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Sue Holland -- May 2001 -- Walt Disney World (OKWR)

Who/When/Where:

• Who: Sue (me - 42), DVC member
• Dates: May 26-30, 2001
• Travel Method: Personal car
• Resort: Disney's Old Key West Resort
• Experience: Over 100 WDW vacations

INTRODUCTION:

This is a relatively short trip, but sometimes a short trip is better than no trip <g>! Usually at this time of year I spend 2 weeks at WDW, with a mix of vacation, a conference, and a meeting. Unfortunately this year I wasn't able to attend the conference, due to budget problems at work. Actually, I could have attended if I was willing to pay for everything myself...they'd pay for my time, but I'd need to pay the $545 registration fee and all my lodging/food/travel costs. So, I decided to skip the conference this year (hopefully next year it'll work out). Next, our Governor decided to impose a "target" of reduced travel costs, so the meeting was canceled. I still would have gone up for 8 nights, but the person I leave in charge when I'm gone came to me asking for the Thursday & Friday off. When I asked if he could do whatever he planned to do on some other date, he responded that he didn't think his sister would change her wedding date if he asked, lol! So, I guess the trip was not meant to be this year, and I willingly cut it down to a paltry 4 nights. One of the benefits of taking solo trips is I can make decisions like that without impacting anyone else's vacation plans :-)

So, it's a short trip, but I'm looking forward to having a great time. As usual, the parks are not the main focus or priority, but rather I'm looking forward to spending time with a couple of good friends (who are probably familiar to regular readers by now <g>) and hope to see some shows at the Comedy Warehouse and take care of a few things there. I expect the parks will be busier than normal on Saturday and Sunday especially, since it will be Memorial Day weekend, but that is not a problem for someone who is not trying to get on many attractions. I hope to hit a couple of favorite lunch places, and spend some time laying by a pool. It's getting a little warm for rollerblading - last May I skated in 97 degree sunshine and was dizzy by the time I finished...don't need to do a repeat of that! I will stop by DisneyQuest to get some pictures for a MousePlanet article in my column there (Everything But the Parks), and have other MousePlanet work to do, but otherwise don't plan to do too much "work" during these 5 days.

The plans so far...

Sat 5/26: Drive, check in OKWR, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Sun 5/27: Spend the day with Kathy - Epcot, AK, possible Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Mon 5/28: MGM, Stormalong Bay, Comedy Warehouse

Tue 5/29: MK, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Wed 5/20: MK or AK, drive home

DAY 1 - SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2001:

Who: Sue (me - 42), DVC member

Plan: Drive, check in OKWR, Epcot, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Actual: Last night I made it a point to get to bed early (before 11pm) so I could get up and get on the road early. After stopping to feed a neighbor's cat (they'd gone away yesterday) I was on the road by 7am, arriving at OKWR before 10am. There were not many people in the main lobby, so I was able to check in without much of a wait. Of course, the room wasn't ready yet, but the cm assured me my requests had all been met. I went outside and stopped to talk to Angelo at Bell Services - he's such a nice guy, and seeing him at the bell stand is a symbol that I'm "home" again. He knew I wanted to put my laptop in the cage, so he told one of the cm's to take good care of me because I'm his "honey" and a regular guest, lol. Once the laptop was gone I went to put my parking permit in my windshield and then walked back to the bus stop.

At the bus stop a cm with a hand-held computer asked me if I was needing a bus. At first I thought that's a pretty stupid question to ask someone standing at a bus stop - lol, what ELSE would I be needing.....an airplane?? But, I realized he was probably working that new Bus on Demand thing Disney started. I told him yes, and he asked where I wanted to go. Usually I know where I'm going, but today I had no idea - I was just going to see what showed up first (except no MK on Saturday for me). I told him that, but he needed to enter something into his computer, so he said he'd say Epcot for me. I asked if he was doing the Bus on Demand, and he said he was. We chatted about it for a couple of minutes - it was implemented a week or so ago, and they don't have any data yet to indicate how it's working. He did tell another guest that they still have the buses every 20 minutes, but with Bus on Demand they'll dispatch an extra bus if a certain destination has too many people waiting. In theory it sounds good, but I imagine they'd have to pull those "extra" buses from somewhere, and most likely it will mean some less popular destination could end up with a longer wait.

As I was standing there, I realized the cm at check in never gave me my resort id! I ran inside, and another cm went over and got it from him, then I returned to the bus stop. After about 5-10 minutes (total, before & after getting my resort id) 2 buses came and immediately the other 3 came! They could not all fit, so they created a big traffic jam out on the road into the main parking area. I hopped on the 2nd bus, which was MGM Studios (technically it was probably Disney Studios, but I still refer to it as MGM).

At MGM I was shocked to see huge lines at all of the ticket windows - they filled in that entire area, back towards the bus stops!! I'd never seen anything like that in my life here! I walked up front to see if there were also lines to enter the park, and there were - the space between the ticket booths and turnstiles was crammed full of lines of people at every turnstile. It was worse than SuperSoap Saturday last year, and this was at 10:30! I was amazed, and figured it must be the Star Wars crowd - each weekend in May features different Star Wars stars and other related stuff. I have zero interest in anything remotely sci-fi, including Star Wars (sorry, Larry), so I knew I did not want to be in that park today with that many extra people!

I turned around and took the walking path over to the Boardwalk, and then walked into Epcot. After sitting in the car for 3 hours, it felt good to get out and walk, even though it was a bit warm. By the time I got past United Kingdom and Canada it was 11am, so I continued over to Norway and rode the Maelstrom. They're doing construction of some sort on the inside queue area, and have tall construction walls erected, leaving a narrow hallway and blocking out the entire view. I was the only one on my boat, and several in front of me were completely empty. When the ride ended, the doors to the theater were open so I was able to walk right through. There wasn't a cm stationed outside, so I ducked under the rope and exited right there without having to go through the shops.

I headed back to Mexico and pretty much walked right on El Rio del Tiempo. Nothing new there - it was cooler inside than outside and that was good enough for me <g>. I did stop at the entrance to Future World and took a few pictures of the flowers & topiaries. They probably won't get put on Photopoint until the trip is almost over, but I'll mention when I do get them set up. There was one really rude family - well, more inconsiderate/ignorant than rude, I guess. Many people wanted to take a picture of this one area, and were patiently waiting and taking their turn. One woman wanted to take a picture without people in it (me too), but most took pictures of family members standing in front of stuff (I offered to take a couple pics for people so they could both be in the picture). When it was finally the solo woman's turn, this other creature evidently thought since nobody was going to stand in front of the topiaries, it was her family's turn - and she ran right up blocking the shot and then started calling her family members over from far away....just standing there continuing to block the shot while waiting for them to put down their drinks, argue over not wanting to be in the picture, etc. I went around beside them and took my picture from a different angle - they were still trying to assemble themselves after I left!

Ok, enough ranting for now <g>. I headed over to Test Track, where the standby line said 45 minutes. Epcot didn't seem crowded at all today. I used the single rider line, and the cm opened the rope just as I was arriving, so I walked directly into the preshow room with no waiting at all! The ride was fun, as always - but it's a killer on any hope for a decent hairstyle! I was off Test Track by 11:45, amazed at how much I was getting done in such a short period of time on a holiday weekend. I browsed through MouseGear (bought nothing) and then went to check the tip board. I would have done Spaceship Earth, but not with the posted 30 minute wait! There really wasn't anything else I wanted to ride, and I knew I'd be back here with Kathy tomorrow so I didn't need to do anything in particular. I did want to eat lunch at Le Cellier today, but I wasn't hungry now and I do not want to eat when I'm not hungry (except for chocolate, lol).

I decided to walk around World Showcase, so started with Mexico and worked my way around. In Morocco I checked to see if the Tangierine Cafe has put the tomato & cucumber salad back on the menu, but they have not. I miss that salad! Finally, when I arrived in Canada I felt like I was hungry enough to have lunch. They were able to seat me right away, which was very lucky - there were not many empty tables today. I ordered my usual - the moscato white wine and the cheese soup, without chives. Everything was delicious! My server was training a new person, and was very nice (Zanick, I think). After the DDE (Disney Dining Experience - a discount card for FL residents only) 20% off, the check was $8.44 before tip. In honor of Lips from the AOL boards, I made sure I tipped 30% <g>. In honor of a certain group of internet women, I also took the pretzel breadstick with me (woohoo, Denzel lives again!) for later <g>.

