 |  |
| Discussion Boards | Reviews | News | Trip Planning | Shop | Travel | Site Map |
| Disney Trip Report Archive An archive of reader-submitted trip reports | |
| Alex Stroup, editor | Search just the Trip Report Archive. |
|
Mike Banks -- January 2002 -- Walt Disney World (WL)Cast Members: The Banks Family:
The Carlo Family:
Pre- Planning Let me start out by saying that after a 412-day absence from WDW it feels great to finally be writing a trip report again. As some of you may or may not know Becca and I planned to visit WDW with J&J in Feb. 1999 (Winter 1999 here on MousePlanet) but due to some health problems Becca and I found ourselves visiting WDW alone. When we returned home the four of us made plans to go back in winter of 2002, Jen was pregnant at the time and wanted their baby to be a little older before they went. Of course Becca and I think a little differently when it comes to Disney and have no problem dragging our 6 month old son down there with us. Everyone finds it so hard to believe that we would want to bring Cole with us, we constantly heard things like " Why are you bringing him with you, he won't remember." or "you know it's gonna be totally different now that you have a baby with you, you're not going to be able to do everything you could before". People we know this now back off. Winter 2001 With our proposed trip about a year away, we started discussing where we would like to stay and thought that the girls would like the atmosphere at All-Star-Movies so we called and booked two rooms for 2 weeks Jan 30th - Feb 13th. John's store does inventory around that time of year and once he knows the specific dates we would knock off a few days. We kind of thought that we would cancel the last week because Erin's birthday is Jan 31st and we wanted to plan our trip around that. Spring 2001 J&J talked to us about switching to a moderate resort. There point was they don't know when they are going to go back to Disney and they wanted to make this trip a memorable one. I was of course for it but Becca was a little apprehensive about the extra cost because we would be totting a new little one around in the near future. After a little badgering, she agreed and we transferred our reservations from ASM to Dixie Landings (DL). This jumped our cost up from $77 a night to $118 a night. August 2nd 2001 Our son Cole is born. October 4th 2001 After fearing this for months, it finally happened. I was layed off from my job. I had worked at a small Architecture firm that was being managed very poorly and we were quickly running out of projects in the office. I thought I was safe because I have been working there for 5 years, longer than several other people have. However, my piece of poo boss decided that to let go the guy with a wife, 2 month old, mortgage, car payment to save money. As you can tell, I'm not too bitter. Becca and I decided that something would eventually come up and not to cancel our trip. In fact shortly after being let go we booked our airline reservations, Air-Tran for $130 round trip. Our cheapest flight we have ever booked. November 26th, 2001 After being out of work for less than 2 months I started my new job today, thankful to be able to support my family again and thankful for a much more promising and much better paying job. Now I can also start gearing up for Cole's first Disney trip. January 14th, 2002 We are getting very close, 16 days left, and we're getting a little nervous about our trip. We have been reading everywhere about how they are closing almost everything at DL and are running on a very bare bones operation. We had heard about the up sells they were offering and hoped to get one by calling but we were told every time that they were not offering them at this time and that by Feb 1st everything would be up to full operation. One time we were even told that the resort is open except for some buildings that were getting renovation work done to them. We were finally coming to terms with staying at DL when we received a call about transferring to a different moderate, which had no rooms with the Disney Club discount available. After talking with the agent on a 3 way call for about an hour we finally settled on Wilderness Lodge for an extra $41 a night meaning we went from paying $77 a night to $159 a night. That's o.k. After all, I did get a better paying job. The Trip January 29th 2002 Our plan was simple, since our flight was at 6:35 tomorrow morning we figured that we should wake up around 4:00 to be at the airport by 5:00. Of course, Cole had other ideas. We went through his evening routine just like every night, put him down after his bath and a bite to eat. About an hour after Cole went to bed, Becca and I had everything finished up and were climbing into bed too. We both lay in bed finding it very hard to sleep with thoughts of our trip going through our heads. Then wouldn't you know an hour into us going to bed Cole decides to start crying. He pretty much did this all night long, because of this, I managed only a half hour of sleep and Becca only got about 1-1/2 hours. January 30th 2002 It was 3:30 and I had been pacing our living room with Cole for about an hour now and needed to do something else so I decided that we may as well start getting ready. Becca and I took turns entertaining Cole while the other got ready. After getting no sleep, I was incredibly crabby and very absent minded. At one point, I went into our suitcase to get something and then closed it back up. 10 minutes I later began looking for the luggage lock keys and couldn't find them. After searching the house with no luck, I went into the basement, grabbed my hacksaw and went to town on the little master lock. Wouldn't you know there it was. Becca thought that was hilarious. Once I pulled myself together, I loaded our luggage into the truck and we drove over to Becca's fathers