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Judy Veater -- February 2001 -- Walt Disney World (CBR)February 28 - March 11, 2001 Cast Of Characters:
Our family has gone to DW - in June 1999, March 1996,
Her family's first time ever to go to DW PLANNING: This trip was planned when we received the school calendar for 2000-2001 in October 1999. I knew that the first week of March, as spring break would also work great for my work to take a vacation. I originally wanted to go to Disneyland, California area figuring that it would be less expensive but my family out-voted me for Walt Disney World. Not that I disagreed. I was just looking out for the checkbook. We then made reservations at the All Star Movies for $94 a night. We also made reservations at the CBR for $139 a night as Gary had no desire to stay at All Stars for the whole week. Several months later, the 2001 rates came out and the All Stars were at $105 and the CBR was at $174. Quite a large jump in rates. My sister had also made reservations at the All Star Movies. We poured over the Internet, read books, researched everything we could find. We had a schedule for the trip already made out in August 2000. The airfares to fly from Anchorage, Alaska to Orlando, FL were horribly high around $750 - $850 per person for when we wanted. We had very specific dates because of school spring break and my payroll clients. I was checking quite often during the summer. We figured that maybe the prices would lower in the fall after school started but we were afraid that they wouldn't until January and that was too late to book for spring break. One day, August 15, 2000, I happened to check on Lowestfare. Com and to my great delight the price came up at $378 per ticket. My heart started beating rapidly and I tried it again. Came up again the same price! I went and told my husband, we prayed about it, played a game of Ping-Pong in the garage and tried it again that evening. Same price - good schedule with TWA so we booked it. The first time I have ever purchased tickets on line. Oh, I also called TWA that evening and the best that they could offer was over $750 a ticket. They said that if I could get it for a better price, then I should do it. I also called my sister, but she was out that evening for about an hour. She called and came right over that night when she heard the news. She decided right then and there to buy them also. So we purchased 4 tickets and she purchased 3 tickets all within 3 hours of seeing this price on the Internet. We were so excited but so nervous. The tickets were delivered within 48 hours and they looked like normal tickets - we called right away and confirmed them with TWA themselves and they had in the computer. My sister wasn't home when hers were delivered and they were left on the doorstep by the delivery service. Jumping ahead here, my heart sunk in January when the news came out that TWA had declared bankruptcy. But it turned out that it was no problem for us as it takes time for the wheels of change to move. In fact, all our flights were totally booked when we flew so the bankruptcy didn't scare too many people off. Things worked out well, my husband received official permission for time off for the extra two days we were adding on the beginning of spring break. My sister had asked for her time off like a year ahead of time. I had no one to ask but just let my clients know that I would be gone. I was going in between payroll periods so it was going to work out for the most part. We did find out in September that the week before spring break was going to be a testing week for the Benchmark and CAT tests and no one was supposed to miss those days. Crystal studied very hard in September and October and passed both her math and reading tests so she didn't have to even take them that week before spring break. We would miss the last day of testing on Thursday but since we already had our tickets, we didn't let that change our plans. In November, I got a good deal on a mini-van with Dollar for $209 a week and that actually turned out to be the one that we stayed with for the trip. No one else that was on the airport property could even come close for a price for a mini-van. In December and January we started reading all this information about the Swan and Dolphin resorts and the teacher rate. It sounded good so we made some teacher discount reservations but we could never get the whole week. At one time we had the Swan for the first 7 days and the Dolphin for the last 2 days; we couldn't get the 8th of March at either place. Then the Disney insider rate came up on the boards and we grabbed that for the CBR at $109 plus tax. When we booked it, there was no mention of a postcard and the CRO never asked about it but then there was a big discussion on the boards whether this was a postcard rate or not. We did not want to do anything "wrong" but we really wanted the CBR at $109 instead of $174 a night. We read everything posted on it and it seemed resolved that the Value resorts were a postcard rate but not the Moderate resorts. They were open for anyone to use. Thus we felt much better and then went ahead and cancelled everything else. I had six resort reservations at one time. It is crazy to have to do that, but to get the best deal you have to grab it while it is available then cancel later if it doesn't work out. We were on Weight Watchers and doing the treadmill every day to get ready for this trip. My sister did better than I did, but we both were really working on being ready for this trip! We had a long ways to go but we figured that every little bit would help. February finally came and we were getting close. I was practically packed a week ahead of time. I was amazed at how much stuff I had that wasn't clothes. We had every kind of blister or foot protection that we could think of to buy. We had tons of stuff and we were trying to minimize packing since we had to fit 7 people plus a week's work of luggage into whatever minivan they gave us at the airport! We discussed the possibility of not fitting into the minivan and having to send one or two people by shuttle bus to the hotel but it did work out in the end that we all fit. The big day came, February 28, 2001 and so did the earthquake in Seattle. Yes, we were not landing in Seattle but rather in Portland but still it got us very nervous. A lot of prayers went up that day regarding all the travelers that were getting their plans changed plus all the people in Seattle that were involved in it. We watched the news that showed several flights cancelled but no mention of ours. My parents took us to the airport that night and my nephew, Josh, took Charlene and her family out to the airport. We got there plenty early for the 12:45 am flight. We were excited and ready to go! Finally, we got on the plane and settled in for the night. We were flying on the same plane all the way to Florida. We stopped twice, once in Portland and once in St. Louis. Some of us got off the plane both times but in St. Louis they didn't want to let us back on very quickly. Apparently back in Anchorage, they had taken our flight coupon all the way to Orlando but in St. Louis they wanted them there. So they looked in the computer and at our baggage stickers and let us on but it sure made me nervous! We each slept some on the flight but not as much as we wanted to have slept. But we finally got there. We landed about 4:30 on Thursday afternoon. I love that little monorail in the airport at Orlando. It is like we are there and ready to ride! Anyway, all our bags arrived safe and sound. We piled them on two carts and took off to the rental car counter. There was two sides labeled Dollar Rental - one with tons of people in line and one with no one in line. So we went to the empty one and got service right away. We got a wonderful lady at the Dollar counter and she looked for quite a while to try to get us a bigger minivan. We didn't want to upgrade to an 8 passenger as it would have cost twice as much but she managed to find a Grand Voyager available so we were thrilled. We went outside and found our vehicle and proceeded to stuff it full of luggage. It