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Robin Goble -- May 2001 -- Walt Disney World (AKL, POR)May 5-11, 2001 CAST:
HISTORY: No sooner had returned from my November 2000 trip to WDW (me, my mother, and my nephew), than I began to look for an excuse to go to Disney World again. As you may recall, my November trip to WDW was taken under the somewhat thin--but totally heart-felt--guise of taking my nephew to see the ocean. Since I had just taken the only child in our immediate family to WDW, I had to go with the next closest thing to a "child" that I could find...enter my sister, Paula: a child at heart and lover-of-Disney-more-than-life-itself. I thought about taking Paula in November of 2001 for an early Christmas present, but that seemed such a long time to wait so I decided I'd use her birthday as an excuse (it's in June). I had to wait until tax season was over (I'm a CPA) but wanted to go before school was out, so I decided on May. My conversation with Paula went something like this:
Well, you get the idea. Paula had no preferences about where to stay, when to go, or how to get there (have I trained her well, or what?). In fact, she said it would be fine with her if we slept in the gutters of Orlando and licked the street clean for breakfast every morning as long as we were going to Disney World. I had stayed at the All Star Movies resort in November (first time on-site) and I quickly became a convert of staying on Disney property; however I wanted to try one of the moderate properties since it would just be us two adults and I didn't have my dear nephew begging to stay with Buzz and Woody. I had heard such wonderful things about the then named Dixie Landings, that I decided to try it out. So, on November 30, 2000, a mere 19 days after we got back from our trip to WDW, I had booked Paula and I for six nights at Port Orleans-Riverside (Dixie Landings). There were no discounts available yet so I settled on the full price of $149/night and waited to see if anything better came up. In December I joined the Disney Club (formerly Magic Kingdom Club) and used the discount to order 7-day Park Hoppers for us. Now all I had to do was break the news to my nephew that I was going to Disney World without him. Michael (the nephew) actually took the news pretty well. I explained to him that he would still be in school then and I didn't want to take him out again since I had already taken him out for a week when we went in November. I also assured him that the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot (his favorite event and favorite park, go figure) would not be going on while we were there. He did; however, say that he would like to go again this November when the Food and Wine Festival was back at Epcot. Oh darn, looks like I might have to trade my Park Hopper in on an Annual Pass! At the 120-day mark in January I started making Priority Seating arrangements. I wanted to try a 7:30 seating at the Rose and Crown in Epcot in hopes of getting a good table to watch Illuminations from, dinner at 'Ohana at the Polynesian (we had a PS in November, but didn't make it), the Villains Character Dinner at 1900 Park Fair in the Grand Floridian, and this trip we wanted to try an afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge in the Grand Floridian (a request from Paula). Also in January, I heard on the DIS resort discussion board (Peter Werner's site at www.wdwinfo.com) about the great price available at the new Animal Kingdom Lodge (savanna view for $179/night). I changed our reservations to 4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside and 2 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL) In February at the 90-day mark I called and made a reservation for the Illuminations Cruise from the Boardwalk. This was something I had tried to book for our November trip, but didn't find out about it until less than 90 days from our trip so I was unable to get a reservation. I decided I would not tell Paula about the cruise and surprise her. By this time I had decided to definitely trade my Park Hopper pass up for an Annual Pass (AP), so in March when the AP rates came out I got our Port Orleans rate changed to $99/night. Later that month I was able to get an even better rate of $89/night using the "April/May website rate." With a Disney Club membership you get free membership in National Rental Car's Emerald Aisle club (usually around $50). I applied for membership and was able to get an intermediate-sized car for $150/week. I kept checking National's website; however, and was finally able to get a full-sized car for $95/week (a total of $132 with all the taxes and fees). With the Emerald Aisle membership you are guaranteed, of course, the type of car that you initially rent (full-sized in my case) but you can also pick any car they have on their "Emerald Aisle." These could include SUV's, the PT Cruiser, Mitsubishi Spyder, etc. Also, you get to by-pass the rental counter and go straight to the Emerald Aisle and pick out your car. I am looking forward to seeing how it all works out. Also in March our 60-day mark came up so I began calling for a Priority Seating at Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT)--something I thought Paula would really enjoy. I was lucky enough to get through two days in a row so I decided on the day I wanted and gave the other PS to a nice lady I met on the DIS discussion boards. I had tried for this breakfast before we went in November and was never able to get through before all of the reservations were gone! I also didn't tell Paula about this. In fact, I'm not sure she even knows that you can eat in Cinderella's Castle--more surprises! About a week before it was time to leave, my nephew started getting sad that he wasn't going to be able to go with us. I asked him if there was anything I could bring back for him and he just sighed and said, "Just ride Splash Mountain for me." Ah, the guilt! Four days out I faxed our room requests to Port Orleans Riverside then to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and there was nothing left to do but wait! Friday, May 4, 2001 Instead of starting on Saturday as planned, our trip excitement started at 8:00pm the night before we were scheduled to leave when I received a phone call from American Airlines saying that our flight to Dallas the next morning had been cancelled due to the bad weather in Dallas. Apparently they couldn't get our plane out of Dallas to us. The agent said he could book us on a later flight which would get us to Orlando at 4:30pm instead of 1:00pm as planned. The idea of us losing even a few hours at Disney World was very disappointing so I asked if there wasn't any way he could get us there earlier. He said that he could put us on Delta for the first leg of our flight and then we could make our original connection with American but we would have to leave at 6:00am instead of 7:00am. As Mickey would say, "Oh Boy!" Now all I had to do was call my sister and break the news to her that she was going to lose another hour of sleep. Saturday, May 5, 2001 Plan: Flight to Orlando, check-in at Port Orleans Riverside, lunch at food court, Downtown Disney, Epcot, dinner at 'Ohana Sleep? Who needs it--we're going to Disney World! Up at 3:30am to get dressed and for some last minute packing. I met Paula at the airport at 5:00am and we were soon on our way. Leaving earlier, we actually had time in Dallas to eat breakfast (sesame pretzel and a diet coke--$3.75) instead of having to make the mad dash through four or five terminals to make our connection. The flight to Orlando was uneventful with us arriving in Orlando as scheduled at 1:00pm. We did share our flight with the Senior Class of Petersburg (TX) High School. They were going to WDW for their Senior Trip and to participate in Grad Nights. What fun! The Emerald Aisle at National was very convenient. It was nice to not have to wait in line at the counter. We went straight to the garage and packed out a Buick Century. There were a couple of pickups and a couple of Spyders to chose from, otherwise the cars were mostly regular full-sized autos. We got our car and made it to Port Orleans Riverside by 2:30. Wow, what a pretty place. The landscaping, as it is everywhere in Disney, was just beautiful. As you enter the main building you find yourself in a large foyer with a high vaulted ceiling. Straight through the foyer are doors leading out back to the Marina, a bridge to Ol' Man Island (the main swimming pool), and bike and boat rentals, as well as plenty of paths to explore and quiet places to sit and enjoy. Immediately to your right in the foyer is registration, guest services, and bell services. Towards the back and