house who was taking us to the airport at the ungodly hour of 5:00. On the way I started mumbling some nonsense about how this vacation was the worst idea ever and we're gonna have a rotten time. Becca got sick of listening to me complain so she called my bluff and said if I'm that unhappy we should turn around. Of course I said no and we continued our ride to the airport. We were dropped off at the AirTran curbside area and saw a friend from high school who ended up also going to WDW and happened to be on the same flight as us. While I was talking to him John came running up and jumped on my back. With the way my body was feeling I'm surprised I didn't collapse. We said goodbye to our friend outside and went in where Jen and the girls where waiting. We were all given seats near each other and made our way through a relatively small security checkpoint line. When we got to our gate we had about 70 minutes before our flight was scheduled to take off so I walked Cole around in his stroller, of course here he falls asleep, not at home in his comfy crib. Finally we were boarded on our plane that was flying with only 20 passengers to Atlanta. The flight was very long, starting with the a 45 minute wait before we pushed away from the airport and concluding with flying for an hour in a holding pattern over ATL. While waiting for my stroller I overheard an airport employee saying that they just started to let planes land about 30 minutes ago because of a thick fog in the area. Luckily our connecting flight was also late and we were able to catch it just in time. This flight seemed very short, especially compared to our first flight, and we touched down in Orlando at 11:45. We've never flown Air Tran before so maybe it was just their concourse but the airport seemed deserted to me. As I walked to baggage pick up I met our Tiffany driver, Berkley, who was waiting for us. He grabbed us a skycap to help us with our stuff while he went to get the car, which he could no longer park next to the building. We retrieved our luggage and waited outside enjoying being in warm weather again. John and I joked about getting a stretch job for the drive and a couple minutes later a limo came driving towards us, unfortunately right behind it was our van. After a couple minutes we were packed up and on our way to Wilderness Lodge, with a quick stop at Publix for diapers and baby food. We all enjoyed the drive and turned onto Timberline Dr at 1:00. After checking our bags we stepped through the sliding doors and stood in awe as we looked at the lobby. There was no line at check-in so John and I walked up to the counter. I was given room 5084 and John had the adjacent room 5085. Our rooms were on the 5th floor, located on either side of the raven totem pole. The CM warned us that they were refinishing the driveway but the fumes should be gone by tonight. Our balconies faced the Magic Kingdom and we had a view of the Polynesian, Cont and part of the monorail track, and at night we could see space mountain through the trees. Once we were in our rooms John and I walked down to Roaring Forks to get some drinks while the girls began to unpack. On our way down to RF we stopped at bell services where John asked about Flag Family. Barry told us the first available day was Sunday the 3rd so we took it. When we got back to the room we told everyone the good news. The afternoon was spent unpacking, exploring the hotel and spending sometime in the pool. Erin and Emma (E&E) loved it. Around 4:00 we walked down and caught the MGM bus to make our way to Y&B for dinner. At MGM we just missed the Friendship so we enjoyed the atmosphere around the Studios while we waited for the next boat. After what seemed forever the boat finally arrived and we were at Y&B, after a quick stop at S&D. It was on the boat dock that we experienced our only rain the whole trip which actually was a very light mist, but in the distance, probably over MK we could see a heavy downpour. This was a homecoming of sorts for J&J who stayed here on there honeymoon in 1994 for one night. We walked along the covered walkway of the Yacht Club on our way to Beaches and Cream. We were seated right away in fact we were the only people in there so I thought it was closed, I figured that at 5:00 it would be pretty busy with the dinner crowd. Dinner was our standard for B&C, cheeseburgers all around with milkshakes and cherry coke. Dinner was very enjoyable and by the end of our meal it was starting to get a little busier. After we finished our dinner and feeding Cole his dinner we stopped next door and played a few video games with the kids. After prying Erin from the driving game she was playing we walked down to the gift shop at the Beach Club where we saw some stuff we would like to pick up later in our stay and then continued walking towards Epcot. I wanted to see the new Beach Club Villas but didn't get a good look at it since it was so dark. We crossed the bridge and walked down toward the Boardwalk where I took John into the bathrooms at the ESPN Club. Since we skipped dessert at B&C we stopped in at Seashore Sweets and picked up a few treats for later tonight. As we exited I was stopped by a survey taker who asked me a few questions about what I thought of the Boardwalk. She also took my name and address and said that another survey would be mailed to my house. By the time I caught up with the rest of the gang they had stopped outside the Screen Door General Store where we parted ways with the Carlo's who decided to go back to the room after our long day. Becca and I walked around the store where I found a t-shirt I wanted to buy but not much else so we decided to head back also. As it turned out the bus hadn't showed up yet and we met back up with J&J who where still waiting at the bus stop. The trip back to WL, via Downtown Disney, was uneventful and before to long