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Sue Holland -- November 2001 -- Walt Disney World (VWL)Note: As Sue
spent a great deal of time at Pleasure Island and in other adult venues, Who/When/Where:
INTRODUCTION: This trip is unusual in a couple of ways. First, it is only 2 nights long, which is unheard of for me. I really do not think it is worth making the drive for only 2 nights, but I had nothing better to do and figured I might as well spend a couple of days relaxing at WDW and enjoying Comedy Warehouse shows at night. Second, my last trip just ended 11 days ago, so this might be the shortest amount of time between my trips....so far! Originally I had planned this as a solo trip, and invited my friend Sheila to come up for the first night, but then Chris decided he wanted to come along. He has no school Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, otherwise he would have stayed behind. I had planned to activate his new AP on 12/29, but now that they are throwing in a free 100 days for Florida residents I will just go ahead and activate it this trip, and upgrade it to a PAP at the same time so he has access to everywhere. Chris was hoping we could spend time at the water parks, but with a cool/cold front expected on Wednesday, that is not going to happen - unless it warms up enough by Friday that we give it a try. He may join me at Comedy Warehouse one or both nights - most likely for a show or 2 before heading off to DisneyQuest for the rest of the evening. Neither of us are particularly big *parks* people, having been here so often. Most of the things I would be interested in seeing are at night - Osborne Lights, Lights of Winter at Epcot - but they conflict with Comedy Warehouse and if I have to choose between them, the Comedy Warehouse is the easy winner. We will be back for our next trip starting December 29th with some other friends and will probably see Osborne Lights with them early, before I escape to the Comedy Warehouse later <g>. Many of the friends I usually see on my trips are out of town or have family visiting, so this short trip will be mostly Chris & I relaxing and taking it easy. Several people have recently asked me where we were planning to have Thanksgiving dinner, and I replied truthfully that taking the time to sit in an overly busy and possibly overpriced (since Disney has a history of jacking the regular prices up on holidays - at least on the buffet meals) restaurant with a plate full of turkey is the last thing I would want to do, lol! No offense to the traditionalists, but eating a big meal is not high on my *to do* list, and I will be much happier doing whatever we would normally do, without any special meal for Thanksgiving. When my grandmother was alive we would spend Thanksgiving at her house, with all the trimmings (and if she was still alive we'd either be there or she'd be in WDW with us sharing a soft pretzel for lunch, lol), but for the 2 of us we do not need or want the big dinner during a vacation. Besides, Healthy Choice makes a really wonderful turkey/mashed potato frozen entree (I am not being sarcastic, it really is excellent) so for about $2 I can have all the turkey dinner I want in 5 minutes time with nothing to clean up afterwards <g>. One place we do plan to eat is Rainforest Cafe, but not for your typical meal. Unlike some other people, I have always had excellent food and service at any Rainforest Cafe I have visited. During a previous trip with Chris we spotted a dessert called Sparkling Volcano on the menu. Billed as being big enough for 2, it consists of "Giant rich chocolate brownie cake stacked up high, served warm with vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, and topped with caramel and chocolate sauces. $12.99" It sounds delicious, and I am sure it is more than we can handle alone, so Nancy will meet us before she has to be at work and hopefully between the 3 of us we can conquer the volcano, lol! It will be our lunch, since there is no way we could handle all of that after a meal. My pedometer died on the cruise earlier this month - or more likely, the battery in the pedometer died. I think it is time to retire the pedometer anyway, since more often than not I chose not to bother with it, and I think we all have a pretty good idea what my miles walked usually are (not that it matters, lol). I also do not plan to post pictures from this short trip, but if I take anything particularly interesting I can always sneak it into the album for the next trip and you will never know <g>! On Monday I decided to take the entire day off Wednesday, and debated about leaving after my management meeting late Tuesday afternoon. Chris' dad was going to pick him up from school and deliver him to my office. The only problem was limited time...leaving work at 4pm I would arrive WDW at 7pm, then would need to check in at VWL then go to a park to activate & upgrade Chris's AP, and I doubted I could then make it to Comedy Warehouse for the 8pm show. Let's face it - having the extra night there was the only real attraction to adding the extra night. When I called DVC member services though, not a single studio was available - and it is not worth it to me if I will have to move the next day! So, I guess it was not meant to be, but that is ok. The only disappointment is that since the resort is full the night before, I am sure I will have no chance of getting into my studio when I check in Wednesday morning...but we will survive! So much for resorts being empty at WDW :-) I also thought about extending the trip by adding Friday night (told you I do not like short trips), but at 32 points for a studio????? No freakin' way <g>! No offense intended, but 32 points will get me 4 nights at my favorite resort (OKWR), so there is no way I would part with those points in exchange for 1 night at VWL - unless there was a very compelling reason for me to be there that night. In this case, there is not a strong enough reason to stay, so we will return home Friday afternoon as planned, which gives me a normal weekend before returning to work on Monday. Since this is the first time in several years that we will be home for Christmas (instead of in a DVC resort somewhere), we might as well put up the tree and other decorations, and this weekend is the perfect time to get that out of the way. The plans so far... Wed 11/21: Drive to WDW, c/in VWL, Epcot or AK, Comedy Warehouse Thu 11/22: MK or AK, Resort touring, Comedy Warehouse Fri 11/23: Parks, Ice Cream w/Nancy, Drive home DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2001: Plan: Drive to WDW, c/in VWL, Epcot or AK, Comedy Warehouse Actual: Last night I asked Chris what time he wanted to leave in the morning, and he replied "early - by 6". Ugh! I figured since he does not go as often as I do, we might as well leave early for him. I told him we would leave then if we were ready - meaning if he was up and ready to go then we would leave, otherwise it would be later <g>. As it turned out, he was basically ready, so we left shortly after 6. Traffic was not bad, but definitely heavier than normal. When we pulled into the Wilderness Lodge, the security cm gave me my parking pass - already printed with my name and check-out date. This is much more efficient than getting it from the front