to your right is the Medicine Show Arcade with a variety of video games. To your immediate left is Fulton's General Store and to your upper left is a hall leading to the Cotton Co-op Lounge, Boatwright's restaurant, and the Colonel's Cotton Mill food court. We waited maybe 10 minutes to check in. Our room was not ready, but we were told we would be in Building 14 in Alligator Bayou as requested. We went to Guest Services and bought our tickets for E-ride night on Tuesday, May 8th, then went to the food court for some lunch. We split an order of chicken strips and a bacon cheeseburger. We also picked up our re-fillable mugs for a total of $31.13. I liked that, in addition to an area with Disney TV for kids, they also had a huge Lego table. We quickly ate our lunch, re-filled our mugs then went out back to catch the boat to Downtown Disney (DD). Our timing was good as we only waited a few minutes before the boat pulled in. What a nice, peaceful trip to DD. I would highly recommend taking this boat even if you just ride it round-trip and don't get off at DD. The weather was perfect and we got a great view of the Magnolia Terrace section of Riverside as well as Port Orleans-French Quarter (you could even see the sea serpent slide) and the Disney Institute. At DD we went through the Christmas Store (we both loved the piped-in wassail scent), Pooh Corner, the Art of Disney, and the store with the Disney house wares (I forget the name). At the Pooh store, Paula found her classic Pooh tapestry luggage that she had been wanting (but it was back-ordered through the Disney Catalog until June). I had given her some Disney Dollars for her birthday so she bought the Pooh duffle bag (and managed to fill it up before the end of our trip, I might add!). We both bought several postcards also. Finally, we went by Guest Services and upgraded my 7-day park hopper pass to an annual pass. There was just about a $40 dollar difference in price since I hadn't used any days on my pass yet. We didn't have time to make it to the Gourmet store, World of Disney, etc. We left DD about 5:20 and once back at Riverside we got our room number. We were in room 1461 and all of my requests were met (Building 14, 2nd floor, corner room). We drove around to our building, got our luggage, and after some confusion finding the stairs, managed to get in to our room by 6:00pm. Paula and I were both very impressed with the room. The furniture and fixtures were all very charming and there was certainly more space than at the All Star Movies resort where I stayed in November. We unpacked, wrote a few postcards, called home and rested a bit then were ready to head out by 7:30. Our plan was to go to Epcot and do a few things in Future World (while the crowds were hopefully in World Showcase getting ready for Illuminations) before eating supper at 'Ohana at 9:40, so we drove to the Polynesian and parked there. Wow! I hadn't been to the Poly since I was a kid and I don't think I truly appreciated the flower beds filled with hundreds of hibiscus. It was dusk when we got there and all of the torches, statuary, and waterfalls were quite lovely. We took the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC), then transferred to the Epcot monorail. It was 8:40 by the time we got to Epcot (it takes a little longer than I had planned to get around), so we just walked on to Spaceship Earth and then looked at a few of the topiaries for the Flower & Garden Festival to get an idea of what we wanted to take pictures of when we came back on Monday. On the way to Epcot Paula had noticed that the battery on her camera was low so we stopped in at the camera shop to buy a new one. On the monorail back to the TTC we could see some of the Fireworks from Illuminations. Back at the Poly we checked in for our 9:40 Priority Seating (PS) at O'Hana. Paula traded with the hostess for a Tigger pin. This was our only pin trade of the trip although we kept looking for a Rex pin (the T-Rex from Toy Story). It must be very popular because we never did find one at any of the parks. We were seated in just a few minutes. The hostess brought some delicious sweet bread to our table then the server brought a huge tray filled with Cole slaw, stir fried vegetables, salad with a wonderful honey-lime dressing, sweet and sour pork dumplings (more like meatballs than dumplings), honey coriander chicken wings (excellent!), fried rice, applesauce, and a spicy dipping sauce for the meat. Soon after, they brought over skewers of turkey, steak, and jumbo shrimp. We never did get any of the pork, but we were stuffed by this time anyway. We didn't have any room for a separate dessert, but we did manage to finish off our pineapple with caramel dipping sauce. It was all very good. Since it was so late we didn't see any kids' games going on (in fact, most of the kids we saw were asleep in their chairs!), but there was a lot of singing going on for birthdays and anniversaries. The total for our meal without tip was $44.50. After we finished eating we took a quick walk around the pool to see the new volcano and we were back in our room by 11:00. I updated my trip report notes ("Crud!" said Paula, "We have to do a report?!") and we were in bed by 12:00. Sunday, May 6, 2001 "It's Fossiliferous!" Plan: Morning at Animal Kingdom, rest at hotel then MGM for Fantasmic! The night before I had set our wake-up call for 6:58am. On our November trip, we always set the wake-up call for an exact time (e.g. 7:00 or 7:30) and we never heard Mickey--just music. I had read on a discussion board to set your wake-up call for a few minutes before or after the exact time you wanted to get up and you would have a better chance to hear Mickey's greeting. I woke up at 6:45 and was in the shower when our wake-up call came, but Paula got to hear Mickey. We were ready to go by 7:55. We stopped by the food court to fill our mugs and we mailed our postcards from the day before. I stopped by Guest Services to make a PS for the Fantasmic! Dinner Package in case we were done with the Animal Kingdom early enough to be at MGM for an early supper. They had two showings of Fantasmic! scheduled for tonight: at 8:30 and at 10:00, but they were no longer having the Fantasmic! Dinner Package for the late showing. I made a PS for Mama Melrose's for 5:10 and figured that if we didn't make it, we could always go to the later show. We were at the Animal Kingdom (AK) by 8:30. We quickly (well as quickly as possible considering Paula had never been to the AK and stopped dead in her tracks every few feet saying, "Look! It's a ..." (fill in the blank with the animal of your choice!)) made our way to Africa where we got a Fast Pass for the Kilamanjaro Safaris (KS) then went on the Pangani Forest Trail. I had not been on this trail before and Paula and I both were very impressed. We saw the Okapi, Hippos, naked rat moles, etc. Of course, the highlight was the gorillas. The male silverback was out and in fine form. The Cast Member (CM) working that area said he weighed 500 pounds and was 20 years old. One Forest Trail and several rolls of film later, it was time for our Fast Pass return to Kilamanjaro Safaris. As we breezed through our side of the queue Paula said, "Now tell me again why everybody doesn't use Fast Pass?" It's a mystery to me. We saw lots of animals on the Safari but our favorite was the baby rhino--he was precious! The CM had to stop our jeep because he and his mother crossed the road directly in front of us. She said he weighed 75 pounds at birth--ouch! After the Safari, we got Fast Passes for It's Tough to be a Bug (ITTBAB) and looked at the Tree of Life for a bit. Paula was very impressed and we took more pictures. We decided to catch the 10:00 showing of the Festival of the Lion King. We stopped at Chip 'n Dale's Cookie Cabin for two sugar cookies and cokes, then got our seats for Lion King which we enjoyed very much. After the Lion King it was time for It's Tough to be a Bug, then we went to Dinoland and got Fast Passes for Dinosaur. We looked around Chester and Hester's Dinosaur Treasures and got a big kick out of the signs on top of the store. Our favorite one said "It's Fossiliferous!" We checked out the Cretaceous Trail and then went to the 1:00 showing of Tarzan Rocks! When Tarzan was over it was time for Dinosaur. It was the first time for both of us and we both liked it. After being shaken around a bit on Dinosaur, we decided we were hungry so we stopped at Pizzafari for some lunch. I had a cheese pizza and diet coke and Paula had the Italian Deli Sandwich and a coke ($16.63). We ate in the bug room and enjoyed the decor of the restaurant. Next, we took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch to see Conservation Station. We immediately found the hidden Mickey in the animal mural as you first walk in to Conservation Station. Patting ourselves on the back for our accomplishment, we went to listen to the sounds of the Rainforest. How nice! It was cool and dark and we were sitting down! The sounds were so restful (okay except for the big tiger that breathes down your neck and the chainsaw--a little too "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" for me!) that I could have stayed and listed several more times. We quickly did the Affection Section (petting zoo)--well Paula looked while I sat and rested--then decided to go back to get Fast Passes for Kali River Rapids. While we were waiting for our Fast Pass time we did the Maharaja Jungle Trail and saw the tigers and bats (and the tapir--man, he was *huge*!), then sat and ate a strawberry bar. I had ridden Kali River Rapids twice back in November with my nephew. The first time we both just got a little wet but the second time we were in the seats that went backwards over the falls and we got drenched--we're talking soaked through to our underwear! Well, I was in the lucky seat again this time although Paula was spared all but a mild soaking. By this time it was 4:30 and the park was closing at 5:00 so we slogged out to our car and were back at Riverside by 5:10. We were very hot and tired by this point so after stopping to get a coke we mixed up some Peppermint foot soak (courtesy of Bath and Body Works) in our tub and both Paula and I sat on the edge of the tub soaking our tired feet and sipping our drinks. Ah, what a life! I wished we had someone to take our picture as we soaked although I had stripped off my shorts because they were so wet from the Rapids and had to change to dry underwear. Once our feet felt like feet again instead of bloody stumps, I updated my trip notes and we were ready to go to MGM by 6:40 for Star Wars Weekends. When we arrived at MGM we immediately headed to Star Tours where they had set up a stage. Unfortunately, most of the activities had ended by the time we arrived. We did spot Chewbacca and got a picture with him, and we took time for a photo with C3PO and R2D2 statues that they had set up. We also went to Tatooine Traders to check out the limited edition pins but could only order them to be mailed to us at a later date. We decided to head over to the Tower of Terror (ToT) where we got Fast Passes with a return time of 8:25-9:25. We checked the line for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster but the stand-by line had a 35 minute wait posted so we decided to see how bad the crowd for the first showing of Fantasmic! was (there were two showings that night, one at 8:30 and one at 10:00). Not surprisingly, the crowd was already to standing room only. Our luck wasn't running very good tonight. Oh well, we had planned to wait for the second show anyway. Not to be daunted we headed in to Tower of Terror. We found the sign in the lobby where some of the letters have fallen out and spell out a message at the bottom of the sign--too cool! Neither Paula nor I had ever ridden the ToT at night and found the experience to be awesome. Best we could tell, there were five drops, although in the dark it's had to tell sometimes whether you're going up or down. We certainly gave our lungs a good workout screaming. After ToT we decided to get a bite to eat before we got in line for Fantasmic! (better to eat *after* Tower of Terror than *before*). So, we got in line at Toulaca Turkey Legs and got a foot long hot dog and a drink each and shared a giant pretzel (approximately $16--Paula paid so I didn't have a receipt for the exact amount). By this time it was almost 9:00 and people were already lined up for the second showing of Fantasmic!. I asked a CM at the entrance to Fantasmic! when they usually started seating for the second show and he said they would seat us as soon as they cleared the people out from the first show--usually around 9:15 or 9:30. We decided to sit on a curb on Sunset Blvd and wait. We had only been sitting for a couple of minutes when the line started surging ahead into the theater. We jumped up and got in line marveling at our good fortune when the line suddenly came to a halt. Apparently the first show wasn't even over yet; everyone had just crowded into the walkway to the theater like a bunch of lemmings! So, no longer having a place to sit, we were stuck standing en masse with our fellow lemmings for about 30 minutes before we got to be seated. We did meet a couple of nice young ladies from Massachusetts who had driven for 26 hours in a bus with the rest of their senior class. They were big X-Files fans and had a 2-inch TV with them that they were watching the X-Files on. When we finally got in to the theater we had great seats in the Pocahontas section. Paula went to get us some water since we were both hot and tired from waiting in line. In fact, I asked her to bring two waters for me! ($7.50) While we were waiting, we could see some of the fireworks from Epcot. Epcot had closed at 4:00 that day for a private party for the travel industry. Fantasmic! was wonderful! It is somewhat different from the one at Disneyland but I didn't like it any less for the difference--and it was certainly nice to be able to sit comfortably during the show. I think my favorite part was Mickey in the Cave of Wonders--too funny. After Fantasmic! we made it home by 11:30. We both called home and I updated my trip report notes. We were in bed by 12:30. Monday, May 7, 2001 "Have I said 'Thank You' today?" Plan: Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, Epcot, Tapestry of Nations Parade, dinner at Rose & Crown, & Illuminations. Mickey called bright and early at 5:58. Wanting to surprise Paula with breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, I had told her that we had to go to the Magic Kingdom today for early entry so we could ride Winnie the Pooh. Our PS was for 8:15. We were ready to go by 7:15, at the TTC by 7:30 (they were checking for resort IDs before they let you on the monorail), and on Main Street by 7:50. We headed directly for the castle supposedly on the way to Fantasyland. Once we were walking through the castle and Paula was "oohing" and "ahhing" over the murals I confessed that we got to eat breakfast upstairs in the castle. The plan worked great--Paula was completely surprised and thrilled. We checked in at the podium and then got to step inside...wow, even the waiting room was majestic. Paula and all the other little five year old girls were in heaven. Every few minutes Paula would say, "Have I said 'Thank You' for today yet?" After a few minutes, Mary Poppins came downstairs and sat on the throne for pictures. We were amazed at the number of little girls who wore their "Princess" dresses. Some were Belle, some were Cinderella, some were Snow White, and they all looked like they were having the time of their lives. After a short wait, chimes were rang and a voice announced "The Royal Goble Family will now be seated" so we were sent upstairs. After climbing the spiral staircase (there's an elevator also) we emerged in the dining room...also wow! Vaulted ceilings with colorful banners hanging, stained glass windows, and a marvelous view had Paula and I walking open-mouthed to our table right by the windows. The lady that seated us explained a little about the breakfast and put our napkins in our laps for us (I could get used to this). Soon our server, David, came over. He was incredible. He called me "m'lady" and Paula "princess" with lots of "whatever your heart desires" and "your wish is my command" thrown in for good measure, but he also had just enough sarcasm to be completely endearing and hysterically funny at the same time. He had also worked for Disney for many years and could tell you just about anything that you cared to ask. David poured us some orange juice and bowed out to get our food. Now here's a word of warning about their orange juice: don't get me wrong, it's delicious, but it is definitely hand-squeezed and it has the pulp in there to prove it! I took my first drink and had pulp hanging out of my mouth. I warned Paula, but it was too late! She took a drink right as David came up and asked her a question. She looked at him with orange juice pulp hanging on her lips. "Princess?" he asked while I laughed and she desperately tried to push the pulp back in her mouth! It was priceless! Breakfast was very good although we both admitted that we were having so much fun with David and the characters that we scarcely remembered eating. There was a basket of muffins and croissants on our table and we were brought a plate of fruit. The main plating