we were back in our room where we began Cole's nighttime ritual. January 31st 2002, Erin's 6th Birthday What a morning today was. We had priority seating at Cinderella's Royal Table for 8:30 (actually we also had ps for 9:15 but never cancelled it). Mickey called us this morning at 6:57 and we began to gather all of Cole's things he would need for this morning. As Becca was getting ready I took a walk down to the boat dock to see if the were running the boats because of the incredibly dense fog. When I got to the dock no one was there but there was a sign saying that MK boat stated running at 8:30. I went back up to get everyone and we ended up walking out the door at 7:30. When we walked down to the lobby we were treated to the character caravan at our hotel today. We stopped down and took a couple quick pictures with Minnie on our way to catch the bus to the TTC and then the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. By now the fog had burned off and it was a beautiful morning. We were one of the few people on the monorail, everyone else was stopped at the TTC gates unless they had ps arrangements. It was a beautiful ride to the MK and everyone was so excited about our day. Then we pulled up to the MK stop when I realized that I had left our park tickets in the room. We decided that I would go back to the room by myself and meet everyone back at the castle. I was so mad at myself that I didn't realize that they never opened the doors to let passengers on at Magic Kingdom until the mono came to a complete stop just past the Poly. After not moving for a few minutes it occurred to me that the driver probably thinks the train is empty and he's in no hurry to get back to the TTC. I took matters into my own hands and picked up the phone that's in each cab. My conversation with the driver went like this: Me: "Hi, yeah, I just wanted to let you know that I was still on the train from the Magic Kingdom" Driver: "No, we didn't pick up any passengers at Magic Kingdom" Me: "I know, I came on at TTC and never got out" Driver: "You should have let me know, there's a monorail at the TTC being serviced now it will probably be another 5 minute...I'll see what I can do" It was only a couple more minutes actually before we were moving again and back at the TTC where I was let out. I ran down to the bus drop-off, passing by a huge crowd of people waiting to get into the monorail station, where the Boone a bus was waiting. She told me that she had to wait another 5 minutes but after hearing how everyone was waiting for me at the castle she left a few minutes early. At WL I ran as fast as I could up to our room and grabbed the tickets from my passporter. As I was running back to the elevator I saw a boat coming in from Fort Wilderness and ran to the boat dock where I was able to board and head back to MK. On the way back I tried to call John on his walkie talkie with no luck. I wanted to remind him that w still had the 9:15 seating for breakfast that I decided to keep in case something were to go wrong, like this. When I finally got to the park Becca was waiting past security and we walked to the far turnstile and let in because of our breakfast, everyone else had to wait for the park to open. After we were let in that's when it really got fun, I was still so mad I left the tickets that I couldn't keep it in and Becca and I got in this huge fight as we were walking down Main St. Just past the emporium I saw John who helped to calm me down by reminding me of what happened when we came here 10 years ago for a long day trip. I found Becca, apologized and was finally able to enjoy the fact that we had the whole park to ourselves, at least for a few more minutes. After hearing what John and Jen did while waiting for me to return I was pretty disappointed that we weren't with them. But Becca and I thought that next time we come to make early reservations for Crystal Palace and get to experience some of the things we missed out on. At the castle I walked up to the counter and checked us in for our 8:30 reservation, even though it was now 9:10. as I was at the counter a man and his daughter asked about having breakfast with the princesses but were told that without reservations there were no available tables but to check back later. I told the lady at the computer that he could have our unused 9:15 seating. They were very grateful. Before to long our royal party was announced and we were led to our seats. The food was o.k. but we knew going into this meal that the great part was the character interaction. Erin, who was all decked out in her Snow White costume, got everyone's autograph and a picture with each character. It amazed me all trip long how each character's signature would look like it does in the movies or books. I was a little disappointed that every character, except Belle who said a quick hello, totally ignored Cole. After breakfast we planned on a short visit to Fantasyland for the girls so we walked out the back of the castle and practically walked on Cinderella's Golden Carousel. We got some great pictures on the horses which has become a tradition for me and Becca. We also took one with all the kids on one horse which turned out great. After the carousel we split up so the girls could visit Ariel in her grotto while we took Cole on his first Dumbo ride, he loved it. After Dumbo they were still waiting for Ariel who had to wet her fins for a few minutes so we went through some of the shops here in fantasyland. A short while later J&J met up with us and we decided to go on small world. Cole had just fallen asleep in his stroller so Becca strapped on the baby carrier so we could all go on the ride. The kids loved the ride but were more hesitant about riding Peter Pan. After the ride Erin said she loved it while Emma didn't really care for it, a little too dark for her. By now Cole had woken up so