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Steve Picard -- December 2001 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)
Background This will be my 6th trip to Walt Disney World, and my 2nd trip with my children. My first WDW visit was in 1982; I returned in 1999 with the kids (ages 10 and 8 at the time); I've made 1-day and 2-day stops (see my July 2001 trip report) while on business trips between L.A. and Atlanta. The 3 of us have been frequent visitors to Disneyland in California, as annual pass holders in 1997 and 2000... so lots of Disney experience, but not WDW. I only have a few days with my kids between the time school lets out for their Christmas break and when I have to turn them in to their mother on Christmas morning, so I wanted to do something different and memorable... and unexpected. They often reminisce about how much fun we had on our 1999 trip... so I know they'll really like this... they haven't hit that age yet where Disney and traveling with Dad are uncool... (although, I suspect MY time is coming soon!)... . Also, we've never traveled at Christmastime, so I know this trip will be 'outside the box' for them. And they've already started asking if we'll be spending any time at Disneyland this year when they're on school break, since we usually go at least once during the Christmas season. Planning I made the air travel arrangements on Expedia.com last July. A change of planes in Cincinnati on the way out reduced the ticket price a little, and will also add to the 'mystery' of the whole trip... I'm not going to tell them where we're going, just that we're traveling for Christmas. They'll see that we're flying to Cincinnati and won't have a clue... . As we board the plane for Orlando, I'll break out the Disney brochures and explain the plan. I made hotel arrangements on-line through Dreamsunlimitedtravel.com for a 3-night stay at the Sheraton Four Points Lakeside. I've stayed there on a previous trip, and like that it's on the 'far' (west) side of the Disney property away from at least some of the Irlo Bronson (Hwy 192) congestion, but only a 5 minute drive to WDW. The other part I like about the place is the price, $49/night, plus taxes, and a $10/night charge for a rollaway bed for Anne-Marie. There's a Pizza Hut on premises... that's a definite possibility for the first night's dinner. Although the rooms are nothing special... it's a motel--the rooms open to the outside... each room does have a refrigerator and a coffee-maker included in the price. I've stayed both on and off property, and the Disney resorts are beautiful, no question about it. But we'll be spending just about every waking minute in the parks and will only use the room to sleep and shower... and store food in the refrigerator... so for this trip, I can't justify paying top dollar for the WDW resort experience. I will be interested to see what parks my children choose to visit... since we will only be at WDW for 3 days. In 1999, we spent 2 days at Epcot, saw everything we wanted to see in Future World (several times), but barely touched World Showcase. (We did visit the American Adventure and had lunch at the Liberty Inn, and ate dinners at San Angel Inn [Mexico] and Nine Dragons [China]... but that was as far as we got.) I predict they'll want to spend a day at Epcot, a day at the Studios, and a day at the Magic Kingdom. Although we've been to Disneyland more times than I can count, I'm guessing we'll spend time in the Magic Kingdom this trip, since we spent all of about 2 hours there in 1999... and we have particularly fond memories of Disneyland at Christmas. Before leaving Los Angeles, I prepared a packet for each kid to open during our layover in Cincinnati. Each packet contains a WDW "All Parks" brochure, and a WDW park calendar for December (I picked up the brochures when I did a quick 1-day WDW stopover on a business trip the first weekend in December). By the time we get to Orlando, they should have the details of each day of our trip pretty well planned. Day One -- Friday, December 21 -- Travel, Arrival, Check-In I do the Pacific to Eastern time zone change thing at least once a month on business, so I've learned the best way for me to adapt when flying east is to switch to Eastern time before I leave the west coast, by getting up at 4am PST (or earlier) on my departure day. Our flight out of L.A. is at 6:15am, which means I'm up at 3:30am and the kids are up at 4. We had packed all the bags the night before, and that evening I bought Subway sandwiches to take on the plane with us--I'm not sure we'll get fed enough times, so we'll have something with us if (i.e. when) they get hungry. We're out the door at 4:30. LAX is less than 10 minutes from the house. We park in the 'reduced rate' lot C and take the shuttle to the terminal. The Delta terminal is already crowded, but all our luggage is carry-on, so we're able to get through security and to the gate without too much difficulty... except the security personnel pull my son's bag out to hand search it... apparently, they're looking for a pair of scissors, which weren't there. (More on that later.) We get to the gate at 5:15am... in plenty of time. When I check in for boarding passes, the gate attendant advises that the flight to Cincinnati is oversold, and wonders if I'd give up our seats if he can put us on a direct flight to Orlando that leaves about 45 minutes later, but would get us to our final destination about 3 hours sooner. I didn't have to think too hard on that one, so he put our names on the list. Later, however, as the flight boarded, we were advised that we would not be bumped, and were given complimentary in-flight movie tickets for being good sports. Back to plan A. While waiting in the boarding area, a gentleman with a saxophone serenaded the waiting passengers with some jazzy renditions of Christmas carols and swing favorites. He was really pretty good, and I'm sure he spread cheer through many hearts that morning. The flight to Cincinnati was uneventful. Delta did serve us