had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potato casserole, and a cream cheese Danish made into French toast--who thought of this? And can I shake his hand? It was delicious, but very rich. I think for the kids they serve Mickey Mouse pancakes instead of the French toast. It is all-you-can-eat and they were anxious to bring us more of anything we wanted but one plate was more than enough for us. After all, who can eat when you're too busy gawking at your surroundings. The characters that were there were Cinderella, Prince Charming, Belle, Jasmine, and Snow White. Paula was worried about feeling awkward since we didn't have any children with us but none of them made us feel weird or out of place without kids. David was always there asking if we needed him to take a picture of both of us. Belle asked us if we had seen Prince Charming yet and wasn't he dreamy! We took tons of pictures and the only time I felt awkward was when I was getting my picture made with Jasmine. Usually, you don't think anything about putting an arm around the character (and they put one around you) and having your picture snapped, but with Jasmine, there wasn't any place to put my hand...she's just all skin! I think I finally wound up putting my hand on her braid of hair! We had taken so many pictures that we could see we were going to need another roll of film, so we got an extra roll out and sat it on the table. David came by, saw the canister of film, picked it up and shook it, took the film out of the canister, sat the film on the table and walked off with our empty canister. He came back a few minutes later, sat the film canister on the table in front of Paula and said, "Here is just a small amount of what you have already so generously given to me." When Paula opened the canister it was full of Mickey Mouse confetti! She was hooked! In fact, she insisted on getting her picture made with David and it's her favorite of all the ones we took there. Now I understand what all the fuss is all about in getting reservations for this breakfast. It was a truly magical experience. After we finally finished eating, we did go and get Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh and then decided to ride Peter Pan since there was only a 10 minute wait posted. When we had just entered the queue, Paula took out one of her contact lens (we both wear them--thanks, Mom, for the bad vision!) which had been giving her grief all day. As she went to put it back in, a gust of wind came along and blew it off her finger! We immediately began searching the ground for it while parents tried to keep their excited kids from walking through the line. All the while my mind is trying to figure out how long it's going to take to find an eye doctor and get a copy of her prescription. After about 10 minutes, we finally did find it in a little crack filled with water. We quickly got out of line and went in search of a bathroom to rinse the contact lens off. We did make it back to do Peter Pan and then went on Small World which had no wait at all. After riding Winnie the Pooh we decided we had better head over to Epcot. On the way out of the park, we stopped at Guest Services and filled out a comment card about David, our waiter at breakfast. I also grabbed a diet coke on the way out ($2.50) because I had not had any caffeine all morning long. Soon we were on the monorail and on our way to Epcot. When we got to Epcot we walked through Future World to take pictures of all the topiaries that were there for the Flower and Garden Festival. I can't even imagine how much work must go in to putting out all of the topiaries and flower gardens. It certainly was beautiful and we saw lots of gardeners working in all of the beds to keep them that way. I think my favorite topiaries were of the flamingos with yo-yo's from Fantasia and the Lion King layout at the Outpost in World Showcase. Although the Winnie the Pooh bed was awfully cute and I did like the hippo ballerina and the character bus was clever and...okay, so they were all my favorites! Before we made our way to World Showcase, we stopped by Ice Station Cool so Paula could try some of the infamous "Beverly!" She agreed that it was the most horrific drink she had ever tasted. I had tried it for the first time back in November so I knew it was vile but I had to try it again this trip, I guess to make sure it was as nasty as I remembered. It's kind of like slowing down to look at an auto accident on the side of the road--you know it's going to be awful but you just have to look anyway! We stopped at the special Flower and Garden store to pick up a Flower and Garden Festival pin and then began our serious shopping. We went counter-clockwise starting in Canada and then going to the UK where we shopped and watched the World Showcase Players put on their rendition of King Arthur and the Holy Grail (Grail! Grail! Grail! Huh!). They were very funny! We then made our way to France for more shopping and to watch a different troupe of World Showcase Players perform Cyrano de Bergerac. They were also funny but I think I like the ones in the UK better. We wanted to have lunch at the Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco and we wound up there around 2:00. We were seated immediately and got to see the Genie from Aladdin make the rounds for a few minutes. We ordered the Combination Appetizer for Two which consisted of a Beef Brewat Roll (puff pastry filled with seasoned beef and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar--I know, I know, it sounds weird to have cinnamon and powdered sugar with beef, but it was excellent), Chicken Bastilla (pastry filled with chicken and almonds and also sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar--it was excellent as well), and Jasmina Salad (cucumbers and tomatoes in a vinaigrette dressing and a tomato-y kind of mixture that tasted kind of like spaghetti sauce). For our entree's I ordered the Vegetable Couscous and Paula had the Shish Kebab and we both shared. We had wanted to try one of their desserts but were too full. The total cost of the meal with a tea and a coke to drink came to $47.55. Toward the end of our meal we got to see the belly dancer. She picked a few women out of the crowd to go dance with her, most of who were pretty good sports about it. When we came out of the restaurant we again ran into the Genie so we took a picture with him. Then we poked around in the shops for a while. While Paula paid for her purchases I went outside and watched the Houzali acrobat troupe. They were amazing! There was this one man who (I swear I am not making this up) could bend over backwards so far that he put his head backward through his legs and then proceeded to roll around! That could not be pleasant--Impressive, but not pleasant! After that we shopped our way through Japan, America, Italy (which was partially closed for remodeling!), and Germany before stopping to look at the Kids' Playground they had set up at the Outpost. It looked like great fun with things to climb and play on plus it was beautifully landscaped too. We quickly looked through China and then wound up in Norway around 5:30. We deliberated going on Maelstrom but decided to look through the shops then stake out a spot to watch the 6:30 Tapestry of Nations parade. We got a great bench right on the parade route where nobody could get in front of us and rested until time for the parade. I was worried about the wind which had been blowing fairly hard all day and, sure enough, right before parade time the announcement came that they were canceling the parade because of the high winds. Disappointed but not daunted we headed to Mexico where we rode El Rio del Tiempo and looked around in their shops. I like that Mexico is inside and air conditioned! After Mexico we walked back around to the UK where we checked in for our PS for Rose & Crown around 7:00. I very politely asked for a table outside with a view of Illuminations and said we didn't mind waiting. We looked around in the shops and got to hear a tiny bit of Off-Kilter before they called us to our table at 7:35 (our PS had been for 7:30). We were out on the balcony at an okay table but I didn't think the view of Illuminations would be that great from it. For an appetizer we ordered the Mushroom Medley (4 kinds of mushrooms cooked in garlic, onion and cream and covered with puff pastry) which was delicious, then we both got the Fish & Chips and tea to drink. I must say that the servers were very patient with people who wanted to stay at their tables to watch Illuminations. Several families finished their meals before 8:00 (Illuminations started at 9:00) and the servers would ask them if they wanted to stay and