 |  |
| Discussion Boards | Reviews | News | Trip Planning | Shop | Travel | Site Map |
| Disney Trip Report Archive An archive of reader-submitted trip reports | |
| Alex Stroup, editor | Search just the Trip Report Archive. |
|
Eva Greguski -- August 2001 -- Walt Disney World (FWC)August 24 through 28, 2001 Cast of characters:
And making an appearance:
Friday, August 24 Planned: MK day. Flight lands at MCO at 9:30AM. Pick up rental car, stop at Publix for cereal, milk and snacks, and check-in to FW by 11AM. This is also E-ride night so we are hoping there are still tickets left by the time we get there. PS for Crystal Palace at 2PM. This is our traditional first meal of any WDW visit. Because we will want to take a break before E-ride, we will probably eat at Trail's End before we head back to the MK. I am sure we will be forced to stop at the dreaded Petting Farm sometime that day. What really happened: Up at 4:30AM after only a few hours of sleep. We got to Islip airport for our 7AM flight at 6AM; waited about 10 minutes to check in and made our way over to the terminal. Islip is a very small airport and check-in usually goes pretty smoothly. As soon as we got to the terminal they were boarding - it was a perfect morning so far - little waiting, smooth check-in and now quick boarding. We were hoping this would set the tone for the trip. Landed in Orlando about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, collected our bags and headed over to Avis to pick up the rental car. We had reserved a car through Priceline for $25 a day and were very pleased with it - a brand-new Pontiac Bonneville with only 111 miles on it. It was very comfortable although I was ready to take the stereo away from Michael after we go to WDW - he managed to find just about every AC/DC song on the radio on that short 20 minute drive. We stopped at Goodings to pick up a few goodies and Andrea footed the bill for the snacks. As I had mentioned in our pre-trip report, she is starting grad school this fall and is pretty strapped for cash so I told her we would foot the bill for the hotel and car since we needed to pay for it anyway. We gathered our groceries and were on our way. Check-in at the cabins was a breeze - it was so nice to be back at Fort Wilderness. This was the place I had stayed at as a child with my family and I was anxious to show Bryan around. We are also reserved for 12 nights of camping next May, so we considered it as kind of a "shake-down" for the trip next spring. We purchased our e-ride tickets at check-in, Andrea and Michael bought their hopper passes and we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We decided to take the bus to the ferry, one of the few times we did this. Because we had such limited time we often used our rental car to get around because the busses can take quite a while. We finally got to the Magic Kingdom around noon and hit PoTC first. My memory is unclear as to the order of things we did, but I definitely remember riding Pirates first. We deferred to Andrea's choices since the rest of us go there rather frequently and she hadn't been there since 1982. We headed over to Haunted next and then it was time for our PS at Crystal Palace. After a short wait on the porch we were ready to be seated and as always, Crystal Palace didn't disappoint. We ate and ate and ate. At one point I was getting another salad and I was startled by a CM who opened the shutters behind the buffet to re-stock the buffet. As many times as I have been there I had never noticed the hinged doors behind the buffet. I told the CM he reminded me of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain when he popped out. We hung around the Magic Kingdom for a little while longer and went back to the cabin for a couple of hours to take showers and change for e-ride. We had all been up since before dawn and needed to rejuvenate before our late night. We decided not to take the public transportation and instead drove over to the Contemporary where we could walk to the MK (I know, it is against the rules, but the lot was more than 1/2 empty). We were back in the MK by 8PM, picked up our bracelets at City Hall (no wait) and headed over to Pecos Bill's for a quick bite. We had wanted to eat at Trail's End that night, but it was just too busy and we were all still a little stuffed from Crystal Palace. Bryan and I split a Paul Bunyan (I loaded mine with extra tomatoes - love that fixin's bar!) and a large coke. We weren't starving but knew we would be by 1AM when e-ride ended. We were finishing just as Spectromagic was starting and we went out to the porch at Pecos to get watch the parade. Andrea and Michael liked Spectro, but we all agreed that we like MSEP so much more. There is something more nostalgic about if for me - it was the first nighttime parade I ever saw, I love the Baroque Hoedown and the little bug creatures are so cute. We rode Haunted Mansion again and headed over to the bridge to Tomorrowland to watch Fantasy in the Sky. I wanted Andrea to see Tinkerbell - we were standing right under her as she made her way down the wire. You couldn't pay me enough to take that job! During the day we had avoided a lot of the e-ticket attractions because we knew we could ride them that night. The only e-tickets attractions we saw during the day was Buzz (gotta love Buzz) and Alien Encounter. We immediately headed towards Space Mountain for our first ride. Michael and I rode this alone since Bryan and Andrea aren't thrilled with coasters (actually, Andrea hates them and Bryan thinks Space is too jerky). They rode Wedway and we waited on the longest line of the night - there were a few people in front of us who refused to get off the line even though they were told they couldn't ride without bracelets. On to Buzz (again) where once again Bryan whipped my butt. We have ridden this at least 12 times and I have only beat him once. Andrea couldn't really figure the ride out and scored only 2000 points. She did much better the next few times she rode it. We headed over to Splash and Big Thunder and Andrea went to see Country Bears. I think Splash Mountain is one of the best rides in any park and riding it at night is all the better. We followed it up with a spin on Big Thunder, which is also better at night. We met Andrea after Country Bears and rode Haunted Mansion (for the third time that day). We were getting really pooped by that time (we had been awake for about 20 hours) and made our way towards the hub where Michael could take some pictures. He had just bought a new, VERY EXPENSIVE camera and couldn't wait to try it out at WDW. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy were signing autographs at the hub - it was nice to see the characters without huge lines attached to them We started to head out by 12:30 but stopped in the Emporium first on the way out. Michael is a shop-a-holic (pretty unusual for a guy) so we can barely pass a store without stopping. Walked back to the Contemporary, drove back to our cabin and had a wonderful (and tiring) day. We watched a little TV but headed off to bed rather quickly. The next day was Epcot - our favorite park and a first for Andrea! Saturday, August 25 Planned: Epcot day!!! Andrea is looking forward to Epcot the most since it was just opening the last time she was there. Mike and Patty will be driving down to WDW in the afternoon. PS for Rose & Crown for 2:20PM. I couldn't get a PS for Illuminations viewing for 6 people so we opted for lunch. We are hoping that the crowds won't be too awful and we didn't want to tie-up too much time at dinner that night anyway. What really happened: Up and at 'em! Well, not really. It took a lot of coaxing to get everyone out of bed that morning, especially since we came in well after one and we had a LONG day traveling Friday. Getting up late seemed to be an unfortunate trend for the rest of the weekend and Bryan and I (who don't sleep much on vacations and want to leave early) have decided that on future trips we will meet the rest of our group at the parks. It can be extremely frustrating to travel with people who are on different timetables and in order to save our familial relationships we now find it best to split up and meet at agreed upon times. I was up by 7 and got tired of waiting for everyone else, so I hopped the bus to the Meadow Trading Post to look for a pair of scissors. I had pre-cut some moleskin before I left but was running out and forgot to pack a pair of scissors. I got on the bus with a scout troop from Queens and we talked about the trip to Florida during our short ride. They told me that they took Amtrak down and were leaving that afternoon - 25 hours from Penn Station!!! Not for me, I said, I would rather drive. I picked up what I needed at the Trading Post (no scissors, but I found some donuts!) and headed back to the cabin. Everyone was finally ready to go by ten so we drive over to Epcot. We were meeting Patty and Mike for our lunch PS at Rose & Crown at 2PM so we needed to mosey in order to see anything that morning. We high-tailed it to Test Track where we stood in the single riders lane. Bryan and I refuse to FP this ride if the single riders lane is working - no reason to wait for a FP time usually several hours later in the day when we can just divide up and ride in separate cars. Andrea was a little apprehensive about the speed, but she wound up really like the ride and asked to go on it again. Unfortunately, the single rider line wasn't as speedy as normal - we got right into the pre-show but the ride broke down as soon as we were standing on the number spots to get into the cars. Andrea and Bryan were actually in their car and had to get out. We waited a good 15 minutes or so for the ride to get fixed. This is actually the first time I have ever been waiting for the ride when it broke - glad I wasn't one of the people waiting inside for 90 minutes. Gotta love Test Track. We went to Ice Station Cool where Andrea decided that Beverly wasn't so bad. It figures - we have very different food tastes so I should have guessed she would like it. Next we walked towards JIYI where I finally broke the news to Michael that there Figment was no longer. He was really p*ssed - I mean, really upset. He was so livid that he almost didn't ride on it - he said "Figment is the mascot of Epcot - what idiot would get rid of it?" "Add your complaint to the list of millions of others" I told him. As predicted, everyone hated the ride (Bryan and I have only ridden it twice because we can't stomach it) and we went to see HISTA afterwards. I can't believe they actually installed FP for the attraction - we have never waited and the theater seats so many people that it almost seems like a waste. Everyone liked HISTA (especially the mouse part - I always lift my feet) and we played around in the Imagination playground for a little while. By this time it was heading on towards 1PM and we thought we should head over to World Showcase to meet Bryan's parents. They called us on the cell, telling us they had arrived earlier than expected. We were also hungrier than we had expected and figured the Rose & Crown would probably take us early. We were right - and were seated within five minutes. We initially asked for a terrace table (which they gave us) but there was absolutely no breeze out on the porch and we asked to be moved inside. I felt horrible asking the server - there were six of us, times six drinks, silverware settings, etc., but she was more than gracious and we sat inside. Bryan and I ordered the bangers and mash and prime rib and it was delicious! Kind of a hot day for such heavy food but we sat inside for quite a while catching up with Bryan's parents. We wandered around England for a while after lunch and listened to a little bit of the British Invasion. We decided to head towards Canada to see the movie and we passed Fiddlestix along the way. I mentioned them in my last trip report - they are a fabulous bluegrass band that everyone should hear at least once. We made it just in time for O Canada! (ever notice that the waiting area smells a little like horses?) and went in to see the film. I know a lot of people think the World Showcase films are a little dated and sometimes cheesy, but I really like them. After Canada we decided it was still sweltering (this was the hottest day of our trip) and we headed over to Mexico