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Brian Bennett -- October 2000 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR)

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The Trip Report

Friday, October 20 (Travel Day, Saginaw to Chattanooga, TN)

The plan was to leave our house by 6:00am.

Barb got up at 3:30am to finish the packing and finishing up the last minute chores.  Mostly, she still had a few things to deal with with MouseMemories, our family's eCommerce effort (selling Disney licensed and other trip-related scrapbooking supplies -- as well as offering a custom memories album service) in preparation for our departure.

She woke me up at 4:30am saying, "Brian, I need you to get up now."

I was partially awake, and asked, "why," I needed to be up.

"To get yourself ready and help me with Allan," was the answer.

"And what will I do with the other hour?," I asked.

Well, I got up, trimmed my beard really short (I do that before every trip South, just to be more comfortable), got showered, and started in with the other preparations.  Barb was right.  She had had a ton of things to do, but I emptied the garbage cans, got Allan's car seat from our van (to put in the in-law's van, the trip vehicle this time), replaced the shower curtain (the old one was ratty, and we do have that friend staying at our house this week...we didn't want to gross the girl out), stripped the bed and replaced the sheets (Barb helped with the chore of remaking the bed, so it would look good), gave Allan a sponge bath and dressed him, and replaced the front landing light bulb (which I'd meant to deal with the night before, but forgot to do).  By the time I'd done all of that, Barb's parents were at the house, and we all started hauling things outside to the drive.  Barb's mom was designated master-packer, so while she did that I put some ice in the cooler, and other such mundane tasks.

We left the driveway at 6:03am.  Darn.  Another missed departure time  ;)  Not bad, really, compared to NorthWest Airlines, anyway.

We drove South and had a rather uneventful early morning.  Barb (navigating in the front passenger seat) and her Mom (driving) got us lost in Northern Ohio for a while, but we probably only lost twenty minutes or so.  We drove through a ton of construction in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee -- most of it after I'd taken the reins for a while.  We did stop for a McDonald's breakfast and a Wendy's lunch before we got to East Ridge, Tennessee (just South of Chattanooga) where we stayed for the night.

We arrived at East Ridge at about 6:15pm and when Grandma and Grandpa went into the Ramada to check us in, Allan made the understatement of the day.

"Well guys, it was a long trip, wasn't it?"

After we got our stuff up to the rooms, we drove West back over the freeway to where there appeared to be some restaurants.  Grandpa was looking for beef, and we ended up at Ryan's, where we gorged ourselves on steak night rib eyes.  Then, it was back to the room where I updated this day's entry and inputted the expenditures in the spreadsheet.  Now that I'm part of MousePlanet, all of these trip expenses are tax deductible  ;)

Barb and Allan share the "Good Traveler" award for today.  Barb, for selflessly getting up so early and dealing with so many details over the last few days;  Allan, for behaving almost perfectly!  He played, talked, read, and kept himself busy through a looooooong twelve hour drive. 

We're planning an early start tomorrow, too.  I floated a 6:00am trial balloon at dinner and no one shot it down (in their collective hearts, perhaps, but not verbally).  So, tomorrow we should get into the Kissimmee area in the late afternoon and be able to spend some quality time in the area. 

Saturday, October 21 (Drive on to the Orlando / Kissimmee area, visit Portofino Bay Club (the new resort at Universal Studios) to see the competition and have dinner)

We got up and at 'em really early this morning.  We actually left our hotel at 6:04am, a terrific start for "just a travel day."  we had less territory to cover today than yesterday, but it still would be a good 550 miles or so.  We stopped at a McDonald's for another quick breakfast, and pretty much ended up skipping lunch.  We also made a brief stop in Ocala to see the Disney Welcome Center and snap some digital pics for MousePlanet.

After our quick stop, we barreled down I-75, Florida's Turnpike, and US-27 to SR-192 (we did stop just North of 192 to fill up the gas tank, but that was the only stop).

We made our way East on 192 to find our Ramada (the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Inn) just West of WDW on 192.  The construction along the strip was a royal pain (we found out the next day that the construction flowed past WDW and Celebration to the East).