breakfast, but my kids didn't like the sausage link/cheese omelet/potato wedges main course... so I ate all 3 meals! As it turns out, the in-flight movie was a Disney movie... Atlantis. Fortunately, we had complimentary tickets, because I would have been upset if I had paid to see that movie. (Somehow, we luckily missed it in the theaters... as I recall, we went to the theater to see either Atlantis or Shrek and Shrek had the sooner start time, so that's what we saw; never made it back to see Atlantis before it was gone. I guess that should have been a clue!) Anyway, because this is a trip report and not a movie review, I'll skip the particulars, but just say that both my son and I thought the movie was sadly lacking, and understood why its run in the theaters was short-lived. (And, perhaps, why Disney stock continued its downturn through that time.) We landed in Cincinnati, and my kids still didn't know what was up. First, I explained that before we could get a car and drive to the hotel, we needed to... get on another plane... and I walked them around the terminal and sat them at a gate for a plane bound for New York. They figured out we weren't going there when that plane boarded and they weren't on it! So we moved to another gate... with a plane headed to Richmond. Nope, not going there either. Finally, we moved to another gate... with a plane to Orlando. By this time, they don't know where we're going, but they're positive it isn't Orlando! That's when I broke out the envelopes with the brochures. Of course, now they knew it all along and didn't want to let on... sure, right. Gotcha! The flight from Cincinnati to Orlando was uneventful, pretty much. I love flying over Florida at 33,000 feet... off the left side of the plane you can see the Atlantic coastline, and off the right side you can see the Gulf coastline, with the sun over the horizon in the west. We landed right on time at 6:15pm. Since we didn't have to wait for any luggage, we headed directly to the Avis counter where there was no line. We got our car, hit the highway, and were at the hotel in about an hour... which I thought was pretty good time, especially in holiday season. After checking in and moving the bags to the room, we made our run to Publix (on Hwy 192 just east if I-4) for breakfast and lunch stuff. We got the 10-pack individual cereals, some muffins, fruit (Florida oranges .49/lb, yes!), milk, bread, lunch meats, cheese, lettuce, mayo, assorted paper goods, snack crackers, sodas for the kids, and beers for dad... 3 breakfasts and 3 lunches for 3 people for $50.00. Two meals each day are on the cheap, but we'll splurge with a couple of nice dinners in the parks. As we were driving back from the market, I made some suggestions about where we might go for dinner... I was thinking the ESPN Club on the Boardwalk... or if they preferred to stay closer to the hotel, we could do the Pizza Hut right there. It was now approaching 8pm and their tummies were already on Eastern time, so they weren't too much in the mood to go too far for food. They spotted a Wendy's on Hwy 192 and decided that's what they wanted. (The Wendy's in our neighborhood closed several months ago, and now Wendy's anywhere is a treat for them. Not my first choice for grub, but that's what makes them happy tonight... and, besides, I was still full from my 3 breakfasts!) We took dinner back to our room, and put the groceries in the refrigerator. They decided that our itinerary would be Disney Studios tomorrow (Saturday), Epcot on Sunday, and Monday we would leave open for either a 2nd day at either of those parks, or a visit to the Magic Kingdom. Lights out at 10pm.
Day Two -- Saturday, December 22 -- Disney/MGM Studios I woke up a few minutes after 7am and got the kids up after I had showered and put on the first pot of coffee. While they were getting ready, I laid out breakfast and made sandwiches for lunch. I was really struggling trying to get a package of lunch meat open, when Anne-Marie came to my rescue with a pair of scissors! (... the very same scissors that had caused my son's bag to be searched at LAX. They had actually been in my daughter's bag! She had brought her pencil sack from school so she could keep herself busy drawing and coloring on the plane; the scissors had been in the pencil sack. It hadn't occurred to me to tell her not to bring scissors. Oh, well, they're here now. Doesn't speak very highly of LAX security, does it?) I brought a collapsible cooler which was large enough to hold 6 drinks, sandwiches, fruit and ice. After eating breakfast, packing lunch, and cleaning up, we were out the door at 8:45 and on the parking lot tram at the Studios by 9am. Our only real delay of the whole day was purchasing admission tickets for the kids (I'm an annual passholder), which took all of 15 minutes, but seemed like forever! There was a bag search security check before entering the Studios... 10 minutes... not bad. On entering the park, we walked straight down Hollywood Blvd to the (ugly) Sorcerer's (ugly) hat. J.J. explained that the Studios need an "icon" like the other parks have... and as far as icons go, the Sorcerer's hat is a famous Mickey Mouse prop and totally fits the bill. I don't disagree, but that (ugly) hat is out of place where it is, clashes (i.e. is ugly) with its surroundings, has some (ugly) gold swirly things on the side instead of mouse ears, and hides an (ugly) store under it. When J.J. saw the (ugly) store under the hat he was underwhelmed and agreed Disney could have done better. We continued over to Mickey Avenue where the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show and Backlot Tour are located. Had we read our park guides we would have known that those attractions don't open until 10:30 and 10am, respectively. We backtracked a little to the Great Movie ride. There was no line to speak of and we boarded the ride almost immediately. We had done this attraction on our previous trip, and enjoyed it then, but this time around it wasn't quite as impressive. The gangster