watch the fireworks then offer to bring them more drinks. The total for our meal was $39.49 but the server did not charge us for the appetizer (I think because she forgot to bring our drink refills once and we were without drinks for about 15 minutes). We finished up around 8:30 and decided that we were both too wiped out to even stay and watch Illuminations. I knew we had our Illuminations Cruise on Wednesday so I wasn't worried about not getting to see the fireworks. We trudged back to the monorail, picked up our car at the TTC, and were back at Riverside by 9:30. Paula took a bath while I updated the trip report. We watched a little TV and were in bed by 11:00. I feel the need to mention that, as much fun as Paula made of me for taking notes on what we did everyday, by the second day she was keeping notes too! She admitted that there was too much that happened each day for you to remember and agreed that the notes would make it easier to give everybody back home a play-by-play description of what we did. In fact, some days we couldn't even remember everything that had happened just that day. We would compare notes at the end of the day and fill in anything we had left out that the other remembered. I also have to ask if anyone else finds themselves picking up the accent of whatever country they are in at Epcot?! I particularly noticed it in the UK and in France. I would find myself talking with a British or French accent no matter how hard I tried not too. I'm sure this was highly annoying to everyone around me! Tuesday, May 8, 2001 "It might be a gift shop!" Plan: MGM, Villains Dinner, E-Ride Night at MK Last night we had decided to take it easy today since we had been so tired yesterday and since we had a late night planned for today, so we didn't even set a wake up call. I woke up at 6:30 and got my shower so I could call my nephew before he left for school at 7:30 (6:30 Texas time). Paula got up at 7:30 and we had breakfast at the food court. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant sandwich and Paula had a sausage and egg croissant sandwich. Both came with potatoes and we used our re-fillable mugs ($11.22). We decided that we would go to MGM on Thursday and today we would go to the Wilderness Lodge to look around then take the ferry to the Magic Kingdom to do any rides that we wanted to do that wouldn't be open for E-Ride Night. We hoped that this way we might have time to squeeze in a nap so we would be rested for tonight. We drove to the Wilderness Lodge around 9:30 and just walked around the Lodge for a while. The pictures you see of the Lodge are gorgeous but they don't begin to do it justice. The place was beautiful. We decided it would be a good place to stay during the winter when the weather was cooler. They had some great Adirondack chairs in the lobby that I could have taken a nap in. We made our way out to the Marina and were on a boat to the MK by 11:00. As we were walking to the MK it struck me as funny that, in November when I was with my 7-year old nephew, we spent most of our time at Epcot and now that I was with my 27-year old sister, we were spending all of our time at the Magic Kingdom! I always suspected that Michael was the more mature of the two! We went to Adventure Land to get a Fast Pass for the Jungle Cruise (return time of 12:20-1:20) then rode the Pirates of the Caribbean and went to see the Tiki Room before returning for our Cruise. Our CM was named Michael and he was a hoot. I thought the best joke was as our boat was going into the ruins in Asia. Michael said that the ruins had shifted and he didn't know what lay ahead. "It could be danger...it could be treasure...but, hey, this is Disney, it might be a gift shop!" We split a pineapple Dole Whip ($2.65) as we walked back to Main Street to do some shopping. The bakery was indeed closed like I had read on the RADP discussion board. I thought I had heard that the candy shop was closed too but it open. We rode the train all the way around the MK and then took the ferry back to the Wilderness Lodge. We saw quite a few of the water mice on the way--they look like a lot of fun. I'll have to try those next time I bring Michael. We got back to the hotel around 2:30 and went to the food court to get us something to tide us over until our Villains Dinner tonight. We settled for splitting a turkey sandwich and a fruit and cheese tray ($11.96) and, of course, filled our mugs. We took the food back to our room, ate, and were ready to take a nap by 3:30. We woke up from our nap at 5:20 and were on our way to the Grand Floridian by 5:30. We checked in at 1900 Park Fair for the Villains Dinner at 6:00 (our PS was for 6:30) and we were seated almost immediately. Cruella De Vil was in the waiting area and later in the evening we also saw the Sheriff of Nottingham and the Queen of Hearts out there. Inside the restaurant were Captain Hook, Prince John from Robin Hood, and Governor Radcliff from Pocahontas. We had great fun with all of the characters. Captain Hook is a favorite of Paula's and he was almost courteous to her but we got nothing but trouble from Gov. Radcliff and Prince John. Prince John demanded that we kiss his paw and Gov. Radcliff kept trying to steal our jewelry. I told him I would trade one of my earrings for the medallion that he was wearing and at first he said he would but then backed out of the trade. When I called him and "Indian Giver" he stomped off in a huff, swishing his cape over us. There were more adult-only parties at this dinner than any other of the character meals I have been to, but all of the characters were very good with the children. If a child seemed the least bit intimidated the characters would keep their distance and only wave to the child as they went by. A boy sitting next to us (probably around 5 or 6 years old) told the server that he was scared of Captain Hook. The server told him that all the boy had to do to make Captain Hook leave him alone was to say "tick-tock, tick-tock" and the Captain would be too scared to bother him. The little boy tried this a couple of times when Captain Hook would come near and by the end of his meal the boy was hugging Captain Hook and saying he didn't want to leave! What we tried of the food was good and there was plenty of it but, honestly, we didn't pay that much attention to the meal itself because we were too busy watching the characters. We did try the strawberry soup that I had heard such good things about and we both liked it. The buffet had Chinese food, Mexican food, pasta with several sauces, a hand-carved prime rib, a good salad bar, and a separate kids' buffet bar. I also saw an extensive dessert bar but we never did make it over to it. The total cost of the meal was $46.00. We finished eating around 7:30, hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and were on Main Street by 7:45. We got our wristbands for E-Ride night and headed to Tomorrowland. The first ride we went on was Buzz Lightyear. Paula found some target that was giving her 25,000 points for each hit! Needless to say, she beat me horribly. Next, we went on Space Mountain and were amazed at how few people were in the park. The rides weren't a "walk-on" they were a "run-on" because we raced through the long queues to get to the loading areas! I did feel sorry for the CM's at the entrances to the rides that were having to explain to the people that did not have wristbands why they weren't allowed on the rides. After Space Mountain we went to Alien Encounter and then went to Liberty Square where we went on the Haunted Mansion. Next, we rode Splash Mountain (the front seat--Paula got wetter than I did) and then did Big Thunder Mountain. On all of the rides except Big Thunder we walked right on and Big Thunder just had a few minutes wait. By now it was 10:00 and Paula suggested that we ride Buzz Lightyear one more time (I think she just wanted to beat me again) so we started back to Tomorrowland. When we got in front of Cinderella's Castle we noticed that there were a lot of characters out and not too many people around. We got pictures made with Goofy and Pluto and then moved on to Chip and Dale. Well Chip and Dale were in fine form--they were fighting with each other and immediately put me in between them and proceeded to run around and around me trying to get at each other. Chip motioned to me that Dale was crazy and Dale pantomimed that Chip was a devil (although Paula had to interpret that one). Since Paula could apparently understand Dale better, he took up with her. We left to go see Mickey and Minnie but noticed that Dale was laying on the ground so we went back over to find out what was going on. By this time Dale was back on his feet and