Outside, I called OKWR to check on the room....not ready yet. Ok, in that case I decided to head to DisneyQuest to take the pictures I needed. I left World Showcase through the International Gateway and walked over to Boardwalk. As I approached, it dawned on me that tomorrow is Sunday, and I'd thought about lunch at Spoodles and have been disappointed before when I got there and found out they have a brunch on Sundays. I stopped to ask the cm there, and she confirmed that tomorrow is just brunch - no regular lunch menu. Dang! She assured me there were many good things on the brunch, but I only want my one specific menu item, and I want to get there this trip because I've heard they won't be serving lunch anymore after June 3rd. Perhaps I'll do lunch here on Wednesday before leaving WDW.

The bus to Downtown Disney arrived pretty quickly, and I got off at the Pleasure Island stop to walk to DisneyQuest (faster than riding to the West Side and then walking back). DisneyQuest was busy, but not any worse than usual. It was very noisy, and as I was trying to take some pictures I noticed for the first time how dark it is in there! I wandered around, played one game of Qbert, and that was about it. The wait for CyberSpace Mountain was too long, as was true of all the big attractions. I called again to check on the room - still not ready. I decided to buy a piece of the Linda's Fudge Cake to take back to the resort. It's a huge piece, which should last me most of the trip! I ate some of the whipped cream, figuring that part would probably melt in the heat and not be worth anything by the time I got it to the resort. The cake is $4.75 plus tax, but they give a 10% discount to DVC members and annual pass holders.

I left DQ and walked through Pleasure Island and into the Marketplace. World of Disney wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, for a Saturday. I browsed through there, but didn't buy anything. I saw some good looking Mickey ear-shaped coconut patties that Chris would love, so I may pick those up later in the trip & then try to keep the chocolate from melting to get them home...perhaps in the small cooler I brought. It was around 3pm, so I headed to the dock and rode the Trumbo Ferry back to OKWR. I love that boat ride - but today had a minor little annoyance. I was first in line (in fact was alone in line for a little while), and as such was the first on the boat. I sat in the shade by the driver, since I was trying to keep my fudge cake from turning into a melted mess! A family of 4 came back and crowded in there with me. Then, a dad & 2 little kids gets on board, and the 2 kids come back and climb into a tiny spot in the corner between me & the family of 4 (who had 2 kids on the laps of the 2 adults)!! I couldn't believe Dumbo dad didn't tell the kids - No, we're sitting up front - there's not enough room there, but he didn't. I was not about to ride back to the resort like that, so I told the dad I'd sit up front and he could have my seat (or fraction of a seat). Geesh - there were 7 people crammed back there! Oh well, I sat in the sun and there were only 3 of us in the entire big front of the boat, lol! The top of the cake ended up melting and sliding away from the rest, but it'll firm up in the refrigerator.

Finally, the room was ready!! I'm in building 18, which in the Miller's Road section. It's my first time in this part of the resort, if anyone can believe that <g>! It's my least favorite section, but this building is set back away from the road so it's really nice & quiet. It's also very close to the bus stop, but because it's set back in, there's no bus noise. I'm on the 3rd floor, and have both a water view and golf course view. There is one very strange thing, though...something I've never seen before! From the outside, to the left of my door, is the double window in the room. It's got the nice wooden blinds, and then the darkening drape is on the other side of the blinds. That's normal here. However, when you come into the room and look at that window - there is NO window - just a solid wall!! It's so freaky - kind of twilight zone-ish!! I've never had a studio where the double window wasn't next to one bed, and the door to the porch is next to the other bed. The studio is very nice except for that one freaky thing <g>, and it didn't take long to unpack and get settled.

I had the DVC TV channel on while I wrote up the trip report so far, and I think I've got it memorized by now <g>! I also recharged the camera battery and downloaded the pictures taken today. I did not have time to get online, so that will have to wait until after Comedy Warehouse.

At 5:30 I left to go pick up Leesa. I'm not sure I've explained who Leesa is - I met her through my friend Nancy, who I met when she used to work at the Comedy Warehouse (she works at the Jazz club at PI now). After Nancy started at Jazz, I'd sometimes still ask her a question about the actors' schedule at Comedy Warehouse, and one time she had Leesa get the answer and email me. We got to talking, and sharing some Com Whse pics, and found besides both being friends with Nancy, we both also are friendly with another Com Whse fan who lives in the Midwest. Leesa is also one of the few people smaller than me - lol, I kind of tower over her (by an inch or so, I'd guess)! Anyway, that's Leesa - one of the people I enjoy spending time with on my trips.

Leesa had given me excellent directions to her new place, but unfortunately I needed to find my way off Disney property (normally I would never leave Disney property, so I was rather clueless) and of course chose a route that ended up being way out of my way. I wondered why it was taking so long to get there, lol! Anyway, we got to PI in time to join the line for the first show at the Comedy Warehouse. I'd mailed my PI annual pass back to Disney in disgust over Layden and Mark's departure, and had told them in a letter that I would not be renewing it. Leesa has a PI annual pass that gets her and a guest in each night, so I was in as her guest tonight.

We got pretty decent seats, and a solo guy was seated next to us. He turned out to be another regular, and we enjoyed chatting with him about Comedy Warehouse and the Adventurer's Club. He & his wife are moving to Celebration next month, and then he'll be able to come more often - right now he has about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive each way to get here! We later found out he also knows Nancy - remembers her from when she worked at the Warehouse. The show was ok, considering none of the actors we call "regulars" were working. The cast was Josh, Todd, Graham, Jeanette, and Christine. Graham used to play Hathaway Brown a lot over at the Adventurer's Club, and has been here for a couple months now. I'd heard he was doing pretty well, but this was my first night seeing him work and I thought he did a good job - much better than most actors at the beginning. He's more comfortable doing improv than most new actors, it seems.

We stopped and chatted with Josh a bit on the way out, and then talked some more with Alan (the other regular guest) so by the time we got upstairs the line was completely full! We skipped the 2nd show and went down to visit with Nancy at Jazz for a short while, then headed into the Adventurer's Club. It was pretty quiet in there, so the characters were all interacting with the handful of guests in the main salon. One lady from Tampa kept asking Amol Bleehall to show her his cow...or at least his udders <g>, so he went and got his cow for her (Bessy the heifer...remember her, Diana??). She saw we had cameras and wanted us to take a picture of her kissing him (Amol, not the cow), so we both took some pictures and she gave me her email address to send the pictures to. Alan had come in, so we talked with him some more, and then went to get in the very long line for the 3rd comedy show.

We talked to a couple of other regulars who I knew about but had never formally met (John & Mom, also known as John & Sharon). This time we were seated pretty far back, but since it was a full show we were glad to just be inside! The cast was Josh, Todd, Jen K, Christine and Jeanette. We were sorry to have missed Jen B - she was working, but was off the 2 shows we saw. This show was funnier than the first one, and Josh came out with a few really funny things. Jen K is always great, and tonight was no exception.

We left after this show. My eyes were really bothering me from having the contacts in all day, and I ended up having a difficult time focusing on the road - not a good situation. At one point the car in the lane next to me swerved into my lane to avoid some idiot who was making a u-turn and pulling into his lane, but fortunately I saw the movement and saw nobody was on my right so I was able to swerve into that lane to avoid getting hit! After dropping off Leesa, I ended up missing my exit - I guess in the dark I never saw the sign, so I ended up going out of my way AGAIN, and then hit every freakin' light at each resort all the way from All Stars to OKWR! I'd better keep my day job and not go looking for work as a driver <g>! Finally I got back to OKWR about 11:30.

I gave serious thought to skipping the online/downloading pictures/finishing trip report stuff I normally do, but couldn't bring myself to do that (honest, Kerri - I tried). I did skip the pictures - and only finished the report and then read most of the over 120 pieces of email....everything else will have to wait. It was about 1am before I turned off the light to go to sleep, with the alarm set for 6am to finish the mail before heading out in the morning.