character who commandeers the vehicle was female and dressed in a pinstriped dress and heels... cute, but not particularly believable for the scene. Her movements were awkward, her timing was off, and she delivered her lines with all the gusto of an accountant. (Sorry, accountants.) Score 1 for political correctness, 0 for good show. We returned to Mickey Avenue, where Anne-Marie stood in line to meet and greet Pooh and Tigger... a highlight of her day. We walked into the Millionaire show and sat down for the first game of the day. This attraction was on J.J.'s 'must see' list, but I had cautioned him before we got to the park that it was one of the most popular attractions, and we would probably have to 'Fastpass' it to get in. Today, at this first show at least, that wasn't necessary. The audience area was only about half full. Even though she wasn't Regis, we thought the WDW host did a really entertaining job. Score 1 for Good Show. From Millionaire, we continued to the Backlot Tour. Political correctness struck again... the cast member describing the WWII battle set was almost unintelligible. (And I'm from California where we're very used to hearing English spoken lots of different ways, and make allowances.) This was my second such experience at this attraction, different cast member, but in both cases the accent was so thick it was like watching a foreign language film without subtitles. Why? Who benefits from such ham-handed casting? PC 2, Good Show 1. We enjoyed the tram part of the tour where we recognized a number of vehicle props from movies we had seen. The kids wanted to make sure we would stay until closing and walk through the backlot when all the Christmas lights were lit. One part of the tour that I had seen on my last visit that is no longer there, was the set from Home Improvement... . I miss that show! After the Backlot Tour, it was about noon and we were starting to get hungry, but I knew Tower of Terror would be better on an empty stomach for Anne-Marie, so we made our way over to the that side of the park. The standby wait was 20 minutes, which I didn't think was bad, especially since the queue area is so well done--there's lots of details to appreciate... that would remind you of some of the insides and underneaths of the old Hollywood hotels (the Roosevelt on Hollywood Blvd. comes to mind). This attraction is a real thriller--Anne-Marie hung onto me for dear life... she liked it (or so she says) but I couldn't coax her into going on a 2nd time. After ToT, we got a fast pass for Rockin Roller Coaster, then left the park for our picnic lunch (and short nap) at the car. The tram ride back to the park was worth the side trip. We sat toward the back of the tram a couple rows in front of the cast member--I wish I could remember his name. He made the usual Smalltalk while he was waiting for the tram to board... where you from, are you having a good time, what are you planning to do the rest of the day, etc. But once the tram started rolling, he had the kids in stitches, with his banter, especially his recitation of events and times... there would be a Disney parade of stars... today... and the Osborne Family Light Spectacular would begin at exactly... dark... . I guess you had to be there, but my kids thought he was hilarious. When we re-entered the park, we went back to Mickey Avenue and the Walt Disney tribute, "One Man's Dream". This is a 'must see' exhibit, IMO. From Walt's birth in 1901, each decade in his life and career is chronicled. I found Walt's WWI newspaper political cartoon about wartime 'slackers' especially interesting and apropos for today. The early cartoon endeavors and the Oscar(s) for Snow White are historical treasures. I enjoyed reliving the old Wonderful World of Color promos for Disneyland as they were broadcast into our home on Sunday evenings. And the models of the theme park attractions were quite interesting and beautiful, especially the Tokyo DisneySeas model. We agreed, however, that the granite bear at California Adventure looks even better in person than he does in the model on display. The film itself at the end of the exhibit is the highlight. From film clips, Walt tells his story himself. I liked the way Michael Eisner introduced and concluded the story... and otherwise got out of the way. Altogether, this display is a fine tribute to Walt Disney, his genius and work ethic, and to the many fine talents he enlisted to bring his dreams to fruition. By this time our Fastpass for RRC was coming due, so we headed back that direction. The Fastpass was a good idea because as we approached the queue entrance, the standby wait time went from 50 to 60 minutes... and there isn't any ride worth waiting that long for. We got all the way to the loading area, when Anne-Marie decided discretion was the better part of valor and opted for the non-rider shortcut exit. (I think the fast start of the cars, screeching tire sound effects, and Aerosmith rock spooked her.) So J.J. and I rode and we both really enjoyed it. I'm not a big coaster enthusiast, and getting turned upside down is generally not my idea of a good time. I don't care for Disneyland Space Mountain very much because the ride is so bumpy--either my head or my back or both hurt (along with my ears!) after riding that thing. In contrast, RRC is loud, but very, very smooth. I actually like it a lot. From there we made our way over to the Drew Carey attraction, Sounds Dangerous... or whatever it's called. We had about a 15 minute wait in the queue area, from which we watched the afternoon Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade. My kids weren't too impressed with the Sounds show... but I appreciated the 15 or 20 minutes of dark and took a nap, waking up just as the lights came back up. When the show was over, they were a little annoyed that we had wasted time with this 'attraction'; I, on the other hand, was glad for the shuteye. (I had seen this show on my last solo trip, and kind of liked it the first time through. I thought the story was kind