decided to square dance with Paula in front of the castle. After one particularly enthusiastic whirl, he pretended to throw up over the railing into the lagoon. When Paula said the dancing had made her tired, both Chip and Dale sat on the ground with her. When she asked them "Do you come here often?" they both laughed "yes!" Next, they all three (Chip, Dale & Paula) laid on the ground and looked at the stars. After Paula got up Chip and Dale stayed there for a while and pretended to sleep (although they had to cover their eyes since they don't close!). When we finally left there were lots of kisses all around. We finally did make it over to see Mickey and Minnie about 10:30. After we got a picture with them we started over to Buzz Lightyear again but noticed that Chip was lying on one of the benches around the Partners statue. We decided then that playing with the characters was more fun than Buzz and decided to stay by the castle! Chip took a broom and dust pan away from a CM and tried to sweep Paula up into the dustpan. By this time, Pluto had joined us and Chip began to pester him. They both jumped up on the ledge around the Partners statue and posed in the "crane" position from Karate Kid! Then Chip started chasing Pluto around the statue and finally came and sat down while Pluto continued to run around and around the statue. Chip then covered Pluto's eyes with Pluto's long ears so he couldn't see and Pluto stumbled around blind bumping into people and falling into flower beds. Chip came over and sat on Paula's lap for awhile and when his handlers told him it was time to go at 11:00 he refused to leave and then finally gave us a big group hug and kiss. What fun! Paula and I decided that we would definitely do E-Ride night again! I think that even if we hadn't gotten to ride all of the rides that we did, just being able to interact with the characters without big crowds of people around was worth the price of admission. We sat and just watched the castle change colors until 11:15 and then headed down Main Street. We stopped in the Emporium and each bought a Chip and Dale pin to commemorate the evening then hopped back on the monorail to the Grand Floridian and were back at Riverside by 12:15. I got us a coke and we shared some cheese crackers and we were in bed by 1:00am. Wednesday, May 9, 2001 "Tea for Two" Plan: Move to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Tea at the Garden View Lounge, the Boardwalk, Illuminations Cruise. I woke up at 7:00 and took a shower; Paula was up at 8:00. We got dressed, packed up our things and then called Bell Services to pick up our luggage and move it over the Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL). They told us it should arrive between 1:00-3:00. By 10:00 we were off to the AKL (I know, I know, check-in isn't officially until 4:00, but we were excited!). I am always amazed at the variety of plant-life that Disney grows in Florida. At Riverside we had, appropriately enough, magnolia trees, azaleas, sycamore trees, and pines. At the AKL there were all sorts of grasses and even huge stands of bamboo! When we drove up to the entry station the guard took our name and checked his computer to be sure we did have reservations. We quickly parked and headed to the entrance. I loved the sidewalk outside of the entryway--it looked like a huge sand painting. Walking in to the lobby was reminiscent of the Wilderness Lodge. Everything is open to the ceiling with rooms over-looking the lobby. You enter the lobby on the third floor. Check-in is to you left as you enter. The lobby is very beautiful and Paula and I were both impressed. Disney was filming a commercial in the central seating section of the lobby. A security guard met us and explained what was going on and asked if we would please keep to the perimeter of the lobby until they were finished. It was interesting just to stand and watch everything that was going on. There was no wait at check-in. The CM laughed at me when she read my room request (2nd floor, at the end of Zebra Trail, facing the Arusha Savanna). She said that a room meeting those specifications had been assigned to us but it wasn't ready yet. She said she did have some rooms ready immediately if we wanted to switch. I told her that we would wait for the assigned room. She asked if I knew someone who had stayed at the AKL in order to request such a specific room. Actually, I had made my request based on discussions on The DIS resort discussion board. I had to sign a waiver stating that I was aware that feeding the animals, throwing trash onto the savanna, or going out on the savanna was not allowed and that failure to follow the rules could result in my being asked to leave the premises. She gave us many maps and newsletters. After checking in we decided to try and find Mara and have some breakfast. The layout of the AKL is a bit confusing at first (and it didn't help that the film crew had some of the walkways and entrances blocked). The pool, restaurants and Simba's playhouse are located on the first level. Victoria Falls Lounge and the Arusha Rock overlook (including the fire pit) are on the second level. The entrance, lobby, Zawadi Marketplace, and Sunset Overlook are on the third level. Guest rooms are on the second through the sixth levels. We took a look at the pool on our way to Mara--it was beautiful and very big. When we finally found Mara (which I believe is African for "place with no straws!" Yes, just like in the Animal Kingdom, there are no straws here) we ordered two breakfast bagels (one sausage, one bacon), picked up two refillable mugs, and one milk ($31.92). I thought the refillable mugs were very cute and, yes, there is a hidden Mickey on the mugs (A CM saw me with one in the hall and asked if I had found the hidden Mickey yet. She wouldn't tell me where it was but made me find it myself.). Unlike most of the food courts you order your meal and instead of waiting for it before you check out, you check out first and they bring it to you when it's been prepared. We tried to get our nerve up to try the Paps with Wors Gravy but chickened out. After breakfast we went to the Sunset Overlook and then to the Arusha Rock Overlook. We saw some Ankole Cattle (or Watusi) up close and a Zebra off in the distance. We headed back to the lobby and found that the film crew had moved to the far end so we could look around more freely. We found the hidden Mickey on the shield light fixture. Shortly before 1:00 our room was ready. We were in room 2573. There was a watering hole right in front of our balcony so we got to see lots of animals up close when they came for a drink. We both loved the room. I thought the bathroom was particularly pretty and there was noticeably more room than at Riverside even with the Queen beds. I think that the second floor was the perfect height for viewing the animals--we were as close as you could be since there are no guest rooms on the first floor. I realize that the deluxe and concierge rooms are on the higher floors but I can't imagine that they would have as good a view as we did from the 2nd floor. We immediately went out onto the balcony and sat down to watch the animals. We could still see the Watusi but that was about all. The rooms have a guide sheet that lists all the animals on the savannas and characteristic markings you can use to recognize them. Around 1:30 several workers came onto the savanna apparently to clean up. Yes, they were scooping up animal poop! Our luggage arrived at 2:15. Paula put on a dress (for tea, you know!) and we left for the Grand Floridian at 2:30. When we checked in at the entry station we told the guard that we were having tea. "Two for Tea?" he asked! And, of course, I gave the proper response, "Tea for two!" We used valet parking and entered the resort. The Garden View Lounge is at the very back of the lobby. We checked in at 3:00 (our PS was for 3:15) and were seated immediately. I had been sort of dreading this since I made the PS--I'm not a hot tea drinker and I figured that any event at the Grand Floridian, much less tea, would be a little stuffy for me, but I knew that Paula really wanted to do this so I was going to be a sport! The Lounge was lovely. It was very small with maybe 20 tables (the majority of which seated two people). The Lounge overlooked the pool and some beautiful landscaping. It was cool, quiet, and very relaxing. Paula and I decided on the Grand Tea which came with champagne with a strawberry (we don't drink alcohol but we ate the strawberry), our choice of tea (Darjeeling--Paula says it's the best), and finger sandwiches (smoked salmon, egg salad, watercress and cucumber, and chicken salad with almonds, served with a tomato