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Karen Seemuth -- February 2001 -- Walt Disney World (ASMuR)

February 5-8, 2001

Cast:

• Alane, my 30-something sister
• Katie, her daughter, 4 months
• Karen, me, 40-something

Prologue

I have become a doting aunt. My sister had her first baby, Katie, in October 2000. My sister regularly emails digital photos so I can see how Katie is changing and growing. My husband and teenaged kids tell me I live in Babyland.

Unfortunately, my sister and her husband and Katie live about 700 miles away. So my wonderful husband, who would give me the moon if he could, told me I could go visit them every two months.

They came here for Christmas, so that would put a visit in the month of February. I live where the weather is freezing, and my sister lives where it isn't much warmer, so I thought, why don't we do a little Sistertripping and meet in Florida. I just happen to know a fun place we could meet!

So, mid-November I called CRO and was able to book three nights at the ASMusic for $59 a night with an annual passholder's discount. I had enough Frequent Flyer miles for a free plane ticket, and my annual pass is already paid for, so all I need to pay for is food and car rental.

My sister was able to book a cheap flight, so here we are, two sisters, ready to take Katie, age 4 months, to WDW to meet Mickey Mouse.

Day 1--Arrival

Monday, February 5, 2001

I landed at Orlando International Airport at 12:15 pm. After I picked up my bags, I hiked over to the lobby where my sister's shuttle would end. She and Katie arrived at 1:15 pm.

After we picked up her bag, we went to pick up our car rental from Dollar. We had reserved a mid-size for about $150 for four days. I inquired about an upgrade and found we could get a minivan for $5 a day extra, so we took it. It was a good thing, because with a car seat, stroller, 5 bags and then groceries, we used just about all the extra space!

We drove without a hitch to Goodings for groceries. I noticed this time more than ever, how expensive the food is there. I would recommend finding a Publix.

Then the troubles began. We entered WDW via 536. The signs for Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Resorts said "Straight Ahead." So I kept going straight ahead. However, the next sign said "Exit here," and I was in the wrong lane, so we ended up on 192 and turned around and ventured back. I think instead of "Straight Ahead," the sign should have said, "Next Exit," or "Next Right." Oh. I almost forgot. Before that, somehow we had ended up at the Epcot parking lot!

We finally arrived at All Star Music around 3:30. We were to meet two friends at the resort at 5 pm. However, they got there before we did! I checked in and we were assigned to Broadway 8656, third floor. I had faxed a request for Calypso, 1st floor. I guess too many people had already checked in. Well, as it turned out, we drove to all the parks, so proximity to the bus stop wasn't important, and the walk to the food court wasn't too bad. I have always wanted to go to NYC and spend some time on Broadway, so I guess this stay on "Broadway" will tide me over till I really do get there!

We unloaded our bags and groceries; it was great to have our friends there to help! Katie ate and we left to have dinner at Bennigan's on 192. The highlight was Alane getting carded when she ordered a Guinness!

We had a fun evening with friends and then headed back to the All Star. Of course I got lost again, same mistake--tried to continue Straight Ahead when I needed to exit. We got turned around and made it back to our room.

We unpacked and got settled. I had thought about going to Epcot for Illuminations, but decided the main reason for the trip was to see Alane and Katie, so I stayed at the room.

Katie had a bit of a meltdown around 10 pm, I guess she was unhappy being in a strange place, or maybe was overtired. We finally got her settled about 11 and we all went to bed.

Day 2--Epcot

Tuesday, February 6, 2001

We knew before we arrived that we would not be doing a commando WDW tour with a 4-month-old. So we slept in everyday till 8 am. It was great! I never get to do that at home. We were out the door around 10 or 10:15 each day. You just can't rush a baby! : )

A little after 8, I had gone to the food court for coffee and it smelled a bit smoky outside from wildfires. Fortunately, by the time we headed out, the smell was gone.

We drove Epcot for the day. We got a locker and then it was time for Katie to eat, so we camped out at the Fountain View Cafe for a while. Alane and I had lattes and Katie just had milk. : ) I can sit and watch the fountain all day, so it was no sacrifice to be there. I walked over to Test Track to get Fast Passes, which were for 3:40-4:40 pm.

Then we went to Innoventions to send some IBM email postcards.

Our IBM postcard:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1278656&a=11569664&p=40962716

We did a little shopping in Mouse Gears and then looked at pins at the big Pin Station in Future World. We tried the Singles line at Test Track and planned to do the Baby Swap, but the ride appeared to be down, so we moved on.

Then it was time for us to eat, so we split Fish and Chips in the United Kingdom. We ate on a bench in the little park behind the shops. It was a lovely day--about 75 and sunny. In fact, every day was 75-80 and sunny, not humid at all and a pleasant breeze. I couldn't have ordered better weather. The trip was a home run--time with my favorite sister and favorite niece and I enjoyed my favorite weather in my favorite vacation destination!