of cute. But like many movie-based 'attractions', they're good one time and one time only. So if the Disney suits are scratching their heads about why California Adventure is a dud... I think I know the answer.) From there we walked past the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and saw that the crowd was entering for the next show. Rather than wait for the later performance as we had planned, we decided to do this one right then--we had missed this show on our previous visit, and wanted to make sure we didn't miss it this time. We really enjoyed this presentation, with the fight scenes and chase scenes, and explosions, etc. Before the show began, they called on volunteers from the audience to be extras for show. I got a little suspicious because I noticed at one point in the show, one of the 'extras' seemed to know the pretty stage lady with the clapper-board thing, and was pretty familiar with her. Sure enough, he was a plant. Aside from that break in character, it was a pretty entertaining show. We decided that now would be a good time for an ice cream break. We headed back toward RRC to the Hollywood Scoops. A daily ice cream break is one of our family Disney traditions and an important afternoon time out. After ice cream, we headed to the Backlot Theater for the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame--A Musical Adventure, but because it was still 30 minutes before the next presentation, my daughter wanted to check out a couple of the shops near the corners of Sunset and Hollywood Blvds. We didn't buy anything, but made some mental notes on a couple of items (Pooh gear) to get on our way out. The kids weren't too keen on seeing a musical--they prefer 'attractions', but they know how much their former choir director dad loves them, so they didn't put up too much of a fight... since they had recently been favored with ice creams. What they did like about Hunchback, however, was the pre-show juggler. His juggling was good... not great, I've seen better... but his shtick and his interaction with the crowd was really, really entertaining. He was very funny, and we all enjoyed the routine very much. The Hunchback show was also very well done, I thought. It's an abbreviated version of the story to fit the time allowed, but all the essential plot elements are there, along with the best of the musical numbers. The cast was great. A very enjoyable show and my favorite event of the day. It was now starting to get dark, and we had time for one more ride or attraction before the lights show. Rather than ride ToT or RRC again, the kids agreed that they'd like to see the Magic of Disney Animation tour (we had done it on our previous trip). We walked back there and had about a 10 minute wait before the next program. We saw the Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite video again and enjoyed the animator's presentation. We were able to see some of the animation for the next two Disney features that are currently under development: Lilo and Stitch, and Treasure Planet. My son is of the opinion that neither of these projects will do very well at the box office. He thinks the animation styles of both features are cheap looking, like Saturday morning cartoons or pokemon characters, as opposed to the more detailed traditional Disney style, a la Beauty and the Beast, and this will limit the appeal. And if the story line of either is anywhere near as poor as the Atlantis story line, Disney could have a couple of disasters on their hands. J.J. thinks I should sell my Disney stock now. From the Animation tour we walked back to New York Street toward the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights on the backlot residential street. This evening at the Washington Square end of New York Street, an all female choir was performing. We stopped to listen briefly, and they were very good. The harmonies were tight. We used our 3-D glasses to check out the angels flying above New York Street. The OFSoL display was just beautiful, even better than I expected. The only glitch was the batteries in my digital camera were running low... too low to flash. Darn. The light display is very much worth the look, so we took our time... not that we could have moved quickly for it was quite crowded. When we finished, we realized it was time to look for dinner. We decided to head over to the Boardwalk and the ESPN Club. We left our car in the Studios parking lot, and because the crowd waiting to board the Disney Resort boat to Epcot looked like a herd and a half, we took the walkway over to the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk is one of my favorite places at WDW just to walk around, or relax with a beer... take a break from the crowds. It took us about 20 minutes to walk from the Studios--which was really enjoyable--and when we got to the ESPN Club we had about a 20 minute wait for a table in the restaurant section. We got seated in time to see the last quarter of the 49ers game on Fox, which then led into the Raiders game on a special Saturday Night edition of Monday Night Football. The food was great (I'll submit a restaurant review at some point). All three of us had excellent meals (and dad got fresh beer too!). I rate the value/price as very favorable. J.J. was most impressed: "Dad, I could live here... they even have TVs over the stalls in the restroom." On the other hand, Anne-Marie didn't understand why there were sports programs on every single TV set in the building; her suggestion is to give each person a channel changer and let them watch what they want. (She's such a girl!) We left at half-time--we had finished our meal and it looked like the place was starting to fill up again--and walked back to the Studios. As we neared the Epcot Resorts roadway bridge, we heard this huge "boom" coming from Epcot... we turned to look and could see the Reflections of Earth fireworks from a distance. As the fireworks finished, we continued our walk back to the Studios parking lot. The Studios' Christmas tree all lit up in front of the park is especially beautiful when viewed from the far side of the canal at night. We found our car, which wasn't tough to do, since there were only about 5 cars left in the lot. After the short drive back to the hotel, we got ready for bed and called it a day around 11pm. We felt like we had seen everything we had planned to see at the Disney Studios, plus had a delicious meal at then ESPN club. Today had been a real good day.