Check in was pretty simple (Barb's parents dealt with it, since the reservations were in their name), and we quickly got down to rooms 335 and 336.  I'll submit a formal review when we get home, but here's a short list of problems:

• Room 335
  • In-Room Safe did not function
• Room 336
  • Television had a vertical hold problem (It kept scrolling from side-to-side)
  • Air Conditioning did not work, however the fan was constantly on, which was a good thing because,
  • The toilet ran constantly, too.

The rooms were clean enough, and they were nice, they just had some maintenance problems.   For the price, and since we were just treading water until our move the next day, they were fine.  For the money, though, I think we could have done better at another chain motel in the area.

After a very brief break in which Barb and Allan and I visited the unheated pool (which was quite chilly, I must say) and had a very short nap, we climbed back into the van and drove up to Universal Orlando for a quick tour of Portofino Bay Hotel.  

The hotel is at the very North-East corner of Universal's complex, so we drove up I-4 and got off at exit 30, which is the closest one to the Universal complex.  We drove by Citywalk, past the huge parking deck, and close to the Hard Rock Hotel which is still under construction (it doesn't look like a rock 'n' roll hotel from the outside, not that I know what a rock 'n' roll hotel looks like).  Then we made the right hand turn into the Portofino area and were rewarded with a spectacular view of a small Italian town on the shore of a lake.  The drive wound around the lake to the hotel entrance, but we turned off to the self-parking deck that was on the right hand side.  We made our way up the elevator to the main level, and enjoyed the entrance facade with it's lovely fountain.  The area was very busy with incoming guests, the bell services folks were hopping.  The lobby was nice, but nothing spectacular.  In fact, the check in desk was surprisingly small.  The themeing began right beyond the business end of the lobby, though.  A lovely indoor courtyard has a "street" that runs off to the right.  The "street," of course, is lined with shops and other resort facilities.

Walking outside from the courtyard takes you out to a small upper plaza.  When we were there, the plaza appeared to have a private group having some sort of event.  There were probably twenty tables set up with several folks milling about.  Beyond the fountain and just before that orange colored "building" in the rear left corner of the picture of the plaza, is a walkway down to the main Portofino Bay plaza.  The view is a pleasant surprise, with the feeling of a small town kept very much intact.  Note, though, that the steps of this walkway definitely show that the resort is geared much more toward adults and families with older children -- and not at all toward families with small kids.  I was glad at this point of the evening that we didn't have a stroller with us.  The steps don't really feel as steep as they look (even when we were going up, after a big dinner), and the terraced planters are very pretty (although the plants in this area must certainly be shade lovers).

When you get to the bottom of the stairs, though, the themeing of this lovely resort really hits you.  The "sea side town" view that we first saw when we turned into the resort area, is a very large open plaza that sits at the bottom of those stairs.

Actually, when you first get to the bottom of the stairs, the first thing you see is the waterfront, with the boats of a number of small time fishermen anchored just off shore.  The only thing missing is the smell of salt water in the air and the sounds of the tradesmen emptying their nets and packing their catch.

As you turn around, and look back at the buildings behind you, you'll see a facade that looks for all the world like a collection of small buildings facing the bay.  The plaza is very large. In fact, at first glance one might think that Universal over did it on the size of this paved area, but it appeared as though they used the area for special events and displays.  While we were there, in fact, a number of sports cars were placed in the plaza (for a show or what, we never found out).

By this time, we were all pretty hungry.  We hadn't had a bite to eat since our late breakfast (on which Allan had only nibbled), so we started checking out the meal options.  Funny thing, all of the restaurants were Italian.  :)  We settled on Mama Della's, which I figured to be a Mama Melrose's knock off.  It was, except that the decor of the restaurant is much more upscale than at Mama Melrose's, which strives for the poor ethnic neighborhood look.  Each room of Mama Della's "house" is decorated in different colors -- but each is quite formal.  The restaurant is not huge, by any means, but the smallness of each of the seating areas gives the further impression of being in a really intimate restaurant. 

The menu options were pricey, but not much more than you'd expect at a decent place at Walt Disney World.  Barb ordered lasagna and I had penne chicken primavera.  Both were excellent, and both were priced at $16.25.  Allan shared with us, so there wasn't any additional charge there.  Grandma and Grandpa shared a sirloin dish with caramelized onions that was excellent, if a bit lacking in the serving size department.