Anyway. We went to watch the movie in France so Katie could eat. She mostly slept. Then we split a chocolate hazelnut torte from the bakery in France.

We were planning to stay for the evening but I had left my warm clothes in the room, so the plan was for Alane to do Universe of Energy while I drove back to get my clothes and then meet at Test Track at 4:10 so we could use our Fast Passes.

I got back at 4:10 and found Alane and Katie on a bench near Test Track. They had never made it to Universe of Energy. The Test Track Fast Pass line seemed kind of long so I went back and stayed with Katie while Alane rode. We sat on a bench near a kiosk and I had a nice visit with a young woman in the College Program who was working there.

Katie had fallen asleep and I was so enjoying holding her, that I carried her all the way from Test Track to Spoodles, where we were having dinner. She continued to sleep through most of the meal. She woke up and started fussing just before dessert so we did not get to try the hazelnut pound cake with espresso gelato.

We walked back to World Showcase, as we needed to get to Norway to buy some chocolate. We had not planned to watch Tapestry of Nations, as we weren't sure Katie would find it interesting and just get fussy instead. It was 6:30 and the parade was running from Mexico towards the United Kingdom. So we started walking from the International Gateway towards Norway. Alane carried Katie and we kept walking and watching the parade as it came towards us! We saw the parade 3 times as we walked! Katie was spellbound--the music and colors and movement really caught her attention and her eyes were as big as saucers. It was a fun discovery to find that we could see the parade without having to stake out a viewing spot long before the parade started.

Now Katie was hungry again so we went back to the Fountain View Café so she could eat and Alane and I could get dessert. Alane had cream brulee and I had a chocolate toffee mousse triangle. After Katie was done eating she was getting kind of fussy so we decided to skip Illuminations and just go back to the room.

The low point of the day was having someone think that I was Katie¹s Grandma.

I went to get coffee from the food court and we settled for the night.

Day 3--AK and MGM

Wednesday, February 7, 2001

We got up at 8 and left at 10:15 to drive to Animal Kingdom. We parked the van and rode the tram to the entrance of the park and learned one of the tips for traveling with a baby.

We parked the van, unloaded the stroller, stashed our gear in the stroller basket, loaded Katie into it and walked to the tram. Then we had to unload the stroller, fold it up and get on the tram.

Then when we got to the park entrance, we had to re-load the stroller. From then on, we skipped the tram and walked. It was much easier than loading, unloading, and reloading, plus we were able to walk off a few of the calories we had consumed! And the weather was so pretty, we didn¹t mind the walk.

Katie was ready to eat, so she and Alane headed to Dinoland and Tarzan Rocks to wait for the 11:45 show. I went to Kilamanjaro Safaris to get Fast Passes. Our time for return was 11:35 to 12:35.

Alane went in to see Tarzan Rocks and I held Katie outside, as we were concerned the music might be too loud. She and I had a great time while Alane enjoyed the show.

We had to really scurry to get back to the Safari before our Fast Passes expired; we got there with 5 minutes to spare!

Everyone says to do the Safari first thing in the morning and at the end of the day, in order to see the most animals. Well, at 12:30 we saw so many animals, it was amazing. All the hippos except 3 were out sunbathing. What a sight! The lions were out, as well as many of the other animals. Katie enjoyed this attraction. I thought the bumpiness would upset her, but she did just fine. She must have thought she was at home in her bouncy chair!

We also noted that the rickety bridge no longer "collapsed." We wondered if it upset too many people, or if it was just not working. It wasn¹t working when I was there in December, either.

Then we went over to see Festival of the Lion King. The show was at 1:15 and we arrived at 1:10 and got a seat, no problem. It sure was nice to not have to stand in line for 30-45 minutes. I noticed that they had built some overhead canopies in the queue area, similar to those in Kilamanjaro Safari, to keep off some of the sun.

The show was great and Katie again enjoyed the music and colors. What a great traveler she was! Who would have guessed she would hold up so well?

Since we were so near the character greeting area, we decided to take pictures with Pooh, Katie¹s favorite. The line wasn¹t very long so I took pictures of Alane and Katie and then we got back in line so Alane could take pictures of Katie and me.

Our photos with Pooh:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1278656&a=11569664&p=40956728

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1278656&a=11569664&p=40956727

By now it was 2:45 so we decided to head over to MGM. We never stopped for a formal lunch; just snacked on trail mix and fruit we had brought.

We drove to MGM and I went to get Fast Passes for Rock n Roller Coaster, 4:00-5:00 return. We had a soda while Katie ate. Then she fell asleep so I sent Alane to ride RnRC. I sent her for a second ride and she didn¹t even need to use the Fast Passes.

It was nearly time for our Priority Seating at the 50¹s Prime Time Café, so we went to check in. We were seated right away and Katie slept through most of dinner. Cousin Mason was our server and we had a fun time. The food was great, and the portions were huge. I was stuffed. I wonder if you can order half portions there?