Day Three -- Sunday, December 23 -- Epcot With an 11pm turn-in the night before, there was no way my teen and pre-teen were going to get up for early Mass. I let them sleep until 8. We got up and had a quick breakfast and got ready for church. The Mary Shrine is only 15 minutes away on Vineland Ave at exit 26 of the I-4 freeway. To welcome everyone at the beginning of Mass, Father asked people to identify where they were from. Besides just about every state in the east and Midwest, there were people from Canada, Britain, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia... and 3 from California... who had come to worship together this morning as one church. We opted not to stop for breakfast anyplace after Mass, but to got back to the hotel, changed our clothes and headed to the parks. Today's destination would be Epcot, which opens later than the other parks... so the kids didn't feel like they'd missed much with our later start. Yesterday, our Studios afternoon tram guy had recommended that we eat at Alfredo's in the Italy section. Italy was on the kids' short list of places to eat, so the cast member recommendation sewed it up for them. As soon as we entered Epcot, we went to Guest Relations and made 8pm dinner reservations at Alfredo's. There was a line at Guest Relations and we spent about 15 minutes waiting, which wasn't bad, but if I had been thinking, I would have made reservations by phone before we left the hotel. Our second stop was Test Track where we picked up a Fastpass with a scheduled time of 4:25pm... almost 5 hours later. (Very popular attraction!) Our first attraction today would be the Universe of Energy. I think this was their favorite (next to Test Track) on our last visit, and they wanted to see if it was as good as they remembered. Personally, Ellen kind of grates on my nerves, but I've always liked Bill Nye the Science Guy, and the dinosaur audio animatronics are tops. The kids enjoyed this attraction just as much as last time. (When I was in Orlando on an earlier trip I read an article in the Science section of the Orlando paper about a new theory proposed by this scientist at Cornell that challenges the whole 'oil as fossil fuel' hypothesis. I couldn't help thinking that if the prof is right, the science in Universe of Energy, and all the text books, is all wrong! In any event, Universe of Energy is a very entertaining attraction and I hope they don't prove the science wrong anytime soon.) I guess watching all those brontosaurs munching on swamp grass made the kids hungry, because they were starting to make noises about lunch. We headed back toward the entrance, but got in line for Spaceship Earth first. We probably waited about 15 minutes, but the line kept moving, and this is such a classic attraction, telling the story of communication, that we hardly noticed the wait. We had our picnic lunch (and afternoon nap) and returned to the park. When I was at Epcot earlier this month, I got a chance to hear Off Kilter for the first time. If you've never heard them, they're sort of a rock-and-roll-meets-Celtic-folk-music-in-Canada kind of thing. (If you have heard them, you're probably a fan already.) Normally, my children won't sit still for shows, although they did give me the Hunchback musical yesterday, so I think my quota is one musical performance per day. We stayed for about half of the set before restlessness set in, but by that time the whole pathway through Canada around the stage area was packed with people. These guys are highly skilled, very entertaining, and the blend of musical styles is original... and the experience may have broadened my kids' horizons just a little. From Canada, it was back to the Future World part of Epcot to the Wonders of Life. On our last trip Cranium Command was about the funniest thing we had ever seen. I still thought it was cute, but I think maybe it hit too close to home for my 13- and 11-year-olds to be hysterically funny a 2nd time... and for the rest of the trip J.J. would be known as 'Scruffy'. We revisited Body Wars also, and enjoyed the 'Star Wars' style attraction into the human body. Again, a very quality attraction that we enjoyed visiting again. From there we walked through Innoventions. Anne-Marie is a big fan of these interactive displays, and really enjoys Innoventions at Disneyland. (I know there are lots of critics who think this stuff is boring, but Anne-Marie thinks it's the best thing going.) We had time for one more attraction before our Test Track Fastpass came due, so the choice was either Living Seas or The Land... with the nod going to the Living Seas. All 3 of us were really disappointed that the ride vehicles were out of operation... not so much that we had to walk from tank to tank to see things, but that a lot of the best views are from the vehicles looking up and into the aquariums. I hope this is only a temporary closure. We got ourselves over to Test Track right at 4:30. With the way the regular queue and the Fastpass queues are set up, both lines miss half of the pre-show displays... which is too bad, because the automotive testing displays are really cool IMO, if you haven't seen them already. We got in the car and took our test run. Both of my children swear the ride has been shortened... but I'm sure that's just how it seems when you've ridden it before. Still an 'E ticket' ride, just the same. It was now time to move toward the World Showcase. I thought Maelstrom was worth investigating so we went over there, but J.J. looked at the line and thought the wait would be too long, so we got Fastpasses. We changed directions