so that we could hang out in the plaza for a while. They were changing the art exhibit outside so we first rode El Rio (which filled the Small World void for Andrea since it was being re-habbed) and then nosed around the plaza for almost 45 minutes. None of us felt any need to rush back out into the heat so we sat on the fountain gabbing for a little while. Andrea and I also checked out some of the Mexican sales clerks (one was particularly attractive! Sorry Bryan!) and the silver jewelry. Norway was up next! We waited about 10 minutes for our Viking ship and even stayed for the little movie afterwards (I told you I liked the movies!). Good thing we stayed - it was pouring like cats and dogs when the movie let out. Surprisingly, this was the only rain we saw the entire trip. The shops were packed, but I still got a good look at the gorgeous sweaters - Bryan refused to buy me any of them! Can you believe it? They are only $250! It was still raining a little bit so we sat at Kringla Bakery for a little while to wait out the storm. Well, we couldn't just sit there without eating could we? So Bryan ordered us some goodies - a sweet pretzel and a Viking cookie - and we ate while we waited. It was a nice little rest and we all decided to head back to Future World so that we could stay inside in case the rain continued. We decided we would eat dinner at The Land so we went to Spaceship Earth first. Andrea was tempted to ride as soon as we got there, but I told her that there is never a line in the afternoon and evening. We were right - and we rode without waiting. She liked it, although Michael admitted to missing Walter Cronkite. Well, you can't please everyone. We hit the Living Seas next and skipped the movie (not my idea) and took the hydrolators. We had a funny moment inside - there is a recording that says "please move all the way into the hydrolator so that we can begin the journey to the sea..." or something like that. As soon as the recording finished Michael said "please move all the way in so that you can exit through to the other side of the doors." The hydrolators are pretty lame (as is most of this attraction), but we skipped it in June and thought we should go through it. I guess folks with kids like this attraction better than 6 cynical adults, but this pavilion is in serious need of updating. The Land - here we come! We got a FP for the boat ride (standby was 45 minutes, FP return time was 45 minutes - this was a no brainer) and we ate while we waited. Looking back through this trip report it seems like we eat an awful lot! Our FP time was here and we boarded our boat through the greenhouse. I have to say this is the first time I have ever been through the greenhouse in the dark - it is pretty neat! We are usually with everyone else in World Showcase but I think all of the Future World pavilions have a certain magic at night. It was heading towards 8:30 so it was time to move back to World Showcase for Illuminations. I told Andrea that this is my favorite nighttime show and she was pretty excited to see it. We all split a McFlurry while we waited (I know - McDonald's is soooo bad but there was no line!) and grabbed a pretty good spot of railing near Canada. The show was as fabulous as ever and we were sad to see another day end. We started to walk back to the parking lot and said goodbye to Bryan's parents under the monorail (they were staying at the All-Stars). We made plans to meet the next morning at Chef Mickey's and we got back to the cabin in less than 1/2 hour. We were all pretty pooped but Bryan, Michael and I took a quick swim and stayed up a while to watch SNL. Andrea and Michael stayed up pretty late but Bryan and I hit the hay by 1am. We needed to get some sleep so that we could face another day! Sunday, August 26 Planned: MGM day. I like MGM okay but always manage to get lost there. I really want to take another crack at Millionaire and Michael can't wait for RnRC. Andrea sits out the craziest rides, so she will shop till she drops while we ride RnRC and TZToT. PS for Chef Mickey's at 8:45AM. I made this PS while we had a reservation at the Contemporary and we decided to keep it. We LOVE Chef Mickey's and plan on eating Krispy Kreme's till we burst! What really happened: Well, Andrea and Michael hit it off very well the night before - so well that we were running really late for our Chef Mickey's PS that morning because I couldn't get either one of them out of bed. I couldn't complain (especially since we had orchestrated the whole thing) but I wanted to get going. I tried calling Chef Mickey's directly to tell them we were running late but they never answered the phone. I figured the worst they would do is turn us away, so we took a chance and left by 9AM to meet Bryan's parents. We arrived at 9:15 and the Chef Mickey's crew was more than willing to take us - even though we were late. I was so embarrassed - we are never late for PS's. Andrea and Michael loved the buffet and we were seated in the far room with a wonderful view over the lagoon. There were four different families with small children celebrating birthdays - we had a great time. Oh - and we stuffed ourselves with Krispy Kreme's. We left for MGM and got there by 11AM. The sequence of events is kind of a blur but I remember hitting Tower of Terror first after get a FP for RnRC (that is our normal sequence of events). Michael has ridden ToT before and couldn't wait to ride again. Andrea sat this one out but we rode. I was glad to see that they got ride of the middle seat with the seatbelt and no safety bar - I always avoided that seat. We had such a great ride and our picture came out pretty good. There were two boys sitting in front of us (about 7 and 9) and they had the best time. Their mother, on the other hand, didn't have such a great time, although she was laughing in the hallway on the way out. We retrieved Andrea from the gift shop (she has a thing for floaty-pens and dropped some cash in the shop) and Michael decided that he needed to rest for a little while before RnRC - his stomach was kind of queasy from ToT. We got some drinks and sat under an umbrella at Rosie's All American for a little while (I will re-state that