did have a dent in the front bumper where whoever parked it wrapped it around a pipe or something so we took some pictures of that and had them initial that it was already in the vehicle before we got it. But by the time, we turned it in the dent was gone so those rubber type bumper things are pretty nice. Anyway we were on our way by about 5:45. YIPPEE! The weather was fabulous; the palm trees were delightful. It was so cool going with my sister and her kids that had never been there before. We stopped at the customhouse for the CBR and checked in. We did not get exactly what we requested so nicely but it was okay. We got rooms side by side instead of connecting and we were in Martinique 23, which was not all that close to the food court. But it was closer than a lot of rooms so we went to check it out. Our rooms were in wonderful condition and very nice. We ended up using the quiet pool way more than the main pool because it was so much closer and had fewer people at it. The quiet pools at CBR are larger than I thought that they would be. They were great. We were on the second floor so it took us a while to pack everything up the stairs but we got it done. Then off we went to Chef Mickey's for dinner. We had a PS for 8 o'clock and we got there about 7:45 so it worked out great. We enjoyed the meal, the food was great but we really didn't get a lot of interaction with the characters. At this point we went back to the hotel and went swimming. Being from Alaska, the swimming portion of the trip was very important to the kids! It really wasn't that hard to get to sleep that evening as we hadn't slept well on the plane so we adjusted fairly quickly to the 4-hour time change. Friday, March 2, 2001 Up early for Epcot early entry! Now we almost changed our schedule when the news had come out a few weeks earlier that Test Track was closed for a few days. But we decided to go ahead and see the other stuff at Epcot. We were one of the first guest parking cars in the parking lot. We went and stood at one of the gates and within five minutes they were opening the gates and we were inside! We went right to Spaceship Earth and rode it. Next was Wonders of Life with Body Wars and Cranium Command. At that point we wandered around the exhibits there a while and then made our way over to the other side to see Honey I shrunk the Audience. We were a little before nine o'clock so we had to wait until the official time but then we went right to Honey I shrunk the Audience. The 3D theater is so cool and realistic! My sister was warned about the mice and the snake but they still were awful! We then rode the new Imagination ride and it was actually better than I thought that it would be. I was fairly prepared for awful so it wasn't that bad.. We then played with the exhibits a while and played out with the water. The boys really enjoyed the water jumping from place to place. Living Seas was next and we skipped the movie and went right to the ride. No one seemed too excited about this place so we didn't stay too long. We then walked over to the World Showcase. We had an 11:30 PS for Mexico so we rode the Norway ride first and then over to Mexico. I love riding the Norway ride with no lines. We went to Mexico and shopped before our meal. All morning, Bethany's eyes had been bothering her. She was wearing her contacts and of course her glasses were back in her room. We figured that it would work itself out but they kept bothering her. She finally stopped here in Mexico and took her contact out to see if that would help and realized that it had a big hole in it. So then she had to finish the morning with limited vision but at least her eyes felt so much better. Our meal was great - we were somewhat squashed into a small table but we did get near the water and all 7 of us at one table. Then we left the park to go to the room, change into swimsuits and on to Typhoon Lagoon. It was fairly crowded but we could find a couple of chairs to throw our stuff on and off to the creek we went. It was so fun to lay in the sun and relax in the water. We went around the park then got out at the Shark pool to watch Gary. He went and did it several times but no one else was interested in going with him at that time. We then checked out the Wave pool. Those big waves are amazing! The kids really enjoyed them for longer than I did. I sat on the side and watched for a while. Then we went back to the hotel, left the kids to rest and the adults went grocery shopping. This took longer than I had thought and we didn't get to rest. But it sure was nice the rest of the week to have snacks and pop available. I had wanted to see the electrical parade that night but time just ran out on us. I forget how long it takes to get to the TTC center, then to the monorail, then to the park. We did get there in time to see the Fireworks over the castle. We even got to see Tinkerbell fly which I have never seen before. That was really exciting. Next was E-night at Magic Kingdom. We held up our wrists and got right into Buzz Lightyear. That was wonderful! I think that ended up being our favorite ride to repeat on the trip. We did do Space Mountain next. Now, I am not a space mountain fan but I have done it a couple of times before. I did it again and screamed the whole way through. My voice was hoarse from then on through the trip. At this point the boys wanted to do Space and Buzz again so we split up. I took the boys and Gary and Charlene went with the girls over to Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. We rode Buzz several more times and they ended up not riding Space Mountain after all. We then walked over to Frontier Country to meet the other half. However on the way, I got some horrible pains in my hips and was very concerned about my bursitis ruining the trip. We stopped several times but we did make it to Big Thunder Mountain. We waited a while then the other half of us showed up. They had gone over to the Haunted Mansion and enjoyed that ride. When Charlene and Crystal got into the Doom Buggy, they were all settled in ready to go and then unknown to them the CM stuck her head in and said "Good-bye!" Crystal screamed as she had no idea anyone was there and Charlene laughed about that the whole ride. They also had gotten to ride Splash Mountain twice without getting off so they loved that Then we all rode Big Thunder. This was much scarier for me than I remembered. They offered to let us ride again and I got off and they kept going. They all met me at the exit and we walked back to Buzz Lightyear again. My bursitis acted up again but we prayed for it and I made it through the evening. Fortunately, that was the last time that it bothered me on the trip. We left about closing time at 11 pm with lots of people leaving the park. We had wanted some ice cream but the line was so long that we had to pass it for that night much to the kids' dismay. We got home and fell asleep quickly! Saturday, March 3, 2001 - This day started with Animal Kingdom at 8 o'clock. We weren't there as the park opened but close enough to go straight to the Safari and walk on. It is quite a walk from the park gates to the back where the Safari is. This was quite enjoyable but I missed the giraffe's and the bridge incident. At this point, we decided that it was hot enough to go try the Kali River Rapids. We got Fast passes but the CM told us that we wouldn't need them. He then told us that if we didn't use them, we could use them at another Fast Pass line in the park. This sounded great to us so we saved them. We did get right on the ride and even rode it three times in a row. We stopped just before we got on to put on ponchos. We thought that we were all ready to go but Charlene wasn't ready. Her poncho wouldn't go on and we didn't hear her telling us to wait. So we charged on ahead and she gave up on the poncho in order to catch up with us. When we were all buckled in we tried to help her with her poncho as we felt very guilty for leaving her back there and discovered that her poncho was defective. It had only one armhole so no wonder she couldn't get it on. We got fairly wet even though those of us with ponchos but it was lots