desk and then having to return to your car to put it on the dashboard! We went to the lobby and checked in with no wait. Of course the studio was not ready, but I knew to expect that. The Christmas tree is up and looks really pretty, but no sign of any gingerbread. If I am not mistaken, they skipped the gingerbread last year as well. Christmas music was playing, which was really nice. We headed out to the dock and rode the boat over to the Magic Kingdom, arriving to a mob scene around 9:30 or so. The security seemed to be more thorough when inspecting bags this morning, which is probably what slowed things down. It was also very crowded - I expect this weekend will be a horrible experience in the MK if you do not like crowds. There was also a long line at guest services, but thank goodness it moved pretty quickly since they had almost every window open. I had bought Chris an AP voucher over a year ago, when there was some special deal offered, even though at that time he had an active AP. His pass expired last July, so today I activated his new one but first upgraded it to a PAP for the $100 difference in price. I asked the cm about the 100 extra days, and he said it is only for FL residents. So, the rumors I have seen on radp or the message boards are not true, evidently. We entered the park, and it was even more congested just inside the gates. The line for strollers was incredible - what a miserable way to start your day! As we headed to Main Street, we saw a man pushing one of the Disney double strollers, trying to get it up onto the curb to walk on the sidewalk. He must have lost his grip because it fell backwards to the street, and his older kid started crying because he hit his head on the street when the stroller fell backwards. A cm came running over - the kid did not appear to be seriously hurt, just scared, and I sure hope Disney did not take any responsibility for this. The guy was maybe 3 yards away from the ramped entrance to the sidewalk...there was no reason to be shoving the stroller up onto the curb like that, especially since the kid crying was probably 6 or 7....had he been smaller (more stroller-size) it would have been lighter and his head would have been against the back of the seat most likely. The younger sister was probably around 4 years old, and was not injured. We passed that scene and I thought the wreath and garland looked new, but Chris disagreed. Maybe they are the same style, but they certainly looked fresher than I remember from last year. We went to Space Mountain to pick up a couple of Fastpasses for me - at 10am the standby wait was 45 minutes, but little over an hour later it was up to 75 minutes. We had to wait in line to get the Fastpass, also. All of Tomorrowland was very busy. The line for Buzz Lightyear was extended outside the building and snaked around, and the lines at the racecars and Astro Orbiter were ridiculous! We stopped at a phone and I made a priority seating for a 1pm lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe back at WL. Chris suggested the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, so we stood in line to get on that! Normally this is a walk-on. After TTA we walked around the park to see if there was anything without a long wait, lol! We started with Adventureland, then Frontierland, but did not ride anything. We stopped in Diamond Horseshoe and got 2 of those jumbo dill pickles, then sat in some rocking chairs on a porch nearby and ate them while watching people walk by. Some guest dropped a bucket of popcorn, and the birds cleaned it up in no time at all, lol! You could not tell anything had ever spilled, and they lost about 1/2 of a bucketful of popcorn. We were unable to finish the pickles (Chris ate his and part of mine, then got pickled-out, lol) so we threw the rest away and kept walking. Chris wanted to go on the Riverboat, so we did that. Generally I never, ever do this ride....it is so boring, but here I am riding it for the 2nd time in less than a month, lol! Oh well, it was sitting there waiting for us, and it was not crowded. It is a great place to take pictures of Big Thunder and the Haunted Mansion, though. We were off the boat at 11:15, which was the Fastpass time, so we fought our way through the Fantasyland mob and returned to Space Mountain. Now the attraction was closed due to some technical problems, so the Fastpass return line extended almost back to the TTA track. Having a line defeats the purpose of Fastpass, so I decided to just skip the ride. It was not worth hanging around on the chance it might open again soon. We decided to leave the park, since there was nothing we were willing to wait for. We walked to the Contemporary, after having to walk around out of the way and then backtracking because of the rope set up to shuffle incoming guests to the security area. They have a cm stationed there, and I do not understand why they cannot let guests exit that way...instead they have us exiting in the same spot where hordes of new guests are trying to enter....really stupid system. I noticed the Contemporary has a big green tree with some red bows or poinsettias on it, located out front. Inside they had some smaller trees and several wreaths in the lobby, but nothing on the 4th floor concourse except for some garland. I remember years ago they did a lot of decorating on the 4th floor, but it was missing last year if I remember correctly. We tried to go up to the observation deck on the 15th floor, but the elevators would not go up there. Another guest said they thought the elevators only go up there when the restaurant is open, which is another change (cutback?). We gave up after trying 2-3 elevators, and rode the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort. Someone had said the tree was up here, but we did not see any Christmas decorations at all when we walked in - so we turned around and got back on the same monorail! At the Grand Floridian the tree is as beautiful as always, and they had the store made of gingerbread set up downstairs. They did not have the gingerbread village display on the 2nd floor like in previous years - hopefully they will do that later, but someone on the boards reported that the gingerbread was canceled this year. We wandered around a bit, then caught the next monorail back to the Contemporary. From there we took the boat right over to Wilderness Lodge. Chris called to check on our studio, and we were pleased to learn it is ready at 1pm! We checked in at Whispering Canyon Cafe and were seated immediately. They were just finishing having the kids race those hobby horse things through the restaurant, but Chris is too old for that stuff (and too tall). It was fairly rowdy in there today - fun for the people who wanted that, but not obnoxious for anyone who might have just wanted a simple lunch. Chris got a cappuccino smoothie ($3.89) and we shared the fabulous Nutty Chicken & Cheese Salad ($8.29). He had never had this before, and absolutely loved it! It really is one of the best tasting meals in WDW - although I think Chris could have eaten a whole one plus half of mine...something to remember for next time <g>. They split it in the kitchen, as they did when Sheila & I shared this once, and the half is a perfect size for anyone with a smaller appetite. Chris