 |  |
| Discussion Boards | Reviews | News | Trip Planning | Shop | Travel | Site Map |
| Disney Trip Report Archive An archive of reader-submitted trip reports | |
| Alex Stroup, editor | Search just the Trip Report Archive. |
|
Sheri Niklewski -- September 2001 -- Walt Disney World (CSR)August 31 - September 3, 2001 Introduction Yet another trip to Disney World. Over Labor Day weekend. Why? Because we're within driving distance, we have Annual Passes, and I don't want to stay at home. Simple, right? Participants
When
How
Why Because we can. It's a simple as that. Our friend, Jane and her husband, Court will be there. And so will another friend, Lindy. Jane used to work with Rich and we share a common love of Disney World. We've met Jane at Disney World twice now and it just seemed natural to do it again (read the trip reports from June, 1999 and May, 2001 for the details). Jane needed a boost, Court agreed to Disney World so they are going. Lindy is flying out of Salt Lake City, UT. I met Lindy through these trip reports and I met her last September (see that trip report as well). And then Lindy, Rich, and I had a great time in May going around Disney World together. So getting together with Lindy is a must. Accommodations The resort reservations were kind of tough for me. I didn't want expensive but I wanted something nice. Tough choice. I did go through www.floridakiss.com and checked out everything there. They had some things available but I was looking really at www.mousesavers.com. They had some discount codes for me. I called 1-407-WDISNEY and tried for the All Stars at $49/night. Nothing available. So I went up to the moderates. Coronado Springs, I innocently threw out. Yep, available at $89/night. Well, let's just do that. Totally crazy for a short trip but what the heck, right? It's so close to Epcot which is where we'll spend the majority of our time. So I booked it. Touring Rich and I had an unexpected trip earlier in August. We did a very relaxed touring plan, riding almost nothing but having a great trip. So we will continue that. This is definitely not a commando report. I threw out that style of touring since we go there so much. But we will see what we want, ride what we want, and see Off Kilter as many times as I can convince Rich. The week before I set up to have lunch on Sunday with Lindy, Jane, and Court at Nine Dragons. Rich and I have never eaten here before and Rich was getting a craving for Chinese. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese but I thought I'd find something here. Unfortunately, Lindy thinks Nine Dragons, well, stinks (she used a different word) so she's opting to eat somewhere else. I called Coronado Springs and requested Ranchos section and specifically building 6B if possible. This is where we stayed last November and I really liked it. It's quiet and it's not close to the Convention Center or the food court (Pepper Market). Of course, I was told that nothing was guaranteed but it's in the system. Lindy checks in on Wednesday and I asked her to see if we were going to be close to her. She also requested building 6B. Lindy is going to leave us a message on Friday at the front desk with her room number so we can leave her a message that we are there. Disney is very reluctant to give out room numbers of other guests. We will try for some sort of meet. And the best news of this entire trip. I finally found a job the Tuesday before we left. Rich and I have both been out of jobs - me since April, Rich since July (although he got a severance). This opportunity is great for me with a nice salary but I'll have a two hour commute. Atlanta traffic and all. It's a short term contract deal that only runs until the end of the year and I think I can handle it until then. So no more Disney trips until the wedding renewal ceremony over New Year's. If the contract isn't over by that time, I'm sure they will give me the time off for this special time. If not, I'll terminate the contract. And then even better news. I had been looking at Steve Soares site for the Epcot entertainment for our earlier August trip and Off Kilter had a very limited playing schedule. I didn't get to see them at all on that trip (she says pouting). That continued through August and we were told by the Canadian beer vendor that Fiddlesticks was helping out Off Kilter. But, on Wednesday morning, I got an email from Lindy with the subject NEWS! I had to read that one first. Off Kilter was playing Tuesday-Sunday! Well, that just made my day. I literally ran down to Rich and told him we were going to see them often. He was not amused. I emailed Lindy back and we agreed to meet at the 7:25 show on Friday night. And then I emailed Jane (I got her interested in Off Kilter in May) and set up to meet her and Court at the 7:25 show on Sunday. We also cancelled the plans for lunch at Nine Dragons. Jane and Court didn't want to have to be somewhere for lunch. That was fine with me. Rich and I will do a very cheap meal plan this trip. Also during this week, I had a very extreme case of insomnia. I don't know if it was because of the job offer, the thought of the commute, the trip, or what but one night I was up until 4:30 AM, one night until 1:30 AM and then slept for about two hours before I got up again. I was just restless. We also had adopted two kittens (Gus and Belle) to go along with our king cat, Todd. They were adjusting well but I guess I worry about things way too much. I jokingly told Rich that if this continued, I could just drive us to Disney World during the night while he slept. He told me that was not going to happen. Day One - Friday, August 31, 2001 It's officially Friday since it's midnight. I made Rich watch "Gone With the Wind" tonight as punishment for him constantly asking me "what movie are we watching tonight?" So we didn't get to bed until midnight. The conversation is as follows: Me: Rich, I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Rich: You better. Me: You know what happened in May (I had gotten up at 2:30 AM and was on the road by 3:30 AM) Rich: It ain't going to happen this time. Me: I really don't think I'm going to be able to sleep. I can drive the whole way and you can sleep. Rich: No. Me: Please? We could be watching the first show of Off Kilter. I can do it. Rich: No. Me: Pretty please? Rich: No, go to bed! Me: Meany. Now it's 1:30 AM and I'm not sleeping at all. I'm cranked up pretty good and I know there's not going to be any rest for me if I don't get up and get going. The conversation is as follows: Me: Richie, are you awake? Me: Richie, I can't sleep. Me: Rich! Rich: Uh? Me: Rich, really I can't sleep. Let's just go. Rich: Uh? Me: Rich, I'm going now. You can come along if you want or you can drive yourself later. But I'm going now. Rich: Uh? Me: Rich, I'm taking my shower now. Rich: Uh? And that's what we did. I got the cooler together while Rich really struggled to get up. I had everything ready to go by the time he was done. I even allowed him to shave (he was so groggy, I had to remind him to do it). We said goodbye to the kittens and to Todd. They will be cared for by a wonderful service we found here. Donna comes out every day and spends lots of time with them. She also gets our mail, brings in the trash can, takes in the newspaper, and rotates the blinds so it looks like someone is home. Excellent service. As promised, I drove and Rich rested. I have a CD player that plugs into the cigarette lighter (a great use