tartlet and crab on a crostini. After the sandwiches they bring you a white currant scone with strawberry jam and Devonshire cream (imported from Devon per our server Dorothy) and a jam tart, then you have your choice of trifle or two miniature pastries. Paula and I chose the pastries: I had a chocolate éclair and the chocolate mousse and Paula had a raspberry mousse cream puff (shaped like a swan) and a chocolate cake with apricot filling. The meal was surprisingly filling--we couldn't finish our pastries. And, surprisingly enough, I had a wonderful time. Even though the setting was very elegant it was not overly fussy. The whole affair was marvelously relaxed and unhurried. I would definitely do it again (although probably not with Michael!). The total for two Grand Teas was $51.94. We were seated by a man named Frank and his wife from Massachusetts. Frank was a hoot! He kept us laughing through the whole meal while his wife kept trying to shush him. I think she was afraid that we had come for some elegant meal and that he was bothering us, but actually he made us feel pretty good about *our* manners! Frank was pleased that he had been there for 30 minutes and hadn't broken anything yet. He also kept forgetting to pour his tea through the strainer and he would get a cup full of tea leaves. "My car has a filter on it that I don't have to think about, why can't they make one for tea?!" he complained. Frank said that when they left their home they had 4 foot of snow in their backyard so they didn't want to go back. They had been in Florida for a month already! He asked if we were staying at the Grand Floridian and when we said "no" he admitted that they weren't staying there either. He said, "We're staying at "Juan's Motel" down the road for $5 a night but I love it here at the Grand Floridian! We've been here for 15 days in a row. A few days ago security came up to me. You can tell that they're security because they have the serious suits on--not the costumes, and they have the walkie-talkies with the earpiece. Anyway, two security guards came up to me and one got on either side of me to let me know that they knew I didn't belong here. One of them asked me if I was having a good time and I said to him, with my best Mickey Mouse smile, 'The time of my life!' And the security guard replied, 'Enjoy! That's what it's here for!'" Frank also told us that all you had to do to fit in at the Grand Floridian was to get a towel. "The towels are the key," he said. "The towels here are striped and if you have one you belong. Also, the more you ask for, the more you fit in. Go up to a door and ask a CM 'Can you open that for me?' and then look hurt because they didn't think of it first!" We finally finished up around 4:45 and were back at the AKL by 5:15. By this time we had Zebra, Gemsbok, Watusi, and Wildebeest outside of our balcony. We called home and then just sat and enjoyed the animals until 6:30. It was very hard to get up and leave. As we were going down the hall to leave we saw some bongos and giraffe on another savanna (they have viewing areas at various intervals down the halls). We drove to the Boardwalk and used the valet parking. We looked around for a while and then I told Paula about our cruise and we checked in at the marina at 8:00. The CM there said we were too early and to check back around 8:30--our boat and driver would be there at that time. While we waited we both got a corndog and a coke and sat on a bench to eat. At 8:30 we went back to the marina. There was a different CM there and when we told him we were here for the Illuminations Cruise he said that the boat had just left with some other people on board! He asked if we were sure we had booked the Boardwalk and not the Beach/Yacht club. I told him I was positive it was the Boardwalk and showed him my confirmation number so he called over to the Yacht Club marina and then told us that we needed to go over there. I told him I didn't think it was fair that we had to go to the Yacht Club, could they not come over here and pick us up? When he called back he found out that the boat they had there had already left with some other people anyway! Well now I was starting to get nervous and mad. The CM tried to call someone else but then had to drive the ferry over to MGM so we were left alone. The CM said he would try again when he got back from MGM! We waited until 8:50 and I was thinking that we weren't going to get to see Illuminations after all. Finally the recreation coordinator for the Boardwalk (Alex, I think) came out and took all of my information. He explained that the Boardwalk only has one pontoon that it uses for the Illuminations Cruise and it must have been double-booked by mistake. He made some calls and finally found a pontoon from the Yacht Club that only had a family of three on it. They agreed to come and get us so we loaded up and made it to Epcot with 2 minutes to spare! The fireworks from that location (under the bridge between the International Gateway and France) were amazing. I think it was a much better view than we would have had from the Rose & Crown on Monday. When it was over they took us back to the Boardwalk. Alex had said he would discount the cost of the cruise since there was a mix-up and we had to share a boat and didn't get to ride around in the boat before time for Illuminations. It's been two weeks since we were there and a charge has yet to hit my credit card, so maybe the trip was on Disney. We were back at the AKL by 10:00. The only animals that were out were the Watusi. I went down to Mara and filled our mugs and bought two sugar cookies ($4.01). We were in bed by 11:00 and for the first time in my entire life I slept in a hotel with the drapes wide open! The savannas are lit by "artificial moonlight" at night so it's like there is always a full moon. Every time Paula or I woke up during the night we would look out at the savanna to see what was going on--heaven! I noticed at 2:00am that they were watering the savanna. Thursday, May 10, 2001 "Daddy! Daddy! I see the maminals!" Plan: Sleep in, Epcot, Magic Kingdom for Spectromagic and Fireworks When I woke up at 6:30 there were Zebra, Watusi, Eland, and Wildebeest grazing outside our window. Paula and I both moved our pillows and lay with our heads and the foot of our beds so we could watch the animals and doze. I finally got up at 7:45 and took a shower. Paula got up at 8:30. She said she dreamed of giant Yaks all night! With all those animals outside it was hard to get moving. Since the Zebra and Kudu Trails of the AKL are in a horseshoe shape, when you are out on your balcony you can't really see anyone else's balcony unless you lean out over the rail, but you can sometimes hear other people talking as they watch the animals. We heard a very excited little boy tell his Dad, "Daddy! Daddy! I see the maminals!" Too cute! We finally tore ourselves away from the balcony at 10:00 and headed to MGM. There were some characters out when we entered the gate so we had to stop and get pictures with Eeyore. After pictures we headed to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and walked on with a 5 minute wait. This was both of our first time to ride and we thought it was great. I usually scream on roller coaster rides but we decided that you are launched too fast on this ride for noise to come out of you mouth! After the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster we got Fast Passes for the Tower of Terror then went to watch the 11:00 performance of Beauty and the Beast. We both enjoyed the pre-show by 4 For A Dollar. When we came to WDW, I told Paula that I had a rough plan for every day of our trip except for Friday and that day we would do whatever she wanted. While we were waiting for the Beauty and the Beast performance to start, we noticed on the park map of some people sitting in front of us that the Star Wars Weekends ran Friday thru Sunday. Paula decided that she wanted to come back to MGM on Friday and see what we missed when we came too late last Sunday. Her husband is a big Star Wars fan and she wanted to get some pictures for him. After the show it was time for Tower of Terror. The ride didn't seem as scary as when we rode on Sunday night. Maybe because it was dark the last time we rode it. After the ToT we went over to Star Tours and got a Fast Pass then stopped for lunch at the Backlot Commissary. We both had cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke ($15.27). After lunch it was time to ride Star Tours then we went to see the Muppets 3-D. I pointed out the "a net full of Jell-O" to Paula who thought that was funny. The show was just starting as we walked in though, so we didn't have time to look