we decided to go on the Haunted Mansion before we headed out. We all started the mansion but after the first room where Emma didn't stop screaming her and Jen took the exit door and waited for us. Looking back that ride scarred her for the whole vacation. Every attraction from TTA to Beauty and the Beast at MGM we went on from that point was "no hauney" (no haunted mansion). We walked down Main St with an emotionally distraught Emma where we stopped off at the hat store to pick up some Mickey ears. After some pictures next to Goofy sitting on the bench in front of exposition hall they picked up there pictures they had taken while they were waiting for us. They were so great and I started kicking myself again for forgetting those stupid tickets again. The boat ride back to WL was great with the warm sun beating down on us as we enjoyed the back of the boat all to ourselves. When we got back to the lodge J&J took the kids up to the room for some down time while Becca and I took Cole down to the pool. We laid out by the pool as we talked about the rest of our day. It was already 1:30 and we planned on going over to Animal Kingdom. For everything I wanted to do there we were about an hour behind schedule, which was the hour that it took me to go back and get our tickets this morning, since AK was only open until 5:00 today. Becca and I wanted to see all the parades this trip and today was the only day we could fit in AK so we decided that we would have to leave for the parks soon. Not even a minute after we decided we have to go back up to the room to get ready John walkie talkied us and told us they were skipping the pool this afternoon and they were ready whenever we were. After a quick freshening up and grabbing Cole's dinner for tonight we were on the bus to AK at 2:00. We arrived at AK and were greeted by some characters which included Safari Mickey and Minnie. We snapped our pics and walked back to go on Kilimanjaro Safari. Along the way Cole fell asleep so Becca decided to take him back to the baby center while we started the cue. A few steps into it Emma's lack of nap became apparent and we stepped aside while we decided whether or not she would calm down enough to go on the ride. This worked out great because while we were waiting with Emma Becca called us and said Cole was awake so she would join us on the ride. Once she reached us in line everyone was settled down and ready to go on our safari. The ride was great and the driver, whose name I didn't catch but I know she was from South Africa, was the best driver I ever had. Becca even commented on how good she was. The young ones loved it to, both Emma and Cole fell asleep. We decided to leave Africa and walk back towards the baby center where Becca wanted to change Cole. I joined Becca in the baby center and was amazed at how great it was in here. Except for the CM no one was here and they had everything you could want. It was a very welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. We walked out of the baby center where J&J were waiting for the parade to start. While waiting Erin had joined a game of Balzac with a bunch of other kids until the CM noticed that Erin had her birthday pin on. She immediately stopped the game and every person that was walking by and had us all sing happy birthday to Erin. After the song she told Erin to get her parents because she had special seating for us. We were led to a bench only a couple hundred feet from the baby care center. The bench was roped off and I wondered if we weren't given these seats who would have been. Before to long Mickey's Jamming Jungle Parade began and we all loved it, except Emma she somehow managed to sleep through the whole parade. I was not to excited about seeing this parade but it turned out to be a great show. The parade was not crowded at all, even without the special seating we still would have been able to find a bench, and the narrow walkways helped to make this a very intimate and interactive parade. Erin probably had about 8 people from the parade walk up to her and wish her a happy birthday, even Cole had quite a few characters come over and rub him on the head. After the parade Emma was still sleeping and Cole wanted to eat so Becca offered to take the kids into the baby center with her so we could go on It's Tough to be a Bug. We took the never traveled behind the tree, along the river trail and after fighting some parade crowds near Dinoland we were walking up to the show. We walked through the endless cue and weren't stopped until we were inside the tree. Everyone loved the show, actually Erin said it was the scariest part of today but she made it through the show great. We took the same trail back to the baby center, it's funny no one ever takes this trail, the first person turns right out of the theatre then every other person after joins the traffic jam. Back at the baby center Becca was just walking out with Cole and Emma, Emma had woken up shortly after we left so they went in the TV room that was showing Little Mermaid while they waited. It was now 5:00 and the park was closed, our plan for dinner for tonight was to eat at one of the Rainforest Cafes. I kind of thought it would be better to go to the one at Downtown Disney (DD) so we could do some shopping afterwards. I soon realized that there is no direct bus to DD so we decided to take the All Star bus and grab the DD bus from there. Our wait at All Star Sports wasn't very long and we were treated to one of the new busses for our trip to DD, the only new bus we had all trip. Let me say, this is my first trip to WDW as a father so that means my first trip with a stroller, the new busses with the wide center aisle is very nice, I always felt that I was hitting people with my stroller on the old style busses. We checked into RC which had a 15 minute wait so we fed Cole, again, and tried to get