of fun. So then we went to Dinosaur and asked about our Fast Passes from Kali. The CM at the front said we didn't need them but to go ahead and use them. So we walked in through the fast pass line, then the CM on the inside sounded quite annoyed at us for using the Kali Fast Passes. We said that we were told we could and he took them reluctantly. I don't know that I would do that again but it worked great that time. I would have never considered it if the CM hadn't suggested it himself. Then it was close to time for our PS at Donald's Breakfastarous. This was a wonderful breakfast. It was relaxed and lots of fun. There was one waiter that was very silly. He squirted Bethany with fake mustard. He announced to the room "Make way, this boy is going to the bathroom. Out of the way!" He was just very silly. The food was very delicious and lots of variety. We ate at the end of the breakfast time but the food was still hot and plentiful. As we were getting ready to leave, the characters started being silly with each other. Pluto put a cup over Donald's tail and then Mickey and Pluto were laughing about it while Donald had no idea what was going on. The kids really enjoyed this interaction. We then went to the Tarzan Rocks show. What a production! I was quite impressed with how well done it was. The roller blading, singing, acrobatics! It all was great! It's Tough to be a Bug was next on our agenda. This show was great. The stinkbug wasn't near as stinky as I thought that it would be. Perhaps it was where we were sitting. The end was so fun though. We all were thinking we would feel it on our legs but no that was not where we felt the bugs exiting. At that point we exited to the car - it was around 2 o'clock and went back to the hotel room and went swimming. We relaxed and had fun at the quiet pool. That evening Chad didn't want to go back to a park and Gary wasn't feeling that great either so they both stayed at the hotel then went to Downtown Disney for some shopping. The rest of us went to the Disney Studios. Our goal was to see Fantasmic that night and hopefully ride Rock N Roller Coaster for the first time. We got there during the Mulan parade so we saw a little of it but we were focused on Rock N Roller Coaster so off we went. The lines looked pretty long - the time showed 30 minutes so they all got in line while I got Fastpasses for perhaps another ride later. I went off and wandered around while waiting for them. There is a nice waiting area there for us chickens who don't ride the ride. It actually took around 45 minutes by the time they came out as many many fast pass people were let in the line ahead of them. They definitely enjoyed it and then went right over to Tower of Terror. This time I walked in with them and then took the chicken exit. That was fun since I had already been waiting and had never seen the inside of Tower of Terror. I was concerned about Miles as when we were there two years ago, he hated this ride but he wanted to ride again. This time he liked it, my sister wasn't so sure about it but she did ride again later in the trip and enjoyed it. Then we went back and used the Fastpasses for one more ride on Rock n Roller Coaster. They loved it! At this point, it was around 6 and we decided to get dinner and eat it while waiting for Fantasmic. It took longer than I planned for our burger and fries so we rushed over to get a seat. We had plenty of time, got pretty good seats. I was amazed at all the different food that they were selling in there. Two years ago, they just had some stuff that didn't appeal to us but this time, they had all kinds of good stuff and of course, we had brought in food so we were happy waiting. Crystal got one of her frozen lemonade treats. She ended up getting this several times during the trip as a treat! The pre-show entertainment was pretty amusing also. Seeing the wave with that many people in slow motion and fast motion was hilarious! We really enjoyed the show and followed the crowd of people out of the park. I was concerned about riding the bus home after a closing like this but it wasn't bad at all. We got out there, even got a seat, waited about 5 more minutes and then left. There were some people standing but not that many and we didn't leave anyone waiting in line so it worked out pretty good. Sunday March 4, 2001 Islands of Adventure Today was the day we had scheduled for IOA since Monday was an e-night. We had heard on the weather forecast that thunderstorms and showers would hit during the night and occasional showers during that Sunday. Well, we woke up and it hadn't rained at all and looked pretty nice outside. So off we went to IOA about 8 in the morning. We parked in Jaws section and immediately saw tons of cheerleaders. Fortunately they all veered off towards Universal so we were thrilled. After the long walk, we finally got to the gates around 9 and were let right in. We stopped and stuffed their lockers with our stuff since we planned on riding those water rides and wanted some dry clothes to change into. Then off we went. Spiderman was the first ride and we walked right on. In fact, there was no one to follow in the maze that was a line so we weren't sure which direction to go every time but we found it. We really enjoyed it and thus went again right away. This time Miles actually looked up most of the ride. The second time, I enjoyed it more since I knew what was coming. However, we didn't get sprayed with the mist the second time like we did the first. So, then we were off to Jurassic Park. We loved Toon Town. It was so cool to walk through but Bethany was afraid that they would close Jurassic Park if it started storming so we were on a mission. Miles decided that he didn't want to go on Jurassic Park so I volunteered to wait with him. It is a beautiful area there. They thoroughly enjoyed it and then we all went back to Dudley Do Right. I waited with both Miles and Chad for this ride. At this point, the skies darkened quickly and raindrops started to pelt us. We pulled out the rain ponchos and huddled under shop eaves. Since we were all wet at this point, it seemed the perfect time to go to Popeye & Bluto's Bilge Raft Ride. We all rode this - over and over and over. We must have gone 6 times on it. It was pouring down rain everywhere so why not just enjoy it and really get soaked. There was no line so they let us keep going without getting off. That was great fun! I think the kids went one more time than we did even. I was finally soaked enough that I wanted off. Even though it was barely eleven o'clock we were hungry and wanted to go to some place dry. Bethany had already decided that she wanted to eat at Thunder Park Terrace so off we went. It was perfect. Nice and dry inside and good food. We were hoping that the weather would dry up and we would continue but obviously that was not to be. It was still pouring when we were finished eating so we decided to keep walking around the park. Bethany and Gary stopped and went on Jurassic once more and then caught up with us at the Flying Unicorns. I had thought that it sounded like a nice angelic ride through the enchanted forest so I was ready to go on it but the closer we got, the more I realized this was a roller coaster. I went ahead and got on with everyone else and as we are climbing the mountain they announce that due to inclement weather the Flying Unicorns may close at any moment for safety reasons. Then they whipped that coaster all over the place. Needless to say, I screamed my voice away again and got off as soon as possible. Everyone else went back through the line and rode again while I watched. They made that announcement again but didn't close the coaster while we were there. We went past the Dueling Dragons and decided that no one was up to riding it that day. We thought that it was closed earlier but it seemed like it was open right then. I knew that I wasn't riding it. We then went to Poseidon's Fury. We asked how long of a wait and the CM said a show starts every 10 to 15 minutes. After we wandered all the way inside of it and encountered a long line, then we realized that the CM didn't tell us a thing about how long we