Part way through our meal, a small troupe of musicians came through.  They didn't play for us specifically, but we heard them as they made their way through the restaurant entertaining everyone else.  (The picture to the right shows the troupe, but the guitarist is merely posing for my camera...they didn't play for us at all.)

All in all, the meal was wonderful.  It wasn't any more expensive than a full service meal at any WDW resort.  The one thing that really struck me, though, was the fact that the restaurant was more upscale in decor and menu than a family with small children might typically be comfortable with.

After dinner (our total -- for Barb, Allan, and I -- came out to $40.45 with tax and tip), we backtracked to the plaza, up the stairs, through the upper plaza to the lobby and got our parking deck pass.  By showing my dinner receipt, I was able to get a "free" pass to exit without paying for parking.

My overall impression of the Portofino Bay Hotel is that it is a very nice one, nicely themed, but definitely geared toward adults and families without children.  I did notice some odd things that detracted from the themeing, though.  The most obvious was the painted-on bricks on some of the buildings.  Although I thought the effect was good, the scale was way off, so the bricks (had they been real ones) would have been several feet high and long.  They just didn't look real.  the other thing was the large openness of the central plaza.  I've never been to Italy, I'll admit, but in my mind I picture much smaller plazas and squares crowded with shops and restaurants.  To have such a wide open space looked artificial.  Again, just my opinion for what little it's worth.

We walked on down to the van parked below and drove on out of the Universal Studios area and jumped on I-4 for a quick drive South.

Or so I thought.

As it turned out, we left one parking lot for another one.  I-4, with no visible reason for it, was bumper to bumper.  Actually, we'd noticed the heavy South-bound traffic on the way up, but figured that it was just the local rush hour and that it would be cleared up long before we got there.

Wrong.

It was very, very busy.  Each entrance ramp dumped more and more vehicles onto the road.  The logjam didn't clear up until we got past SR-535 and why it did so there, I have no idea.  I took a couple pictures of the traffic on the interstate, but I'll not put it up since you all know what a bunch of motionless cars looks like.

Well, I had a little surprise in mind.  The surprise was mostly intended for Allan, but I figured it would be a pleasant one for everyone else too.  I happened to know (from the great park schedule calendar that we have on MousePlanet now), that the Main Street Electrical Parade was running twice tonight.  I figured it would be a great night to see it, and start our WDW visit with a bang.

We got to the parking area and entered without paying (I showed our AP vouchers and was waved on through), then we parked in the big lot for the first time in over ten years!  Not since our honeymoon have I visited the Magic Kingdom from an offsite resort.  It was weird to stop at the Ticket and Transportation Center and ride the monorail to the park.  Allan certainly knew where we were going by this time, and was very excited about it.  As we strolled in front of the train station, we could hear the strains of Baroque Hoedown being played in the park.  Our destination, though, was guest services -- to get our APs turned on.

That process turned out to be painless.  The tickets were given to us with a minimum of fuss, and we walked through the turnstiles and entered a sea of humanity that rivaled Disneyland during the "last" year that the parade would be running ever in life at that park (yeah, right).  Most of the milling masses were just hanging out, looking toward the castle...biding their time, waiting for Fantasy in the Sky to begin.

We waited with them, at a less than perfect location on the hub, just short of the Liberty Square bridge.  There were some trees partially blocking our view of the fireworks, but the music was great and our view of Tinkerbell's flight was perfect.

After the fireworks, we pushed our way through Liberty Square and into Frontierland to find a place to camp out for the late parade run.  We found a good spot directly across from the shooting gallery and plopped ourselves down for the hour plus long wait.

The parade, of course, was a magical mix of lovely music, beautiful images of wonderful characters, and the loveliest collection of moving lights this side of SpectroMagic.  I must admit, I like the Spectro floats much better than the older generation MSEP ones, but both parades are great and well worth seeing over and over again.

Allan thoroughly enjoyed the parade, waving as princess after princess and character after character made their way past us.  He got more than his fair share of waves and smiles back, too, I think.  Grandma and Grandpa were as spellbound as Allan was.  I hadn't realized that neither of them had ever seen a Disney nighttime parade before!

As expected, it was a spectacular start for our trip.  The crowds were bad, but not terrible.  But the magical kick start was worth braving the masses.  It was a great evening!

