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Kim Howe -- December 2001 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)Dates:
Players:
Transportation:
Accommodations -- Offsite Timeshare Condos
I find Walt Disney World trip reports enjoyable and informative and I appreciate those who have taken the time to write them. Therefore, I feel obligated to prepare reports of my trips in return. Over the years, I've appreciated having a record of my trips as they help bring back memories of many things forgotten over time. I have come to read them before each new trip. Throughout my trips I keep a journal of the weather, what we did, where we ate and how much we spent each day along with thoughts and news I want to be sure to pass on to you. The journal helps tremendously in recalling each day's events when it comes time to write the report especially when a couple of months pass before I can get to it. Thanks, Brian, for making trip reports available. They have gotten me through some long spans between trips. This report will cover two different trips taken a week apart. Although they were very different trips, I didn't see the point in doing two different reports. I hope it won't be too confusing. It started out being a summary type report but soon I connected all the summary stuff and thus it became a play-by-play. I left in some of the summary headings to make them easy to find for those just interested in specific events (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Yuletide Fantasy Tour, Discovery Cove, Islands of Adventure, etc.) or topics (accommodations, weather, crowds, etc.). PRE-TRIP PLANNING Trip One--December 8 - 15 In previous years we've invited a variety of family to join us on annual winter trips and I played tour guide. Unfortunately, in my effort to show everyone a good time I was not enjoying these trips as much and wanted to find the "magic" I enjoyed on previous trips with just the Bill and I. Also, about two years ago I decided I wanted to visit during early December to take in all the holiday decorations and events. And, so it began. I secured a timeshare exchange for the Polynesian Isles Resort on February 6, 2001, just prior to our February/March 2001 trip (report on this site). During that trip we visited the resort and saw a unit. We found it to be very lovely and looked forward to staying there. We also purchased annual passes during our February/March 2001 trip with the intention of using them for the December trip too. From the time we returned home last March through the summer I continued to read trip reports and kept up to date on all things WDW from Brian and Deb's sites (mouseplantet.com and wdwig.com) and by lurking on the newsgroup rec.arts.disney.parks. Rental Car: On May 15 I made a rental car reservation with AVIS for eight days, intermediate car for $195 including all fees and taxes. I used the Internet to determine which rental agency would provide the best price using the discount codes from various clubs that we belong to (i.e. Resorts Condominiums International, Orlando Magic Card, Magic Kingdom Club, BJ's Wholesale, Entertainment Book, Universal Studios Fan Club). I only checked the rental agencies that had counters in the terminal and cars in the parking garage-no shuttles to off-site properties. On November 12 Avis offered a better rate, $158, so I booked it and cancelled the previous one. Later I applied a $15 off weekly rental coupon to the reservation. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn in the $15 off coupon when we picked up the car and so it wasn't applied. My fault. Last year I signed Bill up for the Avis Preferred program which I learned about from someone's trip report. This program costs nothing and requires you to fill out a form to pre-register your address, driver's license number, credit card, etc.; accept/decline insurance; and select car type/color. This allows you to by pass the rental counter and go directly to the parking garage where you simply show ID and they hand you your keys. Airfare: I began monitoring airfare on US Airways Metrojet's direct/non-stop flight from ALB to MCO right after we returned from our winter 2001 trip. We've taken this flight many times for the convenience and frequent flyer miles. The fare was running $215.50 from March to July when they went down to $205.50. On our last two trips I'd paid $150 and $169 and was looking to do as well for this trip. Southwest also has a direct/non-stop flight but only posts their ALB fares three months out. Southwest gives Metrojet competition and I was waiting for the SW fares to be posted to see what the result would be as far as the Metrojet fares. When SW fares were posted in August, they were the same as what Metrojet was running. I waited a week or so until a new billing period for our VISA to buy Metrojet. That day, wouldn't you know, the Metrojet fare was up to $265! As usual, I became quite frustrated with the price fluctuation game and bought Southwest tickets on-line for $215 each roundtrip. Wouldn't you know, again, that Metrojet fares returned to about $200 a few days later. I was disappointed in not getting Metrojet tickets mostly for missing the FF miles. In the end, flying on SW was best because after 9/11 the direct/non-stop flight with US Airways was cancelled and we would have had to take a connecting flight. WDW Reservations/PSs: In early August (120 days out) I made priority seating for the Animal Kingdom Lodge's Boma for both breakfast and dinner. I also booked the Yuletide Fantasy Tour. I decided not to get the Candlelight Processional dining package since it costs more than we would probably spend on dinner and the only real benefit is a reserved seating area which you still have to wait on line for. We'd wing it and try to get stand by seats. I thought that it would work because we're visiting during a low attendance time. I kept waiting for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets to go on sale. Finally the date was posted and I bought them at 7:15 a.m. on August 15, the day they went on sale. Later in the day I learned that other people were having trouble buying them. In mid October (60 days out) I made PSs for 5:25 p.m. at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom for the night we do MVMCP. With all this taken care of, we just had to sit back and wait for December 8. Trip two--December 22-28: Let's back up a little bit...in early August another trip opportunity came up and I took advantage of it. I DO have an AP you know! My aunt called me and invited us to join her, my cousin and my mother from December 22 - 28 at the Hilton Vacation Club at Sea World timeshare resort. I'd known since March or so that she had this week and there may be an opportunity for joining them if her husband and second son didn't want to go. Bill and I talked about it and decided that I may go if invited but he'd pass even though that would mean spending Christmas apart. So, when the call came, it took me about 12 hours to decide to go. Airfare: My aunt was in a panic about getting airline tickets right away but was leaving the next morning for a week's vacation in North Carolina and didn't have the time to deal with it. Once I decided to go, I started checking flight availability and prices. The Metrojet direct/non-stop flight between ALB to MCO only had two seats open but Southwest had space for four on their direct/non-stop flight and the prices were similar so I booked the Southwest flights at $292.50 each. My aunt was relieved and I hope she enjoyed her vacation knowing mom and I were going and the flights were secured. Rental Car: She also asked me to arrange for a car. I went with Avis again and reserved the Chevy Impala (full size) that we got upgraded to last trip for $186 total for seven days. The cost was only $10 more than an intermediate size and I felt it would accommodate luggage for four people. Later I applied a free double upgrade coupon just to be sure. I joined the Avis Preferred program in my name because I couldn't use Bill's membership. This time I remembered to hand in the coupon but it cost us some time because they had to issue me the upgraded car. It seemed to me that my reservation info showed I had applied for the upgrade but they don't automatically assign the upgraded car. I say this because when I handed the coupon to the woman at the Preferred booth in the garage she checked my reservation card and then began to reissue the car assignment. Then the printer ran out of paper and she had a hard time getting it refilled. It seemed like forever before she gave me the keys and told me what space the car was parked in. When I tried opening the trunk the key didn't work. I had been given the wrong keys. She assigned me a Buick Century but gave me directions to a Buick LeSabre. In the end, after some more waiting, we got the keys to the LeSabre. We got most all the luggage (one big bag and one carry on each) in the trunk. I was disappointed for the delays since I signed up for the Preferred program to avoid them. Two times previously it worked like a charm, however. I took a comment card and plan to return it. Back to August...I wrote my aunt and cousin a long letter with the flight and car info and advised them on what planning and decisions they needed to do next since 120 day PSs opened up on August 24. I explained that since it will be Christmas week, we would NEED a plan including PSs especially for Christmas Eve and Day. We will need to GET UP EARLY too. I sent the letter with a SEE Orlando guide, WDW guide maps, and Sea World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure brochures. I suggested they look these over, buy and read Sehlinger's Unofficial Guide and Birnbaum's Official Guide and check out Deb Will's web site and then get back to me with what parks she wanted to do, what attractions they wanted to visit and where they wanted to eat. My aunt actually followed my advice, gave me the info and I was able to put together an itinerary to include it all. My mom said she would go along with anything we decided. WDW Reservations/PSs: We planned the Candlelight Processional dinner package for Christmas Eve night eating at 6 p.m. in Japan's Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room and seeing the 8:15 p.m. show. Christmas Day we planned PS for 6 p.m. at Chefs de France. I made the calls exactly 120 days out and had no problems. I advised them to get five-day park hoppers which I bought at the Disney Store with my Disney Club discount. They also decided to visit Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins, so I made those reservations also. I paid for everything on my credit card and they reimbursed me. Now the wait is on until December 22. But first back to the December 8 - 15 trip. A week before Bill and I were to leave, his friend, Lance, calls. Lance is on 5 weeks vacation and his wife, Debbie, NEEDS a few days off, so we say come with us to WDW since we have an extra bedroom in the timeshare. They don't commit. The next day I check and see that our SW flight still has seats available for a little less than we paid for our tickets, $200. To encourage them, Bill calls that evening and gives them the SW phone number, flight numbers and cost. Lance calls back ten minutes later and they're going to join us for the first four days flying down on the same flight as us! So much for our trip alone (we still have four days alone) but going with friends is different than family. We've vacationed a couple of times with Lance and Deb and ALWAYS have a blast. Back to the planning board...It's a week before we leave and I need to change the PSs for breakfast at Boma and dinner at Crystal Palace to include Lance and Deb. I had no problem with changing our Boma PS from two to four. The Crystal Palace PS was not as easy but I managed and it worked out fine. Since I couldn't change our 5:25 p.m. PS from two to four, I just got another table for two for 5:10 p.m. We'd just arrive early and ask for a table for four. We did and got one right away. I was also able to buy two more MVMCP tickets which arrived in the mail before we left too! I didn't bother to include Lance and Deb on the Yuletide Fantasy Tour because I didn't think they'd be interested. Touring Plans: Obviously, I like to make plans far in advance and have an itinerary set (but not carved in stone) for the trip. I can think more clearly in the months prior to the trip than I can when actually there. Having already gone through the thought process alleviates me from having to think once on vacation. I actually enjoy the planning process more than the trip. Is that sad? Do others feel the same? I naturally lean toward commando type touring but have been successful at non-commando touring also and lean more toward that as years/trips go by (thanks, Brian). My touring strategy is a combination of Sehlinger's Unofficial Guide's advice on the best days to visit each park, Jeff Spencer's advice for the same and simply by visiting a park the day after early entry for WDW guests. For December 8 - 15, I put together a brief itinerary for Bill and I that basically plotted our PSs at Boma and Crystal Palace, MVMCP and our Yuletide Fantasy Tour with the best days to visit each park noted. The elimination of the early entry mornings left a lot of flexibility to the best days to visit planning. With it being a low crowd period, there was no need for commando touring this week but as