I noticed when I returned to the studio that with the wall covering my window this room is smaller than it used to be. Someone on the aol boards had a room at the moderates that got smaller, so perhaps it's a property-wide thing, these shrinking rooms <g>. I'll be sure to not leave anything of value near the walls, for fear that as the room continues to get smaller it'll eat up my belongings. Good thing I'm only here 4 nights....it can't possibly get too much smaller in that short time frame, I hope. ;-)

Overall it was a good day, and I did what was planned. I still insist 24 hours per day is not long enough up here, but I guess that's a sign the trip is going well :-)

Miles walked: 8

DAY 2 - SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2001:

Who: Sue (me - 42), DVC member

Plan: Spend the day with Kathy - Epcot, AK

Actual: The alarm went off at 6, so I got up to do the rest of the online stuff, download the pictures, etc.....but then decided instead to just roll over and go back to sleep. Really! It felt kind of strange, lol - and I got up at 6:35 instead <g>. After I got online Greg (mad4WDW) popped on to say hi - he's Maria's backup stalker and since he lives in the UK he's able to cover those hours that Maria might be sleeping. Actually, I haven't seen Maria yet this trip, but I'll be that weird window is throwing her off....she might be out there, but since my side is a solid wall I can't see her! LOL, that is the strangest thing!

I'd brought a small cooler from home, with a couple pints of strawberry orange juice from the local citrus place, and enough yogurt & granola for the 4 mornings. It's strange to not have banana nut bread, but this will do. Actually, the yogurt with granola is my usual lunch at work.

When I got up this morning I could see a little fog, but the golf course and buildings across the way were definitely visible. I showered, got dressed and was about to head to Walgreen's to pick up a couple things I forgot to pack (you'd think I'd be prepared, but all my trips are making me more careless rather than more organized, it seems) when I noticed I could smell the smoke from fires. I looked out on the porch, and literally could not even see the ground below - never mind the golf course or any buildings! It was incredibly thick - I'd never seen anything like it! I'll have to do my shopping later - rather than drive in this. I stepped out the front door, and could see the smoke drifting in the air. I couldn't believe how thick it is! Hopefully the winds will shift before too long.

For breakfast I made some French vanilla cappuccino and then added some granola to banana crème pie low-fat yogurt (Dannon). It's really delicious this way - all the flavor and calcium but without the extra calories of regular yogurt. I'd eaten 1/2 the pretzel breadstick after coming home last night, and forgot all about that chocolate cake in the fridge....very unusual for me to forget about anything chocolate! I was happy to not hear any noise from my neighbors (assuming the unit is not vacant) for a change, but then maybe the connecting door is only on my side, and they've got a solid wall over there, lol! Anything is possible in this very strange building. Oops - spoke too soon - by 9am I could hear the thunderous running and high pitched voices of at least one small child :(

For the benefit of anyone who doesn't know who Kathy is, she's a fellow DVC member from the aol boards, but she also works for Disney and lives nearby (yes - she uses her DVC membership for vacations at WDW even though she's within easy driving distance). I guess we've known each other since 1997, and it was one of those things where we just "clicked". We share the same opinion on many topics, but she does a better job of keeping her opinion to herself <g> online, and she's got a terrific sense of humor. She recently got one of those customized electric wheelchairs, so this will be my first experience seeing how accessibility issues in the parks impact a person with a disability. Kathy knows what's supposed to happen, from her cm days in the MK, so we'll see how it goes. I'm just happy she's got her wheels and we can resume our time running around WDW again (assuming I can keep up with her now <g>).

I decided to make the attempt at Walgreen's since I had time and I figured the roads would be less busy now. Baaaaad idea! I got as far as the end of the parking lot before turning around and parking the car again. There was no way I was going to drive in that smoke - visibility was almost zero. From the sidewalk you could not see the buildings at all! I decided to walk to the OKWR store, which was a challenge in and of itself! I'm not used to staying in this area and without being able to see anything that could be a landmark, I just set off in what I thought would be the correct direction. Along the way I found a man wandering around lost - he was going to the main building and asked if he could follow me. Luckily I found the way without any mistakes. Angelo was at the bell services desk wearing a surgical mask to filter out the smoke. I got what I needed in the store (and found out the smoke was not over in Kathy's area), then walked back to my unit. The humidity is awful today, also - as soon as I stepped outside I could feel my hair frizz up and then fall! Thank goodness I control the camera <g>!

I was going to take a picture of the smoky air, but it came out looking like a picture of a blank white movie screen! About 9 I went to the bus stop to catch a bus to Epcot since I'd arranged to meet Kathy at 10 just after the tombstones......er, I mean just after the delightful Leave a Legacy monuments <g>. The bus came pretty quickly, and I arrived at Epcot about 9:30. Some guests wore handkerchiefs tied around their nose and mouth, but most didn't bother. The news tonight said Disney delayed the opening of the water parks and World Showcase today due to the smoke, but by noon it was a gorgeous sunny day with clear blue skies. At the Epcot turnstiles, Spaceship Earth was not visible at all.

I rode Spaceship Earth with a very short wait. When I got off, Kathy was waiting - it was wonderful to see her again, and she looks great! She was wearing her Gus tee-shirt, which I'd heard about but never seen (it's got a picture of the real Gus from Animal Kingdom on the front). She showed me some of the features on her fancy schmancy custom electric wheelchair - and then we set off for what we hoped would be a day of problem-free fun in the parks...but reality was very different from what I would have expected. Background information - Kathy had just spent 3 days earlier this week at Animal Kingdom Lodge with her 2 young adult daughters, and experienced continuous problems with cast members regarding her access to rides and attractions, despite many trips to guest relations to try to get them worked out. She is not able to ride any of the rides, but wants to be able to accompany her family/friends in the queue up until the time they board the ride, rather than having to spend the day sitting outside while the others are waiting in line and riding. She's read the access guides and knows which queue areas she'll fit in, and which ones she cannot maneuver. Her wheelchair is not an ordinary chair - it's got an extension on the back which holds her ventilator, so it's not possible to make some of the turns a regular sized chair could make. She does not mind waiting in the regular queue if she fits, and is not trying to cheat the system. She's got a stack of 3 special assistance passes that guest relations has issued - the 2nd one after she had problems with the 1st one, and the 3rd one after she had problems with the 2nd one - the same problems we had again today.

Kathy started out the day hopeful that the passes would work today - that the cm's seeing them would know what to do, so she suggested we head to Test Track to give it a try. She cannot ride, and I could have done the single rider line in probably 10 minutes time, but in order to test the pass we decided we'd go through whatever queue they send people in wheelchairs. We got over to Test Track and a cm was announcing the ride was closed due to smoke. We couldn't quite figure out what smoke had to do with it, but we didn't question it. We headed over to the Land, planning to see if she could get on the Living With the Land boat ride. As we got inside a very nice cm started chatting with us, and mentioned the greenhouses were full of smoke so the boat ride was not operating - but we could take the elevator to get downstairs. Kathy asked him what there was to do downstairs if the boat ride was closed, and he thought for a minute and said he guessed there really wasn't much of anything down there then, lol! It was kind of funny.

We left the Land and went over to the Living Seas, since they don't force you to sit through that movie anymore. We entered through the regular queue and after coming out of the hydrolator were able to bypass the ride directly into the little merchandise shop on the ground floor. We saw the dolphin and the manatees, then looked at a few of the exhibits before leaving the pavilion. By now it had cleared up quite a bit, so we headed back to Test Track and found that it was operating. We went to the cm at the entrance and showed him the special assistance passes and asked him where we should go. He at first said to use the Fastpass entrance, but Kathy told him she knows she cannot make some of the turns in there - her wheelchair is too long (and she cannot transfer to a manual wheelchair since she's hooked up to the ventilator). He then directed us to go in through the merchandise store to the unloading area. We followed his instruction, and stood there waiting for a cm to approach. A family of 6 with some sort of purple card that I guess was good for bypassing the line was directly behind us. The cm came over, and right off the bat was rude. Kathy showed the passes, and he told her she needed to get a Fastpass. She pointed out that one of the passes said it was to be accepted in lieu of a Fastpass. He again said she needed to go back out (keep in mind we're in a narrow queue area, where she cannot turn around to go anywhere) and we replied that the cm outside had told us to come here. He acted all disgusted and said to wait while he went to talk to a manager. He was going to take the family behind us and get them on the ride, but changed his mind and left them standing there with us - which made us feel like it was our fault they were being delayed.

