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Brian Bennett -- October 2000 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR)Tuesday, October 24 ( Sea World, "Old South" Tour for Dinner) Today is primarily a designated non-Disney day. I'll apologize in advance for my lack of good photos of our day at Sea World. Unfortunately, many of the rides and attractions come complete with water, and I didn't want to damage my camera. With few exceptions, you'll have to accept my word pictures rather than graphics to tell today's story. We got up and had a light breakfast and were out of the room by 8:30am. Sea World is just a short drive from Westgate (one of the reasons why we're doing Sea World while we're staying here). We paid $6.00 for parking -- sticker shock, since I haven't paid for park parking in eons -- then found our spot and walked up to the entrance. The tickets were steep, $46 for adults and $39 for kids, but we got 10% off with our AAA memberships. We walked toward the turnstiles, but the park was still a few minutes from opening time. It was cool to hear the Busch folks open the park with the "Star Spangled Banner." Since they don't have a history dripping with heritage (like the Disney parks do), it was a very nice way to open the day. Our first stop for the day was the Dolphin Encounter area. Allan really wanted to see the dolphins, but we saw that the dolphin stadium was closed (until next Spring) so this was our only chance. Unfortunately, the first feeding time wouldn't be for an hour, and we didn't want to wait that long, so we just watched the lovely mammals slip through the water for a few minutes before we moved on. One sad thing that happened just before we left, some idiot threw some money into the pool and a dolphin had it in it's mouth. A trainer immediately came in between Barb and her father and worked to get the coins from the dolphin. It's just another example of the selfishness and stupidity that are so rampant in society today. Fortunately, they were recovered and the animals were safe and sound. Barb told the trainer that there was definitely two quarters and a penny, but the trainer could only get the quarters. In the trainer's opinion, that particular dolphin is their best recovery animal, and it "probably just spit out the penny."
This time, the show itself was themed as a pirate adventure (pretty thinly done, but hey, this is an animal act not a major motion picture). There was a big search for a treasure map, a rescue of a drowning pirate, and so on. Mostly, this show was just amusing. The animals do well, of course, but the main attraction is the laughs. On the way out, the main pirate character was saying goodbye to everyone. He saw Allan's sunglasses (with the Mickey ear attachment) and said, "those are great glasses, except for those ears things." It was pretty funny, but I suppose you had to be there.
Anyway, after a very thinly themed queue, you get into some boats that are very safe (you feel like you're locked into these things, compared to Disney's no-restraint Splash Mountain. That should have been a clue. Then we floated into a room where it was explained that a statue of a seahorse would "guide" us on our tour of Atlantis. Again, a mechanism, but hardly a plot. Then we went up some short hills and into some themed rooms that, I suppose, showed what Atlantis looks like (it's really hard to say, there was no obvious treasure or characters or anything, just this seahorse statute popping up every once in a while and a female voice talking to us in an unintelligible manner (she appeared to be a native of Atlantis, but what she was or why she was talking to us was lost on me). Finally, we started up a large hill. We figured it was for the big drop, but found it just to take us to another themed room...and then the drop. It wasn't as severe as Splash Mountain by any means, and the feeling of doom that is built up with the dirge version of "laughing place" wasn't there. However, the splashdown was as spectacular as any you'd ever want to ride through. There was a goodly amount of water there. I'm just glad that we were in the open. If they'd had walls on either side of us to deflect the water back towards us, we would have been drenched.
After our Journey, we walked back out to find Grandma and Grandpa and Allan and they swapped with us. As they rode, Barb and Allan and I walked over to a small area that had a fountain (we let Allan get soaking wet) and waited for them. I also took a little stroll and found the best "Atlantis" themeing wasn't done for the attraction or for the queue...it was in the shop that you walk through after exiting the ride! At the very back of the Atlantis shop, there is a small aquarium with several tanks of various species of fish to view. The whole room looks like an observation hall for the Atlantis natives. It's very nicely done.
The floor has several fish swimming around in it. Rays and others are clearly visible (not so much in the picture, but when you're there). The ceiling has a bunch of sharks swimming around above it! It was quite surprising to find these back in the back end of a shop! It's a shame because except for the exterior themeing of the attraction (which is notable, I must admit), the best example of "Atlantis" themeing is tucked away in the back of a shop.