of this item) and I have headphones. So I just put those on, played Off Kilter, the Millennium soundtrack, and the Disney collection. Rich slept for the first four hours. I just jammed to the tunes and drove. Rich woke up after we crossed into Florida and struggled awake. I honestly don't know why he puts up with me! I finally stopped for gas in Ocala. There was a gas station right next to a McDonald's and I wanted some breakfast. Rich got a ham, egg, and cheese bagel (yeck!) while I got the standard Egg McMuffin. Cost was $3.06 and it was perfect. This was around 7:30. I knew we would be pulling onto Disney property by 9:00 and I wanted to hit the ground running. I figured our room at Coronado Springs was not going to be ready at that absurdly early hour but I wanted to check in and then just call for the room number later. Rich wanted to take over driving but I was still pumped up so I drove us into Kissimmee. OK, yeah I was still pumped but I still don't trust Rich to drive us around Disney World. That would change with this trip. We did pull into Coronado Springs right at 9:00. There was plenty of parking. Just remember that. I was the only one in the line to check in. All the Cast Members were busy with guests so I had to wait a little. I did overhear a conversation between a Cast Member and a female guest. The guest had her daughter with her. The daughter was about seven years old. The guest said that she needed a four day hopper. The Cast Member pulled up the guest's information on the screen and said "you already have one". The guest said that she didn't. The guest said all she had was her room key. The Cast Member explained that the hopper pass was on the room key. The guest said that wasn't right because her daughter had her ticket so where was the other hopper pass? The Cast Member explained that the daughter didn't have a room key (you can request who gets room keys and who doesn't) and that's why she had the ticket. But the woman's pass was already encoded on her room key. That really confused the guest! I think the way Disney does the tickets is very good *if* you are staying on property and *if* you understand it. But so many people are expecting that paper ticket and it's hard for them to understand that most times, your "ticket" is also your room key. And your charge card if you want it to be. I checked in with no problems, or so I thought. I had requested building 6B and that's what I got. Unfortunately, I think they are redoing the numbering of the buildings or something because what I thought was building 6A is now 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D. Or at least according to the Coronado Springs map I was given. 6B is now 6E. That's what I really wanted. But, the room was ready and I didn't know this had changed at this point. So I was glad we could go and unload the car and get to a park and not have to think about calling for a room number. We were in 6210. I did pay for the room with the American Express card and got two fanny packs for it. American Express is *the* official credit card of Walt Disney World (go figure - look at Warren Buffet's portfolio) so you get a free pack if you pay with American Express. What I was surprised at was that I got two. Last time, I only got one for four adults and my mother-in-law took it! I used this fanny pack throughout the trip and it was great. I just put in what I needed for the day and had my hands free and my back rested. I honestly don't see why some people pack huge bags for the day. But to each his own. We (I) drove back there and had the first of tries at the gate. At Coronado Springs, they have gates where you have to insert your room key in order to get in the parking lots. This gate was awful. I had to take off my seat belt (I always feel so vulnerable without it), lean way out of the car, then get back into my seat and drive through before the gate came down. I have to say that I love the Ranchos section of this place. It is far away from El Centro (the front desk, the food court, the restaurant, etc.). But they have put a bus stop back there now and the Dig Site (the themed pool) is just about a five minute walk. There is a quiet pool there as well. Not a lot of people want this area because it's away from El Centro. Not a problem for us - we walk everywhere. I easily parked in the very empty parking lot. Remember that. We found the room after roaming around for a while because of the mixup with the buildings. The reason I requested the old building 6B is because that's the only building here where you will not have a parking lot view. Nothing depresses me more than walking out of the room and seeing cars. The room was a standard moderate room. Two double beds, in room safe, ironing board and iron (can't really use one without the other, can you?), hair dryer, and coffee maker. We did not have a parking lot room but were right next to the elevator and ice machine. Would I like this location? Not my preference at all but that's OK. We did hear the dinging of the elevators and the clumping of the ice machines every morning. I'd much rather be far away from these things than have the constant sounds. We unloaded and I wasn't feeling the effects of the drive at all. I was raring to go. Rich didn't look that perky, though. But he was going to end up in better shape than I was. I suggested Animal Kingdom since the one day we did that on the earlier trip it was so crowded. We had only managed to get onto the Safari and everything else was mobbed. Since it was Friday, I thought we'd have a better shot at doing some things (last time we went on the weekend - big mistake). So we headed off there, with me driving. I parked where I usually parked and in we went. The turnstiles here were fairly crowded and I didn't hold up much hope but it turned into a good day. We went through to Discovery Island (I *hate* that they changed the name from The Oasis - Discovery Island has special meaning to me and they should have retired that name) and avoided the photographers trying to take pictures of people with the Tree of Life in the background. Rich does not like his picture taken and I practically had to force him to do this in May. I love the picture and so did the parents. Anyway, we checked the wait boards and saw that Dinosaur was only ten minutes. So we went off to there. I can't wait for the new stuff back here to be done. It's such a long walk to Dinosaur without anything really to do until you get there. The check with the wait board was a must because if the line at Dinosaur was too long, I was not going to walk back there just to walk right back out. We basically walked onto the ride. No spiel from Bill Nye, the science guy. That's how short the stand by line was. Absolutely no one in the Fastpass line. I had remarked to Rich that this was probably the earliest we have ever been at a Disney park - 10:30 AM. Remember we don't do the commando mode anymore. I think, and I may be wrong, but I do think they have gone back and re-darkened this thing. And made it louder, if that's possible. Rich said it was too loud. I didn't mind that but at some points you are totally in the dark. So parents, be warned - if your child is scared of the dark, do the Kid Swap here. After our ride, we decided to Fastpass Kali River Rapids and then see what else we could see. But the standby was only 15 minutes so we decided to do that instead. We did get in front of these obnoxious kids, though. There were