would have to wait in the line before we actually got in. But we went ahead and waited and eventually did get in. I liked it better than I thought that I would. Pretty amazing show! We really didn't look around too much outside since it was still pouring rain. We traveled on to Seuss Landing and were disappointed that One Fish, Two Fish was closed. We went on Cat in the Hat and were delighted with that ride. We rode it several times but had to get out and go through the store and the line each time. It is a wonderfully well done ride. We went back and got some ice cream at Hop on Pop and rested for a few minutes then off to the Carousel for a silly ride. Crystal wanted to ride Dr. Doom's Fearfall but it was closed because of the storm. Alas, it wasn't to be - the rain just kept coming down. We did go back and ride the Storm Accelerators. This was a fun ride and we rode it several times in a row. At this point, we went shopping for awhile then picked up our dry clothes from the lockers and walked and walked and walked and walked back to our car. We had never changed because it was still pouring but I do wish that I had stopped and changed to dry socks. At this point, we were so soaked and tired that it seemed like it took us hours to walk to our car. It was only about 3:30 so we decided to go shopping at the Beltz Outlet. Now we knew that it was Sunday and they would close at 6 so we tried to hurry that last bit but it was hard to hurry. We got to the shopping area fairly easily but then finding where the Disney stores were took alittle more searching. We were delighted with some of the purchases we made though! Definitely a good decision to go there. We found many things with 2000 on them instead of 2001 for less than half of the original cost. We shopped until they closed the stores at 6:00 and then we were hungry. We seemed to have hit a traffic jam on Sunday at 6 so we stopped at the first McDonald's we saw along the way. BIG MISTAKE! They were the slowest, messiest, most disorganized McDonald's I have ever seen! I will never go there again. And after being there a good half-hour, the traffic was still as bad as ever! We never knew why it was so slow; maybe it is like that every Sunday evening around closing time. We got back to CBR and the kids wanted to swim. We said "No way, we have been swimming all day in the rain!" So we just hung around and tried to recuperate. Charlene and I went and did laundry that night. They have a wonderful laundry facility right next to the quiet pool. We had brought quarters and our supplies and it wasn't very busy that evening so it worked out okay. Monday, March 5, 2001 Magic Kingdom Up early for Magic Kingdom early entry! We got a wonderful parking spot at the TTC right close and walked in to get on the Monorail. At the front gate, they checked to make sure that we were resort guests - first time that I have ever been checked on that. We rode the monorail over and then waited at the front gate for the 7:30 opening! We then proceeded directly to Dumbo for our one ride of the trip. Gary stood on the ground and took pictures of everyone. We then went over to Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh and then discovered that the teacups were closed! We went to Tomorrowland speedway, Buzz again and Space Mountain. I went shopping during this adventure to Space Mountain. We then wandered over to Adventure land to do the Jungle Cruise. We got on that cruise fairly easily. The sign had said 15 minutes but when we asked we found out that it really was a walk on. We had the goofiest driver. He was really into it - made it enjoyable. Kept asking us if we were having fun - "People in the back? People in the middle? People in the front?" We were the back so we had to be alert and get our excited response in quickly when he did this. Then we went off to Pirates and had a small wait there but not too bad. It has a fun store to shop in. Now at this point, the wind was out in full force and we were not exactly basking in the warmth of the day. But we had scheduled to go over to Blizzard Beach and if we didn't go today, we weren't sure that we would make it during this trip. So around 10 we headed out of Magic Kingdom. We were just about the only ones on the ferry going back and millions of people were lined up to come into Magic Kingdom. It is quite an experience going the opposite way of everyone. We were glad that we were leaving if that many were coming in. We had decided that we would go if just for the experience of having gone to Blizzard Beach. If the wind stopped, the weather was actually decent but the wind just didn't seem to want to cooperate. Anyway, we had no lines and we weren't the only ones in the park. So first we went up to Teamboat springs. They changed the loading process here from two years ago. I like this method so much better. This ride always scares me so you guessed it - screams and no more normal voice that day. We split into two groups since we couldn't all ride in the same boat. At the bottom, 5 of us decided to go again . Charlene and Chad went around the Cross-Country Creek Creek and then the Wave pool. We trudged up those stairs again since the ski lift wasn't running because of the wind. It was definitely cooler this time with wet suits on instead of dry. We all 5 got into a raft and went again. It was lots of fun! Then we all went around the Creek also. . Now the water was fine while we were in it but getting out and going anywhere was torture! It was cold! The lifeguards were all wearing sweat jackets over their clothes so they were cold also. We went over to the Training Camp as I figured Miles would like it. He worked on getting across those icebergs and it wasn't easy but he did it! We then raced over to the wave pool to find Charlene & Chad trying to get back in the water. It was fun but I personally don't enjoy the continual waves near as much as the Big wave every so often. I was ready to go back to warm up but I had to work on getting everyone else on my same time schedule. At that point, we were getting hungry and we had a PS at the Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom for about 2:45. This was around 2 so we were early but we went ahead. Gary didn't feel like going so he dropped us off there and we went to check in. The place was very busy and I was concerned that it may take quite a while but we gave her our names and she said just a few minutes. It was less than two minutes and they called out our names and we were seated. This was the first time any of us had eaten at a Rainforest Café and it was lots of fun. I was amazed at how big a room it was and how many people they can stack in there. Not much room between tables. The food was pretty good but the chicken portions were small while the hamburgers were huge. It was goofy. Then the waitress took a long time before coming back. I wanted to go but we couldn't until she came back. Finally, she came and I wanted to charge it to my room so she brought over a receipt and explained that they already added a 17% tip to the bill. I could add more if I wanted - which at that point 17% was plenty good enough. I noticed that there wasn't a place to sign on it but otherwise it looked normal. So I went ahead and signed it, took my room card and left to shop alittle in the store. A few minutes later she came running into the store to find me - seems she had to run it up again after I looked at it with the 17%. I was rather annoyed at this point and followed her back into the very very back of the restaurant so she could print up yet another receipt for me to sign. I realize that it wasn't her fault, it just was not a good system at all. By this time, I was tired and grumpy but everyone else got some cool stuff at the store. We then went to the bus stop and headed back to the hotel. Tonight was another E-night. We had really enjoyed last Friday so we wanted to do it again. Chad decided to stay back at the room, as he didn't feel up to going out again tonight. We stopped by the Customhouse and picked up our tickets. We also checked on our room bills to date. It was very important that we see the Electrical Parade tonight