Next, we walked around to the water front and found a fast food cafeteria service place. We had a collection of burgers and fries and so on. It wasn't a gourmet meal, but it hit the spot nicely. While we finished up, we were stalked by a Turkey Buzzard, an Egret, and some other birds. Barb starting giving them the left over bread from our sandwiches and she became their bestest friend. Soon we had a whole flock around us...including one sitting directly over us in the sunshade. We were pleased that he didn't add to our plates before we finished up. When we finished lunch, we walked over to the Shamu stadium. There was a trivia game pre-show before we were shown the abilities of these huge sea mammals. The interaction between the trainers and the killer whales is really interesting to see. We saw the trainers pushed twenty feet or more into the air and pushed along the surface as if they were water skiing on their bare feet. The whales seemed so tame and loveable. I'm sure it's because they're well fed and well trained, which just goes to show that the SeaWorld folks know their stuff. Just as we were getting ready to depart the show, I noticed that a Lance Hart was a cameraman for the show. I'm wondering if it's the same Lance Hart that runs the Screamscape website. Whether or not he is, www.screamscape.com is a very worthwhile visit, if you like being up to date on all of the rumors of the parks (Disney and others). If you stop by, say hi to Lance for me! Oh, and one last thing...there is a huge television screen on which the trivia game had been shown earlier (it's labeled "Shamu Vision" but it's the clearest, brightest, best large screen like that I've ever seen) after the show, various folks were put up on the screen just because...and we (Grandpa, Grandma, Barb, Allan and me last of all) were shown up on the screen. No big deal, but Allan got a kick out of it. After Shamu and company were done, we made our way over to Terrors of the Deep to see the predators of the world's oceans. Sharks, barracuda, several poisonous fish and so on were on display. It's a really neat overview of these kinds of creatures, but again, it's a static display (ok, so the fish and stuff move, but it's still not a "show.") By this time, I'd finally made up my mind to ride Kracken. All day long, I'd been hemming and hawing about it. I wasn't sure I wanted to subject my body to it, but I really wanted to do something a bit more exciting than looking at fish (a day at SeaWorld once every few years is plenty for me...I wouldn't go at all, if Barb didn't push it every so often). Kracken seemed to be just the thing. Unfortunately, no one else really wanted to go...so I was at a stalemate. Then, Barb suggested that I ride myself, while the rest of them do some shopping and checking out of the penguins. Hmmmm...ride a great coaster with seven inversion, or look at some short black and white birds that live at the South pole. Kracken. So, I was off. It felt weird to get in line by myself, but the line was very, very short. I was actually walking through the queue for more time than I sat waiting (once I caught up with the crowds at the loading area). I picked a row, somewhere in the middle because I didn't want to wait for a front or back location, and waited probably three or four trains before I saw one loading that had one spot left. I asked if I could take it, and no one said no, so I walked over, sat in the seat (kind of tight for my generous derrière) and buckled myself in. No turning back now. Up to that point, I'd figured that I could really just write up a little ditty about my wonderful adventure on Kracken. I wouldn't even have to really ride it. I could just inject some fiction into my narrative and no one would be the wiser. I figure I'm not going to win any Pulitzers here, so who would ever know? There were NO WITNESSES, at least none that knew me. But now, I was strapped in and stuck (quite literally) in my seat. Then before I could think about it again, one of the ride operators gave a thumbs up, the floor fell away from our vehicle, and we were off on a quick hairpin turn to go up the big hill. The whole ride was really a smooth one. There were no jarring changes of direction or anything. The inversions were all very smooth, too. I didn't count them, but I saw a t-shirt at the shop on the way toward the entrance that said there were seven, so I figure it's right. The ones that were the most fun is when we were corkscrewing around, but heading down into the ground at the same time. In fact, we actually went underground twice during the course of our ride. Well, just a few short minutes after I passed the point of no return, I was back at the station. I'd made it! I could hold my head up high and write about my own personal experiences, rather than trying my hand at fabricating them. I'm eligible for my Pulitzer! Yeah, Right. But Kracken was a very good ride. I highly recommend it. After Kracken, I was supposed to meet up with the others at the Dolphin encounter. I got there and the SeaWorld folks were selling fish to feed the Dolphins (something they do throughout the day, but for limited times only). Since I didn't know when the rest of the crew would show up, I got in line and bought some fish so we could do the "pay for SeaWorld's food to maintain the dolphins even though we already paid admittance" thing. Quite