it turned out, we did a little of both. Since Lance and Deb joined us and they were only visiting for the first four days and wanted to see/do specific parks/attractions, I developed a more specific itinerary around the PSs, MCMCP and the Yuletide Tour, and mapped out a visit to each park with the best attractions at each on the agenda. After Lance and Deb went home, Bill and I revisited each park and shopped but without a defined agenda each day. For December 22 - 28, I developed a very extensive, yet somewhat flexible, itinerary in order to fit in visits to all four WDW parks, a day at Discovery Cove and a day or two at Sea World. I used my best days to visit each park strategy based on the early entry schedule in case it was reinstituted for that week. We followed the itinerary pretty closely and were rewarded with a busy, sometimes tiring, but otherwise wonderful experience. Adam is still telling people this vacation was the best he's ever taken! Summary of Accommodations, Weather, Crowds, Park Hours, etc.: Accommodations: Polynesian Isles Resort: The Polynesian Isles Resort is on Polynesian Isles Blvd. in Kissimmee, a quiet residential street which runs between SR 535 and SR192 allowing for a quick travel up SR535 to SR536 and on WDW's Epcot Center Drive--a great location. We never encountered any traffic and were closer to some WDW parks than some of the WDW resorts are. The unit we had was the same layout as the one we saw last March. The master bedroom had a king size bed with TV. The master bath was large with two sinks, toilet, shower and a Jacuzzi tub. The guest room had a TV, two twin beds with a bath that could also be accessed from the common area. The common area consisted of a full kitchen with breakfast bar, dining area with table and chairs for six and living room are with sofa sleeper, chairs, TV, VCR, etc. which opened up to a screened balcony and back (second) entrance. The balcony overlooked landscaped area with a pond with fountains and waterfalls. I think we had the best view of the whole resort. There was a swimming pool and spa right next to our building, too, which we pretty much had all to ourselves whenever we were there. The resort itself is on the small side and appeared to be established some time ago since all the vegetation was very full and mature-very tropical. However, I would guess it recently underwent a total renovation since the grounds and common areas were in very nice condition. The resort was very quiet and pleasant the entire week. We would have been very tempted to buy that particular week at the resort if we attended the tour but knew better than go! Although this is a timeshare resort affiliated with RCI, units can also be rented by the general public. Hilton Vacation Club at Sea World International Center: The Hilton Vacation Club at Sea World International is located on Grand Vacations Way just across the Florida Central Parkway from Harbor Blvd. Both Sea World and Discovery Cove are within walking distance. To travel to WDW from the resort, I turned right onto the Florida Central Parkway, then right onto International Drive and traveled to the end where it intersects with SR535 at a traffic signal. Then I continued straight through the intersection onto SR536 which becomes WDW's Epcot Center Drive. This section of International Drive is very pleasant with no traffic and only one signal light and thus makes a great route to WDW bypassing I-4. The unit we had was a two bedroom lock out which means it can also be a studio and a one bedroom. The one bedroom part consisted of a master bedroom with king size bed, TV, chair dresser, end tables, and lamps. The Jacuzzi tub was between the sleeping area and the bathroom along with a closet and a make-up table and mirror. The master bath had two sinks, toilet, and shower in one room. There was a full kitchen with breakfast bar, dining area with table and chairs for six and living room area with sofa sleeper, chairs, TV, VCR, etc. which opened up to a screened balcony with table and chairs overlooking a large pool area. The studio or guest room had a mini kitchen (microwave, sink, refrigerator), table and chairs, TV, queen bed and a sofa sleeper along with end tables and such. Both units had outside entrances plus the door connecting the two. As I mentioned the swimming pool and spa were right behind our building which wasn't used too much and was very quiet. Although we didn't explore the resort during our stay it appeared to be quite new and large. We would have liked to check it out but just didn't make time-other places called!! Since it was my aunt's timeshare exchange, she took all the documentation so I can't refer to it now. So, I can't give too many specifics as to what else it offered but there was another pool besides ours, a walking path and a snack bar/deli. The resort was very quiet and pleasant the entire week; well, when we were there anyway. Weather: Temperatures the week of December 8 - 15 were in the 80s during the day and 70s during the night. Skies were bright blue and mostly sunny with some big white puffy clouds all week with one short shower our first afternoon. I see Mickey in ALL the clouds!--just like the cruise commercial. I was able to wear shorts and short sleeve tops all the time-day and night. Is that great for this time of year or what?! It was perfect for touring. For the week of December 22 - 28, temps varied from low 60s to mid 70s during the day and 40s to 50s at night. Again, skies were mostly sunny with a few cloudy days and rain one afternoon into the evening. Some days we wore short sleeve tops with jeans and others we wore turtlenecks with layers of fleeces and/or jackets. For people from upstate NY, this was still better than the weather at home. I felt the cooler weather made it feel more "Christmassy" than the previous trip, especially when visiting the NYC street and the Osborne Spectacle of Lights. Crowds: What crowds? That's what we were saying from December 8 - 15. We felt that this was the lowest attendance we've experienced in all our trips (taken from January - March and once in November) but this was the first time we visited at this time of the year. Bill kept saying to me that he was really interested in my seeing how Christmas week would compare. Here's how it went...I found December 22 - 24 to be manageable especially doing all the things those guide books and web sites advise: arrive at park opening, have a plan, know your way around the park, us Fast Pass, etc., etc. We spent Christmas Day at Epcot and saw the crowd build quickly in Future World. We were at rope drop for the opening of World Showcase at 11 a.m. and kept ahead of the crowd until we stopped for a bite to eat in China at the Lotus Blossom Cafe. After this the crowd was big and seemed to keep growing. It didn't pose a problem for us, however, because we were basically just taking our time enjoying entertainment and browsing through shops. There certainly wasn't any cutback in entertainment today. We did see Impressions de France and Oh, Canada! with the usual wait time for the previous show to end before we entered the theaters. It began to rain late afternoon which I think kept the evening crowd down. December 26 we visited the Magic Kingdom arriving just after rope drop. I figured a great many people spent Christmas Day at MK and would go somewhere else the day after. I think my theory worked because we found the crowd to be very low (especially in the back of the park) until we left at noon. At that point the masses were filing in on Main Street and we felt like salmon swimming up stream. I was just bursting with delight that we did it right and that we had a pleasant four hours in the park without crowds and were now leaving. It was obvious that the crowds had increased since Christmas Eve. December 27 we visited Sea World and the park was very crowded compared to all my previous visits. Touring was not interrupted by the crowds because we used the park guide map/schedule to plan our day and just arrived at shows about a half hour early to get good seats. The stadiums/theaters were full before the shows started so arriving early was important. The crowd did make getting to one place to another tricky mid day. After the night fireworks show, we headed to the Key West area and it was deserted. We got a late start on December 28 because it was our last day and we were busy getting organized and packed before checkout at 10 a.m. We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 11 a.m. or so. It was obvious that the crowd had definitely grown as we rounded the corner beyond the parking lot entrance plaza. Besides which we were not arriving at park opening as we had been. The cars entering the lot were backed up and the people waiting for the trams were a half dozen deep even with empty trams pulling up as a full one left. It was the same at the park entrance with bags needing to be checked first before going through the turnstiles. Of course, the park walkways were packed since they are narrow to begin with anyway. Fortunately for us, we just wanted to do a few things we missed during our first visit to the park. One of these was to experience the Safaris again and so got FP first thing. While we waited for our return window we explored Asia and Dinoland. We found the crowd in Maharaja Jungle Trek surprisingly manageable. After the Safaris we redid and Pangani Forest Trail and that had a manageable crowd too. Although Dinosaur had an hour wait, it seemed that more people were in the walkways than in the attractions. Our experience on December 28 was what I had pictured in my mind what our experience would be during the entire week. I was very happy to find that it was not so and that we managed to see and do most everything during the week that I had planned on the itinerary. I must qualify this, however, by saying that if we did not have a plan, did not arrive at park opening, and did not commando at times, I'm sure our experience would have been different. There were definitely more people than December 8 - 15 but as I've said we didn't have trouble due to the crowds. Park Hours: After 9/11 the park hours were cut back and early entry mornings were suspended. The official WDW schedule for December was posted and then it was retracted and reposted with new hours. I was unsure what we would actually find once we arrived. Would the parks open earlier/close later and would early entry be reinstated if the crowds dictated? Although we were not eligible for early entry it would effect my best day to visit strategy of going to a particular park the day after early entry at that park. Here's what I found. Hours seemed to vary depending on what I referred to-even those signs at the parking lot entrance booths that say "park hours today are..." were wrong. This made me nervous one morning in particular because the sign for MK said "9 a.m." and I had gotten everyone out at 7:15 a.m. for an 8 a.m. opening. Fortunately, the park DID open at 8 a.m. The park guide inserts with hours and attraction times now used instead of being printed on the guide itself (note-MK still prints in the guide) seemed to have the most accurate information. A Holiday Season Times and Information calendar guide (big fold out thing) I picked up at the Character Premier store located in the Orlando Premier Outlets was great but had some incorrect times which was probably due to it being printed for early distribution. Its target audience seemed to be to encourage locals or others who perhaps were not planning a WDW visit to do so. It was a calendar with all the hours and times of various events from November 23 - January 1 or so for the theme parks, Marketplace, Pleasure Island, Wide World of Sports, water parks, and parades and fireworks too. The guide also included Park Hopper and Fast Pass information, a resort map, area map and directions to the WDW resort. Even though the information regarding park hours was not correct some days, it was a great document with all the holiday hours and events in one place for each day. I wish I had this when I was putting the itinerary together instead of piece mealing everything from here and there. Park hours for 12/25 - 31 were the pre 9/11 hours while prior to 12/25 they were the reduced park hours. So they did add extra hours for the crowd during holiday week but I never did know whether or not early entry was reinstituted at all. Christmas Week Hours posted on Official website and in Holiday Happening guide:
Christmas Week Actual Hours: (differences from above are in bold)