MGM is seriously lacking in some indoor air-conditioned counter service) and chatted for a while. Onto RnRC!!!!! Michael had never ridden RnRC and couldn't wait - although he was a little nervous about his queasy stomach. We reassured him that the ride is rather smooth and he would probably be fine. If he threw up we agreed that we would clean up since we were forcing him on the ride. Lucky for him (and us!) Michael loved the ride and his queasy stomach plagued him no more. He loved the ride and we wanted to ride again but there were so many other things in the park we wanted to see. I only wish that we had a little more time in the hallway and less time outside - some of those posters inside are so cool!!! I love the Doors and Grateful Dead at Whisky-A-Go-Go posters. All part of the great theming at RnRC. We caught up with Andrea in the gift shop (again!) but tried on some wigs before we left. We all decided that Bryan looked the best in the Gene Simmons type wig and Michael took some funny pictures before we left the shop. We headed towards Millionaire where we ran into Bryan's parents. We weren't going to call them until later, but since we were done with the thrill rides they decided to stick with us. They had just left the Little Mermaid show and Patty loved it. We have never seen many of the shows at MGM and decided that on our next trip we have to make some time to see them. I always find it is so hard to try to make heads or tails of a performance schedule. Well, once again I struck out at Millionaire - although I was 10th and then 3rd on the scoreboard. Each time I have played Millionaire I have gotten in the Top Ten and have never made it to that seat! However, each time someone made it into the seat (we saw three people) they were from New Jersey! Later that week we were sitting to a family from New Jersey at 'Ohana's. Jersey seemed to be the theme that weekend. Michael and Andrea enjoyed Millionaire although they were kind of bummed that none of us got into the Hot Seat. We headed for Muppets next - all psyched because this is probably our favorite attraction at the park. We all grew up watching the Muppets (bedtime after the Muppets!) and this show is done so well. We took a couple of minutes to enjoy the fountain out in front of the theater first before we went in to the show. I pointed out all of the posters to Andrea in the hallway and she thought they were cute. We made it in just as the pre-show began - which was good, because I think it is almost funnier than the show itself. "The Three D's" are my favorite - and Rizzo, of course. I wish WDW sold the tape of the pre-show - I would loop it and listen to it at work. After Muppets we decided we had time for one more attraction before our Fantasmic Dinner Package reservation at Hollywood & Vine. Because we all like Drew Carey and only some of us like Indiana Jones we went to Drew. Also, it was really hot during most of this trip and none of us felt like sitting outside - even though it was late afternoon. Drew was funny as usual, although I started to hear this funny noise during the show. Bryan fell asleep and started snoring!!! Loudly, I might add. He can be so embarrassing. I shook him enough to wake him up and added that I was mortified. If I heard that through my headphones I am sure someone else did too! Patty told us outside that she also heard Bryan (she was on his left) and we all had a good laugh. Time for dinner!!!!!!!!!! We hadn't really eaten anything since Chef Mickey's so we were all starving. I was starting to feel a little lousy that day (I sneezed over a hundred times that day - no joke) and I wasn't sure if I was getting a cold or was suffering from allergies. This isn't the first time this has happened to me at WDW, so I am attributing the sneezes to allergies since there are so many flowers there. Anyway, we all opened up with salads and I had perused the rest of the buffet. Not bad, I thought, but I wish they had characters at dinner. I am not really sure why they provide characters for 2/3 of the day, but I won't complain since the food is pretty tasty and reasonably priced. I ate pretty light (salad, small dinner with a slice of kid's pizza and of course, ice cream) but everyone else really seemed to enjoy the buffet. I think we are going to try this again in December if they are still offering it as a choice for the Fantasmic package. We still had almost an hour before we had to line up for Fantasmic so we rode the Great Movie Ride (we got the cowboy). Everyone was kind of tired and still full from dinner so our ride was a little less than exciting. I really like a lot of the rooms in the ride but I have ridden it so many times that I think I am almost tired of it. It was almost time for Fantasmic and we headed over to the gate a little early. What a walk up a hill! Good thing it had cooled off - the CM at the gate wasn't kidding when she said that it was more than a 1/4 mile to the stadium. We didn't care too much though - this was a first for everyone except Patty and Mike and I didn't care how far I had to walk - as long as I didn't have to stand on line for two hours. Note: The Fantasmic Dining Package is the only way to see Fantasmic. It is really worth the $16.95 per adult at Hollywood & Vine (which is almost always a choice) in order to not stand on the monstrous line. Also - the pickins inside the stadium are pretty slim. Sodas, hotdogs, cotton candy and pretzels make up most of the fare which is hardly a dinner. We eat junk for dinner at WDW sometimes, but it is worth eating yummy chicken dishes and ice cream for dessert if it costs only a couple bucks more. Fantasmic was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that we never made the time to stay and see the show and will not miss it on our next trip. The energy in the stadium is pretty amazing - there was a wave that went back and forth 10 times in a row. I especially liked when it started to get dark and all of the kids turn on their light toys. The show was absolutely fantastic (although I still think Illuminations is #1) and unlike anything I had ever seen. We had wonderful seats and the CM told us to move over a section towards the center from