the scam...and I paid my $6 (for two helpings) just like all of the other dads in line. Then I got to hold those fish in my hands for twenty minutes. They smelled great, too, I might add...warming in the hot Florida sun. Actually, I found Barb and Allan and the grand'rents fairly quickly considering the fact that they had no way to know that Kracken was just a five to ten minute line. The cool thing is that they'd stopped selling the fish, so if I hadn't bought some, we would have missed out on this wonderful opportunity to subsidize Anheiser-Busch. Fortunately, the dead fish were still cold, and would pose no problem to the dolphins. Ok, all sarcasm aside, this was really a cool moment. The dolphins had just had tens of people (maybe more than a hundred) feeding them fish. No one had any more. Except us. We were those dolphins best friends for as long as our seven fishes (or so) lasted. Barb did a good job of stretching them out, too. We all got a chance to touch the animals smooth, rubbery skin. We fed them, too, except for Allan. He wasn't too keen on the idea of touching the dead fish -- or the live dolphins, either. It was just fascinating, though, to see them so up close (Barb was asking questions about Discovery Cove after that...I just hope it's not as pricey as I fear it is). As we left the park, we got some free bounce back tickets. They include our photos, to make sure that we're the only people that use them, and they're good for 7 days. I doubt we'll be back, but it's an option. Then we made our way back to the van and the resort for an abbreviated afternoon break.
After dinner, we walked out to stroll the resort grounds, then down the carriage path to Dixie Landings. I was surprised to see that there were a whole bunch of folks in the pool at this late (post 8:30pm) hour.
Now, back to our normal narrative...The in-laws were impressed with the two resorts -- I hadn't realized that they hadn't been over to either one on their previous trips. The whole trip was intended to take pictures with my digital camera. I certainly accomplished that task, but we enjoyed the ambience of the two resorts very much, too. Dixie Landings (or "Riverside" or whatever you want to call it) is one of my favorites. It's a classic resort with a great theme -- and great execution.
Upon our return, we strolled through Allan and I were a little bored when the shopping got too intense, so he and I walked out to the lobby. He found Peter Pan playing on a TV with some small chairs, so he settled in and I just sat down. It was a nice break, while the others finished up in the store. Then we made our way back to the van and ultimately to Westgate Lakes. It was another FULL day, but a great one. Wednesday, October 25 (Westgate Tour, Winter-Summerland, Dinner at Rose & Crown, Evening at Epcot)
I won't bore you with all of the details, but here's some highlights (I'll compare Westgate to our experience at the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) in the following discussion): Of course, prices weren't discussed until the very end, so I'll not tell you what they are until then either.
The flexibility of a point system (such as that used by DVC) was admitted. However, the sales guy tried to explain that x number of points today wouldn't be worth the same value in a trade a few years down the road. He's wrong, and I explained to him that we actually use our points to book a room at our home resort, then trade IT out. The value of the points (at least for a DVC member) maintains it's value.
The fact that the DVC is on site is an obvious advantage for us -- due to the WDW transportation, but Westgate really is well located for folks that like Universal, SeaWorld, and other Orlando destinations as well (or better). Members staying at Westgate Lakes receive six meals each week for each member of their party. That's an excellent perk! The DVC severely restricts member trades through Intervals International to just the top-end resorts. Westgate allows their members to trade throughout the Intervals International network (a big advantage, if you're planning your purchase to trade out frequently).
Today, just today, one time only, we would be eligible for a $2,000 discount. Financing was available at %17 3/4 for five years. The sales rep made a strong point that the Westgate Timeshare is deeded. The DVC is too, but it's a deeded lease which means that after 50 years from the opening of the resort, the program is done. In contrast, the Westgate Timeshare never runs out.
Still, we declined. The last pitch, brought in by someone from the development company (the third person we'd talked to this morning about buying a timeshare) was that we could come back in two years and stay for a full week. If we wanted to do so, we would have to pay $250 down and about $50 per month until the full price of approximately $1,100 was paid. If we did this, and decided upon our return to buy in, the full amount would be applied to our timeshare cost.
I had to hand it to these folks, they have a great product (if I had the money, I would seriously have considered a purchase -- but for trading more than personal use), and they're as tenacious as the dickens. It just wasn't the right timing for us. One other thing, the tour was supposed to be a 90-minute tour...but it actually kept us occupied for just short of three hours.
