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Lisa Cubbon -- February 2001 -- Walt Disney World (BWR)Who: Andy and Lisa Cubbon (mid-50s, retired and no kids at home!) When: February 11-17th Where: Boardwalk Inn Why: Because we like it! Seriously, we try to escape the cold winters (of Atlanta GA) in February. Sunday, Feb. 11: We left the house at 5 minutes before 8:00am. We live just north of Atlanta and the drive is not bad. It's 7.5 hours to the Boardwalk, with rest stops and a stop for gas. We tote a lunch and eat at the Florida Vacation Center. It's about half way there and it's part of the tradition! We arrived at the Boardwalk at 3:30pm, unloaded our worldly goods with the valet and let them park the car while we hightailed it to the International Gateway to purchase our Annual Passes. Our passes expired in November so we just bought new ones and then headed back to check in. Our Travel Agent got us a very nice AP rate which we thought was strange since President's Week was coming up and we would be there over Valentine's Day but what the heck. We were placed in Rm. 5308. I have to say my fax worked this time. It was non-smoking, top floor, quite location and close to the elevators (I had stayed at the Inn before with our daughter in a room waaaay down by ESPN. It was a chore every time to go back to the room.). Our room was the corner room so while one window overlooked the back of the convention center, the balcony had a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower and Space Ship Earth. The room was sunny and quiet and clean. The carpet needs to be replaced but everything else was in good working order. After we settled, we went back to the International Gateway, and entered Epcot and headed directly to the Rose and Crown for our Traditional (there's that word again) first meal, Fish and Chips for Andy and a salad and the mushrooms for me along with a half pint of Guinness for each of us. I am not a big eater so I generally steal a few bites from Andy's plate and with my stuff, it's more than enough. We finished and then just moseyed around Epcot. Usually, I push to go to the Magic Kingdom the first night but I just was not in the mood. I rode Test Track and we both rode SSE and by then it was time to head back to World Showcase for the Tapestry of Nations Parade and Reflections of Earth (ROE). We landed in front of Italy and it was a perfect spot for both events! Reflections of Earth has captured both of us. We saw it almost every night this time. It's just so beautiful. The only negative about this spot is that you can't see the Globe when it starts out from beside the American Gardens Theater but for the fireworks you can't beat it! The weather was a delightful surprise. We had brought heavy (for Atlanta) coats and sweatshirts but left the coats in the car. I tied a sweatshirt around my waist for a day and then abandoned every that. By Tuesday afternoon, I was in shorts! Monday, February 12, 2001: Even though I brought the alarm clock, this was not the day to use one. We headed to Spoodles for breakfast and it was empty... Quite strange. We were there about 9:00am too. We were also treated to the refurbishing that is underway at the Boardwalk. When we were there in November, the refurbishing was underway by ESPN and they have worked their way over to Spoodles down to the Flying Fish. The scaffolding is up all day but by 5:00pm, it's all gone. After filling up for the morning, we headed to Animal Kingdom. We headed over to get Fast Passes for the Safari and discovered that Disney had "fixed" a problem. It used to be that if you were a guest, you could get a pass on your room key and on you paper pass; no more! Well, it was fun while it lasted. We went and saw the gorillas and then it was time for our Safari. There were lots of animals out but I did not see the baby giraffe this time. In November there was a one-month-old out and about. The lions were both out and that's neat to see. We headed towards It's Tough To Be a Bug but the line was so short that we just went in the standby. We had different seats this time and I noticed different effects. I am sure nothing has changed but it seemed different to me. Andy said maybe it's because I had my eyes open this time! We left the park and headed to the Magic Kingdom and I bought a hunk of banana nut bread, which lasted the whole week. I ate the balance of it in the car on the way home. I got to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we both rode Haunted Mansion and just piddled about. We went back to Boardwalk Inn and then headed over to Disney Studios where we walked into Mama Melrose's for dinner. We have been pretty happy with the food there but the service was not so hot. It was an hour before closing but we felt rushed for some reason. We finished and