Meals: We ate breakfast in and other meals mostly at fast food counters when we were hungry or planned lighter meals to hold us over until the big/sit down meal if there was one. In general we found the selection at these fast food restaurants a nice change from just burgers and the quality very nice. We did have Priority Seating arranged for all the sit down restaurants we ate at which were: Boma, Crystal Palace, Teppanyaki, Chefs de France and 50's Prime Time Café. Fast Passes: Although more people are aware of and using this feature than during our previous trips, some people for whatever reason continue to wait in the stand by line making comments to or about you as you fly by them. During December 8 - 15 we often found FP distribution closed. The Actual Trips: It's Friday, December 7 and tomorrow we'll be at WDW! The day is spent thinking that this time tomorrow I'll be doing...at WDW. TRIP ONE Saturday, December 8, 2001: THE morning finally arrives; we wake LONG before the sun rises and head to the airport. Our experience at the airport regarding the added security goes well; it just takes more time and we now show our ID's at each step. We arrive in Florida in no time-I love non-stop/direct flights. At the routine restroom stop after we get off the plane, I overhear a mom say to her son, "No more magic toilets. We're not at Disney anymore." As we walk through the terminal to the monorail and passing people going home, I think that my vacation is just beginning and these poor people are going home. After getting our bags, we begin the long walk down the terminal to pick up our car. We pass all the car rental counters and Lance wants to know where we are going since we just passed the last counter. Bill tells him not to worry that he is traveling with a professional WDW trip planner so we're headed directly to the garage. We are helped immediately and walking to our red very sporty looking Oldsmobile Alero in minutes. We take the south exit from the airport. Since it's 11 a.m. and we've been up since 3:45 a.m., we're hungry and decide to get something to eat before we get on WDW property. We have lunch at Bennigans on SR535. Everyone enjoys their meal except Lance who proclaims the batter dipped and deep fried sandwich he had was VERY bad (he used other terms!). We did agree with him that the photo and description did look and sound good. We drive to Epcot and since we didn't check in to the resort yet (it's not until 4 p.m.), Debbie decides to change out of her winter travel clothes and into summer vacation clothes which she does in the back seat of the car. Bill and I get our suitcases out, too, and rummage around to find our sunglasses. At the Epcot turnstiles I am searching for my "sister", Juliet, who is a cast member in the college program. I see her, we squeal and hug, there are introductions all around and then she gets her manager who provides Lance and Debbie with complimentary one day park hoppers. Months before when I told her we were coming, she offered to get Bill and I into the parks but we already had our annual passes. With Lance and Debbie joining us so unexpectedly at the last minute, at first I didn't even think of Juliet being able to get them in. In fact, I'd offered to pick up hopper passes for Lance and Deb at the Disney Store the day I bought the hoppers for my aunt, cousin and mother. In hindsight it was a good thing Lance said not to bother and that they'd buy them once at WDW. It wasn't until the day or so before we left that I e-mailed Juliet and asked about her being able to get Lance and Deb in. Each morning we met Juliet and one way or another, she was able to get Lance and Deb one-day park hoppers. They appreciated it very much and she enjoyed being able to create some "Disney magic". We decide not to stay at Epcot and leave for Animal Kingdom. We get Fast Passes for Kilamanjaro Safaris first and then visit It's Tough to be a Bug. We hustle to the Lion King Show. Along the way Debbie's excited to see they have frozen bananas and gets one after the show. She said it was great but when she wanted to get another at other parks, she didn't find them. We concluded that they must only sell frozen bananas at AK. She was bummed. We could make the last Flights of Wonder show but would miss our KS FP time slot. We decided to do FoW, getting new KS FPs first and then do KS after FoW. Lance and Deb's passes don't work in the FP machine and Lance thinks he demagnetized them in his money clip. The CM there overrides the machine and gives them two passes. Bill gives our first set of FPs to a family heading toward the KS standby line. They are thrilled and so were we to have created some "Disney magic". Flights of Wonder was next and, as usual, the show was wonderful and Lance and Deb were enjoying it very much. Unfortunately, it had begun to rain and became so heavy that the show was cancelled because the stage is not under cover and the rain affects the wireless sound system. We were disappointed and stayed for a while waiting for the rain to lighten which it did in no time. It was sprinkling lightly and the sun was shining as we left and headed to KS. This was the only rain we experienced the entire eight days. After KS we caught the new Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. Before it started we had time for a bathroom break and lost the guys or they lost us. Deb and I stood on the side of the parade route in the shade and with our backs to the sun so we could view the parade comfortably. We figured the guys found some refreshment and, sure enough, we soon spotted them down the parade route with drinks in hand-Dawa Bar! We met up with them after parade and asked where ours was. Bums! It's now close enough to 4 p.m. check-in and we decide to leave AK and head to the resort. On our way out Deb and I catch a whiff of hot dog and it smells good. After we checked in, unpacked and freshened up, we headed out to the Publix at the intersection of SR535 and SR192. We loaded our shopping cart with breakfast and snack foods for the rest of the week. After a stop at the liquor store next to Bennigans and Walgreen's on SR535, we were headed back to the Polynesian Isles. We relaxed for the rest of the evening eating rotisserie chicken, vegetables and dip, etc.; enjoying some cocktails, watching TV and calling home. I also called Juliet to arrange to meet her the next morning but instead she said to go ahead and use the tickets she had given me earlier in the day. They were given to CMs with a letter signed by Paul Pressler to share with friends and family. Sunday, December 9, 2001: It had been about 25 years since Lance was last at the Magic Kingdom and so this park was his priority which wasn't too hard for me to take! We were up at 7 a.m. and are ready to leave for the MK at 8:15 a.m. We park within walking distance to the Ticket and Transportation Center and do so. Guests were not be allowed to enter the monorails or the ferries yet so while we were waiting I asked a manager type CM (you know white shirt and tie, pin lanyard, radio, etc.) near the ticket booths what the tickets Juliet gave me were. He said that they were one day park hoppers. Yeah! There was a count down to being let in and since the majority of the crowd headed for the monorail, we headed for the ferry and it pulled out soon after we boarded. Unfortunately, it was very foggy so we couldn't see the castle and I couldn't point out the MK resort hotels to Lance and Deb as we crossed the lake. Having our bags checked went quickly and smoothly and Lance and Deb's passes worked in the turnstiles with no problem. We were walking down Main Street at 9 a.m. heading for Space Mountain. This is the first time I've seen the holiday decorations and I think they make the street look wider and I'm not as overwhelmed by the beauty or abundance as I expected to be. SM only has a 10 minute posted wait so we get FPs and then enter the standby line. The park is empty and we do Pooh, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, get FPs for Splash Mountain and ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad by 10:30 a.m.! We return to Space Mountain and use our FP while noting that the standby line is now posting a 30 minute wait. We get FPs for Buzz and then take some photos of ourselves in the rose garden with the castle in the background. Another group volunteers to take a picture of all of us and we reciprocate. They're an adult family group and seem to be having a wonderful time. We take more photos by the Partners statue and then run into the same family group getting their picture taken at the entrance to Adventureland. We shout hello to them and they wave like we're old friends-what fun. Pirates of the Caribbean is next and then we use our FPs for Splash Mountain. In Frontierland, we catch a whiff of hot dog, again. Boy, they smelled so good that we had to have 'em so Deb and I decide to get one. The guys felt the same about the smell of turkey legs so they head down a ways to the turkey leg cart. We get a table at Pecos Bill's Café and eat there. Lance and Bill look like cave men eating turkey legs and I capture the moment on film. Lance says they taste like ham hocks! and Bill gets shit on (his hat, shoulder, table...) by the flock of food snatching birds in the tree above him. Good thing it didn't hit his turkey leg. We walk right in to the Christmas version of the Country Bear Jamboree next-what great timing! We try for the Presidents next but our timing is off here. We learn that the shows begin on the hour and the half hour and decide not to wait 20 minutes for the next show. Lance and Deb do some shopping in Fantasyland for their nieces before we head over to Buzz. Our FP time has passed but they let us in anyway. Bill scores Planetary Pilot! We begin to leave the park and have our picture taken on Main Street with the castle and the trolley in the background. At the end of the street we catch up with the trolley and I take Lance and Deb's photo with the horse, "Pat". We monorail to the TTC, walk to the car and are back at the resort at 1:30 p.m. We enjoy some drinks, Tostitos with salsa and cheese and then the hot tub and the pool. It's 79 degrees with bright sun and big white clouds. We have the entire pool and hot tub to ourselves. Back to our rooms and we lay down for a nap and wake up five minutes before I had planned to return to the MK for dinner at the Crystal Palace and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Yikes! We are ready in no time and out at 4:15 p.m. We score seats in the cab of the monorail! Woohoo! Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party: (Sunday, December 9, 2001) We entered the Magic Kingdom about 4:45 p.m. or so and had our photo taken on Main Street by the same photographer who took our photo earlier in the day. He didn't even recognize us. We continue down MS and catch the end of the new Cinderella's Surprise show in front of the castle. We checked in at the Crystal Palace about 5 p.m. with a 5:10 p.m. and a 5:25 p.m. PS for two tables for two and asked for one table for four and get it with no problem or wait. All the characters visit our table right away. Eeyore seemed to be overly affectionate and kept making kissing noises-hmmm. The restaurant is very pretty inside and the food was good. I especially liked the salad bar and the peel and eat shrimp. Lance and Debbie didn't care for the prime rib as it had a smoked flavor. Our waitress was very accommodating and gave us wristbands for the party after I asked her if we could get them at the restaurant. At first they weren't available but she brought them by later with a pair of scissors to cut the tails off the wristbands. We had to give her our tickets in exchange for the wristbands so we didn't have the tickets as a souvenir but we had the wristband instead. I asked her for a MVMCP guide that I saw another guest looking over but she didn't have any. We finished dinner around 6 p.m. and when we left the restaurant found the park closed to day guests and emptying out. Of course it's a sea of people heading for Main Street and we had to cross it in order to get to Tomorrowland--yikes. TL remained open during the transition from 6 - 7 p.m. when day guests had to leave and before party guests would be let in. Since we were already in the park and had a wristband, we could remain in the park and tour TL during the transition. There was a rope dividing the walkway into TL with one side for day guests leaving and the other for party guests with wristbands entering. A nice CM gave me her only copy of the MVMCP guide as we entered TL. As you can imagine, the free photo station had a huge line here so we kept walking. While in TL we did Buzz and the Indy Speedway before heading off to see if we can enter Fantasyland. There were many princesses out for photos and pictures between TL and FL. We take the walkway from near Cosmic Rays and Belle's Enchanted Garden to the backside of the castle and see Cinderella's coach all decked out in holiday decorations. I think that the whole park is open now and not just TL since we made it this far. The free photo station here also has a large line so we keep moving. On to Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road which we ride twice before catching the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon Revue's Wild West Christmas show. Where were the can-can girls??? After the show, we wandered into the Christmas Shop in Liberty Square. I had planned that we would watch the second parade (10:45 p.m.) but as we were waiting for Deb in the shop, the first parade (8:15 p.m.) begins to come by so we watch it with only one row of guests sitting in front of us. Fantasy in the Sky was at 9:15 p.m. so we waited in front of the castle close the stage area for it to begin. It was very tiring standing and waiting and once the fireworks began we were too close to the castle which made them seem small and definitely not a grand as I expected. The perimeter ones were cool though. I like Tinkerbell better than Rudolf flying over the park. The Celebrate the Season show at the Castle Forecourt Stage began soon after the fireworks (that's why I chose to watch them from this location). I enjoyed seeing all the characters dressed for the holidays. After the show we headed for Main Street-it was snowing-to Town Square Exposition Hall to see our photos. We buy the one taken in the afternoon. Mickey's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at 10:30 p.m. in the Galaxy Palace Theater was next and it felt good to sit down. We took a spin on Space Mountain before deciding we were too tired to stay any longer and began to head out. On our way we finally got our free photo taken before leaving TL. We looked tire too! It arrived in the mail about 3 or 4 weeks later. I did try to have it taken earlier, even at locations in the back of the park like others advised, but didn't want to waste time waiting in line. Oh, well. We had the same photo of all four of us mailed to both our homes. As we passed Plaza Pavilion there was no line for cookies and cocoa so Deb and I got some and enjoyed it as we walked down MS. We didn't really want them any earlier since we had just had a big dinner. The cocoa was good but the sugar cookies were dull (right out of a package-not freshly baked), but I ate them. We left the park about 11:30 p.m. or so and found no crowd at the monorail station or the tram. Some thoughts/observations:
Monday, December 10, 2001: Sleep in this morning after the late night at MVMCP. We have PS at Boma for breakfast at 10 a.m. I find the Animal Kingdom Lodge to be very similar to the Wilderness Lodge. Our experience at Boma is great. Juice recipe: two parts orange juice, one part each pineapple and mango juices and lemonade with some grenadine and water to taste-YUM! Lance declares to our waiter that he drank more juice than he ever has in one sitting, well, without alcohol in it anyway. After breakfast we walk around the resort beginning at the pool area where we see a big man in a thong bathing suit. I was the first to see IT and my breath was taken away and not in a good way. We were grateful we didn't lose our breakfast! Definitely not appropriate for a family resort. We weren't as lucky sighting animals from the lookouts, however! Off to Epcot to meet Juliet. We wait for her for some time sitting on a bench near the turnstiles. While we are waiting a young man shows up and also waits. We determine from his conversation with CMs that he is also a CM. Some more time has gone by now and she hasn't shown up. I walk down the row of turnstiles and then head to the public phone near the bus stop area and call her cell phone. She had arrived and is with Bill, Lance and Deb! The CM who was waiting is her friend who uses some extra passes he has to get Lance and Deb in the park. We head to Test Track and get FPs and then ride using the singles line with little wait. When we come out we are close to our FP time and go to that entrance. The CM there asks us to wait until our timeslot opens. He leaves and the CM who replaces him asks why we are waiting and lets us go right in. Yeah! We experience a much longer wait in the FP line than the singles line. Ice Station Cool, Oh Canada!, the British Invasion are next before the guys decide to get some refreshment from the Rose and Crown Pub while the girls do some shopping. We regroup and head to France next where the guys sit on a bench and the girls browse the shops. Lance declares he wants to leave Epcot and ride the monorail to the MK and go see the Hall of Presidents. Deb thinks he was afraid of the day continuing with the guys sitting on a bench while the girls shopped! So, we begin to leave by continuing walking around the World Showcase. We get kaki goris in Japan. Lance is in a real patriotic mood so we enter the American Adventure and catch American Vybe before we see the show. As we continue our exit, we actually walk along with the Tapestry of Dreams Parade until we pass it and head to the monorail. While we are waiting for the monorail, I glance at my watch and determine we have 20 minutes before the next Hall of Presidents show at 5 p.m. and we HAVE to make this one in order to make our reservation at Arabian Nights at 7 p.m. We are on a mission now! Bill says we'll never make it, I think we can if everything goes just right, Deb thinks this adventure is funny and Lance WANTS to see the Presidents. Can you believe we made it!!! We hit the connecting monorail at the TTC perfectly and it left as soon as we boarded, no line at the MK bag check and turnstiles, no parade and few people in our way as Lance takes the lead as we all race walk in single file down MS. Lance shouts to me, "Which way?" over his shoulder as we approach the hub. I reply, "Left, Lance, over the bridge and then to your right." Soon I hear from him, "Okay, I can see the red, white and blue bunting!" Bill is saying we're not going to make it and that they are going to shut the doors and I reply we ARE going to make it. Out of breath, we get in the building, the lobby is empty, we can see the last of the crowd entering the theater, the doors remain open and we are IN! We find seats and proceed to laugh at ourselves and express how we cannot believe we did it! Deb and I stop in the candy store on MS on our way out of the park. We monorail back to Epcot, get in the car and return to the resort with 15 minutes to get ready before leaving for Arabian Nights. We do it, again! Arabian Nights: (Monday, December 10, 2001) None of us had experienced this dinner show before and this was the only request Debbie had (besides bake in the sun by the pool). I called the morning of our visit and made reservations with no problem. We were told that the doors opened at 6 p.m., to be there by 7p.m. and the show would begin at 7:30 p.m. It is located on SR 192 (Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway) and wasn't too far from the Polynesian Isles resort. We purchased our tickets taking advantage of a $5 off coupon per person from the SEE Orlando tourist guide book (free at most hotels). It was $85 per couple. We declined upgrading our tickets for $12 to include free drinks before the show, a program and a tour of the stables prior to the dinner show. Lance and I were buying the tickets and between the two of us we've experienced enough horse stables already in our lives (He has worked his way up from stable boy to trainer to driver to presiding judge in the NYS Harness Racing Association and I grew up on the back of a horse and showed horses during my teen years.). We noted that there were many notices posted warning people with breathing problems of the dust in the arena. We walked from the ticket booth to the building which resembled a warehouse and was huge both in height and in ground coverage. Inside we entered a large room with very high ceilings, probably three stories or more, and found it to be a mad house. It was loud and people were being herded in front of a photographer. We politely declined the opportunity. The bar area was mobbed so it was good that we didn't upgrade to receive the free drinks because you couldn't get near the bar and besides there were only about two bartenders anyway. Lance said that was a good way to limit how many free drinks they provided. Also, if you attended the stable tour there would be no time to get and drink any drinks-what a rip off. Glad we didn't fall into that one! Anyway, while we waited to be let into the arena, Deb and I headed straight for the gift shop while I think Lance and Bill managed to buy themselves a drink. The narrator for the evening, I think he was the sultan or something, appeared from a balcony, gave introductory remarks, set the scene for the storyline and began calling people by the sections they were assigned to enter the labyrinth of hallways to the arena. We were last. Seating was arranged in tiers with long tables running the length of the long sides of the arena. Our seats were at the far end from the sultan's castle (stage) but the acts used both ends to enter and exit the arena. The lights were very low and the arena floor itself was filled with dry ice but through it we could see people lying on the ground that would be part of the first act. Our salads had already been placed on the tables and our server brought bread, coke, beer and wine with free refills. The show has a storyline that was unremarkable but I do remember that it had something to do with the sultan's daughter's wedding. In between the sultan telling his story, there were "acts" on horseback that I didn't feel related to the story. The acts themselves were fine and could have stood on their own without the story, however, like Kilamanjaro Safaris could do without the poacher story. The acts with the horses included dressage (to the music of New York New York), free lounging, chariot and Conestoga wagon racing, square dancing, flag parade (to God Bless America), circus bareback riding, rodeo trick riding, etc. Dinner was served well into the show which continued while you ate. I found it hard to eat and watch the show at the same time. The meal was served plated and consisted of prime rib, vegetable medley and red potatoes. It had good flavor and the temperature was also good especially considering the number of people served all at once. There was dessert, too; I think it was cake. Unfortunately, the arena was very dark and it was difficult to see your food (to cut your meat) and we could have eaten seconds easily but weren't offered any. After the show, we returned to the time share and filled up on munchies before going to bed. Overall, it was a good evening and we enjoyed ourselves. I would recommend it to others especially if they have an interest in horses. It wasn't as impressive as Cirque du Soleil, however, so I don't know how willing I would be to pay to see it again any time soon. I have one final comment to add. The evening we were at MVMCP, we chatted with three ladies sitting at our table while waiting for the Diamond Horseshoe Revue Christmas Show to begin. When we told them that we were planning to attend the Arabian Nights dinner show, they made funny faces and said that they were repulsed from the "horsy" smell when they attended. We laughed about that comment because we are horse people and didn't notice any offensive smell during our visit. During the night, 2:30 a.m., the smoke/fire alarm went off in our room. Bill was startled and panicked at first. When I opened my eyes, I could see an orange glow but soon I remembered that it was the light from the fountain outside on the lake reflecting in our unit. There was no fire. Bill was trying to get the noise to stop. I told him to just take the batteries out (like we do at home) and he said he couldn't because it was electrical. I looked through the resort notebook on the coffee table to find the number for security. I found nothing and just tried the front desk. No answer there after letting it ring forever so I gave up. The noise finally stopped and we went back to bed. A half hour later it goes off again. This time Bill rips it off the wall and leaves the wires hanging. Tuesday, December 11, 2001: We are up early this morning and ready to leave at 8:20 a.m. for Bill and I to meet for our Yuletide Fantasy Tour and for Lance and Deb to meet Juliet. As we are walking out the door, though, the phone rings and it's the lady from the tour desk asking if everything is okay. HA! I told her that, no, everything was not okay and proceeded to tell her about the night before. My response took her aback when she didn't get the response she expected so she could go into her rehearsed spiel. She didn't know how to react or what to say but did manage to utter that she would let the front desk know. The alarm did not get fixed today. The next day we appeared in person at the front desk where the situation was logged and then fixed by the time we returned at the end of the day. They replaced the fire/smoke alarm unit. We weren't bothered so much about the broken alarm but with the fact that if it had been an emergency, we were unable to contact anyone at the resort. The front desk clerk said that the front desk line rolls over to security and it should have been answered. She told us she would let her manager know that our call went unanswered. Oh, by the way, the whole time during the alarm going off the night before Lance and Debbie never left their room to see what was going on. Lance told Debbie that if is was something they needed to know, that we would come get them! We drove to the Disney/MGM Studios and split up. Lance and Deb were going to meet Juliet and another CM who would get them in the park. We were going to take the Yuletide Fantasy Tour and meet them at 12:15 p.m. at Rock 'n Roller coaster. They asked what they should do and I gave them some advice which they followed and enjoyed RnR twice, One Man's Dream and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Yuletide Fantasy Tour: (Tuesday, December 11, 2001) The confirmation sheet I received shortly after booking the tour in August instructed us to arrive by 8:45 a.m. at guest relations at Epcot. In November I received another notice and I panicked while opening the envelope thinking that the tour was cancelled as part of the cut backs Disney was experiencing. It wasn't cancelled and the letter simply notified me that the tour was now going to begin from the bus information area at the Studios. When we arrived for the tour, we were given stick on nametags and a pen to write our names on them. There were still a few minutes before the tour would begin so we were offered the opportunity to use the restroom and get some film if we needed to. Anthony was our guide and there were 