Things were pretty close at first, but Grandma pulled away after a few holes. She just kept getting these incredible rolls back to the cup. It was amazing! I did alright, playing a distant third. Barb was just a stroke behind, and Grandpa pulled in fourth -- just ahead of Allan, of course. (Actually, it was closer than it sounds, but after Grandpa's behavior at the game table last night, the ladies are out to get him...and I'm likely to get some points for these comments.)
Simply by rolling my ball up that hill and over the drawbridge (which is an exceedingly slow moving one and just my type for that very reason), the castle did the rest...and deposited my ball below into the cup. I took the score, I'm not proud. But I can't say it was as spectacular a hole in one as I had on the Fantasia Fairways a couple of years ago. After we wrapped things up on the linklets, we drove down to Caribbean Beach just for lunch. It was on the way, and a place that the Grand'rents hadn't yet seen, so that's where we decided to go. I had a great ham and Swiss on rye sandwich with a fruit cup. Everyone else went with burgers. Not a gourmet meal, but it hit the spot.
After our brief tour of the highlights of CBR, we drove back to Westgate for a brief dip in the pool and hot tub (not very hot) and a nap. We got moving again at about 5:00pm. I had wanted to go to Hollywood & Vine, but we couldn't get priority seating, so we "settled" for Rose & Crown (sorry dad, I know you'll be wishing you were with us this evening).
I had the fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer and Barb had the lamb barley soup (as usual). They had some Stilton cheese on the plate again! It wasn't there last trip, so I was glad to see it back. It's such a flavorful, strong cheese. There were some grapes, apple slices, and some white and yellow cheddar, too. I shared that with Barb and Allan (he really enjoyed the grapes, especially). Grandma and Grandpa shared a fruit and cheese plate, too. For our entrees, I had the pie sampler with cottage pie, steak and mushroom pie (more like a pasty than a pie), and a chicken and leek pie. Barb had the prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, and ended up asking for more au jus. Frankly, I was disappointed with my meal. I'm glad I did it, I enjoy trying new things, but the only pie that I really, really enjoyed was the cottage pie. The others were less to my taste. Grandma and Grandpa shared prime rib. We considered desert, but we really were quite full (I'd had Barb's Yorkshire pudding, since she didn't like it anyway, and the extra au jus was just calling to me). So, we paid our tabs and left the restaurant. Actually, Barb and Allan left a little bit earlier because Tapestry was just starting, and the little guy wanted to see it again. I got out of the restaurant just a little after wards, and perched Allan on my shoulders for the duration of the parade. My opinion of Tapestry improved a bit this second time around. Although I still think the general designs of the mannequins is redundant, I noticed the variety in the fabrics and colors that I hadn't noticed the last time around. It really is a lovely parade, and the performers do a great job. The music is repetitive, but that's not unusual for a parade.
Probably the most memorable thing we did was seeing some Chinese gymnasts showing their stuff in a theatre sponsored by Venezuela (we never figured out why the Chinese gymnasts were highlighted in that area). The girls (the whole troupe was female) did a great job. The balance and dexterity of these girls is amazing! The picture shows a group of girls that opened the show -- each of them spinning several plates from each hand as they moved about doing handstands, laying on their backs, doing the splits, and plenty of other things that 37 year old males can not do (and probably couldn't ever do). Another group did some contortion work inside some small tubes...I would have been stuck for a long time (like Winnie the Pooh in Rabbit's door). Some of us rode "Journey to Jerusalem," too. Allan didn't want to (he's still dealing with the aftermath of riding Dinosaur), so Barb stayed behind with him. Frankly, this was another Millennium thing that I thought was lacking. The Ministry of Tourism (or whatever Israeli group sponsored the ride) did a pretty good job of balancing Jewish, Muslim, and Christian concerns by pretty much avoiding most confrontational issues. They really couldn't do anything different. On the way out, Barb and Allan and I got Shanghaied into playing a trivia game called "World Challenge" or some such thing. We had to answer multiple choice questions. Every team (there were six of us) that got the answer right got some points, the first one got double points. We Won! Ok, I'm not too proud, but I was sitting there wondering why we're at Epcot and not playing with that Regis guy in New York! We could have parlayed our knowledge into enough money to buy that Westgate Timeshare. But no, we merely won a game that yielded nothing (but pride) to the victors. Us. We won. Did I mention that? The second run of Tapestry was in progress when we left the village. We followed the processional past the UK and International Gateway and over the bridge. At the point where the stairs to the lower plaza are, just on the France side of the bridge, we waited for twenty minutes or so until some Disney folks opened up the plaza for Reflections viewing. I'm not sure why they held us up, but they did. A couple of private parties were down below on the lower part of the plaza (one was a wedding, the other we couldn't tell). After just a few more minutes, we had front row seats (ok, standing spots) for Reflections of Earth. Now, having seen this show twice, I'm more amazed than before. I had a very clear view of the "globe" this time. The fireworks were spectacular -- even after seeing them just a couple days before. The lights, lasers, and music were all great too. However, I'm fascinated with that globe! I have no idea how they projected the video images on it. The story told was still the evolutionist, big bang theory of where we all came from (yeah, like that body of those acrobats evolved).