He was gone for a while, then came back with a little yellow card and told Kathy that everyone had to wait a certain time in line before riding, and property wide everyone was using this new yellow card system. Kathy explained yet again that guest services assured her that her passes were all she needed to get what she needs, and that she was not riding, could not ride, etc - but only wanted to be able to wait in line with me until I rode. He then didn't want to let me on because I didn't have a pass! Kathy was pissed by now, and pointed out that her pass is good for her AND her guests - this one was written for up to 3 people, but the access books say the disabled person and up to 6 people will be accommodated. This cm was really a snot - I'm probably not conveying that well here. He had to be "right", and argued with Kathy trying to convince her she was wrong. Finally he let me through, told me where to go, and when I came down on the loading side another cm stopped me and asked for my pass! LOL - I told him the other guy had it - and he yelled over to say I was ok. I joined the queue, which was much longer than the single rider line would have been, even if we hadn't had the delay earlier. In the meantime, Kathy needed assistance because the area for her to turn around in was too small. She asked the cm if he could move the rope so she'd have room to turn around and go to the waiting area in the exit and he very snottily said he guessed he can - he's paid by the hour!

Kathy was still fuming when I got off the ride, evidently earlier in the week when here with her daughters this sort of thing happened almost everywhere she went. Cast members would argue with her and tell her to do something else, even when guest services had specifically told her she was supposed to do exactly what she was trying to do. Her daughters were mortified, as cm's would argue with her and cause people to stare at them to see what the hold-up was. It sounded horrible, and certainly not what you'd expect from Disney.

After leaving Test Track we headed to the First Aid station. I needed to take some pictures, and Kathy's found the only restrooms she can get into with her chair are the ones in First Aid. A very nice nurse cm named Laura chatted with us, and asked how our day was going. Kathy told of her frustration over what had just happened, and we planned to stop at guest services on our way out. Laura was mortified at what she heard, and picked up the phone to call guest services, saying they can come to her....we didn't need to go to them. The First Aid station is a busy little place, with many people coming in and out during the almost 2 hours we ended up spending there! Guest Services sent a manager over - a nice man named Martin who's only recently arrived from Holland. He apologized profusely for what had happened - unfortunately neither of us could remember the TT cm's name, but really he was just the latest cm who'd been a problem. Kathy experienced the same thing in all the parks and even one of the buses this week. Poor Kathy was in tears relating her story again, from the frustration over what kept happening to her. We talked about how the cm's need training, and Kathy's disability is a little beyond what's covered in the access guidebook due to the longer chair & ventilator - but arguing with a guest is uncalled for. Martin wanted his manager to come hear what had happened, and asked if we'd stay and tell her also...so we agreed.

About this time Martin started asking what he could do, realizing that he can't undo the harm that was done, but he wanted to do something to apologize for what had happened. He asked if we'd bought park passes, but we said no- Kathy's a cm and I've got an AP. He asked if we wanted to have a nice lunch somewhere, but Kathy said that wasn't necessary - we weren't there to try to get something and didn't want anything except for people to start accepting her pass without arguing with her. Laura spoke up and said to take the meal.....do it for Martin, it'll make him feel better, lol! He asked where we were planning to have lunch, and we mentioned we'd talked about Mara at AKL. Mara is the snack bar there, but I knew they had the sugar cane chicken I loved, so we were going to check it out. Martin suggested we eat at Jiko instead, so we suggested Boma as an alternative. He asked us what time we wanted to eat, and told us we could have whatever we wanted. He offered to spend the rest of the day with us to ensure no other cm's gave us any trouble, too! That was very nice, but Kathy declined....we didn't really know where we were going, and didn't want to take him away from his job all day, although it might have been fun to have a personal escort with a sexy European accent <g>! Later on we thought of all the things we should have asked for when he kept asking what can I do for you.....none of which I can print here, lol!

The other manager came, we repeated the whole ugly mess again, she commiserated and gave Kathy her name & phone number to call if she has any more problems (we'd remember the cm names next time), and finally we were out of there....ready for the next adventure. It was about 1pm and I was hungry, so we stopped at Fountain View (used the access guide to see where to go with the chair). The guide said to use the ramp to the right of the stairs, but the ramp was really to the left of the stairs. I got a thing called marshmallow treat - what a shock! It was mini marshmallows with chocolate and I think some nuts - very tasty and at $2.11 including tax it was one of the cheapest things there. We sat at a table in the closed Pasta Piazza restaurant (they sell pizza at Electric Umbrella now) and chatted while I ate the marshmallow treat for lunch.

We'd done all we needed to do in Epcot, so Kathy suggested we head to MK to test her passes there. She'd had problems before at Buzz Lightyear, and knows I like Space Mountain, so those were the attractions we planned to visit. We rode the monorail to the TTC, then took another monorail to the MK. On one monorail the cm wanted Kathy to pull forward more so they could put a lady in a regular wheelchair behind her - but that is not possible! Kathy had her toes up to the other monorail door, but her chair is long enough that her ventilator would have been in the woman's lap! I'm not sure what was wrong with that cm, but fortunately the lady told her family she wanted to wait for the next monorail! It was about 2pm so the MK was absolutely mobbed. We headed to Buzz, which is difficult to simply walk in such crowded conditions, but really hard to get through with a wheelchair - due to guests not paying attention to where they're going.

We went to the cm at Buzz and showed the pass, and Kathy said she needed to go through the exit area because her chair wouldn't fit through the Fastpass queue. The cm at first just loudly said NO and then after actually reading the pass backed off a bit and waved us over to the exit. At the exit, a family was complaining to the cm there that their gun didn't work or something, and she looked about as interested in dealing with people as a corpse. She had her arms crossed and just looked like she didn't want to be bothered, but luckily she was ok with us. LOL, I don't even like this ride, and only rode it at Kathy's request....so I'm glad we didn't get any more trouble. I did get a decent score for me - 94,400. We got stuck once, and I was in the area between 2 rooms. I found by shooting at the blank black wall I got several hits of 10,000 point each! Very strange, since there are no targets there <g>. Anyway, that's at least twice my normal score.

Coming off the ride, there was the nastiest woman in the family in front of me. I met Kathy at the exit, and they were just ahead of us. Evidently hubby left the backpack on the ride, and she literally screamed "RAY, YOU IDIOT" while screwing up her face in rage. What a fine example for her young son - NOT! She was ranting & raving about he's so damn stupid and she can't believe he left the backpack on the ride, and in the meantime he'd gone back and gotten the stupid backpack! Did she shut up then??? Noooooo, she went on & on, and we heard him meekly say "But I've never done it before". Ick - we couldn't get away from her fast enough...it was so ugly to see a family dynamic like that, and I felt bad for Ray being married to such a shrew! She was a harpie for sure!

Next stop was Space Mountain. At the Fastpass entrance there was a huge mob of people blocking the way, not moving. I asked them if they were waiting for their time to begin, and they were - so we excused ourselves to get up to the cm. Now, why can't the cm have them wait off to the side or something rather than blocking the entrance??? The cm took one look at Kathy and told her the ride was a roller coaster. Kathy said she knew, that she wasn't riding, she just wanted to accompany her friend through the line, so the cm sent us in. She wasn't sure her chair would make the tight turns, but there was just barely enough room. We started seeing people coming back exiting in our line, which was scary because it was pretty dark and there is not much room for someone to pass the chair between the 2 railings! Eventually we realized the ride was down, and that's why people were leaving. Ugh - what next?? We heard them doing the testing sequence, so we continued on. We really had no choice - with the metal railings Kathy could not turn around, and she could not back out either. We go a little further, and smell a disgusting smell - a young girl ahead of us had a major vomit spill all over the floor! People were holding their shirts over their noses, and the kid's mother was trying to clean her up as best she could, but there was a big mess on the floor. The ride was operating by now, so our side started moving forward again, but since the vomit was covered our lane (and started running down the hill towards us) we were stuck - if Kathy drove through it, it would get on her wheels and possibly onto her wheelchair. A cm came by so I told her about the mess and told her we needed a cm to clean it up. Later another cm came by with a radio, but just passed it by then passed us without doing anything. Later another came so I grabbed him and asked him if anyone was going to clean the mess - he said custodial was coming. I asked how long it would take, and he said it'd take "until they get here". He started being kind of snotty, but settled down when he saw I wasn't being rude or unreasonable, but there was no need for him to be snotty at all. He did call on his radio to confirm that custodial was on their way, and I heard the affirmative response. Soon custodial was there and cleaned it up - just about killing us all with the chemical bleachy fumes in whatever they use (since we were in a closed in space). By now the ride had broken down again, so when we got up further to where the lane got wider we decided to turn around and just leave! Space Mountain was not meant to be today, and I can ride it some other time!