so we got there around 6 o'clock. Gary was not interested in it so he went off shopping and we met him at Buzz Lightyear afterwards. There weren't any comfortable places left to stake out for the parade so we plopped down on the hard unyielding pavement over in Frontier land. Pretty soon many people were waiting behind us and it was hard to move much to get comfortable. We had thought that when the parade came, we would stand up to see it but turns out that everyone behind us couldn't see if we did that so we didn't stand. But it made for a long time sitting on that slab of pavement. Also the pictures we took had a rope through the middle of some of them since it was right in front of us. I wouldn't ever sit where people can crowd in from behind again. That was quite uncomfortable. But the parade was wonderful. I sure enjoy seeing all those floats and twinkling lights. The music also was really cool! Then we went over to Toon Town hoping to ride Goofy's Barnstormer before 8 when the park officially closed. But alas, it was down for technical difficulties. We poked around Toon Town some and then walked over to Tomorrowland. We met Gary at Buzz and a couple of us were hungry so I went off to Casey's to get hot dogs while they rode Space Mountain and Buzz. The lines were not that long but it took a long time. They have very few places open during e-night for food so they were busy. It sure tasted great though. I brought them back to Tomorrowland and we rode Buzz a couple of times more. Charlene tried to call Chad then to check on him and he didn't answer the phone. She got worried about him and she was pretty tired herself so she decided to go ahead and go back to check on him. This was around 9 o'clock so she was the only person on the bus. The driver had worked for Disney only 5 weeks and was talking about his training and all. She got back and Chad was sound asleep in his room. He just was too sleepy to hear the phone. She was relived that he was fine. After Charlene left, we then split up as Miles did not want to ride Splash Mountain and they went to Splash while he and I went up to Astro Orbiter. I just watched as that ride is too high for me but it was fun going up with him and watching. We walked over to Frontierland and met the others at Splash and then they all went on Big Thunder Mountain. We decided to leave earlier tonight than we had the previous e-night. We left around 10 and had ice cream on the way out. It was great but we were tired. The tram operator was quite enjoyable that evening. There were very few people on the tram at that point and we persuaded her to sing to us. She was quite funny but no aspiring singer. Of course, our car was just about the furthest away from the tram that it could be but it was easy to find. Very few cars were left at that time. TUESDAY, March 6, 2001 DISNEYQUEST We slept in! YIPPEE! We left about 10 that morning to go to Disneyquest. Gary had gone and gotten us breakfast so we ate in our rooms that morning. We had purchased our tickets from the new ticket service on the Boards so we just waltzed in the entryway when they first opened that morning. We went directly to the Cyberspace Mountain since that was what we remembered from last time. This was lots of fun but they only had 2 cans going so the line built up very quickly! So I only rode once and watched the others a lot. We did purchase two of the videos - they are really nice souvenirs. After that we went down to the bottom floor and tried out the new Pirates ride. This was the hit of the day. We went back there several times that day with different combinations of gunners. You can't have more than 5 at a time so we used different combinations with the 7 of us. We also went on the Jungle cruise, the virtual reality games, Buzz Bumper cars and the artistic creations. We did all kinds of things. All but one of us left to go shopping around 2 o'clock. It sure is wonderful buying stuff and having it sent to the room. I did get my American Express discount of 15% at the World of Disney, which was nice. That store is so big though - I'm glad we had our little radios to find each other. Miles of course, spent his money at the Lego store. We walked back to Disneyquest looking at the stores along the way. The girls had wanted to check out Planet Hollywood. We even got to go up and look inside. We had planned on eating there but the girls decided that they didn't need to do that after all. We went back to Disneyquest and had cheesecake there. It is so good but so rich. We did Pirates a couple of more times and some other stuff then went back to the room. The kids did go swimming that night but it was too cold for me. It got dark too quickly and the heat from the sun was no longer there. They had fun though. We decided to do another load of laundry but that was a totally different experience tonight. The place was crowded and one of the dryers decided to eat someone's clothes. I really felt for them, as they had to dig out their socks and underwear from the rim around the door. The repair guy came over and checked on it and he would have to get a new drum, which wouldn't happen tonight. They were nice to the people but it took quite a while for someone to come to compensate them for their ruined clothes. It is quite an experience when the place is crowded and everyone is vying for that next dryer to open up. Next time, I will have to be pretty desperate for clean clothes to do it when the place is crowded. WEDNESDAY, March 7, 2001 DISNEY STUDIOS Today was early entry for Disney Studios. The parking instructions there were not very clear. We had to move twice before we were in a spot that was "okay" to park. There were no signs saying, "Cast parking only" so we had no idea that we were not to park there. Confusing way to start the morning. We got there and went right in to Rock n Roller Coaster. I got very familiar with the waiting area for this ride. I think they rode it 2 times then went on Tower of Terror once or twice then we went off to Star Tours. We did this and then the Great Movie Ride and 3 D Muppet Adventure. We wanted to watch the Indiana Jones Adventure but didn't think that it would get done in time for the PS at the Sci Fi so we went on the Backstage Pass. We just missed getting into the group ahead of us, so we worried about our time there also, since it is a long tour but it worked out just fine. I love Catastrophe Canyon. We actually got wet this time, I have not had that happen before. Then we split up and Charlene took all the kids to the Sci Fi while Gary and I went to the Brown Derby. What a difference in atmosphere! The place was very nice and enjoyable. Was great to relax in the quiet of the restaurant. The kids enjoyed their meal also but didn't think the food was as good as they remembered from two years ago. At that point, we wanted to see Indiana Jones so we went in the standby line. I should have gotten fast passes before we ate but I didn't think of that at that time. It was a great show. We decided to go back to the hotel at that point and do some resting. The plan was to go to Epcot that evening, check on Test track since it was finally open and then just look around. Gary had gone over that afternoon while we were at the Indiana Jones show and found out that the fastpasses at 2 o'clock were already for 9 o'clock that evening so our plan to check out Test Track was already kaput. So we didn't even worry about that which worked out since when we did get to Epcot, it was closed for technical difficulties. We got there and went to Universe of Energy. This is a nice ride but so long - I found myself nodding off during parts of it. I needed more sleep but there was so much to do and see, I couldn't take time to sleep. At that point, we all split up into three groups. Bethany and Crystal went to check out Innoventions. Charlene went on her own to walk around the World Showcase and Gary, Miles and I went to walk around. We didn't get too far when Miles really wanted to go back to the hotel. So Gary took him back and I was on my own. I radioed Charlene but she didn't answer. Later, I found out that the radio wasn't turned on yet. Anyway, I