about five of them and they kept trying to creep ahead of us. I said something to Rich that if they were in that much of a hurry, let them through. We ended up still being ahead of them after one of them kind of lagged behind and the others had to wait. Jeez, it's not like the ride is going anywhere. So you're one raft ahead or behind. Big deal. We got our raft assignments and we weren't in with the obnoxious kids (no adults with them). But the seater person screwed up and the raft we were assigned to already was full. So we got in with the kids anyway. Drat! Rich had said that he absolutely, positively did not want to sit with me because I *always* get soaked. Well, I do except for the one time that Rich's father got it instead of me. But every other time I've gotten the big wet. I won't give away any of the surprises but I think most people know of that backwards drop. Rich didn't have a choice - he had to sit with me. I hoped the kids would get soaked so I could remain dry for the rest of the day. Did it work? Nope! We went down that drop and I looked at Rich, he looked at me, and we knew we were in for it. I just put my hands over my head and hoped for the best. It didn't work. I am telling you, I think that was the wettest I've ever gotten on this thing. The kids thought they were wet but I was waterlogged. Rich was wetter than wet himself but I got more than he did. And then those darn people with the elephants sprayed us too! We literally dripped ourselves off this ride. BTW - for those who don't know - feel free to take all your stuff with you on this ride. Disney did a great thing and they have a "waterproof" container on the middle of your raft. You just stow all your stuff in there. The American Express fanny pack went in there and everything survived. Be warned, though. A lot of people will take off their shoes and socks and put them in there. If you have anything of value, just ask them to get your things under theirs. The only other thing we wanted to do here was It's Tough to be a Bug but there was no way I'd be sitting in the air conditioning while still soaked. Shades of last November with Rich's parents and freezing in Rainforest Café after Kali. I looked at the watch and figured a Flights of Wonder show would be starting soon (the shows start on the hour and half hour, usually). Sure enough, they were drumming up for people to go in there so we went. We had seen this show in May (I saw it twice) and loved it. We spent the seven minutes waiting before the show to wring out some of the water from our shorts. Yes, we were dripping that much we could do that! Right before the show started, something happened that really ticked me off. We had seated ourselves off to the side of this family with smaller kids. We were in the second row, they were in the third. We purposely made sure the kids could still see the stage. Just seconds before the start of the show, this couple comes down, excuses themselves and sits right in front of the kids! There were plenty of other seats but I guess they felt they had to be right there. The poor kids had to sit on their parents' lap in order to see. The show was great as always. This was the first time that Frasier Crane (a highly endangered South African Crown Crane) and Hope (the bald eagle) got an ovation. Frasier because he's so endangered and Hope because we cared enough to save the species and bring it back. This is not a typical bird show. Everything the birds do is natural. It's just a good environmental message that only we humans can ever save an animal species. And once an animal is extinct, it's gone forever. Seen a Dodo bird lately? Oops, gotta get off that soapbox - we now return you to the trip report. We were still soaked so I walked us the long way around to It's Tough to be a Bug, going by Africa. We didn't bother with the Safari since we had just seen it a few weeks ago. Yes, I know, you'll see something different every time but I'm the one that has had no sleep. Onto Flik and the rest of the bugs. This was another walk on with a little of a wait in the preshow area. "Please move all the way down and fill in every available space." Oh, I really don't like those words. We were down a lot farther than I wanted to be so I told Rich that once we got inside to break left and go up a little higher. We did that and got decent seats. But not so decent once the show started. You are warned about the effects beforehand. If your child does not like bugs or surprises or the dark, do not take them in here. Enough said. The child next to Rich just totally lost it with the first effect. Totally. Not a good thing. Just remember, this show takes place under the Tree of Life. It's confining enough. And then throw in some bug effects. I thought this kid would crawl right over her mother. But the parents made no move to leave at all. After a while, the girl did calm down. Rich and I just ignored her reaction but wondered why parents would put their child through that. After this, I knew I needed a break and we were basically done with Animal Kingdom. We still have to do Festival of the Lion King but I was not in the mood for it today. And the weather? Hot and humid. Very hot and very humid. So we went back to the room. As I was approaching the gate to put in the room key, the gate opened up. There was a Disney bus going the other way to get out and Rich thinks that he opened the gate for me. If so, thanks! These gates have to be more car friendly. You have to drive right next to the opener and then hang out the window to insert the key. I understand the gates but please make them more accessible. More on that later. We relaxed in the room for a while and I did not want to lay down on the bed or I knew I'd be out like a light. And that wasn't going to be good because once I do finally sleep, I sleep! Disney is here! So after an hour or so, we went for a walk around Lago Dorado, which is what they call the lake here. We just walked by the Dig Site and then over to El Centro to check out the general store there. And then all the way around Lago Dorado. Our least favorite rooms would be Casitas Building 5. It's a way away from not only El Centro but also the Dig Site. We returned to the room and I decided for the both of us that we would leave around 3:30 so I made sure we missed that showing of Off Kilter. On the walk around Coronado Springs, I managed to get Rich to commit to the last three shows of Off Kilter. We had the mandatory one of meeting with Lindy at 7:25 so that was a definite. But the 5:00 and the 5:55 shows were too much of a temptation for me. A word about Off Kilter. You might think I'm a lunatic for wanting to see so much of them. They change their show each time so you never know what you'll get (unless you request stuff which I do sometimes). So it's not the same thing every time. But these guys have helped me through probably the toughest year of my life. We're in Atlanta because of Rich losing his job. And I've been without a job since we've moved there. And then Rich lost his job again in July. Every time I felt I needed a boost, I put on an Off Kilter CD and just listened to them. They seem to have so much fun on stage and it comes through their music. I was alone in Nebraska (well, our son, Chris (19), was there but he has his own life) for four months while Rich was in Atlanta and I listened to Off Kilter every day to get me through it. I ODed on them in May (19 performances in 18 days - can I top that?) and