After retrieving the van, we drove to the Crossroads where Grandpa sprang for soft serve cones at McDonalds. Allan was a riot. He "allowed" Grandma to slowly rotate his cone while he simply held out his tongue to gather up the confection. How he pulled that one off, I'll never know. Be he seemed pretty proud of himself. When we returned to the room it was time to immediately turn on the television (Grandpa's first task when he walks into any room with a cathode ray tube), update the trip report, play some games, and wind down. Tomorrow we check out of Westgate, check into OKWR, and start the last portion of the trip (except for the drive home). Thursday, October 26 (Check into OKWR, Magic Kingdom, Lunch at the Plaza, A Brief Trip to Downtown Disney) Check out at Westgate was amazingly painless this morning. I'd expected little mistakes like "forgetting" that we had taken the tour, huge charges for the phone calls that should have been local, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my cynicism was unfounded. I was checked out without any problems, paying just the tax and incidentals that I'd been told to expect. We didn't get out of Westgate until 9:30am or so, and our next stop was Old Key West! Check in there went as smoothly as the checkout at Westgate had gone. I was given all of the informational stuff I was supposed to have, and was even given our room keys, although the room was not yet ready, and we couldn't plan to move in until after 4:00pm. However, I was given a card with the front desk phone number so I could call later and get the room number without having to go back to the front desk. Furthermore, and this was the really nice touch, I was told what building we were in...even though I think that's a forbidden thing to do. It was great for us, though, because we parked the van at that building (building 48) and just walked across the street to the nearest bus stop. We took the first bus to the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately for us, about seven other buses showed up first, but that was just our problem. We got to the park, and were surprised at how crowded it was. This is an ongoing theme for this trip. There have been many more people than I'd expected for this time of year. The Millennium and the National Car Rental golf tournament must really be having an effect. We didn't have a really busy time of it this morning. We rode the venerable WEDway peoplemover (I know it has a new name, but I like the old one better). As we got to the revolving table to load, Allan got really scared. I picked him up and carried him into our car, and he REALLY got scared. I think he was thinking that every ride at Walt Disney World is like Dinosaur -- loud, dark, and scary. I don't know how many times Barb and I have kicked ourselves over this one over the last few days. This was yet another time. Anyway, I talked to him and held him. All of us reassured him that this wasn't a scary ride. Whenever we went into a building (the City of Tomorrow, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, etc.) he got a bit tense, but we just reassured him all the more. I think, after he's done some more attractions, he'll be fine...as long as daddy doesn't blow it again!
While Allan and Barb were occupied with that, the in-laws and I killed some time in Tomorrowland. First, I went in to catch a picture of Sunny Eclipse doing the lounge entertainment thing. It's a classic example of Disney detail to provide such a thing in a fast food restaurant. Then we walked through Mickey's Star Traders. Grandma found a Cast member with a new pin that she couldn't Identify. I was brought in to consult, but I really don't have a good background on these pins. I can see how addicting it can be, and I don't have enough money to spend on an addiction right now (other than my Disney vacations, that is). Anyway, the pin looked like someone riding a green dinosaur. It wasn't flying, it had no wings, so it wasn't Elliot or anything like that. If anyone has an idea, I'd be curious to hear. The only thing that I could figure is that it was based on something at Tokyo Disneyland.
Nope. The Disney folks are pretty serious about the Fastpass windows. Frankly, they need to be or else the whole system will fall apart. We waited at the entrance to the Mountain, then were allowed in. The inner queues were not being used at all. Fastpass is definitely a perk that can be greatly leveraged by the Disney company to push it's own resorts. Right now, Fastpass is available to anyone with a ticket or resort ID. In the future, they could be much more restrictive of it if they wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised to someday have a surcharge for Fastpass privileges or even a requirement that you have to stay at a Disney hotel to be able to use it. Right now, that's not the case.