Kathy suggested we try the pass somewhere else - like Dumbo. I told her no way was I riding Dumbo, lol! I don't care how good a friend she is....I have to draw the line at Dumbo <g>. I did suggest we could check out the newest Dumbo - the Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride over in Adventureland. We cautiously made our way through Fantasyland, which is always nerve wracking due to the wall to wall people. Even Adventureland was busy, and we had a lot of cases of people cutting Kathy off, or stopping dead in front of her. The ride had a 5 minute wait posted, so we didn't need to use the pass. It's a cute ride, and I rode it for her. Each carpet can hold up to 4 people. The front seat controls the up & down movement, while the back seat controls the tilting forward and backward. A cute little girl (& her mother) were behind me, and she told me all about what I needed to do and made sure I knew to make it go up and down as much as possible <g>.

We were done at MK now, so we stopped at the First Aid station for a restroom and picture break. The afternoon parade was still going on when we left, but it wasn't too bad getting down the sidewalk. It seems to me we had some rude guest encounter, but I don't recall what it was. We rode the monorail over to the TTC then took a bus to Animal Kingdom. We stopped at the First Aid station for pictures, then continued back to see Kathy's beloved gorillas on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Her #1 favorite is Gus, and he actually knows and recognizes her. He'll talk to her, making a few different rumbling noises depending on what he's trying to convey. We spent about 1.5 hours there watching him, listening to his rumbles, and chatting with the cm's who all know Kathy and will talk about things not normally discussed with guests. I won't print any of that, since I'm not sure what is intended to be private information. Hmmm, I guess we didn't have any bad cm experiences inside this park today :-)

We left the trail at 6, which was park closing time. Gus had gone in to get his evening treat, otherwise he would have rumbled if Kathy had tried to leave him. We left the park to take the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had to wait a while, and the first bus to arrive had a broken lift. It would get partway up, then stop. After several attempts, the driver apologized but told us we'd have to wait for the next bus. Thank goodness we weren't late for our dinner, but it was a pain/frustration to have to wait another 20 minutes for a bus. One of the bus cm's asked if we needed any water, knowing it was pretty hot - so that was nice. Finally another bus came, and we headed to AKL. This was my first visit, and I was eager to see a statue I'd read about in another trip report. The resort is beautiful, and very similar to Wilderness Lodge. I'm not sure we ever found the statue, because the only thing that came close was something very much smaller than what I was expecting. We went out to the savannah viewing areas, which were nice, but weren't any real big deal to me. The pool area is nice & large - but I agree the water slide looks like an afterthought since it's not themed at all. The resort decor is beautiful, and the cm's we encountered all seemed very proud of their resort.

We headed downstairs to Boma and at first the cm couldn't find our reservation. We explained who made the reservation, that it was a comp dinner due to problems in Epcot, and they got a manager who either knew about it or simply took care of it. We were given a beeper that went off in about 5 minutes, then taken to a table very close to the food area so Kathy would have an easier time getting around. Our waiter was Doug, and he was fantastic!! He was efficient, friendly, knowledgeable, and just really nice. We asked him drinks were included with our meal, and he assured us we could have whatever we wanted, so we both started with a White Rhino (an incredibly delicious but filling frozen Bailey's, Kahlua & vodka)....yummmmm! The only strange thing is no straws here, and this is the kind of drink I'd normally drink with a straw. Oh well, we managed ;-) Doug suggested we might also want bottles of water - (Vittel??) since Disney was paying, but we said regular tap water was fine.

He told us what was on each section of the buffet, and mentioned DURBIN CHICKEN.....my favorite! LOL, it wasn't on the menu I saw posted on the internet, but it was on the buffet tonight. Besides my chicken I think I had 2 bites of flank steak, a bite of curry sausage, a bite of some stew thing, melon chunks, and desserts. Most of the food wasn't stuff I'd really eat, but Kathy tried several different things and really liked a spicy seafood soup and some interesting fish. She'd eaten here with her daughters last Tuesday, and raved about the Zebra Dome dessert (chocolate Kahlua mousse) so I tried it and it was very good. I tried a bite of a couple of other things that were ok, but the chocolate mousse crunch was by far my favorite thing - I ate 2 of them!! It was a small (truffle sized) dark chocolate mousse on a chocolate nut crisp bottom. Mmmmmm - they were wonderful! We were stuffed by the time we left there, but enjoyed the dinner. The only difficult part for Kathy was they have stacks of plates set up at each station, and they're down low. She kept almost hitting them with her ventilator, and didn't want the embarrassment of having dozens of plates crashing to the floor! At times there were so many people at the buffet she had no room to move, and she needs enough room to clear the plates area, which caused crowds to back up more until people gave her room. The manager stopped by to see how we'd liked dinner, and we talked to him for a short while, and told him what a wonderful job Doug had done for us.

We went out by the pool area and checked out the snack bar Mara. I liked their menu, even though it's a counter service place, and would come to eat here from AK if I was ever in that park around a meal time. Right now DVC members are not allowed to pool hop to AKL, but that may change some day when the newness wears off. Frankly I'm not sure why anyone would really want to bother hopping to this pool, but if I was wanting my sugar cane chicken (also called Durbin chicken), then combining a pool day with that meal would make sense. Finally, we looked around the shop, then returned to the bus stop. It was about 30 minutes before a bus to Epcot came, and the driver questioned why we wanted to go there - since it was now after 9:15. I told him our van was there, so he let us on.

Kathy's new mini-van is modified so her wheelchair is the driver's seat - which makes valet parking impossible but it gives her back her independence. It's a cute little van - much nicer than the big vans I've seen in the past used for this purpose. We drove over to Downtown Disney and went to Cirque du Soleil to check on tickets for Kathy's daughter & her boyfriend, but the box office was closed. A security cm gave Kathy the lowdown on the cm discount and a brochure with the number to call tomorrow. We then got the van and drove down to the Marketplace to do a little shopping. We didn't stay long, as her battery was starting to wear down. In the World of Disney some incredibly rude guest tried to climb over Kathy's wheelchair as Kathy was waiting to be able to move, and the idiot's leg got caught on one of the control panels and knocked it to the side. I'm not sure if the lady thought she was going to fall & screamed, or if Kathy screamed AT her....Kathy said she felt like saying "Honey, get your fat thigh off my chair before you break it", but I'm sure she didn't say that out loud. The twit woman then glared at Kathy as if it was Kathy's fault that the woman's leg got caught on her wheelchair! Earlier today someone almost fell on her, too - people are so amazingly rude at times.

We left the Marketplace and she dropped me off at OKWR - with both of us looking forward to our next adventure, and her looking forward to reading today's report with her coffee in the morning. We agreed we had a LOT of fun today, despite the frustrations, but now were able to laugh & make jokes about what had happened. I sure saw a side of Disney I never would have believed existed, and it's something Disney needs to work to correct. We also enjoyed a very nice dinner that we hadn't planned on, and visited 3 parks plus Downtown Disney all in one day! I'm glad I was able to keep up with her - with that chair she's like a combination Energizer bunny and speed demon, lol! I can't wait until my next trip, to spend another day together.

I did everything on the plan, and then some. I was gone from 9am until 11pm, which is something I haven't done in years - usually I spend some time at the resort. I stayed up until after 2am writing the report, but won't get online to post it until later....after dawn. Otherwise I'll be up until the sun rises.

Miles walked: Forgot to turn on the pedometer Sue

DAY 3 - MONDAY, MAY 28, 2001:

Who: Sue (me - 42), DVC member Plan: MGM, Stormalong Bay, Comedy Warehouse

Actual: Well, it was more like 3am when I finished up last night, and I didn't bother to set the alarm. The news was calling for it to be smoky again, and I'd decided to skip the parks in favor of laying around Stormalong Bay today. I woke up about 7:30, and was delighted to see bright blue sky rather than a bunch of smoke! I can smell it outside, but only slightly. The news reported that part of I-4 was closed again, west of here.