does not fall into that category, however, so he had room for dessert. He got the Chunk Wagon, which is vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate chunks, caramel, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and a chocolate chip cookie on the side ($2.29). I had asked if it was a 1-person dessert, since I did not want some jumbo thing arriving, and the waitress said that it was. It sounds like a lot, but it is not huge like their brownie sundae thing. After paying the bill (used Disney Dining Experience to get 20% off....strictly for FL residents) we went to the car and brought our stuff into the Villas. Boy, that is a long walk from the parking lot - glad we only had a small amount of stuff! Our studio is on the 4th floor, facing the woods with the swimming pool to our left and Bay Lake beyond the trees. The air conditioning was not turned on, so we opened the balcony door (these are too small to be called porches, lol). The boat horns were a nice reminder of where we are! The studio is laid out and appears to be the same size as the ones at Boardwalk Villas....small! However, for 1 or 2 people they are very charming. I would not book one with 3 people, unless the 3rd was a young child and the first 2 were an adult couple (or a parent with 2 kids....a family of 4 in here would be too crowded for me). Anyone wanting to see pictures can find them on photopoint under my email address. There is an album titled WL Villas (or something like that), where I put the pictures taken of all the units here during the sneak preview days. One thing that is much nicer than BWV is they have lots of drawer space. The armoire holding the TV is much wider and has 4 good-size drawers. There are 2 more drawers in the sink area, and the kitchenette has 4 drawers! I wish OKWR had drawers there, since I hate leaving clutter out in a resort room, and the cabinets are really too high for me to use comfortably. Chris sat around while I did some limited unpacking and got us settled, then we discussed the options for the rest of the day. He ended up deciding to go to DisneyQuest, so we set a time and place to meet later. I updated the report and then got online during General Hospital. I was pretty tired - the thought of just crawling into bed and sleeping until morning sounded awfully tempting, but I really did not want to miss the Comedy Warehouse since I only have 2 nights this trip. Chris will be coming to some of the shows tonight. Originally he did not want to, claiming it just is not funny anymore since Layden left (Layden was his favorite also, and he also liked Mark - who is also gone, and Jen K). The shows Chris has seen since Layden left were not the greatest, but I have seen improvement in the past 6 months and hopefully tonight will be good. I think Jen K is off tonight, so he will not get to see her, unfortunately. At 4 I decided to get out and at least walk around somewhere. Rather than head to a park (thought about going to AK, but since Kathy gets over there to see Gus so often lately I decided to skip that...they close at 5 so there is not time to do very much there) I went to the car and put on my rollerblades. If I had decided I was going to do this before I left the studio I would have brought one of the water bottle straps, so instead I just skated with my backpack so I would have water. I took the path over to Ft Wilderness, and that path was busier than I had ever seen it! I passed lots of bikes, a couple of surrey bikes, joggers, walkers, and even a rather handsome rollerblader with a very nice smile :-) He probably has the wife and 2.3 young children back in the resort, so I did not give him any serious thought, lol. It was just nice to see someone else skating here for a change. Inside Ft Wilderness people were gathering for the 5pm Hoop Dee Doo Revue, and I noticed the 9:30 show has been removed from the sign out front. You would think they could have filled that show during this busy holiday weekend, but I guess since they laid off all of the extra cast, the actor's union probably does not allow the remaining actors to work extra shows. I'll bet the servers are not very happy, since they live off their tips and now they have 2/3 income :( There were lots of people in the petting zoo as well - perhaps it is just always busy before a Hoop show, though. Many of the campsites were decorated for the holidays - not sure if that means they will still be here on Christmas or not. If so, that's MY kind of vacation, lol, but not at a campground! I returned to VWL and changed out of my skates, then stopped by the quiet pool to pick up some towels in case we go to Blizzard Beach after seeing Kathy tomorrow. We will bring them back to the pool area tomorrow regardless - since our DVC dues pay for these towels I do not leave them at the water parks or anywhere else. This resort really reminds me of Hilton Head - to the point that I expect it to be really chilly outside, lol! The colors are the same, and the studio layout is very similar. I do like the Pacific NW theming, and would consider staying here more often if it was not so far from Pleasure Island and if the points were more reasonable compared to OKWR. I could see using this resort as a strictly recreational trip - no real park time except for perhaps running over to MK for Space Mountain. I still had time before I was due to meet Chris, so I drove over to the Swan and parked in the self parking lot. I walked to the Boardwalk and went to the bakery there to buy a couple of the chocolate vanilla pretzels, despite the fact that last trip they were a bit dry one day. I got 2 of them figuring Chris might want one. I then walked through the pool area to the path to MGM and ate a small piece of one of the pretzels as I walked to the park. This pretzel was very good - much better than last time! Still, if someone prefers gooey desserts, they might not like these. I entered MGM easily, getting through security quickly. The Christmas tree is set up outside the park, since that giant hat is in the tree's normal spot. The tree appeared to be the same as last year. It was just after 6pm and starting to get dark, so I headed to NY Street to see the Osborne Lights. I arrived in time for part of the pre-show (which I found rather irritating and hokey, but it was cool to see the lights all come on suddenly) and was able to work my way up towards the front by the time the lights came on. This enabled me to be in the first group through, and soon the fast walkers separated themselves from the pack and we had plenty of room to walk from one side of the street to another at our leisure, unlike the people packed like sardines further back. My recommendation would be to either be at the very front or wait until about 6:45 to see the lights. Since I have seen this every year, I did not need to stop and stare at every house - I just walked down the street and enjoyed glancing at the lights (which never seem to change from prior years). It seemed like they had fewer lights than previous years, particularly on NY Street. Didn't they used to have lights on those buildings as well? This year they do not...except for one tiny section. They did have it snow on NY Street, and that looked nice. When I finished touring the lights I left the park, and rode the