just walked around the World someone quickly but that was okay. I wanted to see the parade and this was confusing to me to know what the taped up pathways meant. I asked a couple of CM's and found out that one side was a walkway so you couldn't stand there so I found a place to cross the street and just staked out a spot in Great Britain. Turned out to be a great spot - the walkway was crowded with people but on our side was nice and spacious. Those puppets were pretty amazing. I enjoyed watching them but I wished that someone were with me watching them. Afterwards, I called Charlene again and this time, she answered. She was quite close actually so I waited for her in Canada. She was hungry for a pastry and I said that we had to get a Beavertail. So we got in the line at the Beavertail stand. They were fairly slow there and 20 minutes later right at 9 o'clock we finally got our Beavertail. At that point we just stood and watched the Illuminations show. I knew that we would see it on Friday so I wasn't worried about having a great spot. I just enjoyed seeing the show. The girls called us about that time and we told them that we were in Canada. They got to us just about during the finale so we stayed together on the great exodus out of the park. That is truly amazing to see all those people all flowing in one direction. We managed to stay together and find our bus stop. We got in the line and were the last ones on the bus. Of course, I was up front near the bus driver and my sister says to me, "This is not a ride that you should scream on!" We laughed at that and made it home fairly quickly. The buses worked out pretty good for us as a backup transportation. THURSDAY, MARCH 8 - Universal Today we went back to the Universal area and went to that park. Gary was going over to check out the Holy Land park then meet us at the park. So he dropped us off which saved some walking time. We did not bring our coats since it seemed fairly warm but I regretted that decision for the first couple of hours. It was very chilly with the wind. I was okay but I felt bad about my son shivering. We made it to the front gates about 8:40. They were letting in people from their hotels at one set of gates so we went to stand at the other ones with the huge lines. My sister decided that she would go over and ask for a map and just about that time, they started letting everyone in. So we all moved over to those gates and were let in. Off we went to Back to the Future. It was quite a walk back to that part of the park. Since we had never been there before, we weren't sure that we were going the right directions but it was. We walked right on the ride. It was pretty good but awfully jerky. Charlene said that it was the jerkiest ride she had been on - they had gone on it several times in the California park. Anyway, we then went over to the Men in Black ride. The entrance confused us as there was a small sign pointing another direction for Entrance but we did find it. You have to check your backpacks there in their lockers so I did that. Those locker setups are pretty nice. They were free for two hours then would cost you money after that. We walked onto this ride which was great. My score was the worst of all until I hit the red button first and got a 100,000 bonus. Yippee. When you sit in the back you definitely have a different perspective than the front. The other car beat us by a small margin so we had to go again. Crystal was the big winner on this one with 190,000 points I think. Our average was around 90,000. So we went again and this time, Bethany got the red button bonus. I rode in the front this time and we beat the other car's average scores pretty easily. So one more time around we went and the line was actually shorter this time. Not that there ever was really a line. It was great. At this point, the kids were getting pickier about where they wanted to sit so we had to work that out but it was still fun. I figured out how to hit the other car's target and make them spin over and over again. Those poor people - I loved it! We rode on the other track that time also, so it was a little different. We couldn't do this all day, so off now to Jaws. The line was pretty short there. We had to wait for one boat. This ride was pretty intense and Miles was sitting right where the shark got electrocuted. Then we stopped at Earthquake since it was next. Here they had us wait in a room that was packed with people - quite stuffy. Chad waited outside for us as he had no desire to wait in that stuffy room. Then they had us go into another room and showed us some stuff and then another room where we could sit for a few minutes. At this point the doors behind us opened and we were loaded onto a tram car. They said that each row seated 7 so we figured that the 5 of us would fit easily. Anyway, the seating was quite chaotic and we were near the back of the area and there were no seats with us together. They rather harshly told us to sit in the first seats that we could find. The kids got together in one place but Charlene and I had to go clear to the middle of the tram to find a seat. The CM's didn't seem to be concerned about helping us find a seat or getting people together. Fortunately, my kids were old enough to be somewhat on their own but it did bother me the rest of the ride. It was quite an experience to be on that subway car during the "earthquake". I would have enjoyed it except that I was concerned about how my kids were doing. Of course, they did just fine. We were starting to tire at that point so we thought about lunch but decided to do a couple more rides first. We headed off to Kongfrontation. It had a bit of a line so waited about 10 minutes but that was fine. This was better than I expected. It was a surprise at the end of the ride when the "news camera" shows a picture on the monitor that is really our car of people. That was fun. Charlene wanted to get a picture with King Kong so we stopped and had the photographer take it. I got a copy also and that turned out to be one of the best pictures of the trip. They put you in his fist leaning over the side like you are terrified of this creature. It is hilarious! We decided to have it sent to the front of the park so we wouldn't have to carry it around with us. This turned out to delay us some as it wasn't there when we decided to leave 3 hours later. But they brought it up within about 10 minutes of when we asked for it so it worked out in the end. We decided to check out one more ride before lunch and the lines at Hanna Barbara were pretty long looking. So we got express passes. Now this is the crazy part. It was about 11:30 at that time and the express pass was for 11:35. We were like - Great! So we got them and immediately got into the express pass line. This was wonderful! We got into the loading area pretty fast. This was way different that I expected. I didn't realize that it was one big room with groups of "cars" all around. Anyway, a fun ride to be sure! The shop was fun also. At that point, Gary called on the radio that he was in the park. So we met at Mel's Diner for lunch. The food was great and we enjoyed the break. The boys really wanted to see the Wild West Show at 1:00 and the girls were not, so we split up. We went over to Woody Woodpecker coaster and rode it. It was fun but at this point, I was glad that we didn't have our coats. It was hot out now. Charlene, Chad, Miles and I went over to the Wild West Show. There was a huge crowd of people waiting and I wondered about this whole thing but eventually they let us in and we got seats. The boys were in the "soak zone" but Charlene and I said a little higher. The show was okay but not something that I would need to see again. After the show, we split up as Chad wanted Dippety Dots Ice cream and Miles wanted to ride Woody again. So we planned to meet around 2 o'clock and off we went. This time, I let Miles ride alone on Woody. I wanted to go on ET but he had no desire to do it. It had a 15 minute wait so I decided that I could pass on that also. Next we were off to Twister. While we were in the waiting area for it, Bethany called on the radio and said that she