and went back to Canada to see the 360 degree movie presentation "O Canada". I love the song at the end. J.J. commented on how similar the "O Canada" film was to the 360 degree film of America that used to be in Disneyland when he was younger. Back to Norway and Maelstrom... which Anne-Marie thought was wild enough, but J.J. was under whelmed... but at least he was glad we didn't stand in line for it. Personally, I think Maelstrom is a nice presentation and very fun. We now reversed course again and headed to France. I wanted my children to see "Impressions de France"... I HAVE to see this presentation every time I'm in Epcot... it's almost a religious experience as far as I'm concerned. (The music of Saint-Saens, Debussy, Ravel, and Offenbach is truly magical.) Anyway, we got to the door about a minute after the program had started at 7pm, and the next showing was 7:30. Fortunately, the Imaginum (the statue mime) performance would begin at 7:10, so that would give us a few minutes of entertainment outside, then Impressions, then on to Italy for dinner. I could watch Imaginum for hours--it's the same routine, yet it's different every time... . I was able to get a really cute picture of the children with the mime. They thought 'the white statue person' was a hoot. After Impressions, which I truly love, it was time for dinner in Italy, and by then we were all starved. We arrived at L'Originale Alfredo at 2 minutes before our 8pm priority seating... and waited another 30 minutes. I kept reminding myself that it was a Saturday night and good restaurants are crowded on Saturday night... but I was hungry, we had a priority seating, and we were on time. Eventually, we got seated. The dining room is huge, with a high ceiling, with classic Italian scenes on the walls... so the ambiance is more like a dining hall than a fancy Italian restaurant. J.J. had the plate that featured 3 different kinds of pasta: a lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, and linguini al pesto. This dish is kind of entertaining, since the food represented the tri-color flag of Italy and J.J. enjoyed his dinner a lot. I had the rigatoni alla siciliana (with fried eggplant in a tomato basil sauce), with the Caesar's salad, and a half-bottle of expensive Chianti. My food was good, but nothing extraordinary; the wine was good, but not worth $32 per half-bottle. Anne-Marie had the fettuccine Alfredo from the adult menu, which she thoroughly enjoyed (and finished). I sampled some from her plate, and although it was indeed very tasty, it probably had enough butter in the sauce to clog a drainpipe... so I made sure to wash it down with another glass of Chianti. The children both had strawberry slushes (2 each) from the children's menu... which they agreed was the best thing they had had to drink in recent memory. For desert, we all split a dessert... I'm not sure what it was called... round pastry shells with a cream filling... which was very tasty. Dinner was expensive. But I tend to look past the price if I feel the value is there. I thought the food was OK to good, but the service was only average, the atmosphere was too 'dining hall' for me, and I was still smarting from being kept waiting for half an hour... so for me, the value was not equal to the price. If left up to me, I would probably not go back. On the other hand, my children both thought this was the best meal they'd ever had in their lives. After dinner, we walked out to the edge of the lagoon to wait for Reflections of Earth, which started about 10 minutes after we got up from the table. This is a fairly 'artsy' musical pyrotechnic and laser display, with images projected onto the land faces of a rotating earth sphere in the middle of the lagoon. The music is appropriate, inspiring and accessible, supporting and not competing with the visuals. A very enjoyable show, and worth staying to see. After the show, the park was closing for the night so we trekked back to the car for the drive back to the hotel. It took us almost an hour to get from the far side of World Showcase to our car, out of the parking lot, and on the road back to the hotel. Lights out at 11pm after a very full day. At about 2am, I realized the Chianti was combusting with the Alfredo... and I had forgotten to pack the pepto chewables! In addition, the rain forecast for tomorrow came early... and loudly. The kids slept through it (of course they slept through the Northridge earthquake, too), but I thought it was pretty loud... so there were two reasons I didn't get a very good night's sleep that night.
Day Four -- Monday, Dec 24 -- Magic Kingdom, flight home Because of the late night last night, and because I tossed and turned a good while before finally falling asleep, we didn't begin to start moving until 9am... which was just as well, because the rain was beginning to let up by then. I'd like to express my thanks to the folks in charge of Florida climate control... the rain forecast for Monday arrived early and took care of business during the night. By the time we had finished breakfast, packed lunches, and loaded the car to check out, the clouds were breaking up, and it looked like it would be a fairly nice day. We packed umbrellas and jackets in a day pack just in case, but would not need any of it today as it turned out. We had seen everything we had wanted to see at the Disney Studios on Saturday, most of everything at Epcot yesterday... so our choice was either the Animal Kingdom or the Magic Kingdom. We decided we would go the Magic Kingdom, and our priority would be those attractions we don't have at Disneyland, followed by those attractions that are at Disneyland, too, but that are fairly different. We arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center at about 11am, after a 15 minute wait to get into the parking lot... looks like today will be a crowded day at the Magic Kingdom... perhaps rainy would have been better. I gave my kids the choice of taking either the ferry or the monorail to the Magic Kingdom... and they