Regardless, the attraction (Space Mountain) is still the same great ride. I took this picture as we were ascending the first hill. I quickly put the camera away (and only did so at the very top of the hill) after I'd taken it. At Space Mountain in California, the exploratory space ship shown in the picture is over the loading area. Here, in Florida, you ride past it on that ascent. You can also see another ride vehicle in the lower right-hand corner, actually running at higher speed, as it zips past us as we work our way inexorably upward. Space Mountain is a great ride anywhere, anytime. I hope to ride the other versions someday (at Tokyo and Paris), and I'm hoping that they'll add a soundtrack to the Florida version someday, too.
This is just a lovely restaurant (we were actually sitting in the greenhouse, but that picture didn't turn out very good). I'm still disappointed about the chef's salad, though. After lunch, I made a run to first aid while everyone else made a beeline to get Fastpasses for Splash Mountain. I have three large blisters on my feet that are driving me nuts. The nurses there gave me some bandages to cover them up. They also sternly warned me to not pop them (advice that I ignored this evening). Hopefully in a few days ,the nurses won't be able to tell me "I told you so" with my feet all gangrenous and yucky. That would be a bummer, and definitely put a further damper on the trip. When I got back to find the rest of the group, we had Fastpasses that would go beyond the time of the Magic Moments parade. We decided to go ride Liberty Bell, then catch the parade, then ride Splash. The Liberty Bell was a typical ride. Allan was slightly disappointed that he didn't get to "drive" the boat, this being the first time we'd ever ridden the Liberty Bell or Mark Twain (in California) without him being in the pilot house. He did ok with the bitter disappointment, and enjoyed the ride. Actually, I think he paid a lot more attention to the park and scenery around the river than he would have from up above with the wheel and bell to keep him occupied.
The parade is still the rehash of the Remember the Magic, 25th Anniversary Parade from 1996-97. Several of the characters are in the parade, and a group of kids was pulled in to participate as the various parade floats halted for that purpose. We got to see the Beauty and the Beast crew "set the table" with lots of help from the kids along the parade route. Allan was pretty bashful about joining in and declined to help with the kitchen chores, but eventually joined in during the finale'. In the picture, Allan is the cute little guy in the red overalls. After the parade was over, we walked back to Splash Mountain. Grandma and Grandpa ran the first (Fastpass) leg of our baby swap. Barb and I took Allan back to the Laughing Place play area to wait. They arrived, claiming that Fastpass cut of a good half hour wait or so (but the two lines just merged eventually). Then Barb and I walked back up the exit. We were seated in a very wet log (our seat was soaked) and had one of the wettest rides I've ever had on Splash. We got stuck by that waterfall on the return run, and Barb got completely soaked on her right side. After a zip-a-dee-do-dah ride, we walked back toward the park exit through
Adventureland. I was hoping to avoid the crowds, but Adventureland
had a bunch of entertainment going on, too, so it was fairly busy as well.
It was at this point that we heard a little voice calling, "Mommy
are you thirsty?" Clearly, someone was. Actually, all
of us were. It had been a When we got back to Old Key West, I called the front desk. Our room was ready, and it was located right in front of where we'd parked the van. Before I let anyone take anything in, I took a bunch of pictures. Then we moved in and settled in for an all too brief rest. At 7:00pm, we jumped in the van and drove over to Downtown Disney for
a brief dinner stop and some window shopping. We had dinner at Wolfgang
Puck's Express, a place that we visit whenever we want a reasonably priced,
decent meal with minimal After just a little bit of walking about the stores, hitting just the Christmas store, Reading & 'Riting (the book store, where I also found another executive collection piece that I've been looking for), and Gourmet Pantry, we had a quick return for snacks, games, and to get this report updated an online! There's one last thing I must mention, though. When we were in the Christmas store, I saw some monorail train accessories that I thought were pretty cool. See if you agree.