they were so very nice since I was there just about every single day. They meet with their fans after the shows and will gladly take requests. I drove us out of Coronado Springs right after 3:30 and parked over at the Swan. We unloaded (and I managed to shut the car door - see the earlier trip report for that story) and then walked over to Epcot. We were through the turnstiles again and since it was after 4:00 by this time, I suggested to Rich that we just wait for Off Kilter. We bought a couple of beers in Canada and then noticed that "my seat" (second row on the right) of the Off Kilter stage was already taken. Drat. So we sat in the first row which was in the sun but we didn't care. Well, I didn't care. I was here at Epcot and waiting to watch my guys. And we were highly entertained at 4:35 by the Pipes of Nova Scotia. I hope I have this guy's name right. I think it's Jacque McIve. He's originally from Scotland but does music from Nova Scotia - New Scotland. He plays the bagpipes and talks with the audience and is very good. I highly recommend this entertainment. Right after this, the people behind us moved so I got "my seat". And as we settled in for the ten minute wait until Off Kilter, Rich looks at me and says "I haven't had anything to eat since McDonald's this morning". That meant trouble. My guys (meaning Rich and Chris) have to eat or their blood sugar goes crashing. I knew that Rich was in trouble. He said something about a hot dog and I knew he could go to the World Showcase entrance and get one. So I told him to go. He said he wouldn't have time. Darn it, you need food! So I sent him over there while I kept the seats. Yes, I know, the devoted wife would have gone for the food herself while her husband kept the seats. But that's not how we operate - to each his own. So Rich went off for the hot dog and managed to get back and eat the hot dog before Off Kilter started. And he said he couldn't do it! I was under a "no request" order from Rich so I just watched the show and enjoyed it very much. Rich started to relax a bit as well. It had started to rain and the next show was less than an hour away so I suggested that we just stay put under the umbrella (the seats here have umbrellas) and just wait. We each went and got another beer while we were waiting. Jaime (the lead singer and bagpipe player) was joking with one of the handlers about getting everything stowed down during the rain. It didn't look like the rain would last and it didn't. Another word - Disney rules about getting alcohol are very specific. One person, one drink. No exceptions. I didn't want to leave our seats (they were nicely covered) so first I had to go and get a beer and then Rich would do the same. The trouble was, I put my nice new beer on the bench while I dried off some stuff. The darn beer slipped and fell off the seat. Totally new, $7.75 beer. Drat. Rich went to get his and told the server what happened. She gave him not only his beer but replaced mine free of charge! Nice touch. I did not expect that at all. I had gotten plenty of napkins earlier and freely handed them out to people who wanted to dry down the benches where the umbrellas didn't reach. We didn't realize it but we had the parents in the row in front of us and the kids in the row behind us. The kids were getting a little antsy not having a parent (they were over 10 years old) so the dad moved back there. The mom stayed where she was but we had plenty of room on our bench so we invited her to sit with us. Which got a conversation started. The kids really wanted to hear "Scotland the Brave" so I encouraged them to request it. The dad said they never would. So I said I would. And I did. Once Off Kilter came out, I asked Mark (the bass player) if they could do it for the kids behind us. He said they would. And they did. The parents and the kids were so excited. After this set, Rich was so impressed with the request thing that he wanted to thank Mark. But Mark was off the stage so Rich went up and talked to Randy (guitar player). Since my husband was talking to an Off Kilter member, I had to go up there too. Darn it, right? Rich thanked Randy for doing the request and then asked when the third CD would be coming out. My husband, the shy wallflower, don't you think? Randy said they were touring now and were working on the next CD but they were going to be out until the end of September. I asked if that's why they weren't there earlier in the month. Yep, that's why. Randy asked about our favorites and Rich immediately said "Fields of Athenry" and I was shocked he even knew their songs! I guess I have been playing them quite often. Then Randy asked for another one. I said that Lindy, who we were meeting from Salt Lake City, liked "A Walk in the Irish Rain". And then Rich said he had never heard "Rap" performed live yet. Randy said they would take care of it in the next set! We thanked Randy for his time and let him go and cool down before the last set of the night. We headed for Test Track. I wanted to check out the singles line and we were on and off of this thing within fifteen minutes. The singles line - if you are willing to split up your party, there is a special singles line at Test Track. In order to fill up every car to the full six people, they will seat single people when needed. Rich and I were not going to ride together but that was fine. He was in the car behind me and we exited at the same time. Instead of waiting for 90 minutes, we were on right away. We really didn't have too much interest in Future World since we've seen things so many times. I know people complain about Disney taking things apart like Horizons. But I think Mission: Space will be much better (I can hope) but if not, at least it's different. You have to have change in order to at least attempt to make things fresh. Yeah, I know Journey Into Your Imagination is a big waste of time and there are Figment fans out there but maybe, just maybe, they will fix that little fiasco sometime soon. With Test Track done, we returned to Canada. I can't believe Rich went with all this stuff! Lindy came through before the show and we visited until showtime. And then we got a little bit of a surprise. No Jaime, the lead singer, the bagpipe player. He had to leave suddenly. And this was going to be our total request set. So what did the other four do? "Fields of Athenry" and "A Walk in the Irish Rain" (for the lady from Utah!). They couldn't do "Rap" since Jaime is essential to that one. But we loved the set. They just did the two songs and then they left for the night. But for them to do what they did was so very special. Thank you guys for a very special night. We visited again with Lindy and she checked in to Coronado Springs on Wednesday and could only get Casitas, room 3265. Ranchos was entirely full, she was told. Well, not according to the parking lot. Although the Cast Member at check in told me that over 600 rooms were being checked into that day so we were lucky to get there early. See Rich, told you we should leave at 2:30 AM! We chatted for a while and then Mark came over and apologized for not being able to do "Rap"! Totally unexpected! If there's an emergency, we understand. We said we'd be there tomorrow and he promised they would do the song then. Fine by me but we really appreciated the time and the effort. While we were there, a woman that I had met in May (Barb) came over and we chatted for a while. She lives around Tampa and comes over