12 to 18 people taking the tour. Anthony asked us to stand in a circle and introduce ourselves and besides our names we needed to tell where we were from and what signals to us that the holiday season has begun. Some of the answers were Black Friday, the showing of Miracle on 34th Street, Santa arriving at Macy's at the end of the Thanksgiving day parade, wives telling husbands to put up the outside decorations. Our first stop was the tree outside of the Studios and he explained that the tree was 60 feet tall with a 4 foot star as are the trees at the other theme parks, Wilderness Lodge and Grand Floridian. They are artificial now but Disney used to use real trees until someone decided that using real trees was not a good environmental practice especially since it sometimes took three trees to make one perfect Disney tree by using the bottom of one, the middle of another and the top of a third. The Studios tree is usually inside the park but was displaced this year by Sorcerer Mickey's hat. We also admired the poinsettias arranged in the shape of a Christmas tree. Our assignment was to think about how many poinsettias there where decorating WDW. We entered the park through the turnstiles after having our bags checked and waiting in line with everyone else. As we walked past the large Sorcerer Mickey's hat, Anthony told us that he felt that this was not going to be removed because he saw it being built and that it was not a temporary structure. He also pointed out the new topiary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves nearby and said that in past years a train was set up in that area for the holidays. Because of the 100 Years of Magic celebration, the Christmas decorations were cut back throughout WDW and this was one example. Other examples were the 100 Years of Magic signs on poles instead of holiday decorations. Since the signs were just put up in October, they didn't take them down to decorate. On one hand I was kind of relieved to hear this because I felt that the parks were not decorated as much as I had imagined after hearing other people tell how wonderful they were. I was saddened, on the other hand, because this was my first trip to see the decorations in all their glory and the parks were not ALL decked out. I quickly consoled myself by thinking another trip before the holidays was now justified. We moved through the park to the NY City Street area, which no other guests were at yet, down toward the Osborne Spectacle of Lights. Anthony told us the story of how Mr. Osborne wanted to do something with his daughter at holiday time and they decided to decorate their house. Needless to say, they got carried away, it became a spectacle, neighbors complained, and Disney got the lights. Anthony reported that the Osborne's have been invited to turn them on in the past but they don't do so. He says that Mrs. Osborne says, in a slow southern drawl, "They are just liiiights." So I took that to mean the family doesn't think they're a big deal anymore. They are a spectacle that's for sure. They are on absolutely everything and look awful during the day. Anthony also pointed out that the manger scene did not yet have the baby Jesus and that he felt this year they were going to add it on Christmas Eve. We had a man in a wheel chair in our group and at this point we waited for a special van for him. We traveled to Epcot in three white vans. Along the way and throughout our tour as we traveled from one place to another, we saw a lot of backstage. We drove through a security gate at Epcot right next to the outside track of Test Track. We didn't need to show our IDs though. The backstage areas are really very dull and institutional looking. I like checking them out. We got out of the vans and walked onstage just before Germany. World Showcase was not open yet and there were lots of maintenance and horticultural CMs out working. Anthony told us even though we were on stage to NOT take any pictures that would show the World Showcase differently than when it was open to guests (i.e. don't take pictures of CM's watering plants or repairing a roof). Bill asked the CM watering the poinsettias how many there were and she said there were "lots." She's no help! Anthony talked about holiday traditions for Germany, Italy, and Japan. It's not surprising that American holiday traditions are a combination of traditions from other countries with some of our own added touches. We went inside the American Adventure and looked at the Kwanzaa and Hanukkah displays. We reentered backstage in Japan, got back in the vans and headed to Wilderness Lodge. Anthony rode in our van and we chatted with him the whole way. We talked about many things Disney not necessarily related to our tour. One thing he talked about was Carousel of Progress. He said that it has a history of being shut down when attendance is slow and he had not heard any official word that it was closed permanently. (Bill and I thought it interesting that while riding in the cab of the monorail the day before, we asked the CM driver about recent attendance and he said that they've been very busy and crowds had NOT been low at all. Hmmm. We felt that he had been coached to say that.) We discussed those attractions that seem dated today but have historical value (i.e. Walt himself had a hand in). I told him that I felt that it was good to have the oldies to show how far the technology used in the attractions has come. Also, the little ones need attractions such as IASW and I related a story of our visit to this attraction the day before. A girl about 2 years old or so was sitting in front of us really enjoying the music and dolls as evidenced by her pointing to many things throughout our ride and then looking to her parents for acknowledgement. I love the Wilderness Lodge and I was really looking forward to seeing the decorations here. They were magnificent. Anthony told us that WDW makes it's own ribbon from fabric and edges it with wire. It does this because it was often hard to find ribbon that would compliment the themes at each resort. He brought examples of the various ribbons with him and we had to guess which resort they were from. I thought that was fun. Then we had a few minutes to wander around and look at the decorations on our own. I took lots of photos hoping the ones of the big tree would come out and they did. We exited WL via the service exit/entrance on our way to MK and drove past what I assumed was the landing strip that has been a topic on the newsgroup rec.arts.disney.parks. It is my understanding that Walt used this when first acquiring/developing WDW. Anthony was talking as we drove past so I didn't interrupt to point it out and ask about it. We drove past the security gate at the entrance to the Contemporary parking lot to get to a backstage parking area behind MK's Main Street. This time we were asked to show our IDs through the van window. Someone asked our drive what good did that really do?? She paused as if gathering her thoughts first and then weakly said that she felt that they were just checking to see if people had IDs. (I didn't get it but I also don't get how checking people's bags before entering the parks will deter someone who is intent on getting something in or worse. BUT, I'm not going to go there.) After exiting the vans and regrouping, Anthony said that we would be taking the same path that he did his first day working at MK and to note how obvious and sudden the change from backstage to on stage on Main Street is. WOW! You go around a big wooden door from dull painted warehouse looking buildings and a parking lot to the vibrant colors and decorations and music of Main Street. We didn't spend much time in MK or wander very far but Anthony did talk about the decorations here. I especially like the window displays. Backstage again we loaded in the vans and drove deeper backstage behind the MK past the monorail and MK railroad "roundhouse" which isn't round at all. Folks in our van said that they visited the roundhouse while participating on the rail road tour the previous day or so. Our destination was the Christmas Warehouse. It was huge and was full of shelving units from the floor to the ceiling (at least 2 stories), aisle after aisle. It was December 11 and it was surprising how much was STILL on the shelves. Anthony said that some decorations just had not been put up yet and others were not going to be because of the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. Others, still, were old and just not used anymore. We saw the empty shelves where the Disney Cruise ship decorations were kept. As I walked around I was guessing in which park or resort the decorations belonged. We walked past shelves holding supplies used in making the decorations and also visited the workroom where the 25 holiday decorating employees created the various decorations. To me it looked like a crafters dream job with workbenches and glue guns, etc. There were some CMs about whom we were introduced to. Before leaving the warehouse, Anthony announced that the CMs had prepared gifts for us and let us each take one gift bag which contained a Mickey ornament (big ball with two smaller ones for ears) that had been used at one time somewhere in the resort. We piled back in the vans and headed back to the Studios. On the way, we drove behind the MK and saw the site of the original emergency and fire building which, as I recall, still had some vehicles there. And if I am remembering correctly, would be a good idea because the detonation area for the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks was just a little ways down the roadway. This location was along where the Main Street Railroad circles the park between the Frontierland and Toontown. When we rode the train later during our trip, we could see lots of debris from the fireworks and damage from fires too. We also passed the canal where the Electric Light Pageant barges are stored. The roadway then followed the monorail track between the MK station and the Grand Floridian. We took roadways in the guest area back to the Studios and returned about 12:30 p.m. Anthony gave us another gift which was an ornament, from what I would call their country collection, with Mickey peeking out from behind a snowman with a big stocking cap on ($10 to buy). I love them and have a statue of the same figures only bigger which Bill bought me a couple of years ago. Both Bill and I expected more from the tour. Perhaps we felt it came up short because we've taken the Hidden Treasures Tour at Epcot and the Keys to the Kingdom at MK and so had experienced backstage areas and visited areas when not yet open to other guests before. We also felt that the content and amount of the information given during the tour was too light. Oh, by the way there are 60,000 poinsettias which Anthony said is close to the same number of CMs, 55,000. We were late meeting Lance and Deb after the tour but they forgave us. We ride RRC with them and then get some lunch at Rosie's All American Cafe. We leave the park about 2 p.m. because their flight leaves at 6 p.m. and they still want to do some shopping and hit the pool if there's time. We take them to the Orlando Premium Outlet Mall's Character Premier where they find a few things. I buy myself a 14kt gold pair of Mickey earrings that match a pendant that Bill bought for himself years ago and wound up letting me have because I wore it all the time anyway. The earrings were originally $120 and I paid $40. I offer to take Lance and Deb to the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet Mall's Character Warehouse but pool time is a higher priority over shopping. We return to the resort for a swim in the pool, a soak in the hot tub and cold drinks! Lance and Deb pack quickly and we get the car loaded. Lance checks and doesn't have the airline tickets so he heads back upstairs and finds them next to the phone where he left them after calling to confirm the flight was on time, etc. Whew! In the car and we're on the road at 4:30 p.m. It only takes about a half hour and a couple of dollars in tolls on the Greenway and we drop Lance and Deb at Terminal A at the Southwest curb for hugs and goodbyes! Bill and I head back and stop at LBV Factory Outlet's Character Corner. Bill finds camo baseball cap with a golfer Mickey on it for $5. I thought the combination was very odd-hunting and golf just don't go together in my mind. The Studios is our next destination and we park close and walk in just after 6 p.m. where our goal is to see the Osborne Lights. I was surprised to see it snowing on the NYC Street and just like in NYC we get nuts and a pretzel from a street vendor. We are given the special viewing glasses as we approach the tons of lights and see angels when we look through them. The lights are as gaudy as I expected and fun to actually see in person. The light crowd allows us to take our time and see both sides of the street by just walking down the middle. As we are leaving, there are lots of people coming in must be from Fantasmic. We agreed it was a good thing we went through during the Fantasmic show. We visit the big blue hat and interact with the Discover the Stories Behind the Magic kiosks before walking through the stores on way out of the park. At Downtown Disney's Marketplace we shop at World of Disney and then Bill finds a table on the dock next to Capt'n Jacks, enjoys a cold drink and people watches while I shop on my own. I