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We
left the dolphin area and watched some rays and turtles as we made our
way to see the Clyde & Seamore show. The antics of the seals,
walrus, and otter were surpassed only by the pirate mime that provided
the pre-show entertainment. This guy was a riot, acting as an usher
and showing people to seats (or so they thought). He sat one guy
down in one seat, and sat down the guy's wife (or girlfriend) in a completely
different row. He also helped on large group from one side of the
stadium all the way to the other side -- then motioned that they should
just leave. I think my favorite of all of his antics, though, was
when he pretended to pull hair off of a woman with a rather large "configuration
of hair" and dropped it on her mostly-bald husband's head.
All in all, he was pretty fun...and he helped pass the last twenty minutes
or so before showtime.
Next,
we all walked over to Journey to Atlantis. This is the park's first
themed attraction. It has some other rides, it's not just shows
and displays and swimming fish, but this is the first one that really
departs from the ecology bent of the park (Kracken is another, but it's
newer than Journey to Atlantis). I don't think the Sea World folks
have the themeing thing down yet, though. The ride was nice, but
there was no story being told. There were some interesting rooms,
but no attempt to explain what we were seeing. Frankly, it's a better
ride than Disney's Journey into Your Imagination, but that's not saying
much.
Then
we turned around and went up another hill to return to the loading dock,
I thought. Instead, though, we were treated to a very quick turning
dive down another flume (one that wasn't advertised -- and, I think, the
reason for the extra restraint in the boats). It was a fun ending
to the ride.
The
cool thing, though, isn't the pillars or the wall decorations or the display
tanks...it's the ceiling and floor! Check out the pictures!
The ceiling and the floor are display aquariums too!
I'm
glad I found it, I just wish this room had a more prominent place in the
park.
We
left again, at about 6:30pm, and drove down to Port Orleans. We
had dinner at the Sassagoula Float Works, the counter service place there
at the resort. It wasn't a fancy meal, but it worked out just fine.
We had some chicken strips, fries, and a side of onion rings to balance
the meal. Veggies, right?
Wait,
I forgot to mention, I'm starting my own "happiest potties"
page. Here's the first entry: "The potties at Port Orleans
and Dixie Landings are pretty cool (See Illustration)." (I'm
kidding, I really don't have any desire to do that...really, I don't!)
After
strolling through Fulton's General Store and snapping my pics, we walked
back out to the boat landing area to catch (we hoped) a boat back to Port
Orleans. The first one was way too full, but just a few minutes
later a water taxi that runs just between Port Orleans and Dixie Landings
came in. We and one other group were the only ones that wanted to
go to Port Orleans (everyone else wanted to go to Downtown Disney), so
we piled in the boat and were off. It's a short ride, of course,
but still a scenic one.
Jackson
Square (the store at Port Orleans). I found Grandma another "Lynette"
item (she got the keyring at the Character Warehouse on Sunday) -- a pin,
with her name on it. She was floored, and decided to pick it up.
Today
Barb and I got up early to do the obligatory tour of Westgate. The
folks here just had to try to sell us a timeshare, and they didn't pull
any punches in the attempt. We got to the welcome center, as instructed,
at 7:30am. They took a digital picture of us (that we could pick
up later in the day) and then ushered us into a room that had a light
breakfast spread. Our sales rep, Ron, left us for a few minutes
as we ate, but arrived in time to start the discussion.
One
of the first questions was, "where are you members now?"
That was not something we'd discussed with anyone since we'd arrived,
so it must have been either a standard question used to direct the rest
of the pitch, or else it was noted from a previous phone discussion, or
else they got our names from a timeshare listing somehow.
The
cost of maintenance appears to be less at Westgate, by 40% or so.
I don't remember exact prices, but that would be about right.
Westgate
offered a deal that would have cost about $21,000 for a two-bedroom attached
to a one-bedroom (equivalent to a two-bedroom and a studio, at OKWR) that
you get EVERY OTHER year. You can use either unit one year and use
the other unit the next, you can use them both every other year, or you
can trade one and use the other. It's a pretty flexible program.
When
we declined, for financial reasons, a manager was brought in to give us
a special deal. The story (I have no reason to believe it's not
true) is that a unit had just been acquired by Westgate as a member wanted
to upgrade. If we acted today, and were willing to delay our use
of the unit until next year, we could do the same thing for $11,000.
Still
we declined. Only then were we shown the door. By the way,
as you can see in the picture, there were a TON of people involved in
this tour thing. Ron said that this was a seven-day operation, and
this was just for the 7:30am tour. I'm only conjecturing when I
figure those tables are all filled up later in the morning and in the
afternoon, but it's not a stretch to think that's the case.