very crowded friendship back to the Swan and got my car. I drove over to Pleasure Island and then found Chris coming back from DisneyQuest. He was hungry, so we got him an order of macaroni and cheese from Wolfgang Puck Express ($3.95, no DDE discount here). We brought it with us and ate it on a bench after entering PI. We walked around for a while, and he was still hungry so we got nachos at Missing Link ($3.25, no DDE). I checked the line at the Comedy Warehouse, and it was long already! Yikes! We quickly got in line, and ate the nachos while waiting - they were actually very good tasting. We had about a 15 minute wait, and a woman behind us who was on her cell phone having a loud conversation the entire time. We were both glad when Frankie & the West End Boys started playing, as it completed prevented her from hearing whoever she was talking to, so she ended the call. Normally I could care less if someone uses a cell phone in a public place like a line, but she was just too loud, and the rest of us did not care to hear about all the crap that happened last Thanksgiving that are the reason she will never do dinner at her house, and who drinks which beer, yada yada yada. The conversation was not discrete at all, even when she was using mild swear words. There seemed to be a lot more kids in the club than usual (younger than teens) for some reason. Chris & I were seated in the row behind the technician's booth, so I was able to look at the microphone labels to see who would be working this show (Joy, Jake, Todd, Krista & Josh). Mary & Phillip were the extras who were not working this show. Deb was our server, and I chatted with her while people were being seated - I told her stuff she did not know yet, and she filled me in on other stuff, lol (nothing major). Chris liked this row because he got to watch the tech work the sound board - at school they have one that is a lot bigger and Chris is one of the kids who knows how to use it (TV Media class). The show was pretty good - they tortured Jake, and he's so good he *got it* without too much struggling. I noticed Kim (another regular) at the end of the row in front of us, but she left before we could get out of our row. We left right away and got into the very long line for the next show. I did not see Kim in line, and cm Darby (working the line) said he had not seen her either. Later I saw her get in line, and went back to say hi. She joined us after we got inside, but we were in the very last row. She remarked after the show that back there it was almost like watching it on TV - very distant and smaller than life. This time we had Josh, Phillip, Jake, Joy & Krista, and this show was very good. They started with the name rhyme game, which is a great opener because it is fast & lively. They did a scene about intestinal distress where Joy was "Nostril Woman" and Phillip was "Super Skanky Man" and although some of the jokes were kind of predictable, they both did a great job and it was very funny. They also did Up Your Alley, with Phillip hosting as his Dr. Hefelfinger character. The subject was milk, and Josh stole the show in the cow suit. After this show the actors eventually came out from backstage and they were all wearing their id cards on a lanyard, which is something new. We stopped to talk to them about it on the way out - just additional security measures - Kim & I thought it was a bit much (since backstage here they all know each other) but they have been instructed to report anyone backstage not wearing one. It would make sense in a high-traffic backstage area, where cm's from all different areas might be passing through, but any stranger would immediately be noticed here, whether they were wearing an id or not. We went back outside, and Kim decided to call it a night. Chris & I got in line for the 10:30 show, waiting about 25-30 minutes. This time we got long row, so I was happy. Unfortunately, although usually the shows get funnier as it gets later in the evening, this show was not as funny as the 9:05 show. It was not bad - just not great either. It featured Jake, Phillip, Todd, Mary & Joy. Todd did a good job as a new Disney cm in Traditions class and had to sing a song about why he is happy being a booger picker for Disney. Yes, his job was to find guests with stuffed up noses and pick their boogers for them, lol! It may sound sick, but it was funny - with Jake as the elderly man that Todd *helped*. Jake then refused to shake Todd's hand, saying "I'm not touching THAT...I know where it's been"! Phillip directed a scene involving all the others, calling out changes to them, and I swear it is as much fun to watch him on the sidelines as it is to watch whoever is creating the scene onstage. He lives and acts the scene along with them, really getting into it, anticipating their next move or word, laughing out loud at stuff - all while sitting on a stool against the wall & remembering when to cut in to do his job. Even if the scene might be struggling a bit, his reactions might be the funniest thing! We left after this show, and drove back to WL. It is always hard to pass OKWR and realize that if I was there I would be home now, lol - but really the drive to WL is not awful. We got back to the studio about midnight. Chris had a bowl of cereal and we shared part of one of the pretzels (he loved it), then he set up his sleep sofa and fell asleep in a few minutes. I think it is funny that he cannot keep up with his 43 year old mother, lol! I set the alarm for 7:30 and finished the trip report before I went to bed also - somewhere after 1am. We did not follow the plan exactly, but we did many things I had not counted on. Lunch was wonderful, and I was glad to get that salad again. I fit in rollerblading, saw the Osborne Lights, and got to see Kim at the Warehouse. Chris does not like AK (or so he says), so I will save that park for another visit, and hope to get to Epcot later (maybe). Overall it was a great day :-) DAY 2 - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2001: Happy Thanksgiving! Plan: MK or AK, Resort touring, Comedy Warehouse Actual: The studio was very quiet and comfortable for sleeping, with no noise at all coming from the hall or the connecting 1br unit. I forgot to mention - last night at PI it was very strange that the Comedy Warehouse was busier than expected, with long lines forming early before each show, yet the rest of the street was deserted all night long. We did not see any traffic at all coming in or out of BET (no surprise, lol) and not much activity at the entrance to the Adventurer's Club either. Even leaving around 11:30 or so, normally there is a big line of guests just arriving, but not last night. It seemed that the only reason people came out was for the Comedy Warehouse. I was up at 7, and Chris about 45 minutes later. I heated hot water for chocolate/hazelnut hot cocoa, and we both had cereal (frosted cheerios) for breakfast as we watched the morning news shows. It was 55 degrees when we got up, and is expected to get up to about 80. Hopefully it will warm up quickly, as we are headed to Blizzard Beach. Around 9 we drove over to the Grand Floridian and parked in the self-parking lot. It sure is far away, lol, but we did not mind. When we went inside Kathy was with a guest so we waited off to