrive late the next day. Roger Reini roger@rreini.com Mail a Comment to Roger Reini |
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