him to sleep. Our table was called before Cole was asleep so I brought Becca a menu outside while we were showed to our table. When it was time to order I walkie talkied Becca outside and she told me what she wanted. Before our food arrived Cole had fell asleep so Becca could finally join us. While we were waiting Erin overheard that there was a girl at the table behind us who was having a birthday also so she got up, walked over and started talking to her. The family was from Orlando and came to DD just for the birthday dinner. Our food was very good, I had the ribs, which I absolutely loved, and Becca had a seafood dish that she also enjoyed. During our meal we had a couple of rainforest thunderstorms which gave Emma Haunted Mansion flashbacks needless to say she didn't care for them at all. After dinner the J&J decided to call it a day and headed back to WL while Becca and I decided to take advantage of Cole still being asleep and do some shopping. Our first stop was Disney Home where we bought a beach towel that was on sale and from there Becca went across the way to the Christmas store while I went to Readin' and Ritin' with Cole to see what books they had. After a few minute Becca came over and found me to help her decide on what ornaments to get. The 3 ornaments we wanted to came to $24 and we ended up getting another small thing to get us over the $25 minimum for the Disney Club discount. After the Christmas store we walked through a few other stores on our way to World of Disney where we ended up buying some shirts, a sweatshirt, magnets and a few other miscellaneous thing that brought our shopping total up to $140. we took advantage of the shipping privileges and decided to call it a night. On our way out we made one last stop at the Gourmet Panty where we bought some chocolaty goodness for later tonight. When we got back to the hotel we put Cole to bed, which wasn't too hard seeing how it was about 10:00, well pass his bedtime. After Becca laid Cole down in his crib we snuck out into the hall and had our snacks just outside our door overlooking the lobby. This was so great, last night we tried to have some snacks in our room but the tissue paper seemed much louder than normal and almost woke up a sleeping Cole. It was a very relaxing way to end your day. We were able to enjoy our treats, talk about what we did and what we had planned for tomorrow all while watching people scurry through the lodge. February 1st, 2002 The first thing on our agenda for today was Epcot which didn't open until 10:00 today so we were all able to sleep in a little longer, not much though because we wanted to be down by the boat dock by 9:00. I had called for a wakeup call for 8:05 today but we all ended up waking up a little before 8:00. Becca got out of bed and jumped into the shower so I crawled into bed with Cole who was awake by this time. A minute later Mickey called to get our day started, I stayed on the phone just long enough to hear Mickey talk and then put the phone up to Cole's ear. He couldn't stop smiling. I know at 6 months old he didn't know what was gong on but it was so cute to see him on the phone with Mickey. Once we got all of Cole's stuff together we walked down to the boat launch with the Carlo's. we had planned on taking the boat to MK then grabbing the monorail system to Epcot but the Contemporary boat was less crowded so we decided to stop there instead. This was a nice change of pace with a lot of cute photo ops, of course not for us because Cole had fallen asleep and we didn't want to disturb him. This happened a lot this trip, although its probably for the best, if he had been awake our photo count probably would have been over 200 instead of just 100. the monorail trip was great, much better than the bus and got us to Epcot at 9:50. We were let into the park up to Spaceship Earth where everyone was waiting for the rope drop. Everyone in our group made a pit stop next to the camera center while I stood off to the side and watched the park open for the day, it was so nice to bask in the warm sunlight. A few moments later we were back all together and started to walk to Test Track to pick up fastpasses. John and I picked up passes which were valid an hour from now and went back to meet the girls in Mousegear. After shopping for a little we walked to the health pavilion hoping to grab a bite to eat and let the girls play with some hands on stuff inside. Like everything in WDW strollers weren't allowed inside so Becca stayed outside with Cole while I went inside to get us something to eat. It was then that I experienced the Disney cutbacks I had heard so much about. Our little eatery, Pure and Simple, was closed. I walkied talkied Becca that it was closed and she was a little disappointed. While the girls enjoyed playing with some of the hands on displays in the pavilion I went outside to sit with Becca and Cole who was getting his brunch. It was so relaxing sitting on the bench outside the pavilion listening to the background music play and watching all the people walk by. After a few minutes of doing nothing but enjoying the beautiful day J&J walked out. They decided to skip Cranium Command and let the girls play in the fountains while John and I went on TT. The wait for TT was listed at about 45 minutes but thanks to our FP we were able to walk right in. Once we did get in though we found the ride had shut down for some reason. After about a 10 minute wait the cars started zipping by and we were being led into the briefing room. After the ride we walked through the show room and found out the girls were waiting at the mini water fountains between TT and MouseGear. The girls weren't really enjoying FutureWorld too much so Jen thought it would be best to let them go back to the hotel and let them go swimming. And who could blame them when there's not a cloud in the sky and it's