thought I was kidding. In their minds, the parking lot tram should take you right to the front gate (like at Disneyland), and it doesn't make any sense to have an attraction outside the gates. Words wouldn't convince them, so I walked them onto the ferry, with the advice that we'd take the monorail when we left so they'd get to do both today. I explained that when Walt Disney designed his parks, he wanted to provide a separation so the outside world would not be visible from the park. In Disneyland, he did this with the berm around the park; at the WDW Magic Kingdom, he accomplished the same separation, but on a grander scale, with a lake. I also pointed out that the Magic Kingdom train doesn't sit on a berm like it does at Disneyland since there's no need for one. The follow-up question from J.J. was why California Adventure didn't have a berm or a lake or something... answer: because it wasn't designed by Mr. Disney. As we entered the Magic Kingdom, we were struck at how similar and how different this park is from the Disneyland we're so familiar with. The Main Street station is bigger and has lockers underneath... like a real train station. Main Street has the same feel, but a different look. As we usually do at Disneyland, we headed directly to Splash Mountain to get Fastpasses. It was crowded--Christmas Eve, and a reasonably nice, not rainy, day--and the corner of Frontierland with Splash Mountain and Big Thunder was just jammed. Our Fastpass time was at 12:30pm, so we walked back through Frontierland to the Hall of Presidents, a little more slowly this time, taking in the scenery. Both J.J. and Anne-Marie agreed that WDW Frontierland is much more appealing to the eye than Disneyland Frontierland. The next show at the Hall of the Presidents was at Noon, so we had about a 10 minute wait while we listened to the spiel and looked around the entrance hallway at the various portraits and so on. I had seen the Hall of Presidents show about 20 years ago, and remember that the crowd booed when President Nixon's likeness was introduced... I was afraid Clinton would get the same treatment now. Fortunately, the crowd today was better behaved than the crowd I sat with 20 years ago. The kids liked this show very much, in spite of the fact that it was historical and educational. The HoP show let out as our Splash Mountain Fastpass came due. We all agreed that the WDW version of this ride is better than the Disneyland version. The twin seat logs are more comfortable, and the storyline is easier to follow. And the big drop is just as good. Neither of my kids have seen Song of the South, since it's effectively banned. I've told them the story, and described the era the movie portrays and the circumstances of the time in which the movie was made... and that Disney, unfortunately, would take a lot of flack for political incorrectness if they were to re-release the movie today. The wait for Big Thunder Mountain was 60 minutes, and we decided it's too long to wait for something that's not different enough from what we've seen at Disneyland. They wanted to head over to Tomorrowland to see Alien Encounter and Buzz Lightyear. We debated about whether to take the railroad over, but they decided they'd rather walk through Frontierland one more time. When we got to Tomorrowland, the first thing we did was get Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear... which gave us a return time of 3:15pm... which would make this the last ride of the day most likely. (The standby line for Buzz was 60 minutes, and IMO no attraction is worth that kind of wait.) We then got in line for Alien Encounter, which had about a 30 minute wait. Alien Encounter was a big thriller last time for all of us. The pre-show infomercials from X-S Incorporated are very clever. Even though we knew what was coming, the attraction was lots of fun... but not nearly as terrifying. (A cautionary note: this attraction really is too intense for small children... it's that well-done.) The kids were starting to get hungry now. (I'm seeing a pattern here: chomping brontosaurs at Universe of Energy in Epcot, and a salivating alien at Alien Encounter in Tomorrowland... equals hunger.) We revised our plans slightly, and decided to do our ice cream break now, then wait and have a late lunch in the car after we leave Magic Kingdom before our drive to the airport. We walked back to Main Street to the corner ice cream shop, and we each got a single scoop cone of cookies and cream. There's an outdoor eating area along the canal that crosses under Main Street, so we sat down there and enjoyed our ice cream... and watched the idiots feed the birds. Birds are great to watch from a distance... or even up close... but they are truly messy, disgusting animals when you're trying to eat. There are signs on the fence around the area advising guests not to feed the birds. But there are always enough clueless folks around who either can't read, or figure the signs don't apply to them. I'm glad we did stop here, however, as I was able to get my kids to pose for a really nice picture with the castle as a backdrop. It was one of the few times on this trip I got them to hold still for a picture... I think they allowed me about 2 pictures a day... I was on the quota system: 1 musical, and 2 posed pictures per day. OK, ice creams done, we headed back to Tomorrowland to Timekeeper. This is one of my very favorite WDW attractions, and a great story incorporating the voice of Robin Williams with the characters of Jules Verne and H.G.Wells... the two 'patron saints' of Tomorrowland. I've read internet rumors that this attraction will close soon--why, I have no idea--so I'm glad we get a chance to see this classic again before it disappears. (I hope it disappears to Disneyland. And, OK, it's a 'movie' not an 'attraction'... but it's really got a lot of charm.) We then took a relaxing ride on TTA (Tomorrowland Transit Authority), which brings back lots of memories of the old Disneyland Peoplemover. As we rode through the area where the leaving