After that, we made our way back to the park exit, rode on the General Joe Potter back to the TTC and on the tram back to the van.  I drove us back to the Ramada where we crashed for the night.  Actually, everyone else crashed...I had pictures and a trip report to deal with  ;)

Sunday, October 22 (Check into Westgate Lakes, Dinner at Teppanyaki Dining Rooms)

We got up and got ready from the Ramada and left the rooms to check out from there at about quarter to nine in the morning.  Not surprisingly, the complaints about the rooms were met with disinterest.  My father-in-law was quite upset at the front desk folks, but concluded that they were just operating like a big corporation...which, indeed, they are.

We drove East on 192 to find a Sizzler's for breakfast.  The one I thought we were looking for should have been fairly close to the WDW property, but I was wrong.  It turned out to be several miles beyond, even East of the point that 192 turns South and then East again (past the Medieval Times dinner place).

We eventually found the Sizzler's (Grandpa saw a billboard, so we knew we were in the vicinity), and sat down to a pretty decent breakfast buffet for $3.99 each.  It was a pretty typical spread.  Things were really going along great, but halfway through the meal the place got much busier.  Lines were forming everywhere and shortages of the basics started appearing on the hot tables.  It was a good thing that we were pretty much done by that time (ok, I would have enjoyed more French toast, but I wasn't braving the line for it).

After that, we made our way even further East to Bible Baptist Church, the place where we generally attend services when we're in the area.  It's quite conservative, but really the folks there are raving liberals compared to our home church.  We enjoyed the music and Pastor Williams shared a great message from Ecclesiastes chapter 1.

After church, we figured we'd drive over to Westgate Lakes and check in, get settled in our room, and just enjoy the afternoon.  Alas, it was not to be.  I did get pre-registered and all, but there were no rooms ready, so we had to figure out what to do for a while with a cranky four-year-old and four tired adults.  Nothing to do to solve that problem but go shopping, right?  I maneuvered the van North up International Drive to the Belz outlets and we strolled the Character Warehouse for awhile.  We found several things we "needed" including a pair of sunglasses for Allan (we paid $4.99, and saw the same thing in the park since for $8.00) and a bag to haul things around the parks in.  Grandma picked up some things, too, including a key chain with her name on it ("Lynette" is a rare name, it seems) and some other items.  Unfortunately, the clerk failed to put the key chain in the bag, so after we left (we were already a couple of miles away on International Drive North) we had to turn around to pick up the misplaced trinket.  It was still there, so we were off again.

(Note: One other thing that we did, actually before we drove to Belz, was to drive South down Turkey Lake road to see how best to get to WDW from Westgate Lakes.  It turned out to be pretty easy.  Turkey Lake runs right into Palm Parkway, which we knew from our 1998 trip to be really close to WDW's Hotel Plaza Boulevard.  In fact, if you exit the Hotel Plaza Boulevard onto 535 heading Northwest, the very first light is Palm Parkway.  The Comfort Inn that we stayed at in the Spring of 1998 is just a couple blocks from 535 on the East side of Palm Parkway.)

When we returned to Westgate Lakes, our room was indeed ready!  Great news.  Oddly, though, just before bell services was about to show us the way to the room, the girl that checked me in came running out of the resort asking us to stop.  She said that there'd been a problem with our room keys, and asked me to come back into the office.  She had a different room assigned -- this time to a newly refurbished one on the lake, directly across from a pool.  Bell services led us over and we got settled into the rooms.

The rooms are lovely!  There is a full kitchen (a bit small, but very nice).  A nice dining and living area (with a large screen TV, probably 40" or so, and a large leather sectional).  The bedrooms are lovely, too.  The room that Barb and Allan and I have is equipped with a pair of double beds.  The master has a king bed and a huge sunken tub.  Both bedrooms have toilet, shower, sink combos, too.  Compared to Old Key West, I would say that it's much more contemporary in style.  The rooms are not quite as big, either, but it's very nice.  If we weren't already members at OKWR, I'm sure we'd be very tempted when we have our resort tour on Wednesday morning.

By the time we got settled in, it was well after three o'clock.  That's why I was falling behind on the trip report.  I'd planned on spending some time in the afternoon to catch up, but the afternoon never really was available to me.  Anyway, we pretty much just relaxed for a few minutes, before we were off again to Epcot to meet up with Phil and Lana Staples for dinner.  We already had priority seating arrangements for Teppanyaki Dining Rooms in the Japanese Pavilion.