headed back out and walked back to the Inn. We watched ROE from the balcony and called it a night. Tuesday, February 13, 2001: Another day in paradise! Bright, sunny, a little cool in the morning so the long pants go on. Andy is enjoying my wardrobe changes; Shorts to go get breakfast, long pants to go out. He puts on jeans and that's it for the day! I get up early and forage for food while he is getting ready. Today is a big day for us. We are taking the Undiscovered Future World tour. About a year and a half ago, we did Backstage Magic. I had done that one with our daughter before and Andy was interested so I willingly went again. We got a private tour. It was us, James our guide and the bus driver. We were hoping for that kind of experience this time but knew it was unlikely. We were part of a group of 13 happy explorers all led by Josh! Without giving away any of Josh's secrets, we had a ball! I loved the dinosaurs at the Universe of Energy and Josh clearly loved doing this tour. It started a bit late and ended around 2:15pm and a group of six of us (Robert and Norma, Terry and Barbara and us) took advantage of the 20% discount on lunch at the Nine Dragon's restaurant. We compared Disney adventures and had a great time. Then that evening, we all met up again for Reflections of Earth in the "special for tour guests" viewing area! Very cool. Lots of folks wondering who we are and how we rated this special area. Josh also had several other surprises for us too so take the tour! The Test Track "purple pass" is way cool! After such a way late lunch we just piddled about the rest of the day at the Magic Kingdom. We started to get a little hungry and decided on hot dogs from Casey's. I snagged a table at Casey's just before the fireworks and I was pretty sure it was a lousy location but boy, was I wrong. We had a perfect view of the fireworks as they exploded over the left side of the castle. We left after that since it was E-night and we were not doing that and we wanted to see ROE from the special viewing area. Wednesday, February 14, 2001: Valentine's Day. Well, we have been threatening to do this the last couple times so we actually followed through. We went to Emeril's for lunch. Yup left the campus and played hooky. First we went to World of Disney. We wanted to take advantage of the 15% AMEX Discount so we did most of our souvenir shopping that morning. It was scary leaving the warmth of WDW but it did turn into an adventure. We had the long drive up I4 and then the parking deck "ride" and then the two-mile walk into City Center. Maybe it wasn't that far but it sure was a long way into the complex. We did not have reservations but they were able to seat us immediately. The meal was wonderful and the service was exquisite. I was using Sweet-n-low and every time I used just a little, someone would swoop in and take it away. They wanted no clutter on the table. Our main server was very good and so were the three other servers that kept hovering in the back ground. Half a glass of water? Not for long. Ice Tea getting low? In comes a new full glass. We shared a starter of Cajun Calamari. Best we have ever had. Then I had a shrimp remoulade parfait and Andy had a halibut fillet in the best sauce we have ever tasted. For dessert we shared a raspberry framboise mousse cake. The whole meal was outstanding and I would go back, even at those prices. It was a very expensive lunch. We were just about finished with lunch when a screw fell out of Andy's glasses. So the rest of the adventure involved finding someone, anyone who know where there was a Lenscrafters or something around Universal. We finally wound up at the Crossroads and then at a Walmart somewhere. The optician saved Andy and put in a new screw at no charge. That was a very generous act since we would have paid royally for the fix-up. By then it was late afternoon so we headed back to Property and our home away from home. For dinner, we went to Beaches and Cream and actually had not so good burgers. That's an unusual occurrence for us. Usually it's great. Andy said the Chocolate Shake was great (I did a taste test and agree!). We will go back and try again. Then we walked into Epcot to see Reflections of Earth, again. Thursday, February 15, 2001: Today was a bum day. We are going to Pleasure Island tonight after dinner at Portobello Yacht Club, one of our favorite places to eat plus we had a $25 discount to use. Good Deal! We went to The Magic Kingdom for most of the day. I am always amazed at how much time we can spend in this park doing nothing in particular. We did Buzz (Andy almost got 999,999. We got stuck in one place for a long time. I did better than before meaning I got more that 100 points.) I rode Space Mountain and we did Carousel of Progress. I really love this one and don't miss it