where the dinner package seating was. The show is really undescribable - lights, fireworks, costuming, boats, fire, lasers, and more! We really enjoyed the show and Bryan is thinking about building a fountain screen in the backyard to show movies on (he thinks it will be a low-cost large screen TV). Getting out of the park was another question and was a real downer at the end of the night - thousands of people trying to leave the stadium at once makes for a huge traffic jam. And on top of the mob, Patty lost Mike in the crowd. He has a tendency to walk ahead of everyone else but he was so far ahead that there was no chance of finding him. We walked Patty to the car where Mike was waiting (there were so not-so-nice words exchanged) and we tried to get back to our car. It was so confusing - strange parking lot, bushes everywhere and we were suddenly near the bus-loading area. It was a mistake and there were so many people leaving at the same time that I really wished we had hung out in the stores for a few minutes. I am kind of short (5'2") and always feel like I am getting swallowed up by the crowd. We got stuck in a little corral area where busses were loading people heading to the Caribbean Beach Resort and we found a hole we could cut through to get through the crowd. That's where it got ugly. Some idiot thought we were cutting the line (even though we repeatedly said "Excuse me" and explained what we were doing) and he started yelling at Michael. Michael tried telling this guy that we weren't even taking a bus but that we were trying to get back to our car but this guy was acting nuts. Bryan came over to see what was going on and the guy finally backed down. I guess he didn't like the looks of two 6'4" guys staring him down. I can't believe how out of control people can get. I would hate to see how people react to situations in their everyday lives - I feel really sorry for their kids. It was kind of early (before 10PM) and we decided tonight might be a good night to get some beers and relax in the cabin. We went to 7-11 on 535, loaded up on some spirits and returned back to the cabin for a night of beers and cards. We stayed up until 2AM and laughed and laughed. Bryan and his brother are a laugh riot and Michael and Andrea were really hitting it off. This was the number one reason why we chose the cabins - we were able to make a little noise a little late and not bother a soul. Time for bed - we hit the hay and all looked forward to our last full day at WDW. Monday, August 27 Planned: AK day. I don't anticipate spending the entire day here, but would like to show Andrea the highlights (FotLK, ITTBaB, Kali and Kilamanjaro). Every time we have been to AK it has rained - maybe this time the rain will hold out for us? Also, the last time we tried to ride Dinosaur it was down, so we have only ridden it once. Bryan would like to ride this again. PS for 'Ohana's at 7PM. Bryan's favorite restaurant. I love 'Ohana's also and I am sure the rest of the group will too. Mike and Patty may be going back earlier than the PS, but I am sure they will try to stay once I tell them where we are eating that night. We would also like to get to PI sometime that night. What really happened: Well, staying up late + drinking beer + acting goofy = a late morning. Bryan and I were up before 8:30 but Michael and Andrea didn't want to get up. I managed to get Andrea up by 9 but Michael wouldn't budge. I actually started to feel bad for the guy - he works a ridiculous schedule as an EMT in NYC and his schedule really takes a toll on him. We decided to leave him there and meet up with him later in Animal Kingdom. We weren't sure if he knew exactly how to get there (especially since he was barely awake when we told him we were going) but he has a cell phone and can find his way around ok. We didn't get to AK until almost 11AM - and I was not thrilled. Bryan and I will never, ever, ever travel with other people and wait around for them. We wasted a lot of time waiting around for other people and realized that meeting up with people later in the day is going to work a little better. It was also really hot that day (mid-90's and high humidity) and we were both a little cranky. We met Patty and Mike at the gate and headed towards Asia to get FP's for Kali. By the time we got our FP's Michael called us and was at the gate. We headed to Africa so that he could meet us there (we had planned on going on the safari first). This was going to be a really unproductive day with a lot of standing around. I think because the trip was so short, there were so many of us and it was so hot that we started to get a little pooped. Michael took forever to get through the gates and back to Africa but there was a terrific drum group performing so we watched while we waited. By this time it was time for our Kali FP's so walked back to Asia and rode. Andrea and Michael loved this ride - although they didn't really get soaked. I think this ride is okay - but I get a little tired of being wet after a while. Patty was smart - she wore a poncho for the ride. My shorts weighed about 20 pounds and I couldn't wait to get them off so I could wear dry clothes. Next up: Jungle Trek!!! This is such a nice walk, although it started to rain a little bit (didn't I say it always rains when we are at AK?). I actually spend more time looking at the architecture than I do looking at the animals. Because it was so hot everyone was taking a snooze and none of the animals were particularly active. There was only one tiger out on our trek and he was sleeping!!! We still enjoyed our walk through and decided to head towards Dinoland. We walked over to Dinosaur - Mike and Patty had never ridden it and Bryan and I have only been on it once. After riding it now I know why we only rode it once - it is just too darn bumpy and loud. I remember the loud part but really don't remember being jostled around so much. It reminded me of riding on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in my mom's old Nova - not a smooth ride. My head fit pretty well in the head rest but Bryan's didn't (he was too tall) and the ride was just too uncomfortable for him. I doubt that we will be riding that