and returning trains pass along side each other (with the expected recording about keeping your hands and arms inside the car), J.J. high-fived another kid on the approaching train. (Teens!) I'm glad we took this ride, because from the overhead track I spotted the Carousel of Progress, which I knew was in WDW Tomorrowland, but which I had read had already closed. It looked alive and well from up above, so when our TTA ride was complete, we zipped over to the Carousel. I explained to the kids that this attraction was what was originally in the building that holds Disneyland Innoventions today, and is one of the few attractions left at any of the Disney parks that Walt Disney himself helped develop. They liked this show for the first time, and I remembered when I had seen it at Disneyland for the first time... when I was about their ages. They wouldn't let me sing along, though... "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow... ". One of the things I thought was a little forced, in this version of this classic attraction, and why now, almost 40 years after its debut, it may be time to retire it... there are essentially four scenes in the show, representing the 1900's, the 1920's, the 1940's... then there's a 60-year jump to today... which seems like we're skipping a lot. In Walt's day the fourth scene would have represented the 1960's and the 20-year march of time would have been consistent between scenes. It's now 3:10pm, so we head over to Buzz Lightyear and watch the clock above the Fastpass entrance click off 5 very slow minutes. The standby wait is still 60 minutes, and the line looks even longer than that. (And, of course we know: no attraction is worth a 60 minute wait.) At 3:15, we're allowed to enter. We all really enjoyed shooting up the Zurg targets and racking up the points... I forget how many points I got, but I think J.J. had about 10 times whatever I got. This is a really simple attraction. The construction is mostly flats--well designed and decorated flats, and it's fun, nonetheless... and obviously, very popular with kids and grownups alike. Why some version of this attraction (it can't be that expensive to build) hasn't made it to Tomorrowland Disneyland--which is almost completely empty of any even 'D-ticket' attractions--just escapes me. We agreed that the Magic Kingdom Tomorrowland is much more interesting and entertaining than Disneyland Tomorrowland... except that Anne-Marie does like Disneyland Innoventions better than anything else in either Tomorrowland. It was now time to begin our walk toward the exit, with a final stroll down Main Street. No matter how many times I've taken this walk, whether entering or leaving, regardless of the hour, there is a pleasantness that is unique to this street and this place. I enjoy it every single time. We took the monorail from the Magic Kingdom entrance back to the parking lot. We ate our picnic lunch, and then hit the highway for the airport. We returned the rental car and arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before our departure time. We put our bags through the X-ray machines (scissors and all)... and were waved on through without a question! (Argenbright Security has the franchise at both LAX and Orlando... and these clowns are going to be deputized and made federal employees... and all our airport security worries will be over! Give me a break!) We had done some shopping at the Disney Studios and Epcot, but had not done enough to satisfy Anne-Marie... that was her one disappointment. J.J., on the other hand, had gotten one little souvenir for his grandmother and that was all he cared to do. We had some time, so Anne-Marie picked out a stuffed Tigger and a Tigger picture frame at the Disney store in the airport terminal. We stuffed (no pun intended) Tigger and the frame in our luggage... and boarded the plane without a problem, leaving on time. Originally, I had booked a 7pm direct flight on Delta from Orlando back to LAX, but because of the industry cutbacks after September 11, the flight I had booked was canceled. The closest thing I could get in exchange was a 6:15pm flight to DFW, with an 8:30 connection to LAX. The only other direct flight would have left Orlando earlier in the afternoon, and I didn't want to cut into an already abbreviated day at WDW. On arrival in Dallas as we deplaned (on Christmas Eve), the flight attendants said goodbye to the passengers with "Happy Holidays". I'm guessing this is the PC phrase they use so as not to offend anyone. Well, I celebrate Christmas, and am not ashamed to say so. So I catch the flight attendant's eye and sincerely wish her a "Merry Christmas". She takes a beat, and then just beams and says "Thank you so much and Merry Christmas to you." As it turned out our connection in Dallas was delayed by 45 minutes. It's a good thing we had a late lunch because all the food concessions at DFW were closed, and Delta isn't serving food on either flight. I've got drinks, chips, and fruit left over from lunch, so those get eaten in Dallas. (If I had packed more food, the kids would have eaten it... .) I've made a number of stopovers at DFW on various business trips, and I usually don't pay too much attention to the various stores in the terminal buildings, except for the Chili's or other places I can get a brewsky. But in Concourse E across from our gate was a shop that sold refrigerator magnets... all kinds... a whole store full. The walls of the shop were all metal and stuck to the walls were thousands of refrigerator magnets grouped by theme: there was a whole section of American flag magnets, cat magnets, dog magnets, sea-themed magnets, etc, etc. I'd never seen anything like it. We landed safely at LAX a little after 10pm. And although we only had carry-on baggage and we live within 3 miles of the terminal, it took us until 11:30pm to get home, via airport shuttle to the outlying parking lot C.
Steve Picard spicard526@earthlink.net Mail a Comment to Steve Picard |
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