We left our room at about 4:00pm, and drove over to the Beach Club Resort.  Parking there is nice because it's close to the International Gateway, and I don't feel like I'm "ripping Disney off" since we do have APs and parking is already covered anyway.

The walk back to the park was uneventful.  The Beach Club is a lovely resort, and the view of the Boardwalk across the lake is always a pleasant one.  In fact, I told Barb as we walked out of the back of the Beach Club lobby that "we're now officially here."  It just felt, for the first time, like we were really on vacation.  The previous days were a prelude.  Now we're getting serious.

We strolled around to the Japanese pavilion.  The crowds were larger than I'd expected here at Epcot just like they were the night before at the Magic Kingdom.  We only had a few minutes to kill.  The priority seating time was for a terribly early 5:15pm, but the only other option was 7:30 and I wasn't sure how Allan would hold up, or the rest of us for that matter, if we waited that long.

We were a bit early (it was just after 4:30pm) so we did some window shopping in the Mitsukoshi store.  This place is always a fun place to browse.  I wish I had a bigger house so I could have some themed rooms...Japan, United Kingdom, etc.  -- I would enjoy being able to buy some of the wonderful things that are available at WDW, but I don't really have a place to put them.  Someday...perhaps...

Well, a few minutes before our appointed time, we left the store to use the elevator (with the stroller, it's a bit easier).  We had a weird altercation with an obviously harried man.  As we walked up to the elevator, "elevator man" was standing in it holding the "open door" button.  I asked him if he was going up, and he said no, he was waiting for someone.  We stood there, for a couple of minutes or more in silence.  Him holding his button, us standing outside the elevator.  Finally, my father-in-law, who came up after the man had responded, asked why we were just standing there.  I said that we were waiting for the man to let us use the elevator.  The man was pretty agitated at my answer, and said "well, come on in then," in a very nasty voice.  We boarded, and went upstairs.  When we got up, the person the elevator man was waiting for was upstairs waiting for him.  Poetic justice, I think.

We waited upstairs for a few more minutes before Phil and Lana strolled by.  We spied them from the windows of the waiting area, and I walked outside and called out to them.  Phil is my father-in-law's younger brother, so there was plenty of family talk going on during dinner.  I sat on the far side, on the end of the table.  We put Allan next to me, since our server suggested that it would be safer for Allan to be located on the side.

The meal at Teppanyaki Dining Rooms (by the way, the plural in that restaurant name makes more sense if you look at the picture and realize that the restaurant is made up of several different rooms, each with four cooktopped-tables) begins with a ceremonial hand washing with hot cloths provided by the server.  What more civilized way can you begin any meal?  It's an example of the formality of the Japanese culture...and a reminder of how informal our American culture has become (which is not always a good thing, In my opinion).

I ordered the sirloin and shrimp combination (called yamaguchi on the menu) while Barb selected the sirloin.  Others around our table chose sirloin, shrimp, and chicken.

Before the main event, though, our salads with that wonderful, light ginger dressing were brought out.  I really enjoy the ginger flavor that is so prevalent here -- both in the salad and in the sauces provided with our entrees.  At home, Barb and I have found a couple of different recipes that use ginger just because of our experiences here at Teppanyaki, and I love them both.

Our server then brought us each a bowl of steamed rice to eat with our meal.  A few minutes after that, our chef arrived with a cart that contained all of the ingredients for our meals, and double-checked our orders.  He placed several different vegetables on the cooking surface, along with the shrimp.  He tossed, and turned them.  Then added some oil and butter and turned them some more.  Then our chef took some small bowls and filled half of them with a ginger sauce and the others with a mustard soy sauce then passed them to each of us at the counter.  When the veggies were done, he distributed them to our plates in even proportions.  Allan got some, too, but a smaller amount than the rest of us.

Then he brought the sirloin, chicken, and a bunch of mushrooms to the center of the cooktop.   As the items cooked, he trimmed and cut them into bite-sized pieces, then tossed them as they finished cooking.  The chef also took a couple of shrimp and some sirloin from Barb and my entrees and cut them up even smaller for Allan (which is a good thing, because Allan really enjoys having "his own" meal at restaurants).  After all of the entrees were served up, a large container of bean sprouts was cooked up for us. They were distributed around the counter last of all.