for the weekends and takes in the Off Kilter shows. Now I know I'm a junkie. Disney, please appreciate this resource while you have them. They really are appreciated and have a nice fan base. Lindy walked with us to the International Gateway. I wanted to see Illuminations one more time and Lindy wanted to go to the Boardwalk in search of her jugglers. Don't ask. But on the way to scope out a place for Illuminations, Rich looks at me and says "you haven't had anything to eat since McDonald's". Oops, you're right. Maybe some food is in order. We made a bathroom break and then headed for a favorite. The Boardwalk Pizza window. Rich is a huge pizza freak so he wanted a full pie. Fine by me if I could just have a slice or two. The window was kind of full so Rich waited in line and I got us a table. I no sooner sit down and here's Lindy! She couldn't find her jugglers but wanted something to eat. So I held the table while she went in line a couple of people behind Rich. Our total damages here was $22 and it was worth it. Good food, good conversation, and good company. Thank you so much Lindy! We parted company once again and Rich and I went back to get the car. I had Rich drive us back to Coronado. He has to learn how to drive us around property, right? Here's where my big complaint with the Coronado Springs gate gets to me. We entered and Rich smugly said that he wouldn't have to hang half out of the car to get us into the lot. Ha! There was a van in front of us and this guy actually had to physically get out of his van and then try gamely to get back in to drive through before the gate closed. He didn't make it. He did on the second try but it was too much. Rich maneuvered close enough but even he had to hang out the window. Come on guys, get these things fixed or something! Take an ATM drive up machine and extend it by an arm's length and that's how far you have to reach to insert the room key here. And then the parking dilemma. Remember those very empty parking spaces? Remember those 600 rooms to be checked into? The parking lot was extremely crowded although we did get a space decently close to the room. That would not be the case for the rest of the trip. Back to the room where I crashed big time. Rich was not far behind me, though. It was a great day but a long day. Gee, when was the last time I slept? Probably around 3:30 on Thursday morning. Day Two - Saturday, September 1, 2001 We didn't have a plan for today except for MGM in the "morning" and Epcot for the last three Off Kilter shows. That meant we needed to be at Epcot at 5:00 so we had plenty of time. But we had a surprise. Thanks to the wonderful people who stayed in room 6210 right before us, the alarm was primed to go off at 6:38 AM. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hit the snooze button as soon as I could but it was still a rude awakening. Usually, once Rich is up, he's up. But he managed to go back to sleep and we stayed in bed until 10:00 or so. But still. Please remember to turn off your alarm clocks before you check out. I beg you! I was extremely stiff with the lost sleep and the long day of yesterday. I took a while in the room to get going. I wrote up trip report notes and Rich got caught up in the sports world. We headed out for the Swan and a split MGM and Epcot day. Another long day. I parked us and then we waited for the boat to MGM. We had just missed one and there was no Cast Member on deck to tell the other guests which boat was which. So when the Epcot boat came up, lots of the MGM people flocked to the dock to get on it. I told as many as I could it was the Epcot boat and some of them listened. As a note (again, another note) - If you are trying to get the boat from the Swan/Dolphin area and the boat is coming from the right, it's coming from MGM and going to Epcot. And vice versa. The routine here is Epcot/Boardwalk/Yacht and Beach Club/Swan and Dolphin/MGM and reverse. And if you're staying at the Boardwalk, it's probably easier on the way back from MGM to get off at the Swan/Dolphin and walk over to the Boardwalk. Just a suggestion. We always deboated at the Swan/Dolphin and walked to Epcot. Faster that way. We got onto the boat after figuring that the walk would have been faster but it was too late for that. At least we didn't arrive at MGM all sweaty again. As we were walking off the boat, a guy going into the boat asked if anyone was interested in Fastpasses for Rock N Roller Coaster. Of course! I felt like a total criminal doing this but I knew it was legal. If the guy had Fastpasses and couldn't use them, he could give them away. He wasn't charging me for them. But I still felt weird. I ended up getting three Fastpasses for the noon to 1:00 PM window. It was 11:55! Perfect! Rich asked why I was shaking and I said that I thought I should be arrested for this. Again, totally legal but it felt strange. With one free Fastpass in hand (and I mean "free" because we didn't have to use up one of our options - Fastpasses cost nothing), we went to get Fastpasses for Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Play It!. We hadn't done this earlier and I wanted to try it. We got those Fastpasses for 1:20-1:30. You should not be able to have multiple Fastpasses unless you are within two hours of your first Fastpass or within the window of your current Fastpass. Again, something a lot of people don't understand. But we could since we had the other guy's Fastpass for Rock N Roller Coaster. Back over there. We went right onto the ride and were seated, unfortunately, in the third row. I hate being in the front. I can see the tracks. But I had survived the fourth row earlier in the month so I was sure I'd survive this. Just make sure that neck brace thingy gets down fast. I tried to move my fanny pack over to the side and didn't succeed before the brace was locked in. So I had some air space. I think my throat still hurts from screaming. I did my yell during the launch. It's not something that should be in a family trip report. I never check out the pictures at the end because I know I'm going to look like a moron. We have the photo with the three of us and that's enough. I was hungry now and suggested a pretzel and a couple of beers at the food stands on Sunset Boulevard before the Millionaire show. So we did that at the (gasp Adrienne) Turkey Cart! I actually have a receipt from a darn turkey cart. It hit the spot and calmed my nerves. We listened to the Beauty and the Beast Show and I was so surprised with the quality of the singer's voices. Oops, lip synching they are. I led Rich out of there right before I knew the show would let out. At that point, I told Rich we had about a half hour until the Millionaire show so maybe we should just walk around and see some shops. Maybe see if Lindy was hanging outside of Hunchback. Rich looks at me like I'm insane. He said "1:20 is when our window opens, right? We still have an hour after that." Err, no. The shows only have a ten minute window, not an hour one. Rich was astounded. We've done Fastpasses for Indiana Jones and Voyage of the Little Mermaid so I thought he knew that. So we just wandered around and looked at the shops for a while. We made it to Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Play It! about 1:15 and were let into the preshow area right away. We watched the trivia there and waited to be let inside the theatre. I had no idea what to expect since this is new for us. We had some good times, we had some bad