on any trip. We got a Chicken Salad and Figaro fries at Pinnochio's Village Haus (does anyone know how this Italian fairy tale character got tied into this German theme?). I love the Chicken salad. I had one the last time and was totally amazed that this came from a fast food joint. It's got peaches and feta cheese and a great vingarette dressing, plus a generous portion of grilled chicken and the Figaro Fries were also very tasty. We will do this again. We headed over to Disney Marketplace early since I wanted to visit the World of Disney again. Dinner at Portobello Yacht Club was very good. We each had a salad and split a steak. We skipped dessert this time since we were heading to Pleasure Island. We wandered around PI for a bit and then headed to the West Side. It was still early. When we got back to PI, there was a nice line outside of the Comedy Warehouse so we go in line and got seats pretty high up but we could see fine. The show was very funny. Layden was clearly the star. They did Schmepardy and the audience was in hysterics. Layden took his role to the nth degree and created a wonderful act within an act. Very inventive. Sorry he's leaving... That's another story. We left the Comedy Warehouse and went to the Adventurer's Club where we went into the library for a show. Samantha and Fletcher sang songs with the guests and it was over. I was tired and we went home. Friday, February 16, 2001: Today we went to Epcot for a short while in the morning we went to the Land and did the tour and then I bought a cute gardening Pooh shirt for our daughter. She loves gardening and Pooh. We did Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is always cool. We waited to be the very last people in the theater and got pretty good seats in the back. I am no longer bashful about back seats. This is off-season and there are no crowds. We went back to the Inn and waited for our friends from Melbourne to join us for lunch. They are amazed that we spend so much time here. They just don't come up to play. We had a great lunch at Spoodles catching up our on families and activities then we walked around the lake and they left to go home. We appreciated the time they gave us. We then went to MGM and saw Indy and again just wandered around. The hub is pretty much a mess with the construction and it's almost impossible to see the Great Movie Ride entrance. We decided to have dinner at the Flying Fish and we were able to get in at the bar. The food was very good. I was not very hungry so I got crab cakes and a salad and Andy had the potato wrapped snapper. It was good. We have eaten there before but I think it's time to change then menu. We went back to Epcot and finished up there with a ride on Test Track, which kind of broke down. It was stopped as we waited in the single rider line and then started again and just as we finished the outdoor portion, it stopped. We were inside and it was OK to just sit and wait. We then wandered over to Norway for a rice cream and watched the ToN parade and then, you guessed it, went to watch ROE at Italy. It was another beautiful night and I was very grateful to be there. Saturday, February 18, 2001: Going home day. When I opened the draperies, it was very smoky out. Not good. The last couple of mornings we had fog but today it was smoke. We could not see SSE from the balcony and that's bad. The hallway in the hotel smelled of smoke too. We breakfasted in the room again and we packed up the car and headed to Animal Kingdom. We got Fast Passes for the Safari and went to see the Gorillas. Then on to the ride but first... Someone important was waiting with two International Guides. I kept looking (discretely of course). I asked to be seated in the last row so we were waiting when the next tram pulled up and a CM said that they would be loading these people separately. No problem for me. I figure Kathie Lee, Frank and family should have one all to themselves. She was pretty plained down but it was her. So there was my brush with celebrity for this trip. There were strange people wandering all over AK with heavy-duty cameras so I figured that was about the Rosie Show. And that was that. We bought a turkey leg on the way out for dinner at home. We left at noon and were in the house at 7:30pm. I was not amused at the 40-degree temperature dip at home. Our next Disney Adventure will be in June when we will spend two days at Disneyland Paris. We had to go through Paris to get to England and I decided that this might be my ONLY shot at DLP so we are staying at the Disneyland Hotel for two nights before we come home. Can't wait! We expect to be back at WDW in September. The annual passes are already itching to go back! Lisa Cubbon cubbon@bellsouth.net Mail a Comment to Lisa Cubbon |
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