When
we returned from our tour, it was already past 10:00am, so I made the
suggestion that we go play a round of miniature golf. We jumped
in the van and made our way to Winter Summerland and played a round.
I
got my annual hole-in-one at the 9th hole. I include a picture of
it for history's sake (and also because it's the single most interesting
looking hole on the course (not the most interesting to play, but the
most visually striking).
After
lunch, I strolled outside to snap some pics of the resort. I got
a nice one of the pool. You can see the cannon poking out of the
fortress walls. They used to fire with a cloud of water mist, but
now they fire a squirt of water every so often (you can see the one of
the left had just finished it's most recent firing).
We
drove over to the Beach Club, as is our custom for evenings at World Showcase,
and walked to the International Gateway and down to the UK pavilion.
We got to the Rose & Crown just a few minutes before our 5:50pm time
slot, and were seated immediately (literally!) We got the very last
table on the lower level, closest to the canal. It was a great spot.
We had a great view of the lagoon, there were some ducks hanging around
that kept Allan occupied, and it was a no traffic area, since it was the
end of the line.
I
thought of something else as I listened to the parade dialog. It
talks of the "Sage of Time" (the picture to the left was actually
taken on Sunday) coming to Earth and seeing all mankind unified, then
returning later and seeing them all in disunity and war. Frankly,
this is a pretty good interpretation of what DID happen. When God
created the earth, mankind was quite unified. Everyone was related
to everyone else, there was a great deal of cooperation, and everyone
spoke a single language. Years later, when mankind began building
a tower that would reach heaven, they challenged God saying, in effect,
that they were capable of doing whatever they wanted to. When God
confused their language (at Babel), the disunity of humanity began.
You might write that off as a fable, but I believe the Bible is true...and
apparently, the Disney folks do too (to an extent). End of diatribe.
As
Tapestry moved backstage, we walked on through and visited the Millennium
Village for the first time. There is a ton of stuff to see in this
place, we only scratched the surface.
After
the show, we made our way back to the Beach Club. My parting photo
for today is in honor of all of you Beach Club fanatics. I give
you, the Beach Club lobby...free of charge this time!
After
we got off the TTA, we went to get Fastpasses for Space Mountain for the
four adults. We were planning to do a baby swap, but Barb (thinking
that something we do today should be for Allan), suggested that she and
he go do the Indianapolis Speedway instead. That sounded fair.
Allan had a great time, as expected (he had a ball on this a year and
a half ago and has been talking about it ever since).
We
walked over toward Space Mountain, since it was just a few minutes from
our Fastpass time. We killed a few more minutes just sitting, but
then decided to see if we could get in a few minutes early.
Personally,
I wish they'd just drop it. I much prefer making my plans and daily
choices without having such an odd variable put into the equation.
For example, there's no way we would have spent time just milling about
in Tomorrowland had we not been tied to Space Mountain in just a half
hour or so. We would either have braved the line and just done it,
or else we would have moved along to something else.
When
our wobbly knees brought us back to Tomorrowland, we walked over to the
Plaza Restaurant to meet Barb and Allan for lunch. I was heartbroken
to see in the menu that the chef's salad is no longer available.
I was planning on having that one, but had to "settle" for a
Reuben sandwich instead. I also ordered an apple pie shake.
Barb and Allan shared a kid's combo (with a hot dog and hamburger, and
a Cookies & Cream shake. Grandma had another Reuben and Grandpa
had a grilled cheese sandwich (with just the cheese) and a light chocolate
shake.
Disembarking
from the riverboat, we walked from Liberty Square to Frontierland to stake
out a claim. We found a place, most of the front edge of that wooden
platform in front of the shooting gallery, and camped out for an hour
for the parade. Every once in a while, Barb took Allan off to keep
him from getting too bored. Checkers and the shooting gallery ($.50
for real and about $3.00 worth of fake) kept him happy.
long,
hot wait for the parade with a long, hard play time for Allan on top of
everything else. To wet everyone's whistle, we stopped at Casey's
for some soda (for Barb and Allan) and water (for the rest of us).
Then we walked to the bus stop, had a brief wait for one to show up, then
took off to the resort.
waiting
and fuss. I had the linguine and Barb and Allan shared (almost 50/50)
a large pepperoni pizza. The meal hit the stop, not too much but
not too little.