thought that it was too intense for Miles. So I wanted to leave but he really wanted to stay and the doors opened right then so in we went. I was nervous about how he would do especially since they really dramatized everything on screens as we moved from room to room. But when it got to the actual "Twister" he did just fine! I was glad that we did it. We then met up with the rest of the group over by Terminator 2. Charlene had gone into that show and we were waiting for her. She came out about 2:30 so we decided that we were tired enough for the day. I wish we could have gone back to Islands of Adventure and seen it in the without rain but our feet and energy level was just not up for it. No use dragging ourselves around the park if we weren't going to enjoy it. We walked and walked and walked back to the car. The parking lots are so far away from the parks. I realize they have the moving sidewalks for part of the way and all but you still have to walk all the way through Citywalk to even get to them. We drove back to our hotel and decided to stop at that new outlet mall by Crossroads. It was an enjoyable stop but the stuff was very similar to what we had seen at the other outlet malls. We did pick up some CBR Sweatshirts for a really good deal. That evening, the kids went swimming and Charlene and I took a walk around part of the hotel over by Jamaica and Aruba and Barbados. I had had big plans of exploring the resort but this was as far as we got during this trip. It is so pretty, there are all these wooded areas to walk through and just so nicely themed. We had an early evening of it which was really nice. FRIDAY, March 9, 2001 Magic Kingdom - EPCOT This morning was our breakfast with Cindy. I had gotten up at 3 am three months ago to make this PS. We had never done this and were anxious to see what it was like. I was amazed at how many people were there that early in the morning. The park didn't open until 9:00 and we had a PS for 8. But there were definitely different groups being let in even before us. Perhaps some cheerleading conference or something. Anyway, we went in and were seated fairly quickly. It was a very nice breakfast. Bethany sat on the inside and didn't really want many pictures so I didn't get much of her with the characters but Miles did pretty good at posing for me with the Princesses. The food was good and service was great so it was fun. It would have been more fun if the kids would have been delighted to get their pictures taken instead of grudgingly but they are past that stage now. I will have to wait for grandchildren (not for a loooooong time though!). It was crazy when we left though. It was still before 9 so the entrance to Fantasyland was PACKED with people. We wound our way through the masses towards Splash Mountain area. This was the morning that I would take the plunge. I had promised that I would ride ONCE on this ride and this was it. We went with the crowds of people to the entrance and basically walked onto the ride. You don't have to be at the front of the crowd to get on fairly quickly. However, the ride stopped a couple of times on the inside so it gave me time to get really nervous before the big drop! I screamed and survived on the big drop. Actually, I think the Magic Kingdom version seating is much better than the Disneyland version. They went on Big Thunder Mountain while Gary and I shopped for a pair of sunglasses. I had left mine in my room and needed them. This day was actually warm again. Hurray! Then I took the boys and went over to Tom Sawyer Island. They played there a while and had a good time. Charlene and Crystal went on the Steamboat and we could see them from the island. We talked to each other on the radios. That was fun! I think Bethany and Gary went over to ride Buzz again. We met up with Charlene and Crystal after that and went to the Tiki room. Almost fell asleep in the dark room but stayed awake for most of it! At that point, we decided to go over to the Contemporary and rent a boat. We rented one of those pontoon boats and Gary drove it. We went by Wilderness Lodge, River Country, over the highway, by the Magic Kingdom, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. It was a great day for it. When we got back we split up again into two groups. Gary took Chad, Miles and Bethany on the monorail over to Epcot. They got to ride in the front. Then they went back for swimming at the hotel. While Charlene, Crystal and I caught a bus over to Animal Kingdom. I remembered that the next Lion King show was at 1:15 so we were trying to get there in time for it as the next one wasn't until 2:45. I had forgotten how far you have to walk to get into the park over the bridge to the Tree of Life over the bridge to Mickey and Minnie's land and into the theatre. We made it just a few minutes after it had started and got seats in the Giraffe section. I was glad we made it but next time, I won't push us so hard and just wait until the 2:45 show. We did enjoy it a lot. Then we went over to the Safari ride to check on the lines and it was just about a walk on so we did that next. I was hoping to see more giraffes than we had earlier in the week but we just glimpsed one that was all. We then stopped at Pizzafari for something to eat on the way out. We then rode the bus back to the hotel. We got back to our rooms around 4. Then Bethany, Crystal and I went early to Epcot to see if we could go on Test Track. We would meet the others in France in time for our dinner reservations. We took the bus and had a wonderful driver. He was full of facts and information! Quite delightful! We went in and it showed a 30-minute for Test Track. We persuaded Crystal to try the singles line with us. The fast pass time at that point was for after 9 pm and we had a boat reservation for that night so that was out. Anyway, I had read about it and so we tried the singles line. Well, they had us wait right under the raceway. Talk about noisy and shaking a lot. Was quite impressive there. The standby line was moving way faster than ours. They had 3 rooms full move in before ours moved 1 room. At that point, I wondered if we had done the right thing but then our line moved. Us "single" people were all given an orange tag that said single. We watched the presentation then were let into the main room in a separate line. It was quite organized. You have no idea how long it will be because it depends on the groups of people coming through. One lady in the singles line was trying to get in the same car as her sister in the regular line, she moved back in the line a ways and then her sister got in ahead of her anyway so it is difficult to predict. Bethany quickly had me change places with her in line and then it turned out that Crystal and I rode in the same car after all. It was fun! At that point, we went over to check out Innoventions and we made a 10 second video to send back. It was quite interesting making this with two teens. I didn't say much - just waved! We looked around there a while then went to Ice Station Cool. I told Crystal that she should try the beverage from Italy. So she got a full glass of the "Beverly" . Just as she was about to drink it, Bethany got her camera out and so she became suspicious of us - the fact that I burst into laughter didn't help much. She did take a sip of it and that was worth it all. We tried to get the boys back to there the next day but we were never there when it was open. Then we took the boat over to Morocco to save our feet and Gary called on the radio that they were there. So we met up with them and Charlene took Miles and Chad to explore while Gary, Crystal, Bethany and I went to France to eat. We enjoyed the food there - we always do. Bethany however couldn't handle the cheese on her cheeseburger so she didn't eat much. Crystal had the veal which she had never had before and really liked it. We ordered dessert which is what Bethany had come for and that made the meal. Very good! We noticed that it was raining outside while we were eating. People were walking by wearing ponchos and using umbrellas so we knew it was pretty bad. We met Charlene and the boys as planned. They had eaten