visit Pooh's Corner, Disney Home, Christmas Corner and the Gourmet Pantry. I only bought some Christmas ornaments. Even though it's late we have something to eat at Rainforest Café and don't have to wait for a table. We shared an appetizer platter and a salad. Our waitress said that we were the third couple to sit at the same table and order the same thing. Back to resort and to bed afterwards. Wednesday, December 12, 2001 Although we were awake early, we take our time getting ready, doing laundry and taking photos of the resort and room before leaving at 10:15 a.m. We head out to Belz Mall's Character Warehouse and Character Premier stores where I don't find much of interest which is unusual for me. There seemed to be more regular price holiday items and less discounted items. We stop at Bill Wong's Chinese Buffet on the corner of Kirkman and International Drive for lunch. Bill loves Chinese food and especially buffets so we've eaten here a few times. The food is fresh and offers a variety of American comfort foods too. Unfortunately, after this trip I don't think we'll be back. I found a woman's long fake broken off fingernail in my cinnamon ice cream! I thought it was an ice chip which normally I would just crunch up and eat, but for some reason this time I decided to remove it from my mouth. When I looked at it I was very grossed out. I drank a lot of very hot tea to try and cleanse my mouth. The experience gets us our lunch free. I call Juliet from a pay phone outside the restaurant and we make plans to meet her for dinner Friday night and then go shopping at Downtown Disney's Marketplace. We drive to the Disney/MGM Studios and get Fast Passes for Millionaire then watch the Super Stars and Motor Cars Parade, do the walking portion of One Man's Dream, play Millionaire (I get to number six on the board!), then finish OMD, ride RRC two times before leaving the park and driving to the Boardwalk. We have no problem with security at the Boardwalk but Bill was asked to show his ID. We wander through the lobbies of the BW, Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and Beach Clubs admiring their holiday decorations. They are lovely but do not meet my expectations. I guess I either expected too much or they weren't as grand this year. We enter Epcot and Bill gets a beer from Rose and Crown while I get us fish and chips. We are lucky and get a table on the sidewalk so we sit and relax while we eat...and people watch. We continue wandering and see the canopy of lights for the first time. They are very cool the way the lights change to the music. We overhear a guy say matter of factly state that you have to walk right down the middle or it's just not as good. So, we are sure to do this each time we walk through from now on! We catch a performance of Off Kilter which Bill just loves because he likes the sound of bagpipes and recognizes the songs. Sorry Off Kilter fans, especially Sheri N., but they do nothing for me. We walk back to the BW and are lucky to catch a juggler's act along the way. I really look forward to catching the various performers along the BW because they are so good. Back to our car and to our resort. Thursday, December 13 Islands of Adventure: (Thursday, December 13, 2001) Ever since IOA opened, however many years ago that was, I've had an interest in checking out Universal's new park. However, I never seemed to make it happen, even during two-week trips. I guess I was reluctant because of my reaction to my visit to Universal Studios. In my opinion, it just didn't do anything for me like WDW does. I also think it was because I felt there weren't enough attractions at IOA that I was interested in to warrant the $50 admission per person. I'm not a big roller coaster fan and there are many at IOA. However, I did WANT to see the GRINCH! He goes way back to my childhood days of watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas every holiday season. My father even came up with my nickname from that show. Bill and I have the video and continue to watch it every season. We also saw Jim Carry's version. So, this was going to be the trip to visit IOA. During my months of trip planning I contemplated which admission ticket to get. I really wanted to take advantage of a great deal but I didn't learn of any. You do save some money on multi-day tickets but in the end we just bought one-day tickets. I just couldn't justify spending the extra money on a multi-day ticket in December with Christmas shopping and all. I realize that the unused days don't expire but I didn't have another trip planned and just couldn't justify it. A one-day hopper ticket would have been perfect for us since we could get a whole day out of it by also taking in the new stuff we haven't done at Universal Studios. It killed me to pay $100 just to see the Grinch but I did so that's how bad I wanted to go. I did use the Entertainment Book coupon and got $8 in script bucks to use in the park. I bought a hair band with the script bucks which I lost the next day while riding Space Mountain. Easy come, easy go! It was a beautiful day and we arrived close to park opening at 9 a.m. We paid our $7 to park in the garage and began the long walk toward IOA. It was neat checking out City Walk on our way. The last time we were at Universal, it was still under construction so we hadn't seen it yet. We found the crowd at IOA to be nonexistent. We thought WDW attendance was low but this was lower. We were the only people walking through the Port of Entry which I thought was nicely themed. I studied the map a lot; it was a very weird feeling for me to not know my way around. We went to Marvel Super Hero Island first, walked past a cart full of stuffed Grinches and Bill rode the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. This gave me an opportunity to take pictures of it and more time to study the map. He came out and motioned that he was going on again. When he came back, he said he liked it especially the way it shoots up and out of the building. Next we did the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman and that was excellent. We were in the front of the car and the effects were so real I closed my eyes a lot. Bill laughed at me. Instead of continuing in a clockwise direction around the park, we turned around and headed to Seuss Landing, I couldn't wait to see the Grinch. It is very colorful and busy looking (the themeing--not with people) and was decorated for the holidays and the Christmas trees were even crooked. There were more carts with great Grinch stuff but I didn't get anything. We rode The Cat in the Hat. It was cute but unlike Winner the Pooh at WDW it had a lot of dark areas where there could have been more storyline to look at. Also, there was only one employee running it and was not directing people where to queue up to load. People need direction! We checked out an area set up with a snow slide next but didn't do it. We did ride One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, got squirted and had a good time. All rides have been walk-ons so far. The Grinch was next. There appeared to be a ride overhead going into the building and Bill asked what it was and the employee said it was a ride but it wasn't open because the cars hadn't been designed yet. What? Anyway, into the Grinch's Liar we go; the posted wait time is 15 minutes and the queue area is very short and small. There was a weak attempt to blow snow in the outside area. Inside, was decorated pretty good and TV monitors are playing Jim Carry's version of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We practically walk right up to the Grinch but did have some time to soak up the atmosphere and check out the detail and watch him interact with those in front of us. He's smaller than he looks on TV! He's good at being grumpy and has dirty crooked teeth. We are posed for a photo and then rushed out for the next people. We linger a moment to watch him with the people behind us and I try and take some photos between groups. I notice that Max is there, too, and looks very real and I think to myself what a great animatronic. We check out our photo and I'm not crazy about it so we don't buy it. It was blurry and couldn't see Max very well. We move on to The Lost Continent and find not much going on here. Poseidon's Adventure is not open until 11:30 a.m. and the first showing of the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad isn't until later also. Bill rides the Dueling Dragons (Fire and Ice) roller coaster. Only one side is open so the effect isn't complete. I wander in the shop next to it while I wait. We ride the Flying Unicorn next and it's a short and sweet roller coaster just like Goofy's Barnstormer. We walk back through the Lost Continent to Seuss Landing to check out the shops there while waiting for the rest of the attractions to open. Perhaps we should have continued in a clockwise around the park because we were held up in the Lost Continent for a while. At 11:15 a.m. we queued up for Poseidon's Adventure and are let in quickly only to wait inside. It's sometime before the show begins. The story is told by an actor guiding us through a series of rooms with various special effects along the way. It's often dark and loud and so I think it would be scary for some kids. I'd heard since experiencing this attraction that the show was recently redone and this one is better. In my opinion, that's not saying much for the old one. Yes, we didn't care for it at all. We think it's because we cannot relate to the characters or the story. . We have some lunch (gyros and fries) at a fast food place across from Poseidon's Adventure. We enjoy the pre-show juggler act for the Eighth Adventure of Sinbad stunt show next and also enjoyed the main show itself. We leave The Lost Continent and head towards Jurassic Park. We kind of get lost thinking there is something to see/do near the Discovery Center but find just dead end walkways and the lower entrance. We take a peek inside but skit it. Back up and around and past the main/upper entrance to the Discovery Center, past the closed Triceratops Encounter and on to the Jurassic Park River Adventure water ride. I expect more themeing and a longer ride. Some of the animatronics are not working. I did get surprised when the drop came. I was looking up at the attacking dino and aahhhh! down we go. Didn't get too wet though. As we leave this area, yes that's all there is to do here, we wander by the Pteranodon Flyers that's just for kids and an accompanying parent. It looks cool, too bad we don't have kids to go on with. Toon Lagoon is next and we watch people as they come down the drop on Dudley DoRight's Ripsaw Falls log flume. It looks fun and since we're a little wet already and there aren't any other attractions left to do before getting totally soaked, we get in line. It's a walk on but it's a long long walk with what I think is poor themeing. Again, maybe it's just the fact that even though I remember these characters from Saturday morning cartoons, I don't hold them very dear. The ride itself is also weakly themed but I'm so worried about the drop that I wouldn't be able to concentrate on good themeing anyway. Wheee, the drop is fun even though I closed my eyes when we got splashed. A little wetter now, we move on to Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges. We take off our shoes and socks and store them in the center area. This ride is similar to Kali River Rapids and just like KRR it's highly likely you will get soaked. I liked the ride itself better than KRR I think because there were more rapids and not just a big drop. There was a nice area at the exit to sit down and put your shoes back on which was very nice--KRR needs this. Even though we are very wet it's warm out and since our feet are dry we don't feel too uncomfortable. We take some photos in the area-one of Bill pretending to eat a tray full of hamburgers at Wimpy's and one of me at the Popeye the Sailor Man statue. My brother watched every Popeye cartoon when he was a kid. It was on TV when I was getting ready to go to school and he was sitting there in front of it every morning when I left to get on the bus. I can remember days when the same cartoon repeated from the day before and my Dad saying to my Mother that he didn't even think my brother noticed he saw the same one the day before. So you see, when I can relate to the characters, I enjoy the attractions more. As we walk back through Marvel Super Hero Island, we don't repeat the Hulk or Spiderman. Instead, we wander through the Port of Entry shops. It's about 2 p.m. and we've experienced the entire park. I was correct in thinking there wouldn't be enough to keep us here until closing and still feel the need to come back. Before we actually leave, though, I want to take another look at our Grinch photo so we go back to Seuss Landing. We still don't want it and decide to have another taken. It' still a walk on so we go again and it's a different Max!! I realize it's a real dog with the ears and antler tied to its head!!! Wow, Bill couldn't believe that I thought it was an animatronic. This time we have an employee take our picture with our camera too. I linger, again, and try to take some pictures of Max. We check out the new picture and it's better. Also, an employee helped us make the photo more appealing by cropping it quite nicely. I bought a package that included on 5x7 and four or six wallets for about $20. I wanted to get a Grinch frame so we hit one of the shops nearby. They didn't have 5x7 size frames so I bought what they had and the wallet size photo would fit in it so that was good. Bill also picked out a polo shirt for half off with the Cat in the Hat on it. What an expensive photo--$100 admission to the park, $20 for the photo package and $10 for the frame. And, by the way, the photo taken with our camera came out better than the one we bought! Oh, well. Outside the shop we notice Whoville characters (from the Jim Carry version) and a show, a Whovillation, beginning on the stage by the big crooked Christmas tree. They have Who noses too! Very cute and so are the costumes. I begin snapping photos like crazy and THERE'S Cindy Lou Who too!! The show is great and was one of many held throughout the day with each one telling another chapter of the Grinch's story. We didn't want to wait around for the rest so we moved on. What a great way to get people to hang around all day though. Before we actually left the park we used up the roll of film in the camera by taking photos of Bill with the Cat in the Hat and with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and with me holding two stuffed Grinches while being surrounded by many more at one of the carts. We were completely done touring at 3:15 p.m. and leave. I'm glad we finally visited the park and especially glad we did so when the Grinch was there. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been much of interest to keep us lingering. There just aren't enough attractions here to keep guests all day. Maybe if the park was very crowded and the attractions were not walk-ons all day, I would see it differently. Also, if a family had both very young and teen children, then maybe they could make a longer day out of it by doing all the attractions for both age groups. For us, I would have really liked to be able to hop over to the Studios with the one-day ticket. Having that option would have made the admission more reasonable to me. Even at the same price, one-day tickets at WDW are a bargain since there is so much more to experience no matter which park you spend the day in. Anyway, I can now say I've been there and done that, but I'm not going back any time too soon. Back at the resort we sit in the spa for an hour before showering and heading out again at 6 p.m. I still need to get something for my mom for Christmas and decided to return to Orlando Premium Outlet Mall to the Character Premier to get a pair of 14 kt gold Mickey earrings I saw there other day. They were originally $150 and I got them for $75. Later, when I visited the Cast Member Connection I saw them for $35! This was in the late morning of our last day and I felt it wasn't worth the money or time to buy the $35 pair and return the $75 pair. Oh well. At Epcot we watch the end of a performance of the Chinese acrobats. We move on and get a bite to eat at Yakitori House which we found to be good but not filling. While we are sitting outside eating we can listen to the Candlelight Processional music. We were going to try and get stand by seats for CP tonight. Still hungry we head back around World Showcase to Mexico for something more to eat. There are already people in the standby line for the next CP performance. We stop in Italy and see mime juggler Sergio, then catch St. Nicholas' performance in Germany. We finally get to Mexico's Cantina de San Angel and we get nachos and a combo platter and two margaritas and sit at a lakeside table. We can hear CP start just before we finish. We walk back to the American Gardens Theater and as I suspected, all the seats are taken. We are too tired to stand and listen so we head out taking the monorail to the MK resorts to see their decorations. As we arrive at the TTC and try to transfer to the MK resort line the MVMCP fireworks are about start and all ferries or monorails are stopped until they end. So, we start to walk to the Poly and watch most of the fireworks as we walk. It seems like a long walk to Great Ceremonial House. The decorations here are practically non existent, I think, mostly because the lobby does not lend itself to providing space for them especially a big tree. We monorail to the Grand Floridian--now the decorating here is what I expect--beautiful. I take lots of photos of the trees and gingerbread houses-big and small. The band is playing too. We sit for a minute and Bill comments on this being how the other half live. As always, I admire the huge live floral arrangements here. On to the Contemporary where we find the decorations here weaker than the Polynesian's. On to TTC and transfer to the Epcot line where we get to ride in the cab. This is especially cool since it's a long ride and the monorail goes right through the canopy of lights in the park. It's been a long day and we are very tired as we walk to the car, then to the resort and bed. Friday, December 14 Up at 8 a.m., we take our time getting ready and leave at 10 a.m. and go to MK. We check out the Story Behind the Magic kiosks in Exposition Hall and Bill takes my picture with Snow White before we walk down MS taking lots of photos. I especially like the hanging ivy plants that are growing/shaped like bells. There are even red bows on the tops. We watch Cinderella's Surprise, the new show in front of Cindy's castle and then move on to Belle's Enchanted Grove where Belle picks Bill to play the part of Beast in Belle's story! He even gets stickers which he shares with me. We walk to Toontown and ride Goofy's Barnstormer. From there we take the secret walkway to TL and get FP for SM before entering the standby line and riding with little wait. Bill is in front and we ride the right side. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority is next and then back to SM this time I'm in front and we ride the left side. We move toward other mountains but stop for lunch at Columbia Harbor House first and sit outside and brave the swooping birds. We find the wait too long for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and FP is not open. Bill doesn't want to get wet so no Slash Mountain. We ride the Main Street Railroad instead to the Main Street Station and stake out a shady bench in Town Square for the Magical Moments Parade. I never remember correctly which end of the park the parades (night and day) start and well, we were at the end and have to wait at least one hour before it reaches this point. Bill has a hard time saving me a seat on the bench while I shop Main Street. It's a cute parade but I was so busy photographing it, I didn't see it as well as if I weren't worry about capturing the best photo. Afterwards, we leave the park via ferry, tram, and car back to our resort for some pool time. It's 85 degrees today and feels it too. We spend some time packing before we get ready and meet Juliet at 6:15 p.m. We pick her up at Visa Way where she had to register us and we had to show IDs before security would let us in. We are off to Boma and Juliet is really looking forward to eating here since plans to do so recently with her CM friends fell through. Our PS is for two but we have not problem getting a table for three. We are given a beeper/vibrator and wander around pool area (no thong sighting!). We enjoy dinner very much. I especially enjoy the Moroccan soup and ask for the recipe. I am asked to fill out a 3x5 card and am told the recipe will be mailed to me. The following Monday it is e-mailed to me by a CM at Boma. Great! Juliet thinks she can get 50% off the bill with a special CM program but it's a Friday night and the discount is not good tonight but she is able to get her regular 20% off though. Downtown Disney's Marketplace is our next destination and first on the agenda is to hit an ATM before we shop. Juliet gets 40% off all purchases and we save over $50. We drop Juliet off back at Vista Way and head back to our resort. We finish packing and I am able to fit all my purchases in my suitcase. Go to bed. Saturday, December 15 Wake up at 7 a.m., finish packing and get ready to go. Check out of resort at 10 a.m. Pay $.50 each time we picked up the phone which totals $6.05. Met Juliet at Vista Way and got to Animal Kingdom. She has only been here for her new CM orientation. We get FP for Dinosaur, shop and Juliet gets 40% off a shirt for Bill. We ride Dinosaur and Juliet likes it, however, we know that there are many areas that are not working that just remain dark. It's too bad because it's such a new attraction. Juliet thinks we can and wants to try getting into the Cast Member Connection Clearance Sale-75% off. So, we leave AK and drive past the Contemporary to backstage and the huge tent sale. We go in while Bill decides to wait in the car and read. There is a trailer (think construction project trailer) that has nicer items for sale in it and then two huge tents that have mostly clothes. Many of the items are dated and are tee shirts. She gets lots of stuff for her family at home and I get two fleeces for $15 each originally marked $60 each. After shopping, to avoid the security gate, we exit WDW property onto Reams Road. It's pretty desolate area with lots of orange trees. Soon we are back on SR535 and in familiar territory again. We take Juliet back to Vista Way and she hurriedly changes for work. I pack her new purchases in a large shopping bag to take home to friends and family in NY. She shares her apartment with three other CMs. There are two bedrooms with their own bathrooms and vanities in the room itself. There is a common living area with kitchen, dining and living areas. Her apartment was on the top floor so it had large windows in the front and a cathedral ceiling. We drive to Epcot and park in CM parking. We say goodbye and Juliet leaves to clock in while we walk to the turnstiles. We decide to eat lunch in Germany's Biergarten before leaving for the airport. On our way out of the park we say one last good bye to Juliet working at the turnstiles and leave. She hugs us and then waves and tells all the guests lined up to get in that we are her family and are going home and to wave goodbye to us. The whole line of people turns and waves to us! She's a nut!! In the parking lot, we pack my new purchases in the big bag with Juliet's and head to the airport filling the gas tank along the way. We take the Greenway and arrive at Terminal A, check our bags at the curb, return the car to the parking garage and head to the gate. Flight is fine except for the kid in the seat in front of us who does not sit still and screams the entire trip home. We land and the pilot announces it's 34 degrees outside. TRIP TWO Saturday, December 22, 2001: I got up at 2:50 a.m. It's near 32 degrees outside. I meet the others at Maureen's at 4:05 a.m. and they are ready! Vanessa drives and we are at the park and fly by 5 a.m. At the terminal, we find a long line for Southwest because there are no agents at the curb or inside until just after 5:30 a.m. The line moves fast with 6 agents and we are off to security to find they are only letting 20 people at a time upstairs but this goes fairly quickly too. Once at the gate, people are already lined up for boarding passes so we get in another line and then in another to board the plane. Our ID's are checked at each step. I hope this isn't a sign of how the whole week will go. Our flight leaves on time at 7 a.m. and is uneventful. We arrive at MCO early where it's 70 degrees outside and our bags come quickly. With my Avis Preferred membership, we go directly to the Avis garage, present my upgrade coupon, are assigned another car, given the wrong keys, etc. (see trip planning for all the details). Finally, we are on the road taking the south exit in a Buick LeSabre. We pick up groceries at Publix at the corner of SR 535 and 192 and we're off to the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. Vanessa checks us into unit 8313 (resort/unit described above). We drop our bags and make lunch from our groceries (turkey sandwiches, vegetables and dip and chips) and eat it out on screened in porch where it is sunny and warm with a nice view of the pool area. We are soon off again and arrive at Animal Kingdom at 1:30 p.m. We get FP for Kilamanjaro Safaris and then see the Lion King and Flights of Wonder before our safaris (few animals are out). Then it's Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, Pangani Forest Trail and shopping until almost 5 p.m. when we get slip into the last ITTBAB before more shopping. The park officially closed at 5 p.m. but we don't actually leave until 5:45 p.m. My plan was to leave AK at 5 p.m. and head to the Magic Kingdom to see Spectromagic at 6 p.m. but since it's late, I don't know if we can still make it but Vanessa wants to try so we're off to MK. We drive, park and then monorail to MK and watch some of Spectromagic from the Main Street Rail Road Station while waiting for the train to take us to Frontierland. Once the train pulls in, we hop on and find it very crowded when we arrive in Frontierland. I manage to worm our way through the crowd and find a spot in front of a drink booth where only one row of people are in front of us. We are very hungry so I conveniently buy lemonade to hold us over a little while longer until after the parade. Maureen, Vanessa and Adam were very impressed when they realize that the parade hasn't even made it to Frontierland yet so we haven't missed any of it. Duh, that was my goal. I was pleased