times. The bad times were that we were seated next to five total dorks from Virginia Tech. They kept yelling that out during the show. Yes, be enthusiastic but be a little restrained as well. They were totally ridiculous. I told them to shut up and some of them listened but the two on the outside aisle didn't hear me. A Cast Member did keep them in check during the "show" but it was still bad. Another note (yeah, these notes are getting old but still, if you don't know what's going on, you need these). *Everyone* gets to play this game! Don't think just certain people get into the hot seat. Doesn't happen. That's what I really liked about this show (and it'll pay off later). If you get there early, you have the same chance of getting into the hot seat as the person who walks in later. So don't rush, don't crowd, and just enjoy. Here's how our session went (and where the good comes in and I will ignore all the "Virginia Tech" screams from the left of us). We started off with the Fastest Finger round. When the question was read, all the adults just groaned. "Put these Harry Potter books in order from the earliest to the latest". No way. I just pressed the buttons on my device and hoped I was right. Have no clue. The winner? A nine year old from New York named Ian. Great. He's going to be gone by the 1,000 point round (BTW - you play for points, not for money). The host here was wonderful and just like Regis (the name was Don). He did a great job. He told Ian that the top prize was a trip to "err, back home!" If you are nine years old or younger, you get to have an adult to come up and help you out. So Ian brought up his dad. Everyone gets to play along with the questions and if Ian had blown a question, the guest with the most points would replace him in the hot seat. Like I said *if* Ian had blown a question. The hot seater still gets three lifelines - the "ask the audience", the "50/50" and then they replaced the "phone a friend" with "phone a complete stranger" where they either ask someone on the Backstage Tour or out on Mickey Avenue. Ian and his dad were ready. So were we. The Virginia Tech guys continued to be obnoxious and we tried to ignore. It got to be so bad that Rich said he would root against the Hokies this college football season. And my former boss used to be a Hokie and I thought he would be appalled by this spectacle. But back to the show. Ian and his dad went on. And on. And on. Rich and I missed a stupid teen princess singing question. We had no clue. I think Ian did his Ask the Audience on that one. He did use up his 50/50 on the question about what feature does a Chicago hot dog have for it's bun? It's poppy seed and he got it right. He was up to somewhere in the fainting regions when he used his Ask a Total Stranger. It was "what is a Beebes Bathysphere?" and the correct answer is a diving vehicle. A guy on the Backstage Tour was on the phone and he was from Australian. He said the answer and then said he was about 20% sure. Hey, Ian, you're over the 64,000 point level, go for it. He did and it was right! Ian got up to the one question. The one question. The Cast Member in the audience moved over so those loonies from Virginia Tech wouldn't shout anything out. And then the question. "Which former model starred in the failed 1998 TV sitcom Wind on the Water. (A) Twiggy, (B) Cheryl Tiegs, (C) Christie Brinkley, (D) Bo Derek". I knew that answer! I am a TV junkie. I had hit Rich when Twiggy appeared but at the last moment I knew that was wrong. It's Bo Derek! But Ian said "Twiggy, my final answer" and I just about groaned. He was one question away! After the 1,000 and 32,000 point mark, they show the audience's scores. I was no where near the top. But based on my quick and correct answer on the last question, I was number four after this! But time was up. Those Virginia Tech dorks realized that I was up on the leaders and were properly amazed. Each person in the audience has a number and that's how they post the scores. So you know if someone around you is up there. Ian was a delight and I'm so glad we got a great show. This is going on the list of repeaters at MGM for us. We still wanted to do Twilight Zone but the standby was too long and the Fastpass return time was too far away. So I decided to come back here tomorrow and do Twilight Zone and get in the Backlot Tour. I made the mistake of telling Rich that the Tour was changed to a Pearl Harbor theme. Now he was intent on doing it. The heat was so bad now and we wanted to get over to Epcot. OK, *I* wanted to get to Epcot. To Off Kilter. Again. We took the boat back and got off at the Swan/Dolphin and then walked through the Boardwalk to Epcot. I had seen some kitchen items I was interested in at MGM and thought maybe they would have them at Boardwalk. Nope but we still beat the boat by a little bit. Rich was extremely thirsty by this time and wanted something cold after we got through to Epcot. So we did the margaritas at Mexico for $6.25 each. I got the Fiesta one which was a combo while Rich just got the Kiwi one (mine had regular, kiwi, strawberry, and mango). Excellent for the day. It was so hot and humid. We walked around World Showcase and stopped outside Germany to finish the drinks. The German band came out and played their set and this lady totally embarrassed her teenage daughter by dancing to the polkas that were being played. We finished the margaritas and then moved on around the Showcase. Rich stopped and got a Yaki Gori in Japan. Then we managed to get back to Canada for the 4:35 show of the Pipes of Nova Scotia again. We enjoy this performance again and waited for Off Kilter (yes, again). This show was *the best* I have ever seen and probably will ever see again. And I'm so glad I was here with my husband. We learned from the Flower and Garden Festival that Disney will limit your sets. I guess it's their right since they have so many different groups to schedule. But Off Kilter came out and said that they were going to do "Rap" (remember we asked for that last night but they couldn't do it). Jaime was back and it was a request. So instead of doing just three songs, they did four. And the crowd for this 5:00 show was extreme. Larger than I've even seen it. Even Rich remarked on it. We had "my seats" and I thought we would have to ask people to step back but everyone was fine. At the end of the set, something happened that I never thought would. "Encore! Encore!" And they did! It was really nice. We stayed put for the 5:55 show again. Yes, we are overdosing on Off Kilter this trip. But Rich was enjoying himself and after that last set, I really wanted to let the guys know we appreciate their shows. After the next set, we headed out to "do" something. We've done the attractions in Future World so often that we just pick a few each trip to repeat. This time, I thought about doing Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. We had enough time until the 7:25 Off Kilter show and I figured we'd just walk on. And walk on we did. We were the last two allowed in! The preshow "True Colors" had just finished up and Rich was very pleased he didn't have to go through that again. I like it - he tolerates it. We did get the full Eric Idle introduction and then we were into the theatre. Again, we got great seats in the middle of the theatre even though we were the last two into the preshow. Why? Because "please move all the way forward and all the way to the left". Sometimes I feel like