the side until she was free. The Character Caravan thing was there, with several characters hanging out in the lobby - no big names though. We saw Tweedle Dum, Tweedle Dee, Mary Poppins, and I am not sure who else. Because of this the lobby was very busy, with lots of kids including a pretty good number of young ones who were pitching the most incredible screaming tantrums (banging arms & legs on the floor & everything). One kid was so upset (and so obnoxious) strangers were concerned he was lost, and a cm went over to his mother quite a distance away - she was purposely ignoring him....letting the rest of the lobby enjoy his screeching in the process. :( We spent about an hour with Kathy, and enjoyed visiting with her. I opened the Christmas gift she had brought me - it does not seem right that I will not see her again until after Christmas, but I guess Christmas really is not that far away <g>. Unfortunately I cannot continue taking a vacation to WDW every 2 weeks, although I would love to! When we came back outside the sky was completely cloudy! At least it was not cold or windy, so we still went to Blizzard Beach. The parking lot was not very full, and the park itself was less crowded than it is on a summer day, of course. We set up camp on the section that juts out into the center of the wave pool, and although we could not see the sun, when it came out later I was happy to see that our chairs were in a perfect spot for getting sun! We walked around for a while, and I watched Chris come down the toboggan slide. It was cool enough that I had no plans to get wet <g>, and even he agreed that the water felt cold. I returned to my chair to do some reading, and was about to go get a drink to warm up some when Chris returned asking if he can get a Snowball (large snow cone). Yikes! I walked over there with him and got it for him ($3.00), and then on the way back stopped at the coffee cart and got a hazelnut latte and a cookie to share with Chris. At $5.83 it seemed a bit expensive for what I got, but this is a vacation so I guess I expect a certain amount of that, lol! The latte was pretty good, but I am not used to drinking these with caffeine (she did not have decaf) and could feel the difference. The cookie was actually much better than it looked - we both liked it. By the time I had my latte, the clouds were gone and it was a beautiful warm sunny day - and remained this way the rest of the day. I felt silly with my hot drink now, but there was not much I could do about that <g>. After he ate Chris went back to the wave pool for a while, and when he returned we both rode the ski lift to the top of the mountain. We hung out on the observation deck for a while - wow, great view on a clear day! Eventually we headed back down, dropping him off at the toboggan racer slide again. I was walking down the wet stairs, and my foot slipped out from under me - but fortunately my hand was right near the handrail and I managed to keep all my parts and limbs going in the same direction, so I avoided any pains or sprains! Those stairs do get slippery - I was not running down the steps or being careless at all - and was glad I was able to keep myself from landing on the ground & embarrassing myself (or getting hurt)! I went back and did some more reading, until Chris returned. We went to Cross Country Creek (lazy river), but the water felt freezing to me so I did not want to go in. He did not want to go alone, saying it was boring, and said the water out in the stream was warmer (actually it really was). I got on a big tube, laying flat across so no part of me touched the water, lol - and gradually let the bottom of my bathing suit get wet. It was fine once I got used to it, but I never did get all of me wet! We went around a couple of times before getting out to dry off. There were a lot of empty tubes, so it was less crowded than last time we were here (July). I like this lazy river better than the one at Typhoon Lagoon - more sun and fewer spots where they spray you with water! Chris went in the wave pool again briefly then rode the ski lift and walked around until his swimsuit was dry. We left around 2:30, and drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge to have a late lunch at Mara (Chris was starved again, which made sense). Kathy had called over there from GF to see which soups they were serving today, and I was looking forward to getting one. Unfortunately, the security cm at the gate said the resort was closed except to registered guests and those with a dinner reservation. I said "you have got to be kidding" and she they were completely sold out. I was a bit irritated and thought this was completely stupid that we could not go buy lunch there today, but was not about to argue with her since I am sure she does not make the decisions. So, we turned around and left. Granted, we could have simply driven to AK and got on the AKL bus without any problem at all, but at that point I was not interested in setting foot inside their precious resort. Instead, we drove back to WL. Omigod - the lobby was BUSY!! Whispering Canyon Cafe was doing a booming business, with people waiting all over the lobby! Glad we ate here yesterday, lol! We went to Roaring Forks and I ordered our food while Chris returned the pool towels we had borrowed. We got a Philly cheese steak, chicken wrap, and a magic cookie (gooey thing with graham cracker crust, coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, nuts.....mmmm. After DDE it was under $12. We brought it back to the room and ate while I watched GH. Chris must have been starving - he ate 3/4 of the chicken wrap AND 3/4 of the Philly cheese steak, all of the fries, and at least 1/2 of the cookie. Everything was delicious - especially the Philly cheese steak! Chris showered and headed off to DisneyQuest, while I updated the report before taking my shower and then getting online for a little while. We had a message on the beeper from Nancy - her stepfather passed away and she will be out of town tomorrow tending to family stuff with her mother :( Chris & I decided immediately that we would postpone the "Volcano" experience until next trip, when hopefully Nancy can join us. Assuming Leesa is back in town, we will try to round her up as well! Chris & I talked about next year while we were on the observation deck at Blizzard Beach. I have a 4-night trip with friends followed by 5 solo nights, in early November. I think I will go ahead and book Thanksgiving as well, for the 2 of us. We can come up and concentrate on Blizzard Beach and Comedy Warehouse (& DQ for him), hoping for good weather. It makes no sense to have the time off from work & school and not spend it here - it is just too nice to pass up, and with DVC it is sooooo easy! I like VWL this time of year, when the resort is so pretty, so I would consider staying here again, since it would be a short stay - assuming we do not stay over Friday night. I left around 6 and parked at PI, then went over to the Marketplace to look for a couple of things that Chris had mentioned. It was very crowded over there, and when I later went to the West Side it was also very busy there. I met Chris at the entrance to PI and entered behind a family of three. The woman recognized me, and it was Harriet from DVC! She was here with