for the key under the mat. After the Muppets, Buzz and Woody were at Al's Toy Barn so we stopped to get our picture with them and then went to the 2:00 show of Hunchback of Notre Dame. We saw the last part of Randy the Juggler's act before the show started. Next we went to the Great Movie Ride (stopping first to see Pinocchio and Donald Duck) where we had the cowboy side. Our cowboy couldn't seem to decide whether he was from Texas or Australia--his "accent" kept slipping between the two! After the Great Movie Ride we squeezed in the next performance of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, left MGM around 3:45, and were back in our room by 4:15. We checked our window to see what animals were roaming around then grabbed our refillable mugs and headed down to Mara for cokes and a piece of carrot cake ($3.81) to share. On our way back to our room we looked out a viewing area and saw that there were giraffes out on our savanna! We both screamed and ran for the room (and our cameras). There were six giraffes and they were beautiful. You know that they are tall but you don't really realize how big they are! We couldn't stop taking pictures. It's amazing that the animals are just *right there* by your balcony. We watched the giraffes until 5:45 then tried to take a nap but it was hard to sleep because I kept looking out the window at the giraffes. We finally just got up at 7:00 and left for the Magic Kingdom and Spectromagic at 7:30. We parked at the TTC and took the monorail over. We were on Main Street by 8:00 and it was already full for the 9:00 parade. We walked along the parade route all the way to Liberty Square before we finally found a spot on the ground across from the Diamond Saloon. We passed the time talking with a nice lady and her family from Mississippi. The parade got to our spot by 9:20 and was over at 9:40. We walked back to Main Street and found a spot on the hub to watch the fireworks (and had a Mickey ice cream sandwich). After the fireworks were over we grabbed a bench and waited for the crowd to thin before leaving the park. We was the Kiss Goodnight at 10:20 then took the ferry back to the TTC and were home by 11:30 (and the giraffes were still there). We grabbed our mugs and went down to Mara for a coke. Paula ironed her clothes and called home while I updated the trip report. We were in bed by 12:30. Friday, May 11, 2001 "Por favor mantanganse alejado de las puertas" Plan: Paula's Choice, flight home at 4:00 I woke up at 4:55am and looked out our window (yes, we were sleeping with the drapes open again!). The largest one of the giraffes was right by our balcony so I got out of bed, slipped on my robe and went out and sat on the balcony for about 30 minutes. The giraffe looked at me when he heard our sliding door open and then went back to eating his leaves. I sure hate to leave. After a while I went back to bed and then got up for good at 7:00. We packed and were ready to check out by 9:00. I left Paula to wait in the room for Bell Services while I pulled the car around front. Paula said the CM from bell services asked how many hidden Mickeys we had found during our stay. The CM said that, as part of their training, they had to try and find all of them one day before the AKL opened. We knew about the one on the light in the lobby and had found the rather obvious ones on the bed spreads and the carpet. She said there was also one on a rock by the pool and one somewhere else that Paula couldn't remember. We got to MGM at 9:30 and had breakfast at Starring Rolls while we looked over a schedule of the day's events (two bagels with cream cheese, one diet coke and one milk--$8.10). After breakfast we went to Tatooine Traders and bought the limited edition Star Wars pins (they had them in stock today). When we came out we were entertained by some Tuscan Raiders that were roaming through the crowd. They had several spots roped off where you could wait in line to meet some of the Star Wars characters (not the real ones from the movies, but they were all pretty good likenesses). There were lines for Princess Leia, Luke, Han and Chewbacca, and Darth Maul). We waited to see Darth Maul and he was great. He never broke character and would stare at you until you were thoroughly creeped out. We thought that it was funny that hardly anyone smiled when they were getting their picture taken with him--they mostly just looked apprehensive! By this time it was time for the Star Wars Motorcade. We grabbed a bench and watched as Carrie Fisher and Peter Mayhew (the guy that played Chewbacca) came by along with a host of Storm Troopers, Tuscan Raiders, Imperial Soldiers, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, The Emperor, and even Greedo. After the Motorcade, we went to the Animation Courtyard and watched "Behind the Force: The Making of Star Wars," which showed a little bit about the new Episode 2. By now it was about time to hit the trail for the airport. It's always sad and a little depressing to me when you drive off of Disney property. We stopped at a 7-11 right outside of Disney World to fill up with gas and were on our way home. Did I mention that we rode the monorail so much this trip that we finally learned how to say "Please, stand clear of the doors" in Spanish!? HIGHLIGHTS: --The Animal Kingdom Lodge-- Paula and I both thought this place was fabulous. I think you could stay here and never even go to a park and still have a wonderful vacation. We couldn't get over the fact that the animals were just *right there*! The Lodge was beautiful, the CM's were friendly and helpful (and proud of the resort), and the animals were great. The only drawback I can mention is that I sang "Circle of Life" continuously while we were there! They don't play the song at the Lodge but it ran through my mind with an annoying consistency. Anyway, I would highly recommend staying here if you have a chance and I would also recommend paying the extra for a savanna view. The animals are the show and I don't think the experience would be as good if you couldn't just sit on your own balcony and watch giraffes at 4:00 in the morning! --Tea at the Grand Floridian-- This was the most pleasant surprise of the trip. What I thought would be a stuffy, boring experience turned out to be one of the most tranquil and relaxing times we had. Go with an open mind and enjoy (and if you see Frank there trying to steal the jars of jam, tell him I said "hi"). --Character Meals-- Both character meals we attended this trip were amazingly fun. In November we did the character breakfasts at Chef Mickeys and at Restaurantosaurus and they were okay but we didn't enjoy them nearly as much as the Villains Dinner and Cinderella's Royal Table. Cinderella's breakfast was definitely worth the hassle of getting up at 6:00am (Texas time) and dialing in on the home phone and all cell phones you can find exactly 60 days in advance. --E-Ride Night-- Another big hit! I would definitely do this again without a moments hesitation. Again, I think it would be worth the price just to go and play with the characters even if you didn't have all of the rides to do with absolutely no wait. LOWLIGHTS: Honestly, the only briefly low point that we had on this trip was the confusion over the Illuminations Cruise and even it worked out okay in the end. This has taught me to always bring my confirmation numbers with me just in case. IN GENERAL: This was the first time I had been to WDW in May and I think it is a wonderful time of year to go. The weather was glorious for our entire trip and the crowds weren't even noticeable. I think the longest wait time we saw was 35 minutes for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. By using Fast Pass for the more popular rides we basically walked on to everything we rode. Probably the longest wait we had was for Peter Pan (about 10 minutes) and that was because we were waiting for our Winnie the Pooh Fast Pass time to come up and went in the stand-by line. Well, I guess that's the end of my report. Thanks for sticking through it with me. My next trip is planned for this November with my nephew again (you didn't think he would let me get by with taking my sister and not him did you? Plus, I have to get my money's worth from my Annual Pass!). We'll probably be staying at the All Star Movies again because Michael wants to "stay with Buzz and Woody like last time" but I'll see if I can't talk him into the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a couple of nights. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me. Thanks again. Robin Goble RGoble5972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Robin Goble |
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