a cow at some of these attractions. Moo, moo. The show was great and it was greatly enhanced by the women next to Rich. Those mice really got to them and they ended up watching the rest with their feet on the seats! After the show, the guy that was with them said "you can put your feet on the floor now". It was hysterical! We went back to Canada and I needed a bathroom break so I went off to United Kingdom. On the way back, I saw Lindy heading for the stage. Rich had "my seats" and, of course, Lindy went over there. I totally went out of character and shouted "hey lady, quit trying to steal my husband" which got quite a few looks from the other guests. All three of us enjoyed Off Kilter yet again and then the adventure for the evening started. It rained. And rained. And rained. Lindy was going to do some Boardwalk entertainment that night but with the rain, decided not to. We wanted some dinner and since we were all staying at Coronado Springs, thought to go to the food court, the Pepper Market. We would drive Lindy back. So we started the walk back to the Swan. We were pretty wet by the time we got there. Lindy had an umbrella but it decided to turn inside out on the way. Rich and I just muddle through the rain while we're at Disney World. I drove us back to Coronado Springs and we parked at the front. Into the Pepper Market. No way! There was a line and some people were saying they were told an hour long wait! The food is not that good. Onto Maya Grill. We could get in there but the prices! Yikes! So we talked about offsite. Rich and I like Darryl's on Highway 192 and I took Lindy there in May. That got a thumbs up from everyone and off we went. And we'll never return. Ever. We were seated within about ten minutes which was fine. Our waitress was Heather and she is possibly the worst waitress in the history of the business. It took forever for the drinks to get there. It took about fifteen more minutes for the salad (Rich's) and the appetizer. Heather came over once and said something like "oh, your food isn't out yet, let me check" and then went over and saw to another table. And then the extremely long wait for our food. When we ordered, I wanted the prime rib. Heather said "oh, honey, it's a rainy night, we've been out of prime rib for a while". Well, why the heck didn't you tell us that when you took our drink orders? So I had to decide on something else. I had the three way sampler which was shrimp, ribs, and chicken tenders. Lindy did the veggie stir fry and Rich had the lasagna and added a salad. The appetizer was fried provolone triangles. Now, the food was very good. But when you are a party of three and are seated before a party of eight and the other party finishes everything before you even get your entree, something is wrong. Heather was very flip about it. She said it wasn't her fault and there was nothing she could do about it. Come on, you are the only one we get to talk to here, make something happen. Then she asked if we wanted to speak to her supervisor. Darn right we do. Earlier, she had said the drinks were late because the bartender was slow. Now, here comes Gary, the supervisor. His excuse for everything - they were short handed. Please, it's the Saturday night of the Labor Day weekend and it's raining. You should have staffed accordingly. And don't make excuses for poor service. Then Gary says that even he's pitching in and waiting the bar. Didn't Heather just say the bar was slow? I guess I could understand all this but it was just the attitude of Heather and Gary that totally ticked me off. I usually don't confront people like this but I was wet, tired, and mad. We entered Darryl's at 8:30 PM and we didn't leave there until 10:30 PM. I don't think it should take two hours to eat dinner at a place like this. Especially since people were coming and going within an hour. I don't know what Heather's problem was and Gary needs to change his attitude if he's going to continue dealing with customers. We asked for a complaint form and they "were all out". So we got the manager's business card (he wasn't there) and I will be sending a letter to him. Gary begrudgingly gave us $5 off the bill. Whoo hoo! I told him that I was planning a family reunion in January and since the place to pick up the house keys was right next door, was going to have everyone meet at Darryl's for an early dinner before we went to the house. But not now, we'd go to Chili's instead. He didn't even blink. Said something like he hoped we would enjoy Chili's. I was so frustrated by the whole thing. So - if you do decide you want to patronize Darryl's, don't get Heather as a waitress and ask if Gary is working. If he is, run the other way. There are plenty of other eating places along Highway 192 to go to. Bad service rant off. I actually let Rich drive us onto Disney property! My adrenaline was going so high and I didn't trust myself behind the wheel. We dropped Lindy off at her building and then went around to ours. And faced the great parking dilemma of Labor Day. Remember how easy it was to park before? Remember those 600 rooms to be given out yesterday? All those people must have driven. There were absolutely no parking spaces for our building. None. Nada. Zilch. We had to go three buildings down to get a space. And then walk all the way back. Some people were parking illegally but we don't do that. We'd rather walk then take a chance our car will be hit. What a long, long day. We usually don't go all day like this and the experience at Darryl's did not help. We were in bed very quickly. Day Three - Sunday, September 2, 2001 No alarm to wake us up. Rich was up around 9:30 or so. Groan. I must be working out the kinks in my joints because it was easier getting up this morning. We wanted to finish up MGM so we headed back over to the Swan to get there. We took the boat again. I'm getting more and more patient with the Disney boat system. I do like the walkway from the Boardwalk to MGM but it was going to be another hot and humid day so the air conditioning was appreciated on the boat. Our first stop was for Fastpasses for Twilight Zone. I still don't know why I go on this stupid thing. Always makes me shake. But it's a E-ride attraction so we have to do it, right? Right? The return time was only for about 40 minutes away. Rich was insistent on doing the Backlot Tour since I told him it was changed to a "Pearl Harbor" theme. I was so disappointed. We lined up in the queue area and they used to have the overhead monitors showing how "Con Air" was made. I figured they'd do the same for "Pearl Harbor". Nope, 8-1/2 minutes of nothing but sweaty bodies pressed together. Not very comfortable. The first area shows water effects and they've changed this and are calling it Harbor Attack. They didn't focus on "Pearl Harbor" at all. It's always fun to see the people getting wet (they pick four "volunteers" from the preshow crowd) but I've seen it enough. Then onto Catastrophe Canyon and the backlot tour. Again, I've seen it enough. But it made Rich happy although they could have changed this to fit "Pearl Harbor" just a little more. Then it was time for Twilight Zone. With the Fastpasses, we basically walked right in. I think the standby was 30 minutes or so. I kept asking Rich why I was going on here and he kept saying "because it's here". We got up to be seated and yikes! We're in the front row. I was the first one into the row so I was all the way over to the right. Which really helped