I finished work on the next MousePlanet article and pictures, downloaded and named all of yesterday's pictures then did some exercise. Strangely, I wasn't hungry at all this morning - I guess that wonderful durbin chicken and chocolate mousse crunch sticks with you....unless it was the white rhino. In any event, I just had some of the juice and made a cappuccino. I'll take the rest of the pretzel breadstick with me to Stormalong Bay, and will need to start eating that chocolate cake before it gets stale! About 10 I left the studio and stopped by the Premium Outlets to see what they had in Character Premiere. They were having a sidewalk sale, with Disney putting mostly year 2000 stuff out there. I didn't buy anything, and didn't stick around to shop elsewhere since I wanted to get to Stormalong Bay.

Driving back, I decided that since the Beach Club has lost so much of it's parking lot to the BC Villas construction, I'd park over at Yacht Club. My usual spot at the pool is pretty much right between the 2 resorts, so it's no less convenient to park at the YC. They had the sign out at the entrance to the resort stating they would not allow parking for Epcot and MGM guests, and when the guard asked why I was there I told him I'd come to use the pool. He was the "member" parking pass on my dash, so he waved me in and directed me to the parking lot. He did not issue one of those 3 hour parking passes, either - perhaps because I didn't claim to be there for a meal.

The cm's at the entrances to Stormalong Bay were all vigilantly checking resort id's on everyone coming in, and gave a hand stamp to prevent being asked again later today. I set up the last lounge chair in the area I prefer, then went to the restroom to change into my swim suit. When I came back, 2 DVC members were trying to get in (they had the DVC tote bag) by using their DVC member card (not resort id). Perhaps they were staying somewhere and not using their points, as I didn't see them ever let in to the pool area. We've discussed this on the DVC board before - and based on what I saw today it *appears* that you must be a DVC member staying using your DVC membership, in which case you'll have a resort id that says DVC member. However, this is WDW and things appear to change almost hourly <g> at times.

The day was sunny & warm, but not too hot. There was some smoke smell in the air, but nothing too strong. Stormalong Bay was pretty busy, but not overly crowded....all in all, a great day to be here! I took my noodle thing and went floating around the lazy river for about 45 minutes or so, then returned to my chair to read a magazine. I finished my pretzel breadstick, which really isn't very good after a day or so. I decided to drink my lunch today, knowing I could always snack on the yogurt later in the studio if need be, or grab dinner before PI. About 12:30 or so I went to Hurricane Hanna's and ordered a Stormalong - amaretto, Bailey's Irish cream, Kahlua, and pina colada mix......YUM, was that delicious! It was $6.75 plus tip, and worth every penny. She poured some clear alcohol on top, which luckily I saw being poured so I stirred the drink before taking any sips! It's a shame Nancy couldn't have been here today - but the drink will be here next time!

Soon clouds started building up, so I decided to leave after I finished the drink. I was talking to some people from north Palm Beach, when I noticed the sky behind me was black, with occasional lightning strikes, so I hurriedly finished the drink and returned to the car to drive back to OKWR. I was back in the studio about 2pm, but it never did rain. I had some emails to send with a bunch of attachments, so I took care of that, as well as updating the report and doing some of the online stuff. I put 8 pictures in Photopoint, in an album ingeniously called May 2001 WDW Trip (ok, so I lack creativity). There are also 12 new pictures of the handsome Gus (from AK) and one of Spike added to the album titled "gorillas". Whew - I'm almost caught up here!

At 4pm (after General Hospital had ended) I left for MGM. I'd snacked on some of the chocolate cake, so dinner wasn't an immediate priority. It was sunny at OKWR but very dark and stormy at MGM. The wind was blowing pretty hard, and I could smell the rain coming. I parked and walked into the park. The 2 cm's working at the turnstile were having a personal conversation and did not greet me or even glance at me as I came through (nobody else was in line). They were the exception though - every where else I went the cm's were greeting people and doing their jobs. There were lots of Streetmosphere characters out, but I didn't stop to watch what was going on.

The tip board said the next Millionaire thing was at 5:15, which was about 30 minutes away. I went to check out the First Aid place first, and stayed chatting (about non-Disney) stuff with a cm there. I took a picture of the big hat (BAH) going up in front of the Great Movie Ride - so far it's pretty ugly, but I'm assuming they'll try to make it attractive. Personally, I wouldn't mind if they just scrapped the entire idea of the hat! At Millionaire the standby line said 60 minutes, and it was full of people I assume waiting for the 6:15 show. I'll come back another day or another trip and do the Fastpass for this. By now it was about to rain, so I continued up the street and got under the covered area near Honey I Shrunk the Kids before the skies opened up and it poured heavily for a fairly long time. There was thunder, lightning, and high winds that blew the rain sideways. I stayed there about 45 minutes, and then started walking again since it was starting to let up some.

I rode the Great Movie Ride (gangster section), which was practically a walk on. I noticed a cm insisting on squeezing 6 very large adults into 1 row up in the western scene cars. I understand the rows are intended to seat 6, but when you've got 6 people who are larger than the "normal" adult, then it makes to sense to force them into too small of a space - especially when they had an entire empty row at the back of the car! We had 6 adults in my row and fit fine, thank goodness.

It was still raining when I got off the ride so I browsed through the shops on Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Blvd. They had marshmallow thingies in the candy store, but not the one with m&m's. When I got to the front of the park I left, and walked back to the car. It was raining steadily, but not too heavily at this point, and it seemed like the sky was trying to clear. Rather than hang around Downtown Disney in the rain, I headed back to OKWR for a short time. There was a message from a DVC friend (Debbie - Deseylou), and I was sorry to have missed her, but hopefully I'll see her at PI later. Around 7:20 I left for DD so I'd have time to get a quick dinner before the 8pm Comedy Warehouse show. The rain was letting up finally, and there was a big beautiful rainbow over the Marketplace. As I was walking towards the West Side I thought about how my PI habits had changed over the last 6 months or so. It used to be I preferred going alone, so I could just see as many Comedy Warehouse shows as possible without anyone wanting me to go elsewhere. Then, I started meeting & hanging out with other Comedy Warehouse regulars on some nights, and that was so perfect - the best of both worlds. I had company and someone to talk to, they didn't want to do anything other than Comedy Warehouse, and we could talk *about* the Comedy Warehouse and not have to explain everything...it was perfect! Tonight it was almost disappointing to be going alone, but that would change <g>.

I headed over to the Bongo's outdoor window for a chicken empanada for dinner. It's still $1.33 with tax, but it tasted different tonight - like there was some sauce or something mixed in. Usually it's more like just chicken. It wasn't bad tonight, but I prefer the usual version. I ate as I headed under PI to the main ticket booths. A manager in Downtown Disney entertainment had put me on the guest list for tonight, so I needed to stop there to pick up my complimentary ticket. They had my name in the computer, so it was no trouble at all to get in tonight. I headed straight up the hill to Comedy Warehouse and got in line for the first (8pm) show. After I was in line I saw Debbie and her 2 sons come out of the Adventurer's Club and head over to the Warehouse line. It was great seeing her - we've had several trips either taken together or accidentally overlapping, and we usually will end up at PI many nights. We chatted a while, then they got in line - we agreed to meet after the show.

I was seated down on the floor (the chairs at the 2 rows of tables directly in front of the stage) because there was a single empty seat there, but it was good because that was Jaime's section (waitress) and I hadn't talked to her in a while. She warned me the bartender might have gotten my Bye Bye Blues a little messed up, so had me try it. It definitely was right - some ingredient was too heavy, but it wasn't terrible so I kept it. The cast for the 1st show was Josh, Jake, Joy, Jen K, and .....to my complete surprise....Steve!! Last week the entertainment manager said he wasn't scheduled during my stay, and I found out later this was a last minute thing. He's one of the best, and I was very happy to have the chance to see him work again. The show was very good - not side-splitting hilarious, but then the 1st show rarely is. It was significantly better than the shows I saw the other night. Steve is always great, and I believe having someone really good at improv in the show helps the other actors be that much better. There was a lot more sexual stuff in the shows tonight, but they never really went overboard. For the embarrassing story game Debbie told about when her son "tooted" 13 times in class and the teacher started spraying Lysol around the classroom, lol!