As the various items were being distributed to the plates, our chef showed some of his cutlery dexterity by flipping some shrimp in the air so that it landed right on the correct plate.  Uncle Phil made a pretty big deal about it because every time the chef did a flip, Phil missed it because he was looking somewhere else.  Eventually, Phil just stated that he didn't believe that the chef could do it at all.  Throwing down the gauntlet to a man with a knife in his hand, when you only have a flimsy pair of chopsticks, is not wise in my opinion but the chef responded with a smile and again showing of his flipping skills. 

As we ate, the chef finished his meal chores by cleaning the piping hot cook top with a wet towel. He scrubbed it, turned the towel, then scrubbed some more.  The steam billowing from the piping hot cooktop is part of the very good show, in my opinion.

For dessert, I had a chestnut mousse and ordered some chocolate ice cream for Allan.  I talked Phil into trying the chestnut cake and Grandma had some ginger ice cream.  An excellent top off of an excellent meal.  Teppanyaki Dining Rooms is more show than anything, but the food is consistently good here, too.

After dinner, we left the restaurant and found that Tapestry of Nations was just starting.  Tapestry has an eerie, haunting score.  The marionettes were lovely, and the cast members did a great job of projecting the unity of mankind during the passage of time.  As I write this, I'm struck by the irony, since mankind has hardly been unified over the last six thousand years or so.  The wars and riots and crime and all of the other horrible things that man has done to other men are a sad reality.  I hope that Disney's vision of the future is what really happens, but I fear a continuation of our miserable history as a people.

Tapestry of Nations is really quite repetitious.  The music, as I stated before, is haunting and catchy...but the drum floats are identical (there must be four or more of them) and the marionettes, although fun and lively, are redundant (each design is repeated three or four times).  I don't mean to be too negative, I'm sure the parade cost plenty to put on as it is, but some more variety would have added significant interest to the show.

After the parade, we walked up into Future World, braving the crowds, and tried out Journey into Your Imagination.  What a miserable excuse for an attraction!  I hadn't had the "privilege" of seeing this new ride since it was complete redone for the Millennium, and I usually am of the opinion that whatever Disney does that is new is better than what they replaced, but not this time around.  Allan was frightened out of his wits several times, and I can't say that there were any redeeming factors for this one.  I don't think I need to ride it again until it's refreshed again...it's that bad.

Then, we walked back to World Showcase for IllumiNations.  I now know where all of the creative juices that were so lacking in Tapestry and Journey into Your Imagination were used up.  Reflections of Earth is a tremendous show.  The fireworks are great -- many and varied.  The effects on the globe are incredible.  I just wish that it was easier to see the globe.  As big as it is, it's still pretty small when you look at it from the edge of the lagoon and it's close to the center.

After Reflections, we left the park, walked back to the van, and drove over to the entrance of the Disney Institute on Community Drive.  Phil and Lana also collected their car from the main Epcot lot, and met us there.  Then they followed us back to Westgate Lakes for some games (a Staples family tradition) to round out the evening.

While we were waiting for Phil and Lana to show up, though, no fewer than four Disney vehicles stopped to ask if we were ok.  Two different security crews, a maintenance vehicle, and a WDW Transportation bus!  We were floored at the attention.  As I thought about it, though, having folks stop to see if someone else needs help used to be a courtesy that wasn't so unusual.  Hopefully, the thoughts of unity presented in Reflections will cause folks to be more courteous, more caring, more thoughtful, and less selfish.  Maybe years from now I'll re-read this trip report and wonder why in the world I thought courtesy is so lacking in our society.  Unfortunately, its all to obvious to me now.

Monday, October 23 (Animal Kingdom, Lunch at Pizzafari, Dinner at 'Ohana)

We left the room near 8:00am bound for Animal Kingdom this morning.  The drive over was uneventful.  We're certainly remembering why we prefer to stay onsite.  On the other hand, after years of reading the onsite/offsite debates on the internet, I have a better appreciation for the advantages of offsite living, too.   For one thing, stores and relatively inexpensive restaurants abound offsite.  For another, there is a huge number of other attractions offsite that we've been insulated against in our several years of staying onsite.  Our drive down International Drive yesterday drove that lesson home.  Some of those buildings are just too enticing including the FAO Schwartz toy store (greatly themed with huge toys) and the Gameworks (upside down) building to name a couple.