I found a good spot to view the parade among the large crowd. After Spectromagic we watch Fantasy in the Sky from near the hub and then cross through the mass of people exiting the park to eat at Cosmic Rays for dinner. The chicken counter is shut down so our only options are burgers and sandwiches. We sit in a corner where we can see the castle. After we eat, we wander through Fantasyland and shop our way out of the park. We monorail to TTC without a problem but find a very long slow line for the tram to the parking lot. We are very tired at this point but we make it back to car, then the Hilton, and to bed. On our ride back to the Hilton, Adam politely says that although he liked Animal Kingdom he didn't see anything that really impressed him at MK and doesn't think we need to go back. I told him that may be because we didn't see anything-just the parade and fireworks. I note that he's being very cautious about warming up to WDW. He is, after all, a teenager--a cool teenager. You know the kind, into his looks more than comfort-wearing just a leather jacket even if it is cold outside because adding a fleece underneath to keep warm would ruin the look. Watch how this attitude toward WDW changes as the days go by-it warms my heart to see it! Sunday, December 23, 2001: Alarm at 7:10 a.m., I get up shower and eat out on balcony before others start to stir. They finally get up and get ready. Adam is the hold up due to another teenager trait-he likes to stay up until early morning and then sleep until noon. We are out one hour later than I had planned. I predict that by the end of the day when we have to leave the park they, especially Adam, will wish for that extra hour. It works and from now on he gets going earlier. Discovery Cove: Sunday, December 23, 2001 I made reservations in September or October (sorry, I don't remember exactly) with no problem and scheduled our visit early in our week to give us leeway to reschedule if need be due to poor weather. I reserved swims with the dolphins for Maureen, Vanessa and Adam and I got a non swim. If on the day of our visit, the weather was nice, I would upgrade to the swim. The swim costs about $200 and the non swim $100 and both include everything you will need during the day except for snacks, photo packages and gift shop purchases. I'd done the swim before and didn't need to do it again, especially if the weather was going to be cold and miserable. Maureen and I visited Discovery Cove last March (see February/March 2001 report on this site) so I will be making some comparisons between that visit and this one. We woke to sunny skies and 70 degrees or so, left 1 hour after I had planned, drove to Discovery Cove, noticed the lobby was decorated and the tree had a nautical theme, waited in line about 5 - 10 minutes to check in, I upgraded my non-swim reservation to a swim with no problem with $95 charged to my VISA, got our ID badges with our swim time noted and also arranged for charging privileges on it, we received sunscreen, had a complimentary group photo taken and set off with a guide for a tour and orientation of the park. The location of the complimentary photo was better than last year's but I think they should have included a sign in the photo that indicates we are at Discovery Cove. The tour of the park was not nearly as comprehensive as last's years. Perhaps because we'd mentioned to our guide that Maureen and I had visited before. We picked up our wet suits and snorkel masks and went into the locker room to change. Maureen and I chose full length suits and Vanessa and Adam got the short suit. There was also the option of just a vest. We needed more than a vest simply for warmth today. The park is set up for fun in the sun, sand and water. It resembles a tropical paradise with white sand beaches, lounge chairs and umbrellas, waterfalls and thick vegetation. Lagoons to swim and snorkel in, play with the rays or float in the freshwater river's current. There is also a bird aviary. The area where the swim with the dolphins takes place blended right in as a natural lagoon area instead of a pool. It was just gorgeous. Our swim time was 11:40 a.m. so we snorkeled in coral pool first. At 11:30 a.m. we met with the others in our party, about seven total, at the specified cabana where we learned about the dolphins and our swim from the two trainers who would be with us and also watched a video. Among the safety rules were no cameras, even under water ones, because the dolphins think they are toys and bump them out of your hands. Next we ventured out to the dolphin swim lagoon with two trainers and stayed along the edge in shallow water and had to squat down and keep low in the water. Since we were right off the beach area if we had someone with us who was not swimming, they could have taken photos of us. Last year this was just not possible because we were far out in the lagoon. The water is heated for the dolphins and was cool to us. The photographer had his camera in a plastic bag with just the lens sticking out. There was also a video photographer this year too. Latoya was our dolphin and she was 10 years old. She was born at Sea World Orlando, grew up in the dolphin pool there and then was trained in Ohio specifically for Discovery Cove and has a son, Oscar. Her favorite toy is a ring. I felt we each had sufficient amount of time with the dolphin. I asked one of our trainers how long it actually was and she said 30 minutes. There were a number of things we each got to do with it and have our picture taken. One was smooching it on the nose while holding it's jaw in your hands. Family groups within our small group (ours was seven total) went out into the deep water to perform other stunts for photos. We posed for a group shot with the dolphin and then danced with her. Next we each got to ride her back in to the ledge and shallow water. We held onto her fins and she pulled us to shore. The photos came out great-huge smiles all around. Next we spent time looking at our photos on a computer in another cabana. There were a number of packages you could buy ranging from about $30 to $200. Maureen bought a $99 package and so did Vanessa plus she bought an extra 5x7. With the package, they each got five 5 x 7s and a choice of key chains or snow globes with photos in them too. It also came with a dolphin screen saver. For the most part they purchased different photos and after we returned home they copied them at Wal-Mart (along with those also purchased at WDW) and shared them so we all got copies of all the photos. Having the photo packages available was great and worth it for us since we did not have someone on shore taking photos. After our swim and picking out photo packages we had lunch which was excellent. There was a line but it moved fast and gave us time to decide what we wanted. There were many good entrée choices and plenty of food per serving. We found a place in the eating area that was in the sun. The air temperature could have been just a little bit warmer today, but we managed fine. It was certainly a much better day than my previous visit which was down right cold with rain and thunder and lightning. After lunch we still quite a few hours before the park closed. We took the advice of the girl who helped us choose our photo packages and picked them up and stored them in our lockers. The complimentary photo taken at the beginning of the day was also available. By doing this, we avoided the long line that formed at the end of the day when everyone else is picking up their photos. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing some more in the coral reef pool, the ray pool, and the freshwater river and aviary. We stayed together most of the time but also split up so everyone could redo their favorite thing. I chose to float around the river again because the water was so warm. We all took lots of photos throughout the day with our disposable underwater cameras. Other guests were kind enough to offer to take shots of all four of us and we returned the favor. These cameras take pretty good pictures and we wound up with some great shots to document a great day. At the end of the day we headed for the locker rooms. The changing rooms were very nice and spacious. They included tons of fresh fluffy towels, showers with body/hair shampoo, and blow dryers but there were no plastic bags this time for your wet bathing suit. Oh, I should mention that the park also supplies special sun screen that won't harm the animals so you don't need to take your own. This was handed out in sample size bottles when we checked-in. We got two (for four of us) and I asked for another one and was told that she had already given us an extra one because groups of four should only get one. I noticed the same sample sized bottles for sale in the gift shop for $9! No wonder why they weren't giving it away. Last year it was in a gallon sized container with a pump in the locker area for everyone to use. We hit the gift shop on the way out. I got a couple of themed frames for the photos we took/bought today-something I didn't do last year and regretted. I waited for the others while they continued to shop. As we are getting in the car, Adam claims that "this was the best day ever!" and he wished he had the wasted hour from this morning. Back at the Hilton we have some munchies while we get ready to go out shopping at the Disney outlets before getting some dinner. We leave at 7 p.m. and go to the Orlando Premium Outlet Mall's Character Premier where they find quite a few things and love the prices. We try the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet next but it is closed-it is a Sunday night. Bennigan's on SR535 is convenient so we have dinner there before heading back to the Hilton about 10 p.m. Everyone enjoyed the day very much. Monday, December 24, 2001: I am up at 7 a.m. and we are off at 8:05 a.m. When the time that I've told everyone that we need to leave comes, I tell them I'm going to wait for them in the car and they soon follow. It may sound mean but it worked. We head for Disney/MGM Studios and arrive before the entire park opens and wait at the end of Hollywood Boulevard. At rope drop we move quickly with the rest of the early risers to Rock n' Roller Coaster. We ride in the last car and Adam loves it but Vanessa feels her neck aching. The photo is great but we don't stop to get it now. Before we move on, we get RRC Fast Passes and then go to Tower of Terror. We wait in line for a short time but I don't mind with this attraction because the themeing is so great. Besides just tour guiding I am also teaching my touring strategies so I direct my family to stand in front of the exit door in the library so we will be the first to enter the next queue area. I tell Adam about the seatbelt seat and he's game. The CM razzed him somewhat when he asked for it but he loved the air time. This photo here is great, too, and we wind up getting a package deal with the RRC and TOT photos in one folder. Adam and I go back on RRC with our FPs, standby is now 20 minutes and Adam quickly sees the benefit of FP. We ask for the first car this time and have to wait a little longer but it's worth it. This photo is also great so Adam buys it and adds it to the center area of the folder he already bought so he has all three photos together. We get FP for Indiana Jones next and then ride Star Tours, Great Movie Ride, and tour One Man's Dream. It's now IJ FP return time and we are hungry. Since we haven't the time to eat a meal, I tell everyone to get snacks that we can take into the show. We are very late entering IJ and the theater is full. There are no seats so we sit on the back wall waiting for the handicapped seats to open to us once the show begins. Meanwhile we're munching away and I'm watching and trying to jockey for better seats. Finally, the CMs ask everyone to move to the center and there are some single and double seats available on the end of the rows. I wave to Maureen, Vanessa and Adam to follow me and we separate taking the empty seats. Then I see room for all of us together below and right in front so I wave to them to follow me down. Here we are arriving late and getting the best seats in the house-they are quite impressed once again and I can't believe how well that worked to our advantage. We all eat popcorn, ice cream or pretzels while enjoying the show. We do some shopping as we head out of the park. Maureen, Vanessa and Adam pick up the photos at package pick up while I try and make PS for the Fantasmic dining package for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the 50s Prime Time Café. Unfortunately, I am told there are no Fantasmic dining packages during the holiday week but I make a regular PS anyway. We take the tram to the car and have sandwiches once back at the Hilton. Adam and I go to the pool/spa while Maureen and Vanessa nap. We regroup and are back out at 3:45 p.m. for Epcot. I park in the CM lot to avoid the long line for the tram at end of night (lesson learned from MK Saturday night) and we walk in. I leave them in a shop outside guest relations while I pick up our Candlelight Processional tickets. We begin shopping with our 15% discount in the shop next to guest relations before even getting in the park. Once in, we walk through Future World and shop in Mexico, Norway, and China until 5:45 p.m. so from here we go directly to Japan's Teppanyaki restaurant for our 6 p.m. PS. We are seated quickly an |