already 80 deg. at 11:30. We said our goodbyes at the pin trading station and the three of us went to Fountain View Café for a late morning snack. They were out of my cheese danish so I had the snickers cheesecake while Becca had a bagel. After our snack which would have been perfect, eating yummy treats and watching the show the dancing fountain was putting on, if it wasn't for the idiot behind us feeding all the birds. After a disappointing end to a great snack we walked to the Land pavilion and went on the Living with the Land ride, always a favorite of ours. We knew the our snacks were only a warm up for us because we planned on going to another not to be missed eatery, the Cantina de San Angel. We split a combo platter, as usual, while Cole enjoyed a bottle of apple juice, a good meal all around. It was now after 1:00 so we decided to call it a morning so we walked back to catch the bus to WL. Once we got up to the gate Becca carried Cole while I walked ahead to catch the bus, which was waiting. As I got closer I started to run with the stroller when the bus driver came running out of the bus to stop me. He though Cole was in the stroller and didn't want to crash it. As it turned out we were the only ones using the bus and he must of felt sorry for me pulling out all the junk from below the stroller because he told me that as long as Becca held Cole I didn't have to fold the stroller. That was so nice. Once we got back to the hotel Becca took Cole, who was now asleep, up to the room while I went down to Roaring Forks to get a lemonade to share. I took a quick lap around the pool looking for J&J before I went back up to our room where I saw something very disturbing. While we were at Epcot today someone went and threw a bunch of scaffolding in front of our balcony. Needless to say this was a major inconvenience for us. Because of the workers only 5 feet outside our room we didn't feel comfortable using the balcony while being watched by construction workers and now we had to put Cole in the bathroom in his stroller to get him to nap because of all the noise. Becca and I were both very upset that we weren't told upon check-in that this was going to happen this week and been offered to switch to a different room before we were all moved in. We tried to rest a little but we didn't have much time before we were to head out again so we ended up just puttering' around the room getting ready for MK tonight. Before we knew it was 2:30 and we were walking down to catch the MK launch. We made it through security without too much of a wait and found Main St. to be fairly deserted considering a parade was starting in 15 minutes. We were able to find curb side seating in front of the watch store while we waited for the parade to begin. It was a mostly sunny day so Becca decided to take Cole across the street where the buildings were casting a shadow on the people that were waiting over there. This worked out great for me, I was able to tape parts of the show and also get Cole as he watched the parade. He had quite a few characters come over and give him a little head rub, which he loved. Once the parade ended we stepped to the side and waited a couple minutes for the crowds to thin out before we started to tomorowland. Once we got up to the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor Becca made a left to take Cole to the baby center while the rest of us found some seats just outside the Plaza Restaurant. Erin and Emma wanted ice cream so John and Erin went to get it while Jen, Emma and I sat at a table waiting for them. It took them about 15 minutes before they returned with the ice cream which was a great break for us. By the time the ice creams were all finished just about a half hour had passed so I gave Becca a call to see how she was doing. As it turned out she was trying to call me to meet her but was unable to reach me so I parted ways with J&J and met Becca at the baby center. I helped Becca get situated and we made our way to find J&J who had walked to Toontown. When we finally met up with them they had done just about everything they wanted to do in the very crowded TT and we took the seldom used trail along the railroad tracks to tomorrowland. Once we got to tomorrowland we were trying to decide how we were going to go on Buzz, J&J had gotten a FP on their way to Toontown and I didn't have one so we decided to go on TTA while we gave it some thought. Cole didn't enjoy the ride that much, he was hungry, and didn't he let us know about it. Other than Cole complaining about being hungry the ride was very fun, a couple of dark "hauney" places Emma didn't like but fun nonetheless. After TTA John gave me his FP and said he would sit this one out but Erin said she really wanted to go on Buzz with both her parents so I told John to go ahead and Becca and I would stay back with Emma. As J&J walked away Emma started to cry because she didn't know where they were going. We told Emma they were going on a ride she wouldn't like at all and then bribed her with some popcorn. Before we were half way through the bag Cole was done eating had fallen asleep and J&J had returned from defeating the evil emperor Zurg. It was now about 6:00 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet so I suggested we go to Cosmic Ray's, we wanted to do some more Fantasyland rides and this was on our way. We wanted to have a seat looking at the castle but the sun was blasting through the windows so we grabbed a table and watched the show Sunny Eclipse was putting on. We all had burgers with plenty of fixin's that made the meal. As we were finishing up we saw the Queen of Hearts outside so Erin and Jen ran out to get her autograph. The rest of us cleaned up and met them in front of the Mad Tea Party. On our way back into Fantasyland we got FP for Pooh before stopping at Snow White where J&J took Erin while we