Photo of Mason, Karen and Katie:

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1278656&a=11569664&p=40956725

Katie was staring to melt down so we sat on a bench next to Echo Lake while she ate. I took the opportunity to go ride Star Tours, which had only a 5-minute wait.

We decided to call it a night and head back to the room so Katie could have a quiet evening. I got lost again driving from MGM to the All Star. We were in the right hand lane exiting MGM and we should have been in the left-hand lane. This was becoming a pattern

Day 4--MK and Departure

Thursday, February 7, 2001

As usual, we got up at 8 and left around 10. We drove to MK and walked to the TTC, then took the monorail to the MK. The very first thing we did was to get Fast Passes to the Pooh ride. Our return time was 11:55-12:55.

Katie was hungry so we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority twice while she ate. This is sounding so familiar Space Mountain was down for rehab the 4 days we were there. But as we rode the TTA through the Space Mountain building, all the lights were on and we were able to see the structure of the roller coaster. It was very cool.

Then we went to Toontown to try to get our picture taken with Mickey. Alas, the line was about 30 minutes long and we didn¹t want to miss our Fast Pass time for the Pooh ride, so we skipped the picture.

We took turns staying with Katie while the other went into Mickey¹s and Minnie¹s houses. The attention to detail, as usual for Disney, was incredible.

We ate our required Mickey ice cream bars and then went back to the Pooh ride. Alane and Katie rode first so I could take their picture, then all 3 of us rode together.

We took a few more photos and then sadly it was time to leave.

We rode the monorail back to the TTC and as we started walking, we realized we had not at all noted where we had parked. Two college graduates and we didn¹t know where our van was. But, problem solvers that we are, we knew that the row of posts we had walked along changed from blue to orange soon after we started walking, and Alane recognized two maroon vans in our row, so we found the van with very little trouble after all. We did not see any Parking Lot CMs that we could have asked for help.

We finished packing up, loaded the van and Katie ate. We took some pictures at the resort and headed over to the Contemporary for the world¹s best hamburger at the Concourse Steakhouse. We didn¹t realize the restaurant closed at 2 and we arrived about 2:30. We¹ll have to wait for another trip to try the hamburgers.

We thought a visit to Wilderness Lodge sounded like a good idea, so we had lunch at Roaring Fork, and then sat by the pool till it was time to head to the airport. I dropped off Alane and Katie, turned in my rental van, checked in for my flight and flew home to 30 degree weather.

Our meals at Spoodles and 50¹s Prime Time Café

We enjoyed our meals at Spoodles and the 50¹s Prime Time Cafe very much. Here is what we ate:

• At Spoodles Alane had Arugula salad and Mediterranean Dips. I had a flatbread pizza with chicken, roasted garlic, roasted red peppers and mozzarella.
• At the 50¹s Prime Time Café, Alane had a tossed salad, pot roast and gravy with mashed red potatoes and green beans with matchstick carrots. I had grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes and the same vegetables as Alane. For dessert we split a huge S¹more, graham crackers with Hershey bars and marshmallows, browned in the oven and drizzled with Hershey¹s syrup.

Final Thoughts

• Mostly it was wonderful to see my sister and niece, the main purpose of the trip. The weather was perfect. And it was so fun to be at WDW, even though it was not a commando trip.
• The crowds were the lowest I have seen in all my trips in the months of May, October and December.
• Visiting WDW with an infant was easy, especially with a baby 4 months old. She is not eating solid foods yet, so it was really easy for my sister, who is nursing.
• Having her own stroller along was most helpful for getting from the van to the room or the park we were visiting, as well as in the parks.
• Alane was able to nurse Katie pretty much anywhere. She tried to be off the beaten path, and the stroller made a good "cover-up."
• There are Baby Stations in each park, but you may or may not be near one when your baby needs to eat. The one in Epcot didn¹t seem very "nursing friendly," but the one in MGM was very nice. We did not check out the ones in MK or AK. The weird thing is, you have to leave your stroller outside. Like we wanted to empty all the junk out of the stroller again!
• My sister drove herself to her outbound airport and found that people were more than happy to help her with bags and stroller on and off the shuttle.
• She had bottles for Katie for ascent and descent and that worked very well. She also came armed with a bag of earplugs for her fellow travelers in case Katie got fussy, but they weren¹t necessary.
• When visiting WDW with an infant, in planning a day's activities, remember to have low expectations for how much you will be able to do. Pick the three top things you want to do, but don¹t be too upset if you don¹t even get to do all of those!
• Because we were there for only three days, we did not go back to our room mid-day, but from my experience on other trips, it is a good thing to do.
• We noticed several groups of cheerleaders but had no problems at our hotel with late night practices. We noted a sign in the courtyard between the two Broadway buildings, that the courtyard is closed between 10 pm and 10 am. We presumed this was to discourage the late night practices.

All in all, it was a successful trip. We would like to think that we would do this on an annual basis! Time will tell if that works out.

Karen Seemuth

kswdwnut@yahoo.com

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