in America - hamburgers and hot dogs. The boys loved it! They had taken the Friendship launch over from Germany and then back to Morocco to meet us. We decided to walk towards the Yacht club marina since we didn't know how long it would take us to get there. We got there about 8 o'clock but the rain was kinda yucky! It wasn't pouring but it wasn't going away either. The captains were very nice and were getting things ready for us like lifejackets and towels. We huddled under the eaves waiting for the okay to board. They waited until around 8:30 to have us board as they were hoping the weather would clear but alas it didn't. We apparently got the slower boat of the 3 since we had only 7 on board. Our captain joked about it when they passed us on the ride over to Disney Studios. She was full of interesting tidbits of info and was enjoyable. The weather however was not helping. We had a half canopy on the boat so some of us huddled under it but then it had holes in certain places that weren't helpful so it was interesting trying to stay dry. We then parked under the bridge and tied up the boat there. There are places for exactly 6 boats and no more. No extra room at all and yes it is not the best view of the show but definitely nicer than being crowded with all those people above on the walkways. It was very nice but the weather definitely made it less enjoyable than it could have been. We then trudged out to the car which Gary had parked at the Beach Club since we had the cruise. We did have a problem locating our car though. We walked through the Yacht Club hotel thinking that it was the Beach Club so our car wasn't sitting where we expected it to be. We were a tired group of wet people trying to find our car in the vast sea of parking spaces. They remembered what the spot number was but the lots didn't match, when we realized that we were at the wrong hotel. That made a huge difference and then we did find the car. We piled in, buckled up and went home, a tired happy group! SATURDAY, March 10 LAST DAY We woke up for our last full day in the Magic. Bethany and Gary got up early and took the bus to Magic Kingdom for early entry. They had big plans for Buzz. She had heard to improve your score you just kept shooting continually. She did end up with a better score but Gary came out the winner with over 400,000. They took the monorail over and met up with us at Test Track. Since they went right from one park to the next, their passes wouldn't work at Epcot. They had the handstamp so they let them in but then they couldn't get fast passes at Test Track without the CM's help. Anyway, all together we went on Test Track. Chad had stayed back at the hotel to sleep in that morning. It was fun so we went again. This time we used our fast passes. That was a mistake - took us a LOT longer to walk through the maze for the fast pass line than to go through the regular standby line. Oh well, live and learn. We went over to Innoventions after that and played there a while. We took several electronic postcards. Those are great souvenirs. Then we met up with everyone else and left to go to Typhoon Lagoon. Gary stayed at the room that afternoon as he wanted to take a nap. It was nice weather - could have been a little warmer but was lots better than Blizzard Beach had been earlier in the week. It was closed today so Typhoon was pretty crowded. We got a pretty good area to sit and relax in. The boys went around the creek and the girls went out to the wave pool. We munched on hot dogs and burgers for lunch and relaxed in the sun. We also went shopping in their store at the end and got a few souvenirs. After this we headed off to Disney Studios for our last rides. We split up as Miles and Gary went to see the Doug show. We went right to Rock N Roller Coaster and got fastpasses for later. Then we went over to the Little Mermaid show. We were like one of the last people let into the show so our seats were waaaaaaay over on the right side. We missed out on some of the special effects like the rain but we didn't have to wait for another show so that was fine. Then we went to Drew's Carey's Sounds Dangerous. This was fun. I had never done it before so wasn't sure what to expect. We played around in the exit area. There are some fun things there to listen to and create. Then we met Gary and Miles at Prime Time for our PS that evening. This place was so busy! Even with our Ps, we had to wait about 25 minutes. We did get in finally and had a wonderful time. The food was good and the waitress was funny. We did have to rush a bit at the end since we wanted to use our Rock n Roller Fast passes. The waitress went and got our bill and got us right out once we let her know that. This time Gary and I both waited while they went on Rock n Roller coaster. Even with the fastpasses, it took about 20 minutes. Then we had two extra passes so Bethany and Miles did it one more time. Charlene got her famous "Goofy" ice cream bar. She loved those. Bethany was hoping to get in one more ride on Tower of Terror but it was not to be. They had closed the line as it was after 7 and the park was closing. She and I just couldn't go back to the hotel that early so we caught a bus over to TTC to go the Magic Kingdom. Everyone else went back to the hotel and packed to go home. We got in line with a million other people trying to go to the Magic Kingdom. I didn't realize that they only bused you to the TTC then you take the Monorail to MK. Oh well, we finally got there about 8 o'clock. We were going against the tide with all the people leaving after the first Electrical parade. We went to Buzz but the line was 30 minutes so we got a fast pass and went to Toon Town. We did get to ride Goofy's Barnstormer there. That was fun and we went through Minnie's house. We were on a mission to get more pressed pennies so we stopped at all the shops on the way trying to get them. We went to Fantasyland looking for them and found quite a few. We were there when the Fireworks started. That was cool looking at them from there. We went over to Buzz then and rode one last time. Two years ago, Bethany and I rode Buzz as our last ride so we are making tradition now! We left the park then as we wanted to beat the crowds out before the 9:30 parade. The stores were so packed with people. I asked one of the sales clerks and she laughed and said that it is always like this. I guess they get used to it. Anyway we rode back on the bus and arrived about 10 o'clock. Bethany went to bed and I packed. I pretty much finished about 11:30 as Gary had already done a lot. That really helped. SUNDAY, March 11, 2001 HOME We got up this morning rather leisurely and finished packed all the last minute things. The kids went swimming one last time and then we proceeded to stuff it all into the van. Didn't fit quite as easy as before, but we got it all in! We left by about 10:45. We had wanted to check out the All Stars so we stopped by that hotel and Charlene and I got out and looked around. It would be okay to stay there but I think we really enjoyed the CBR better. So off to the airport. We checked in with our mounds of luggage and went to the food court. We ate lunch there - Bethany and Miles wanted McDonalds so I took them clear out to one of the far away areas to get it. We did some last minute shopping and then got on the plane. We loaded on about 1/2 hour late on the plane. Then in St. Louis there was another delay. Something needed to be fixed but it got fixed fairly quickly. We were so relieved that we weren't trying to meet another plane. We didn't want to be late but we didn't have to worry about missing a connection. Actually, by the time they got to Portland, we were on time but then we ended up being a little late into Anchorage. It was a Loooooooong flight home. We didn't get off the plane which we probably should have in Portland for a break. We just wanted to come home quickly! Our luggage arrived safe and sound, our homes were toasty and warm. The weather outside was not exactly warm but, hey, we were back in ALASKA! Judy Veater veater@iolalaska.net Mail a Comment to Judy Veater |
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