When we arrived, we parked close enough to the park that we we could have walked in.  In fact, the furthest bus stops from the park entrance (for the onsite resorts) were probably not much closer than we were.  Out of habit, we did wait for a tram, though, and rode it in to the entrance.

We made our way from the front of the park all the way back to Harambe for a ride on Killimanjaro Safari.  The stand by line was only listed as being 30 minutes, and our previous experience is that they exaggerate the ride times a bit -- especially earlier in the day.  Sure enough, we were up at the load area within twenty minutes or so.  The ride was a spectacular one!  We saw many animals right up close, include some rhinos that were not really getting along too well, and some giraffes that were munching away at some trees.

Not surprisingly, when we returned, we found that our stroller had been moved for us.  We tracked down a cast member to tell us where it had been placed, retrieved it, then were on our way.

We strolled through some of the Harambe shops on the way out of the area.  I've never been really tempted in any of the Animal Kingdom shops (just like I haven't been in Adventureland or Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom), but the atmosphere is fun.  Outside one of the shops, directly across from Tusker House, a man was carving some wood.  It was interesting to see the craft work being done, but we didn't stay long.

Next, was "It's Tough to be a Bug."  Allan wasn't so sure about this one, but when we told him that Flik was in it, he calmed down considerably.  It pays to prepare your kids with some showings of Disney "Flik"s to help them understand what they're going to see.  Even when Hopper, in all of his bombast, came on the scene Allan was fine.  The only time he freaked a bit was when we first got into the theatre and the three-dimensional butterflies were on the screen.  Once Flik arrived, all was well.

He wasn't quite so happy about Dinosaur.  We got in line and told him what to expect, and he seemed ok with it.  He didn't seem stressed at all...until the time effect took place and "real, live" dinosaurs were all around us.  The carnivores, of course, really upset him.  We were just part way through the ride and I was sitting there wondering why in the world I'd put my little boy through this.  It was a much rougher ride and much more frightening (with the T-rexes and Carnitauruses) than I'd remembered it being.  The little guy hollered through much of the ride, but was fine upon our return.  It was just the dinos that upset him....when they were gone, he was fine.  As our vehicle came to a stop, though, he made his opinion clear, "I hate that scary one!"  I felt bad for encouraging him to do something that was clearly beyond his years.  It won't happen again on this trip.  (Later note:  Allan had several nights of nightmares after this episode, too.  It wasn't until Saturday or so that he slept through the night without waking up crying at least for a while.)

After our successful return to the year 2000, we strolled on over to Pizzafari for lunch.  We had had a good experience here before, and this time was a similar one.  The pizza (Barb and Allan) and the chicken Caesar salad (me) were very good.  We also had some chocolate cake deserts which topped things off nicely.  I guess I was feeling sorry for the Dinosaur thing, and was trying to make things up to Allan for that Dinosaur episode, even though he really didn't know it.

That pretty much covered our morning.  We decided to leave the park, and made our way South to the exit out of Oasis.  We got stopped for a brief survey by a Disney person.  It covered demographics only -- nothing about park operations or other "opinion" questions.  The only thing they asked that really reflected on my opinion was one about park hours (I said they were too short at AK, since they close at 5:00pm at this time of year) and one about whether or not the park met our expectations (I said yes, because we'd been there before...in retrospect, I should have said that there wasn't enough to do in the park -- it might have helped spur additional development).

The most notable thing that happened on the way back to Westgate is that we got lost on the way.  It's been years since I've been confused about my whereabouts in Central Florida, but I was quite turned around.  By the time I realized where I was, we were off property, way over by International Drive South.  One neat thing is that we saw that a new Opryland Hotel is being built just South and East of WDW property.  That should be a nice addition to the billions of rooms already available in the Orlando/Kissimmee area.

We finally made our way back, and took a nice, long afternoon break.