again. Michael and Andrea had the same complaints and no one was very happy when we left the ride. Everyone was starving by this time so we ate at Flame Tree BBQ and rested a bit. We really hadn't done much (only three attractions although we really took some time looking at the vignettes of animals along the pathways) but it seemed like it was time to sit. Bryan and I split some sort of BBQ combo and really enjoyed it. I think Animal Kingdom really has some decent counter service places and I am sorry to hear that Flame Tree is temporarily closed. We sat and talked with Andrea and Michael for over an hour down by the river while Bryan's parents ate quickly and walked around Dinoland shopping for a little while. By the time they came back to us it was after 3 and time to move on before AK closed. We decided we would see It's Tough to Be a Bug instead of Festival of the Lion King because we were closer to the Oasis. I was kind of annoyed since I really wanted to see FOtLK. But, since I love ITtBaB, I got over my disappointment lickety-split and skipped down to the entrance of the Tree of Life. Andrea was pretty amazed at all of the carvings on the tree and Michael snapped a bunch of photos. They loved the movie (especially the stink bug!) and wanted to see it again. Andrea decided that since we were all dry that we should ride Kali again before we went home and I reluctantly agreed. Big mistake - now that my shorts no longer weighed a metric ton why did I decide it was okay to re-soak them? We got through the Kali line with almost no waiting and we on our way in under 10 minutes. This time we got a royal soaking and Andrea thought it was very funny. I didn't and decided that I had enough and it was time to go back to the cabin. Bryan agreed - he was also soaked and very uncomfortable. We watched the gibbons outside of Kali for a few minutes, Michael snapped a couple of blackmail shots of us disgruntled and wet and it was time to go. We meandered our way up to the Oasis and headed out to the parking lot. Mike and Patty decided that they should head home so we parted ways. They didn't want to miss dinner at 'Ohana but Bryan's grandmother had called his mom six times that day "just to see what we were doing." Patty thought it best to go home and make sure she is kept happy. We headed back to the cabin and Bryan and I decided to go for a swim before we washed up for dinner. The water was like bathwater - it was down right hot! It was almost too uncomfortable to swim and there were some maniac kids in the pool. We decided that we would wake up the next morning and go swimming when the water and temperature were cooler. Besides, we had to wash up for our favoritest dinner place - 'Ohana! We drove over to the Polynesian and discussed our plans for the evening while we went. We thought we would save a little money and go to the Boardwalk instead of Pleasure Island. Everyone was kind of bummed about it being our last night but pretty excited to go to 'Ohana. Neither Andrea nor Michael had been there before and we were so happy that we could finally share our favorite eatery with them. Our server (Rob) quickly attended to us although he wasn't too friendly at first. We decided that since we were skipping Pleasure Island we could indulge in some libations - I decided on a pina colada and Andrea got some sort of beachy drink (I can't remember the name) with peach schnapps. Both drinks were delicious although I thought I would get mine in a pineapple. :( It did come in a cool Tiki mug so I didn't mind too much. Rob started piling on the food and I think Andrea and Michael were immediately won over. And I started to feel a little better about Rob - he loosened up a little bit. We ate and ate and ate and Rob took the opportunity to try to trick one of us into participating in the coconut races. Naturally, being the show-off that I am and with more than half of a big pina colada in me, I volunteered. Although some of the kids were almost as tall as me I was still 20 years older than most of them and was determined to beat them all!!! I was tied for first with an eight-year-old girl until she knocked my coconut off the race track. I was upset but quickly regained composure. Back to the race - I finished up second (behind the cheater girl - how could she knock my coconut away???) and grabbed a handful of gummy worms from the CM. Adults: this race is a lot harder than it looks. I tried to choose the roundest coconut I could find, thinking it would be easier to push, only even the roundest looking is still oblong. And the brooms they give you to push it with are not the greatest. It was a lot of fun and I was glad to hear from Bryan that I embarrassed myself and my family. Yee haa!!!! We finished up with dinner and decided that we would head over to Epcot and watch Illuminations. A Brazilian group shared our car on the monorail and broke into song almost immediately. It was kind of loud but fun - South Americans are so enthusiastic. A little boy on our side of the monorail started to sing "Who Let the Dogs Out" and the Brazilians sang with him. It was a festive ride over, to say the least. We high-tailed it to the World Showcase Lagoon to grab a spot and stood under a tree near Canada. Unfortunately the tree was loaded with gnats or mosquitoes or something and bit the heck out of me. We still managed to enjoy the show (a little bit of OFF! goes a long way) and I almost started to cry knowing that 24 hours from then I would be back home and my vacation would be over. We walked over to the Boardwalk afterwards, stopping at the shop in the International Gateway (Gateway Gifts??). Michael desperately wanted to find the Sorcerer Mickey beach towel for Bryan and Michael's sister and he wasn't giving up until he found it. He didn't find it (bought a bunch of other stuff though) and we moved on to the Boardwalk. The weather was perfect that night - low 80's, slight breeze, lower humidity - and the Boardwalk was still jumping at 9:30. What a festive environment! Surry bikes going by, jugglers juggling and face painting. Naturally, we had to stop for some ice cream at Seashore Sweets (yum!) and we grabbed a table nearby. We must have talked