After the show I talked to Jen K for a little while. She confirmed that Layden really IS happy over at Hoop, despite his displeasure at leaving Comedy Warehouse back in February. I'm glad he ended up happy....he sure was miserable when we talked back then. I'd much rather see him at Comedy Warehouse - for selfish reasons, but if he'd rather be doing what he's doing, then that's what I want him to do. Hopefully some day I'll hit the Warehouse on a night he's back subbing or something.

I met up with Debbie & the guys, and we got in line for the 2nd show. This time we were behind Sharon & John, which made it even better! Sharon & I got to talk Warehouse stuff, and Debbie had been enough times that she wasn't left clueless in the conversation. We caught up on the latest goings-on with the cast <g>. Since Sharon lives locally, she comes out more often than I do, and took my email address so she can let me know when she hears that some of the old favorites are back for a short visit...if Layden comes back, I might make an overnight trip to catch his shows. Soon it was time to go in, and we were seated a couple of rows back from where the sound technicians sit. This show featured Joy, Jake, Steve, Jen K, and Todd, and it was absolutely hilarious!! It was so wonderful to be at a show that approached what the shows used to be like :-) Afterwards I talked to Joy for a while about her move to CW. She seems really nice, and I told her she seems like one of those rare people who just fits right in & is great right from the start...based on what I've seen so far. We had a nice chat, and laughed about some stuff that had happened. She said it's nerve-wracking doing this job, as I can well imagine! She's enjoying it, though, which is important!

Sharon & John left, but the rest of us got in line for the 3rd show (10:30). This time it was Jen K, Josh, Joy, Jake & Todd. It was very good, but I think the 2nd show was the overall best. It was a great evening's worth of entertainment - one of the best Warehouse nights I'd seen since February. Todd is getting better, and came out with a few really funny things tonight. They must be running short, since it was unusual to see so many actors in all 3 shows...I'll bet some had to work every show tonight (4).

We left PI and I dropped Debbie and the guys off at their OKWR villa so they didn't have to wait for the buses, then got back to my studio about 11:40 or so. The online stuff can wait until morning - I just finished the report, ate more chocolate cake, and was in bed shortly after 12:30, wanting to start getting back to a more reasonable bedtime by the time the trip is done!

It was a nice relaxing day, and also very productive with all the "stuff" I got done. I realize some of the computer stuff isn't exactly most people's idea of a vacation, but I knew I wouldn't have time to deal with it after the trip, so I made the choice to do it now while I wasn't working. FL finally got some rain (too bad it couldn't have been while I was sleeping, instead of when I was in a park, lol) and the evening was better than I could have expected! I ended up doing everything that was on the plan...without thinking about it.

Miles walked: No pedometer today

DAY 4 - TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2001:

Who: Sue (me - 42), DVC member

Plan: MK, Comedy Warehouse w/Leesa

Actual: I woke up at 6:40, which was great since I'd meant to get up at 6:30 but forgot to set the alarm last night! I'd decided to skip the DVC open house/update continental breakfast thing and just had breakfast in the studio (juice, cappuccino and strawberry yogurt with granola). Maria the stalker came online and we chatted a bit. Without my big window she hasn't done much stalking this trip, but even stalkers need to take a break every now & then.

About 8:30 I went to the bus stop and the MK bus was the first to arrive. I was inside shortly before 9, and got to the Tomorrowland entrance just as the rope dropped - perfect timing so far today! I went straight to Space Mountain and picked up a Fastpass for 9:25. They were stacking the standby people in line outside - all the way back to TTA. I don't understand why they don't just have the entrance open so by the time guest get there they walk right in, instead of doing this 10 minute delay thing.

I walked over to Fantasyland and rode Pooh with about a 5 minute wait. It was cute, as always. As I approached, I could see the characters riding on Dumbo with kids - I'm assuming it was the first ride of the day. Next I walked right on to Peter Pan's Flight, and by then it was time to return to Tomorrowland. It was 9:30, so I got another Space Mountain Fastpass for 9:55 and used the first one to walk onto the ride. It was only 9:45 when I got out, so I rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority before returning for my final turn on Space Mountain. It was great getting so many attractions done in an hour!

I left MK and headed to the bus stop area to decide how I wanted to get to MGM. The Coronado Springs bus pulled up to let people off, so I decided I'd take that one and also get to check out the start of the conference I'm not able to attend this week. I hesitated to help a family who wasn't sure how to get where they're going, and then found the bus was NOT returning to CS after all. Silly me, I expect a bus sitting in a CS bus stop should be going to CS - but I wasn't about to get upset over it. Instead, I just got on the BW bus.

From BW I walked to MGM and my luck was continuing - I walked back to Millionaire and was able to walk through the open door 2 minutes before the show started! None of the seats are bad, so unless you're concerned about not getting in at all, I wouldn't worry about trying to get their early. I'd planned on getting a Fastpass for the next show, and was thrilled to not have to waste an hour waiting for the show! I've only seen the TV show once, and even then it was only to watch one contestant (the sister of an internet friend)...I enjoyed watching that person, but can't stand the show at all! The set here looks very much like the set on the TV show. I'd heard good things about the attraction, but although I consider it MUCH better than the TV version, it's still way too hokey and boring for me. The best part was seeing Mary from the Comedy Warehouse in the pre-show movie talking with the real Regis (I'm a Mary fan, not a Regis fan). It looked like they had her face absolutely caked with really heavy makeup - she's got beautiful skin normally, but the film made her look overdone. Regis looked that way too, as did the Florida show host. The guy in the hot seat did a super job, and thankfully answered each question in just a few seconds, so it moved along well. He got to the 16,000 point level, and then missed one. I'd do the attraction again if I was with someone who wanted to try it, but otherwise I'll skip it.

I left MGM and took the bus to Coronado Springs. They've moved the main bus stop to the other end of the main building, plus added a 4th stop, so the walk to a bus stop has been lessened for many rooms. In the convention center they had all the stuff up for the conference, and I saw a couple of familiar faces. I was hoping to see a sign announcing the dates/location of next year's conference. I know it won't be at CS again - they had to sign a 2 year contract, but were not happy last year. It had been at the Contemporary for years, but when they moved to CS they said Disney was getting too hard to work with, but I didn't press for specifics.

I went back to the bus stop and took the Boardwalk bus, arriving shortly after Spoodles opened for lunch. The cm inside confirmed they were closing for lunch permanently 6/3 due to budget cuts, and they were not happy about it. Evidently many people will have to be redeployed elsewhere, and from a guest perspective the only options for lunch in the BW area will be burgers and pub-type food....no nice place. The cm said to write letters to Disney, but after the recent Layden letter writing thing, I don't want to get a reputation as a complainer <g>! I'll be sure to make a comment on my guest satisfaction survey after my September BW Villas stay, though.

I got my favorite item on the menu - sesame Caesar salad with grilled chicken ($8.95). It's beautifully presented, and is the best dang Caesar I've had anywhere! I ate almost every bite, and waddled out of there! I'd asked about the tsziki sauce they used to serve with the bread, and he brought me some (I don't like hummus). The cm making pizzas was tossing the dough higher & higher into the air, to the claps and cheers of the guests - then let a boy come up to practice tossing one as well! My server was not terribly attentive, since he needed to spend time flirting with 2 young ladies at the next table....they were rolling a matchbox car across the table, and at one point almost got into a mini food fight...very strange for young adults. He seemed entranced, though. He never asked me if I wanted coffee or dessert, just brought the check ($7.59 after DDE), and I ended up tipping more than he deserved only because I didn't feel like waiting for my change since all I had was a $10 bill. It was still a great lunch despite being ignored, and it's a shame I won't be able to eat there on future trips (dinner doesn't fit into my schedule, generally).