stayed back with Emma. As we were waiting Cole decided to wake up and he wasn't happy about it. We strolled Cole around FL while J&J took both girls on the carousel. We didn't have any luck getting Cole back to sleep but he did settle down and we took him on Pooh that he seemed to enjoy. When we walked out of Pooh it was now only 15 minutes until Spectromagic. I directed the gang to walk to Comic Ray's and then out toward the hub to try and get a viewing spot for spectromagic. When we saw what the hub was like I was very disappointed in myself. I should have known that this area would be unbelievably crowded but I wasn't thinking. We couldn't get close to the partners statue so we cut through the rose garden in hopes that we would magically stumble across an area that no one was using. The rose garden let us out onto a Main St, which was already 5 people deep in some spots. John and I decided to keep walking down Main St which I was thinking to myself was a huge mistake when john suggested we tuck our strollers in a roped off area adjacent to the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. Once we parked our strollers we looked around and realized that for some reason no one was in this roped off area. This was the magic viewing area I was hoping to find. Even though there was a walkway in front of us we still had a great view. There was a street crossing right in front of us that the CM's kept clear for us so we could see, actually it was for traffic flow reasons but we'll take it. The show was great and I was very relieved we ended up with such a good spot. After the show J&J said they were going to take the girls on Dumbo while Becca and I waited back and fed Cole. As they walked away Becca said she was craving a Dolewhip so I made my way over to pick it up. Along the way I found some benches just off the hub on the way to Adventureland that would be a place for us to rest. I met up with Becca who was feeding Cole and told her the bad news that Aloha Island was closed for the day. We packed up Cole and made our way back to the benches which were still unoccupied, probably because they had an obstructed view of the castle which didn't matter to us because when the fireworks start we'll probably move anyway. Once we got settled I called John, who was just getting onto Dumbo and told him we had some seats and to call us when he's done. A short wait later John gave me a call and I directed him to walk to the partners statue and walk toward Adventureland. Luckily Becca and I kept our eyes open because a couple minutes later I saw him walking into Liberty Square. I gave John a call and walked him back to the benches. We enjoyed a good 15 minute break while sitting on the benches, which after a long day was an enjoyable treat. As the castle darkened we got up from our benches and walked to the hub which was not very crowded. The fireworks show was magical and everyone loved it, even Cole couldn't take his eyes off the show. After Jen dried her eyes we followed the hordes of people down Main St. we made it as far as Casey's, I know not very far, before we ducked in the stores and made our way to the exit. We got to about halfway down before we noticed the crowds weren't as bad so we left the store and continued the rest of the way down on the street. Once out of the park we got in line for the boat back to WL. We ended up waiting here for what seemed like forever but was actually about 20 minutes. We were surprised that they only had one boat running at such a busy time. Well, they didn't have one boat they had two but the other boat was smaller and showed up a couple minutes before the boat we had seen before. When we got back to WL it was still early, 8:45, and very warm, probably around 80 deg., so we decided to get changed and go down for an evening swim. The pool was absolutely beautiful and a perfect way to end the day. Cole didn't like the water so I had to hold him and make sure I didn't go too deep. A couple times I would dip his feet in, he didn't care for that and let me know about it. After a short dip we visited mommy who was in the hot tub. I soaked my feet for a few minutes before Becca took Cole back up to the room and got him ready for bed while Jen and I hung out in the hot tub for a while. I stayed in for a about 10 more minutes before I made my way back up to the room where Becca was just finishing putting Cole down for the evening. We were soon to follow and looked forward to being able to sleep in tomorrow. February 2nd, 2002 Today is the midpoint of our vacation so I scheduled today to be our day off, actually I should call it our no park day. Becca and I first did this whole day off thing last year and found it a great little break, almost a vacation from our vacation. We had planned to sleep in today but me and sleeping in at WDW don't really go together. I found myself looking at the clock that read 7:45 and I couldn't get back to sleep so I whispered to Becca that I was going to sneak out of the room to see if the character caravan was coming to our hotel today. By about 8:15 I realized that today was a day off for the caravan also so I snuck back into the room where I grabbed the refillable mug, the camcorder and went back out into the lobby. I walked down to Roaring Forks where I filled up the mug with some coffee, bought myself a cheese danish and walked back up to the fifth floor to have my own little quit time. The fifth floor has a great little balcony that overlooks the pool and bay lake and is so peaceful this early in the morning. I spent a wonderful half hour just looking out on the lake, enjoying my snacks and jotting down some trip report notes. Before I knew it was almost 9:00 so I decided to check back in with Becca to see how her and Cole were doing. The room was still pitch black and both of them were still asleep, at least until I came in when