for over an hour, enjoying the nice weather and good company. When we started groaning that we didn't want to go home the next morning we decided that we should probably get going before the conversation got ugly. I was trying to convince Bryan to call into work on Thursday so that we could stay an extra day but he refused (I am such a bad influence!). We nosed around the Boardwalk Inn for a while and I showed Andrea the Keister Coaster. She isn't a swimmer but thought it looked cute. Now we had to catch a bus - and here is where the circus began. Noting that it was close to midnight, we had to go to Downtown Disney to catch the bus for the Polynesian. We waited less than 5 minutes for the bus to DD but waited over 20 minutes for a bus to the Polynesian from DD. I was getting really tired and knew we had to still drive back to the cabin from the Polynesian. I hate this part of the night - all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. We finally got back to the TTC (that bus came before the Poly) and walked back to the car. Unfortunately, it is always confusing to get back to the cabin from the monorail resorts than going to and we got lost. Somehow we wound up in the WDW Bus Graveyard and it was really kind of freaky. It was somewhere near the Car Care Center (I think) and it was the place where they service the buses in the evening. There were tons of them there and I yelled to Bryan: "Where are we? This place isn't magical at all!!!!" We finally got back to the cabin about 1am and spent a couple of minutes cleaning up. Set the alarm for 6am so that we could go swimming and it was lights out. Another good day, although it was the most frustrating. We missed the Safari and FotLK but still had a good time. Tuesday, August 28 Planned: Last day! No real plan for the day and no PS. We will play it by ear, depending upon the weather and anything else we missed. Our flight doesn't take off until 6:50PM, so we have a good part of the day to play. What really happened: Boy, if we were in a sour mood last night it got worse in the morning. I hate the Last Day Feeling although I was happy that we had most of the day to do nothing. Bryan and I were up at 6am to go swimming and I forgot that the sun still wouldn't be up (in NY the sun is up before 6am six months of the year). It was a little difficult to get him up but I whispered to him that this would be the only hour of our trip that we would be alone and that got him up. We stumbled down to the pool and listened to the few campers who dared to venture out this early. I was happy to see that we were the only ones in the pool area besides the pool cleaner. He hosed down the pool deck while we floated around and watched the sun rise. This was truly the best morning of our trip - relaxing, just me and my new hubby and the pool guy. How romantic. Seriously, the campground is one of the most peaceful places on all of WDW property, even when a peacock invades the pool deck at 7am (with it's feathers all plumed - I immediately thought of Ed and his red shorts!). We headed back around 8 and thought we should get the two slugs out of bed. Luckily, Andrea was up and Bryan crawled into bed with his brother. Michael woke with a start and yelled at Bryan for crawling into his bed all wet from the pool. It was like watching two children - boys never grow up. We got cleaned up, packed up and left a decent sized tip and all of our extra beers for the housekeepers. They did a good job cleaning up after us pigs all week and decided that they should get a little extra for all of the extra towels and soaps. Unfortunately there were no towel animals but that's okay - we really just wanted extra towels anyway. On the road to the Magic Kingdom by 9:30. I suggested breakfast at Tony's and everyone agreed. We were starving (we ate some junk food we scrounged in the kitchen before we left) and were in need of some real food. I am so sad that Tony's no longer serves breakfast - this is a favorite place for us and is the closest thing to "diner food" we can find in WDW (without the diner grease, of course). After filling up we did some shopping on Main Street. Michael wanted to drop off a Fire Department patch at the Main Street firehouse and it turned out he knew one of the guys who worked there from a fire department here in New York. Small world. Thankfully we found the Sorcerer Mickey towel at the Emporium and I bought the Four Parks, One World video. We dropped some more money on Main Street before we headed towards Pirates (again!). It was time to talk Andrea into Splash Mountain - I started with trying to tell her how cute the animatronics are. Also, the song is so gosh darn cute that she definitely had to ride. She reluctantly went on the ride and Michael agreed that he would take the heat if she hated it. She wound up liking it well enough (I think she was too tense) and thought she might like to ride it again with her eyes open next time. I think that being tense the first time around is a common phenomenon and lots of first-timers don't notice all there is to see. We walked over to HM to ride (again!) and worked our way over to Fantasyland afterwards. The waits for most of the rides were ridiculous so we only waited for Snow White before we walked to Tomorrowland. Another turn on Buzz!! But not before getting a FP - wait was 40 minutes and FP return time was only 40 minutes away - this is a no-brainer. We rode the CoP one last time although it broke halfway through. This is not the first time it has broken while I have been on it. If CoP is not permanently closed (and I have a horrible feeling it is), it should at least be temporarily closed so that the sound system can be fixed. One ride on Wedway and it was time for our time on Buzz. Once again Bryan beat my score by over 100,000 points but I am determined that I will beat him. Next time. Everyone was kind of thirsty and we only had an hour or so left before we had to head home. We decided to skip any more rides but would shop and rest before our flight. We rested at the Electric Umbrella for a little while (the place was mobbed!) and looked over the map, making sure we did everything we wanted to. Naturally we weren't