At about 5:30pm we left Westgate again, and drove over to the Polynesian for dinner.  I was expecting trouble as we pulled up the the guard shack (I've had to deal with irritating guards there before), but was pleasantly surprised.  When I pulled up, I told Ken, the guard, that we were pulling in for dinner.  He was very polite and directed us to the self park area.  Well, silly me, I went one aisle too far and got into the valet parking area, so we had to leave the Polynesian area, turn left and pull back around.  As we approached the guard shack for the second time, I told Ken, the guard, that we were pulling in for dinner.  He took a double take, then heard the laughter from the van and realized that he wasn't having a case of deja vu.  He gave me a suggestion that I pull around sharply to the two way drive that runs in front of the resort in order to find the self parking area more easily.  I ignored his suggestion, though (even though he was very kind and polite in making it), because I'd learned from my mistake and knew where I was going this time.  I pulled into the self parking area and found a great spot just a few spaces from the entrance to the Great Ceremonial House.

We walked in and made a beeline for 'Ohana, since we were just a few minutes before our seating time.  (By the way, had I been more careful, we could have eaten before 6:00pm to get the "free desert or child's meal" special, but we were seated after 6:00 because of my ignorance.) 

Dinner at 'Ohana is a feast!  They first bring you a collection of appetizers (including a salad, pork dumplings, chicken wings, and a relish with a fish sauce on it), then the bring the main meats including smoked salmon, and grilled shrimp, turkey, pork, and steak.  It's all you can eat, and they bring it to you on huge skewers as often as you ask for more.  The food is just incredible!

(This is for free:  you can see the construction of the pool area of the Polynesian Resort behind our server in the "shrimp skewer" picture.  I hope they take the opportunity to really improve the grotto pool...it was far too small and dated for this premium resort, I think.)

I enjoyed this meal much more so than the last time we were here (when we were foolish enough to have a large lunch on the same day).  It was really good food.

I almost forgot!  During the meal, Allan was given the opportunity to join a coconut race in which the kids push coconuts around on the floor with brooms.   He was a bit bashful, though, and declined.  Later, though, when a hoola hoop contest was announced he really wanted to try.  He was less than successful, though, but was pleased enough when daddy tried and couldn't do very well either.  I'm just glad no one with cameras was around for that one!

Dessert was fresh pineapple with a caramel dipping sauce.  It topped things off nicely.

After paying for the meal we strolled around the resort for a bit.  I took a look over at Kona Cafe (I still want to have some cocoa puffs sometime) and we all strolled through Trader Jack's for a bit.

Here's where I found one of those little things that just show the wonderful depth of detail that the Disney folks are so famous for.  I would suppose that some of you Polynesian veterans won't find this too amazing, but as I was walking into Trader Jack's, I saw a great display of King Kamahamaha Mickey.  It's up on the back wall of the store, complete with Mickey's Polynesian queen Minnie and his throne.  Its one of those touches that just sets Walt Disney World apart from the others.

After we finished up our shopping (no one actually bought anything...we're still in window shopping mode here), we jumped on a monorail.  Originally, our intent was to visit the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary, but once we all sat down, we agreed to just enjoy a round trip -- Actually, just a partial round trip, because we got off at the Ticket and Transportation Center and walked back to the Polynesian resort and through it to the car.  I'd hoped to catch some pictures of the resort at night (the torch lit walks are really pretty), but the gas lines were turned off due to the pool construction.  I took some pictures, but none turned out.  We'll just have to come back, I guess.

We left the Polynesian and drove back past Fort Wilderness to Bonnet Creek Parkway and Community Drive.  I'm very used to this route since we stay at Old Key West so often.  We pulled out of Hotel Plaza Boulevard and made our way to Goodings to pick up some items for quick breakfasts and so on in the room.  Grandma needed some film, and found some that would have cost $16.00.  She passed on that "deal" because she also needed some batteries for her camera, and Goodings was fresh out of them.  After we checked out, we drove up 535 to Walgreens and found a similar deal on film (same number of exposures) for only $7.00!  Goodings only saving grace is it's location.  If you want a good deal, go elsewhere (for almost anything).

After our little shopping trip, we came back to the room.  Allan went to bed and crashed almost immediately.  The rest of us played games (them), wrote trip report updates (me), watched Monday Night Football (all of us, to some extent) then we were all off to bed after the Jets came back to beat Miami in OT.

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Brian Bennett

brian@mouseplanet.com

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