The love bugs are out in full force today! They were swarming all over the BW, and are also here at OKWR. I walked back to MGM and took the OKWR bus back to the resort, getting back about 2pm. I'd thought about going to the pool for a bit, but the dark clouds were building and the wind got really strong for a while. Instead, I talked to friends online for an hour, then updated the report and downloaded some pictures while watching General Hospital and eating the rest of that chocolate cake. Then, I talked to more people, uploaded some pictures, and IM'd with Chris (my son) for a while, waiting to see if it was going to pour again. There was thunder, lightning and dark clouds, and I dreaded heading out only to be stuck waiting somewhere for the rain to end (like last night). I talked to Leesa, and we're skipping PI tonight. After the 5pm weather I decided the heck with waiting, and headed for the bus stop.

As soon as I sat down, the MK bus showed up so I hopped on. It went through the rest of the stops, which surprised me. Usually Millers Rd is the last stop before the main building and then the parks, but tonight they followed the old pattern of Millers Rd first, then the other 4 stops. I didn't mind, since I wasn't in any particular hurry. I'm still awed by the beauty of this resort, even after countless trips over the past 6 years, and am sooooooo very happy to be a DVC member here!

Once in the MK Main Street wasn't busy at all, except for lots of people leaving the park. It kind of surprised me that so many were leaving just 3 hours before Spectromagic, so I picked up a guidemap and saw that Spectromagic is only Friday & Saturday - not tonight! When I got to the tip board I was surprised again to see 1 hour waits at the big attractions and 30-45 minute waits at most everything else! I wandered through Adventureland, into Frontierland, and headed for Big Thunder. It had a posted 60 minute wait and all the Fastpasses were gone for the day - so I did not stay. I walked over to Liberty Square, and the Haunted Mansion had a 35 minute wait posted. I wasn't about to take the chance that was accurate, so I decided to just leave the park.

I walked over to the Contemporary and took a bunch of pictures over there for a future MousePlanet article - most likely a pictorial tour of one of the original WDW resorts. While in there I got my only Mickey truffle of the trip, and after getting all the pictures I wanted, returned to the bus stop. Almost immediately the Downtown Disney bus arrived, so I got on. It stopped at the TTC first, then continued to Downtown Disney. Figuring I'd take the Trumbo Ferry back to OKWR later, I started at the West Side and worked my way back, browsing through some of the shops. It wasn't horribly overcrowded, which was nice. It felt very strange not going into Pleasure Island - almost wrong, somehow. I'm always there at night, unless there's a very good reason! I saw some of the cast arrive for work, and that didn't help matters any, lol! Oh well, next trip I'll have my AP upgraded to a PAP and will probably be there every night, like I should.

I ended up being the only guest on the Trumbo Ferry, so I had the boat and the driver to myself. He was looking at my pictures before we left, and when he saw me setting up to take a picture of Cirque du Soleil he told me to wait and then stopped the boat in a great spot. I took some sunset shots also - hopefully they'll look good when I download them, and if so I'll send some up to Photopoint.

Back at OKWR I wandered around there for a while - it was a beautiful night, and of course being in what I consider to be the MOST beautiful resort just made it that much more perfect. I was back in the studio just before 9 (very strange to be home so early), and soon I went out and sat on the porch to watch the high fireworks from Illuminations - what a nice way to end the last evening, since I wasn't at the Comedy Warehouse.

It didn't take long to pack my stuff up, then I settled down to finish the report and do the pictures and online stuff.

The day didn't follow the plan exactly, but it was another wonderful day. I can't believe the trip is almost over already - I should be just getting started!

Miles walked: 9.2 Sue

DAY 5 - WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2001:

Who: Sue (42), DVC member

Plan: MK or AK, drive home

Actual: This time I purposely did not set the alarm last night, figuring I'd get up whenever I woke up - there's no need to rush off to be anywhere. As it turned out, I woke up at 6:30 and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up at 7. Breakfast was just juice and cappuccino - I can grab something later. I put the rest of the juice & yogurt into the cooler, then added ice from the ice machine at the pool (it's a small 6-pack size cooler). My express checkout was on the door, and since it was a short trip there was only one page of local phone calls <g>. So far the total spent on this 5-day trip is still under $100 thanks to DVC and annual passes.

I left OKWR before 9 and parked at the Boardwalk. After dropping off the laptop with bell services (rather than leave it in a hot car), I walked into Epcot through the International Gateway. I hit just a few favorites - rode Spaceship Earth with a 5 minute wait, then walked onto Living With the Land. I was seated next to a woman who must have been there for the first time. Every new thing in the greenhouse was met with complete amazement, which made it kind of fun. Afterwards, I did the single rider line at Test Track - there were 4 of us in line <g>. When we returned, not a single person was in the loading area (except the cm's). No sign of the cm who was so rude the other day - I looked for him, hoping to catch his name.

By now it was about 11am, so I wandered around World Showcase. I mostly wanted to see the wine in Italy to see if they carried the one I like to drink in Le Cellier (yes, it's an Italian wine), but they did not. After browsing through some of the other ships, I was back at International Gateway and decided to head for home :( since I've got a lot of things to do there and will be busy day and night for the next 9 days.

On the way out I stopped at the ticket booth to inquire about upgrading our AP's during our July trip. Currently Chris & I both have AP's that expire 7/21/01. We'll be back July 14th and I want to upgrade them both to PAP's. In my case, I'll be renewing right away, so the cm mentioned that renewals can be done up to 30 days in advance....I can do it 7/14 and I'll have a new expiration date of 7/21/02 (one year from my current date). Not sure if there will be some nominal fee for the extra week of "premium". For Chris, I will not be renewing his pass. I've already got a new AP for him, (not a renewal) that we'll activate in December - and upgrade that to a PAP then before activating it. The cm said upgrading his current AP with only a week left is no problem - they'd just prorate the charge. Sounds good to me!

At the Boardwalk I stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery to pick up a couple of chocolate & vanilla pretzels to take home, then got my laptop and headed out to the car. Luckily I didn't encounter any smoke at all on the way home, so it was an uneventful drive.

Miles walked: No pedometer today

SUMMARY:

It was wonderful to be back at WDW, and particularly Old Key West! This trip flew by, as I feared it would, but I still found time to relax. It was somewhat strange to spend so little time at Comedy Warehouse, and VERY strange to be there with so many of favorites either gone :( or temporarily away. Spending the whole day with Kathy was the highlight of the trip - she's always fun to be around, and I'd missed her on the last trip.

WDW is definitely not as disability-friendly as they'd like you to think. It seems their policies and procedures are fine, but the execution is where it all falls apart. Whether the cm's are in need of training, or need a swift kick in the rear and a termination notice probably varies on a case by case basis, but the supervisors and managers need to do a better job making sure the cm's are not rude to guests.

The different budget cuts - closing Spoodles for lunch, eliminating boat service from Marketplace to West Side, closing Pasta Piazza & the Tex-Mex place in MK....it all adds up to a decline in guest service. With all the competition in the area - Universal, IOA, Sea World - I'm not sure their budget cuts are particularly wise moves. Thank goodness nothing seems to have changed at OKWR, but I was looking forward to another Spoodles lunch during my BW stay in September.

The new AKL is a beautiful resort, and Boma was a terrific restaurant. The food was very good, but Doug our waiter was great. That chocolate mousse crunch though....that was killer! :-)

My next trip will be with my son Chris, starting July 12th. We'll spend a couple of nights at Disney's Vero Beach Resort and then move to WDW for 6 nights at Disney's Old Key West Resort. Unfortunately, with a kid in school, summer trips become a part of life!

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

• Seeing cast members be openly rude to Kathy, when she'd done absolutely nothing to solicit that behavior except simply have a valid assistance pass :( and expect to be granted the access she is entitled to.
• Having to leave after only 4 nights, lol - but thank goodness I'll be back soon!

MAGICAL MOMENTS:

• Unexpectedly finding Steve back at the Comedy Warehouse for one of my nights! It was a sudden addition to the schedule, so I just lucked out. The shows he was in were hilarious - just like the old days :-)
• Boma - a great meal, great company, and beautiful setting. I love that durben chicken, and ooooooh, those desserts <g>! The White Rhino drink was delicious also :-)
• OKWR - I still get that happy feeling in my stomach when I return here...it's simply perfect.
• My new favorite daytime drink (Bye Bye Blues is still the night time drink) - the Stormalong at Hurricane Hanna's. Hopefully Nancy will get to try it next trip!

Thanks for reading, and until next time - Sue

Sue Holland

wdw1972@aol.com

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