very productive since we were all tired from the night before, but it was just kind of nice *being there*. Soaking up the magic, good moods, weather - this was really a great trip. We shopped our way down Main Street and headed back to the car. I seriously almost lost it as we made our way out - the only thing that keeps me from losing all control is knowing we have another trip planned. The drive back to the airport was gloomy, although I bought a Music From the Parks CD and we listened to it laughing some of the way. The Splash Mountain Medley is my favorite - the little critters singing "How Do You Do?" always remind me of the little singing mice in Babe. Bryan missed the return ramp for the car rental and we had to circle around the airport again. By this time everyone was in a really bad mood because it was getting late and we were afraid we would miss our plane (I was secretly hoping we would so we could go back to WDW!). We also realized that we forgot to leave the safe key in the cabin when we left and I got on the cell phone to call Fort Wilderness to let them know. I dropped it in the mail the next day at work and was glad we weren't charged for our stupidity. They were pretty nice about it - it sounds like people do this all the time. We made it through check-in and security with just enough time and had two minutes to grab a sandwich from the snack stand. The plane was sold out and they messed up our seating arrangement (I hate Delta). The ride home was one of the worst I ever had - hot, full of loud people and nasty attendants. The only funny thing that happened was when our pilot came on the loudspeaker and announced that he was "Captain Trey Parker" - we are all South Park fans and if any of you out there are, you will know who Trey Parker is. Back home my dad was waiting for us at the airport. We came in almost exactly on time and it was really humid when we got back to Long Island. I was so upset to be home but felt lucky to have had a good trip. Conclusion: We have a short list of pros and cons, with the pros outweighing the cons. I will do the bad first since no one likes to read bad news. Cons: I do not like being on anyone else's schedule - including my traveling companions (except my husband, and he is really easygoing). From now on we will get going when we are ready and arrange to meet our fellow travelers at a meeting place. Nothing infuriates me more than making a plan the night before, only to have people sleep through it! I really am easy going (a plan involves a park destination only, not minute by minute) and I hate sitting around waiting. Bryan and I are in agreement about this (thank goodness!) and we will be on our own next time. We didn't break the bank on this trip but we spent a little more money on junk than we did on our longer trip in June. I guess because we were with two "shop-a-holics" we spent more than usual. We had a much tighter budget in June and had no problems sticking to it. This time I did not write up a strict spending budget and we were a little looser. We certainly did not go broke, but I think we should have been more controlled. More time!!!!!! I will never purposely plan a short trip - four nights is really frustrating, even for veterans. By the time you are unpacked and relaxed it is time to go home. There is not even enough time to enjoy your resort before it is time to leave. Delta - argh. Not the worst airline but not the best. They have discontinued their direct flights from our local airport so now I have to drive into New York City. If I have to drive into NY, I might as well fly JetBlue - my favorite domestic airline. Pros: Despite my complaining we do enjoy traveling with other people - it makes the whole experience a lot of fun, especially mealtimes. It was also nice to spend more time with Bryan's brother - we don't get to see him to much and it was great to see him relax. Fort Wilderness Cabins - big thumbs up!! I have always tent-camped or RV-camped so we never needed a cabin. They are such a great deal and one of the best bargains on property. For a little more than a moderate hotel room a family can get more space and a full kitchen and full-sized deck, with plenty of room to relax. Only cabin complaint: no TV in the bedroom. When I called housekeeping they said they took them out - where did they put them? Traveling in shoulder season - the parks were full enough to be festive but quiet enough for do-able lines. We never really waited an awfully long time. If there was a line, we just skipped it and moved on to something else. Test Track single riders line - the best way to ride the most popular attraction at Epcot. Bryan is a big enough boy that I don't need to hold his hand and we are comfortable enough riding with other people. We are hardly going to have a conversation going 60+ miles per hour and it sure beats waiting an hour. The Land at night - never did it and hope to ride again in a darkened greenhouse. It was neat. Being able to fully relax and spend time with friends and family. This was such a great trip and like I said, the only thing that keeps me from breaking down is knowing we have another trip planned. I mentioned to my husband that we may not be able to go between May 2002 and Dec 2003 (we have a cruise booked for 2003) and he whined "Why???" Seems like I'm not the only one with Disneyitis and I am pretty sure that we won't make the 17 months without a trip. Our next trip is planned for December 7 through 18 with an off-site stay followed by four nights at the Wilderness Lodge. We are celebrating our first wedding anniversary and will visit with Bryan's parents for two days during the trip since we won't see them for Christmas. I am really looking forward to this next trip. This will be only the second vacation that Bryan and I have taken alone (the first being our honeymoon) and I have never stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. We picked it specifically because it will be the holiday season. Can't wait to see it all decked out! Eva Greguski Evarodri@yahoo.com PS - Michael and Andrea are still dating and are planning another trip to WDW sometime early next summer. Mail a Comment to Eva Greguski |
|