husband John and daughter Leigh - she had sent me an email saying she would look for me at Comedy Warehouse tonight. I was shocked - Harriet looks like a teenager! However, with a 21 year old daughter, she cannot possibly be as young as she looks <g>. We chatted briefly, then went off separately inside PI. Chris & I watched the midway games for a while, then went back up the hill. There were several people at the back door, so I adjusted my count and got in line at the right time. The line snaked around the corner, so I was pretty much next to Harriet & her family, so I got to talk to them for a while - they seem like really nice people. We were seated pretty soon after that, with Chris & I in the middle of long row :-) I talked to server Dee briefly on the way down, but Jaime was our server tonight. It is so nice when the servers can just take my bottle and bring me a Bye Bye Blues without my having to say a word, lol! The first show (7:10) started, with Brian, Krista, Todd, Lauren & Jake. Lauren works very infrequently, and it had been a long time since I had seen her. Brian is also very part-time. I guess since it is Thanksgiving more of the long-term regulars took the night off and so they brought in more subs :( Generally I would have seen Mary, Jen K and Greg on a Thursday night. The show started off with the name rhyme game, which is a good thing, but then kind of died out after that. Jake directed a skit with a couple of the actors (Lauren & Todd, I think) and let it go on for too long. Afterwards he made up a cute poem by himself, but after starting a show poorly it is very difficult for them to recover and turn it around. The audience was fairly small, and not real exciting, either. They did a pretty good job with Schmeopardy, but I was kind of glad when the show finally ended. The final game was a blues song, and when asked what gives you the blues, some cm in the audience said "his job....working for Disney". He works at the Backlot Tour at MGM. Granted, cm's have as much right to gripe about their jobs as any of us, but not in front of guests. I felt it was pretty crappy of this guy to say that in a Disney club, regardless of whether his job really sucks or whether he is just a whiner. The actors did a good job making this funny though, and made several jabs at the guy. Darby came over with a message from Nancy - wanting me to meet her here after 3rd show, and I talked to him for a while as the people left (since we were not planning to get in line for the next show). Chris was looking forward to getting a gyro from the stand, so we went there next - he claimed to be hungry again. The gyro ($5.75) was actually really good, except he ordered it without the onions since he does not like them. We went back to the Warehouse to see if the line was short enough for us to go in, but it was really long. He finished the gyro and we went into the Adventurer's Club. The library had just opened, and although I have seen those shows more times than I really wanted to, we went in to see it again. They did the radio show, where they do the "jump up for jinkies" jingle. We sat along the side wall, and when they pulled a young female from the audience they chose a young lady who was seated at the table right in front of me. She was with and older couple (parents, I assumed), so I told the woman that I would be happy to take a digital picture of the young one up on stage if she wanted, and could email it to her. She said no thanks....but remember this group for later. <g> After the show we left Adventurer's Club and tried to get Chris a frozen drink at the CW outdoor bar, but cm Rob said he did not have the equipment to make the nonalcoholic versions outside - we would have to get one inside the clubs. Chris suggested getting it in the Adventurer's Club so we went back in there, down to the main salon. He got a mixture of pina colada and strawberry daiquiri, which was really sweet but he liked it a lot. The characters were interacting with guests - the maid was lining some men up by degree of hairiness, lol! We went outside around 9 and got in line at the right time for the next Warehouse show (9:20). I saw Todd standing outside the line, and went over to say hi to him. We talked for a while, and he mentioned that his parents & wife were here somewhere (parents visiting from Wisconsin). I went back to the line, and when we were admitted we ended up with the last 2 seats on the row on the floor - the party ahead of us was too big, and they got long row instead of us. It did not matter though - our seats were fine. This show was a full house - I spotted regulars Sharon & John in line and we said hi as we passed. Phillip opened the show, and right off the bat you could tell the energy was different...much better than first show. He got some guy on the phone, and then talked to the guy's wife. Phillip asked her how they met, and she said at work. He asked what she did, and she said she was stripping. Phillip laughed, and said "no, really" and did this several times until he finally asked her if she was really being honest, and she said yes! In the meantime he had made a bunch of comments about strippers, and now he was apologizing to her, lol! Evidently the guy works part time as dj in a strip bar in Tampa, and she is/was a stripper there. Needless to say, the opening song contained a fair amount of sexual innuendo <g>. So much for the idiots who brought their children into the club (I have no sympathy for them). Phillip was joined by Todd, Lauren, Chris & Jake, and it was a much better show! Lauren did a good job singing like Charlotte Church (hope that is her first name), an improvised song called Playground where her dad pushed her on the swing until she puked. It was a brief song, thankfully, as the puke sounds would have gotten tiring after a relatively short period! They did Up Your Alley about Beanie Babies, and that was good as well. Jake was the host named "Phillip", so of course we had to say Up Yours Phillip several times....while the real Phillip was onstage as a contestant, lol! During the show Jaime came over with another message from Nancy. In her old job I would go to Jazz and send messages back to her, so it was funny that now in her new job she can send messages to me while I am at the Warehouse <g>. I know I certainly will not sneak off to the Warehouse and not tell her I am in town....since she would probably find out ;-) When the show ended I saw Nancy waiting at the door, so we went right out to talk with her. While we were talking, Sharon & John came out - Nancy is the one who introduced us a long time ago - and we all stood around talking for quite a while. I saw the couple and young lady from the Adventurer's Club come down to the backdoor, and then I realized that THEY were Todd's parents & wife! I could see the resemblance in the dad, and went over to talk with them before returning to Nancy & the others. Around 10:35 Joe was peeking out the back door, and Todd's family went in. Sharon & John decided to see the show also, but Chris & I were planning to leave. We could have gone in, (and had long row, lol), but since we planned to leave it just seemed like going in would have been taking advantage. We said goodbye to Nancy & she went back to work. When we got upstairs we saw