me. What makes me shake with this attraction is the fact that it's a simulated free fall. That scares me. With sitting towards the side, I had the feeling of being enclosed and that made the difference for me. I didn't mind this ride at all. With that, we were done with MGM. So where to go? Do you have to guess? Back to Epcot. We just made the boat and sailed away to the Swan. We had a great skipper - Kyle - who cracked jokes and talked the whole way. ("What do you call those little white boats?" Water mice was the answer. "Yes, that's true but we call them targets") We got off at the Swan (although I thought about staying put since Kyle was so fun) and started to walk over to Epcot. Much faster that way. It was hot and humid again but I guess we're getting used to it. We discussed food possibilities and as we were approaching the ESPN Club, Rich asked about it. We checked at the front and were told it wouldn't be a problem to seat us. So in we went. The air conditioning felt nice and this really was a good choice for us. Rich had a burger and I did the roast beef and cheese sandwich. Great break and good food. We got caught up with the sports news and just relaxed for a while. After our nice late lunch, I looked at the watch and jokingly said to Rich "hey, we can make the 3:30 show of Off Kilter". He actually agreed! So off we went to Canada. Where we basically stayed for the rest of the day. Yes, four more shows of Off Kilter. We did get another margarita from Mexico after the 3:30 show since we were still hot and sticky. And we shared some of the mega beers from Canada during the later shows. We had to explain the mega beers to a couple of people. It was hot and humid and lots of people were looking for a beverage break. Canada sells 32 ounce Moosehead drafts for $7.75. A great bargain and I can't tell you how many people asked us where we got ours. It is a big beer and we shared ours. Had to - it would have gotten extremely warm if we had done one each. Barb was at these shows with some of her friends so Rich and I joined them. I actually had to give up "my seats" and sit on the left side but it was fun watching the guys with other Off Kilter fans. For the 7:25 show, Lindy, Jane, and Court were all there and that was a lot of fun. Jane brought the pictures she took of me, Jaime, and Tony (keyboards) in May and they were great. The only song I hadn't heard during all these performances was "When the Roving Dies Hard" so I asked Jaime if they could do that during the last set. He said "of course, Little Miss Request Girl". Oh boy, I really am a groupie, aren't I? Lindy went off in search of Boardwalk entertainment and we bid her a fond farewell. Hopefully, we'll see her at the wedding renewal ceremony in January. She's such a good friend that I have asked her to stand up with Rich and me. My matron of honor will be my sister again and our best man will be our son, Chris. But Lindy is like family to us so she has to be there too. Jane and Court wanted to watch Illuminations so we stayed and moved over to the rail in Canada. This was about 8:00 or so and we had plenty of time to stand and catch up with them. It's only been since May but we still found plenty to talk about. Their short trip was just starting, ours was ending. We did have an unpleasant incident happen here, though. There were people sitting on the benches behind the pathway. We were on the other side of the pathway right up against the railing. We were standing. Once the show started, the guy behind us on the bench, across the pathway, started to get extremely upset because he couldn't see. Well, no. We've been there for an hour and yes, so have you but what did you expect? Jane and Court sat down on the pathway but Rich just cannot sit comfortably like that. But he did anyway. I didn't really know any of this was going on and just kept standing. The guy didn't say anything to me and I don't know why. I just ended up enjoying the show while Rich was extremely uncomfortable on the ground. He eventually stood up but it totally ruined the show for him. I don't know what was proper here. Was the guy on the bench right or were we OK since we were standing in place for an hour? We didn't come up at the last minute to get those spots. I guess the guy had a beef but he could have been nicer about the situation and asked kindly for us to sit. But I highly doubt most people think they can comfortably sit on a bench and have a completely unobstructed view of Illuminations. Oh well, it didn't bother me and I made Rich get over it. Rich drove us back again and we had more parking lot problems. This time, though, we were only a building down from ours. Again, people were parked so ridiculously. We didn't have much to pack so we just relaxed in the room until bedtime. I had secretly wanted to stay for the first Off Kilter show on Monday but Rich wanted to get back to the cats. And that pesky job was going to start for me on Tuesday. Oh, responsibilities! Day Four, Monday, September 3, 2001 I had set the alarm for 8:00 so we would be on the road by 9:00. I was having a hard time getting up and facing my last day of "fun". We moved the car up closer from where we had parked it the night before. Lots more parking spaces now since people were leaving after the weekend. A tip - if you want to go during a holiday weekend, get there as early as you can on the Friday before. We packed up the car and Rich drove the first leg of the trip. I quickly went back to sleep. It was like the drive down only we switched places. We needed a gas stop and in Adel, Georgia, there is a Shell station attached to a McDonald's. Perfect since it was just after noon and we needed food and fuel. It was the slowest fuel pump in the history of gas but we managed and then got some burgers and fries for the road. I took over driving and went the rest of the way to Buford. Unfortunately, we did get the much needed rain in Georgia but it was difficult to drive through it. Even with three lanes on I75, it was miserable. I wouldn't have minded except people were in the left lane not doing a consistent speed. We'd speed up, then slow down. Then speed up, then slow down. Aargh! We made it back home by 4:00 and actually remembered both house keys this time (we locked ourselves out of the house earlier this month). The cats were fine and it looked like Todd, Belle, and Gus will all get along just fine. And there was a message on the answering machine. I just had a feeling. Just a little bit of a feeling. Yes, it was a job offer. One that I had applied for in June and almost had. Until an internal candidate decided she wanted to apply for it. Of course, they had to give it to her. She had a bad commute - 40 miles one way and I really did hope it wouldn't work out. And it didn't. But what to do? I had the contract job that I was supposed to start the next day. But I wanted this permanent job with benefits and an easier commute (only an hour). So I called the guy with the contract work and left him a voice message saying that something came up and I might not be able to start the next day. First, I can't get a job and now I have two! Final Thoughts and Overall Impressions
PS - I took the permanent job at a great salary. It just worked out the best. And yes, they are giving me the time off in December/January. And I'm trying to talk Rich into a Thanksgiving trip. Am I a Disney nut or what? Sheri Niklewski disnut8@hotmail.com Mail a Comment to Sheri Niklewski |
|