that the line was completely full, so if we had stayed we might have prevented a couple of people waiting in line from getting seats. (Hey Leesa - Nancy agreed you would join us for the Volcano in early January - we'll work out the exact date later). We left PI and went to the Virgin Mega store. Chris wanted to buy a cd, and I was unable to persuade him that a BeeGees or Barbra Streisand cd would be a better choice than the crud he listens to, lol! At least since 4th grade he has attended schools where as a white kid he is clearly in the minority, so his musical taste is mostly rap, hip-hop, and the stuff you would find playing in BET. In fact, he wishes he could go into BET (yuck - not my style at all). I listened to parts of most of the tracks on the cd and did not find it to be horribly offensive, so I let him get it <g>. Yes, that is censorship I guess, but until he is an adult I have control. We left Downtown Disney and drove back to WL. I guess it is because we get back so late, but this resort seems so quiet and peaceful. A couple of times earlier I heard people running in the hall, but the sleeping area is set far back from the door, to minimize that. When I returned from Roaring Forks earlier today as I was at my door I could hear loud rowdy kids in the 1br next door to me (connecting villa), but once inside the studio could not hear a thing! Perhaps Disney has figured out how to soundproof these units after all <g>! If so, I wish they would do the same in OKWR - that is my only complaint in an otherwise perfect resort! We ate more of the pretzels, and I watched Port Charles on SoapNet while finishing the report. Chris was asleep around midnight, but I was busy for at least another hour. I wanted to get online and post the report so I would not have to deal with it in the morning. The day did not follow the plan very much, except for going to Comedy Warehouse. We did the MK resort touring yesterday, but still need to try to do some of the others tomorrow now. Spending the day at Blizzard Beach was MUCH more enjoyable than being in any of the parks would have been, and we got to sleep in a little bit and still visit with Kathy before heading over there. Overall it was a wonderful day - did not feel like Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is no big deal compared to being here on vacation. About the only less than wonderful thing would be having many of the Warehouse regulars I really like not be working tonight, but I am glad they got to enjoy the day with their families and friends. DAY 3 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2001: Plan: Parks, Ice Cream w/Nancy, Drive home Actual: Despite being up much longer than I anticipated last night with email I did not want to leave for later, and then reading messages - I was awake around 7am. Both days we slept with the drapes open, since the sun rises on our side and we did not need to be waking up before sunrise this trip! We only used the alarm clock for a back-up, but really did not need it. I showered and packed up most of the rest of our stuff, then called and made a priority seating for lunch today at Le Cellier since we were no longer doing that Sparkling Volcano this time. Although he had really been looking forward to that (for a couple of years now, lol), it was no big deal for Chris for us to postpone it - I am glad he has always been the kind of kid who rolls with the punches and does not get all bent out of shape when things change. I know I could not deal with a kid who put up a fuss every time that happened! Breakfast was hot chocolate and more cereal - with Chris finishing up the milk so we did not have to throw it away. We left the studio around 8:45, headed for the Premium Outlets (checked their website yesterday - they open at 7am today). We arrived just after 9, and only went to 2 stores - not because it was too crowded, but because I do not plan to spend my time off WDW property any longer than necessary, lol! We went to Adidas first, since they are the *cool* brand right now. Chris wanted golf shoes and we found a really nice classic-style pair on sale and with the extra 40% off they were only $32 (down from $110). He was very happy! While we were looking around a staff member came over and warned me to be careful since I was wearing my backpack on my back. Earlier today a woman had been robbed, and he said unfortunately the thieves are out, so watch my back. I thanked him, and moved my wallet into my camera bag where I could keep an eye on it, just in case. After Adidas we stopped in Character Premiere, but they had surprisingly little to pick from and we left empty handed after about 5 minutes. I drove back to WDW and parked at the Swan. I chose the Swan because it was centrally located to where we were planning to travel, and because there is some shade. I parked pretty far back in the parking lot, since I am not staying there, but there were plenty of empty spaces around me. We waited for the boat to MGM to arrive, and when it did the cm got off and said they only had room for 30 people. We made it on, and I heard the captain talking on the radio saying that he had left people at each dock so far. I looked and the entire ramp was full of people who did not make it on this boat! I was glad they kind of ration the number of guests they get from each location, otherwise the people at the last stop would never get on! The captain also required parents to remove their kids from strollers - whether or not this is the policy has been debated recently on the internet <g>. At MGM the lines to enter completely filled in the area between the turnstiles and the ticket booths - and extended more than that distance again back towards the bus stops. It was absolutely amazing - unlike anything I had ever seen before, including on Super Soap Saturday! It was truly awful, and if we had been planning to enter the park we would have immediately changed those plans! We went to the bus stops and waited for the bus to AKL. It stopped at Blizzard Beach first, and everyone got off except for us and one other person. We went to see their Christmas tree and then went down to Mara. I was not yet 11am and they were still doing breakfast, so I was not able to try any of the soups Kathy has raved about. I did find the wine I like, but they had no boxes or tissue paper, and I did not want to risk anything happening to it as we toured Epcot later so I decided to wait for a future visit to buy the wine. We returned to the bus stop and went to Epcot. We arrived just as the monorail and tram were emptying, so we hurried ahead and got through the line quickly. We went to Test Track first, and at 11am they were issuing Fastpasses for 7:50 to 8:50. The ride was also broken, and we did not stick around to see if it would start again soon. Chris went to look at the cars on display inside while I sat on a bench and relaxed in the sun. He took the digital camera this morning and took a bunch of pictures of his favorite stuff - I will set up a separate directory on the new computer for him to keep his pics. Epcot was much more crowded than I have seen it in a very long time...perhaps the busiest ever. All the waits were 25-60 minutes in Future World, and World Showcase was not open yet. Chris went into Ice Station Cool while I waited outside. He did not stay in there very long, claiming the soda machines were not working right and the stuff tasted awful. The character bus thing had arrived, so we stood in line to get a picture of Chris with Donald & Daisy Duck. Chris' media teacher from the last 2 years is a fellow DVC member and his favorite character is Donald. Right now he is up in Baltimore getting treatment for his cancer, so Chris can email the picture to him. It was getting closer to noon, so we sat near Pin Central until Linda Friar arrived for a day of pin trading. We talked to her for a little while, and gave her the limited edition Halloween pins from the cruise line that she asked me to get on my last cruise. Chris & I headed to World Showcase and went to Norway to ride the Maelstrom. Chris wanted to take a picture of the boat when it hits the top of the waterfall, but none were coming. The cm was standing at the entrance letting people come in, but the ride was not operating! We stood for a couple of minutes and then left the line to go back outdoors. Soon the line extended outside and almost back to the walkway around World Showcase. We are not having any luck with rides today, lol! Chris was getting hungry, so we walked the rest of the way around and arrived in Canada around 12:30. We checked in at Le Cellier and were shocked to see how busy that place was! Our priority seating was for 1pm - the hostess said we could do standby of 30-45 minutes, or stick with our 1pm priority seating time, so we stuck with the priority seating. She gave us a palm pilot that also serves as a beeper. It showed the trailer from Monsters, Inc and also had some of the menu, a quiz on Canada, and information on Epcot. We played with that for most of the 25-30 minutes we had to wait. Lunch was wonderful, but very filling, and I noticed at least a couple of changes on the menu. First - my favorite wine has jumped from $6.00 to $8.25 per glass! Does anyone else think that is an outrageous increase?? I know if I had never tried it, I would most likely never order it at $8.25, but since I have had it, I know they have me...I will still order it. Second - the Spaceship Earth dessert with the maple Butterfinger mousse is gone. Third - the Caesar salad has chicken now rather than steak. I am sure there are other changes, but those are the only things I noticed...besides the chocolate cake being different, and a new s'mores dessert (with ice cream). I got my wine and Chris got a coke. He had the cheese soup as an appetizer and the chicken Caesar salad. I had the cheese soup as my meal. They now bring out 4 breadsticks - the same 3 as before plus an extra of the pretzel one. Service was very slow - we had been seated 45 minutes before Chris' entree and my soup arrived. Just about every table was full - unheard of for lunch in my experience! We used the DDE to get our 20% off - the check was about $28 before that, and before tip. We left Epcot and walked back to the Boardwalk so we could get a couple more chocolate/vanilla pretzels from the bakery. I tried a small piece, and these tasted good as well. Hopefully that dry one from last trip was just a fluke. We stopped inside the BW to see their Christmas decorations (a couple of household-sized trees and some pretty garland) and use the restrooms. There was a line of people waiting in the ladies' room, and when I was at the front of the line this very strange woman came out of the stall. Her eyes were barely open, and she looked stoned out of her mind - I was shocked, and did not know what to think. I thought maybe she was just really sick, but she looked like a zombie as opposed to someone feeling sick. She was really spacy, and she left the restroom. When I came out, she was coming back inside - still *out of it*, and she kept looking at me kind of weird. I was definitely uncomfortable and did not speak to her - just washed my hands and left quickly. I found a female cm in the lobby and told her what I had seen - and Chris chimed in that he had seen her come out while waiting for me. He thought the same thing (drugs). If she *is* sick, she looks like she needs some help, but if it's something else - she needs her butt removed from there. It was very creepy, and I normally am not left feeling uncomfortable like that about someone. Chris & I walked back to the Swan and drove back to Ft Myers. Except for a car on fire in Lakeland on the other side of I-4 (which completely shut down that side of the highway), the drive was uneventful. Hopefully whoever owned the car had gotten out, as it was completely engulfed in flames. The fire trucks were just arriving - good thing, as the grass caught fire as well. Once again the actual was different from the plan, but neither of us minded. It was a shame to be leaving so soon, but we had a fun day. SUMMARY: This was our first stay at Villas at Wilderness Lodge, and I may book this same resort for next Thanksgiving. The theming seems very appropriate for the holidays, and I enjoyed how quiet and peaceful it was. The parks were much busier than I can tolerate, so next year we will hope for warm weather again and just spend our days at Blizzard Beach and our nights at the Comedy Warehouse. If the weather ends up being cold, Chris will go to DisneyQuest and I can rollerblade, sit by a fireplace or on the porch with a book, or walk around a park without having to do any rides/attractions. For longer trips though, I will stick with OKWR - cannot beat the convenience to Comedy Warehouse! I saw lots more people than I expected to, including meeting Harriet & her family for the first time! I always love running into other regulars at the Comedy Warehouse. I would have preferred to have more of the regular cast of actors working both nights, but I will expect all of the subs next year. My next "for sure" trip is not until December 29th. Kathy commented that she cannot believe it will be that long before I am back, and I guess it is sort of a long time (5 weeks??). For me, Fall and early winter is a time when I seem to make more frequent trips than during the rest of the year. On December 29th Chris & I will be joining friends from Scotland (Larry & family) and Florida (Tom & Leanne & family) for the beginning of our week, and then have time alone where we will meet up with friends like Kathy, Nancy & Leesa, and will see Darla & Steven as well. I think that is going to be a very busy week, lol! After that I may be taking my next WDW trip in only 12 days, followed by another 2.5 weeks later before starting a dry spell of no WDW trips until late May :( I came home to an email from a college friend who will be in Orlando and wants to know if I can come up the weekend of December 8th, so that is my next "probable" trip, lol! The next report will be for the 12/29 trip, though. I enjoyed this trip very much...although I cannot imagine why I am so exhausted after spending the last 3 days relaxing, lol! It must be the drive! There were really no significant disappointments - the one listed was more of an annoyance than anything else....and one that I found a way around later <g>. DISAPPOINTMENTS:
MAGICAL MOMENTS:
Thanks for reading, and until next time - Sue Sue Holland WDW1972@aol.com Mail a Comment to Sue Holland |
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