Becca woke up and asked me what I was doing. I told her it was almost 9:00 and since they were both still asleep I was thinking of taking the WL architectural tour. Becca wasn't to happy, something about her having to get Cole up and ready while I was out blah blah blah, and out the door I went. Last vacation to WDW we stayed at WL but I was unable to go on the tour so I was very excited about the chance to catch it this trip. The tour led by Ranger Stan, started off in the lobby and was quite different than when I took it on our honeymoon in 1997. This time around we stayed exclusively in the lobby and the tour comprised of much more detail about the inspiration of things like the giant chandeliers and went into great amount of detail on the totem poles and the fireplace. We left the lobby at the end of the tour and took the elevator to the fourth floor where we walked to the sunrise terrace (at least that's what I think he called it) which was also know as the wedding balcony because of all the wedding services performed there. It was here that Ranger Stan ended the tour by pointing out the detail that was put into the floor woodwork and the Native American heritage that it represents. As the tour was wrapping up I looked to my right where I saw Becca and Cole just walk out of our room. I walked up the one flight of stairs to get our day started. It turns out that they just woke up 10 minutes ago so t was a great morning for all of us, I got to do some hotel stuff I like to do and they got to catch up on some sleep. We took our time getting ready and after checking in with J&J,who were going to DD to do some shopping, decided to grab a bite to eat at RF. We had originally thought about going to the Kona Café at the Polynesian but decided to take it easy. After breakfast it was 11:00 and since Cole was behaving we decided to do some MK resort hopping. We walked to the bus stop and took the Crocket to the TTC. When we were here on our honeymoon we ordered a brick around the world and it was eventually placed on the Polynesian side of the TTC so every trip we make a point of visiting it and this trip we get to show Cole our little piece of WDW. Cole was still awake when we wanted to get some pictures of him so we plopped him down and tried to steady him enough so we could get some shots. Luckily he just started sitting on his own so we were able to get some great shots of him looking down at our brick. After our pictures we continued along the walk around the world to the Polynesian. Once we started walking around the Polynesian grounds Cole started acting up so we walked to the beach where Becca began to feed him. I stepped away and grabbed a bottle of water from Sanda Snacks in the Grand Ceremonial House. On the way back to meet up with Becca I walked by the new pool area, which was very nice even though they stole the hot spring flowing into the pool idea from WL, and along the beach looking over seven seas lagoon at MK. Once I got back to the beach Becca was just finishing up with Cole's lunch so I helped out where I could and took him down to a beach swing after he was all cleaned up. After letting Cole play on the beach and getting some more pictures of him in the mean time we made our way to the ceremonial house to change someone's diapers. Along the way I pointed out the new pool area and told Becca that if we ever stayed here and had a deck with a view of the castle I would probably sleep on it all night long. She thought I was crazy. Once we got Cole all freshened up we went upstairs and grabbed the monorail to the GF. Along the way Cole started to get tired and cranky so we decided to skip the resort hopping and head back to WL to give Cole a little nappy time. Before we even made it back to WL Cole had fallen asleep on the boat so we took him up to the room and let him sleep in the quiet bathroom. It would have been nice to put him in his crib but once again we had construction going on right outside our room. Once we made sure Cole was not going to wake up Becca let me walk around the resort a little. After our last trip I read about the Iron Spike room at the vacation club and I wanted to see it this time. It was very easy to find, in fact I don't know how I missed it last time. I took a few minutes to look around before I finished my sightseeing tour and went back up to the room to give Becca some alone time. Becca changed into her suit and headed down to the pool and told me to meet her down there when Cole woke up. At 2:00 Cole woke up after a nice little nap so I changed him into his swim gear and we walked down to find his mommy. When we got to the pool mommy was no where to be found. After walking around a few minutes I decided to head back up to the room to see if we missed each other. Just outside of RF I ran into the whole gang so I made an about face and we grabbed a few lounge chairs near the kiddie pool. We got to talking about how much the scaffolding in front of our windows bothered us so John and Becca walked to the front desk to put in a complaint. Jen and I hung out watching the kids as they swam. I also took this time to give Cole a little snack. After what seemed like an eternity they finally came back. Becca said they walked up to the counter told Barry, the same CM who hooked us up for flag family, about the problem and after he made a phone call they where offered a free meal at Whispering Canyon. They refused that then Barry came right back with an offer to take 20% of our hotel stay. They accepted that and joined us at the pool, when we checked out we saw on our bill that they only took the 20% off on the nights when the scaffolding obstructed our view not every night. We were all happy about the compensation. We spent about another hour down by the pool before the girls took the kids up to the room to get ready for our dinner show. John and I hung out for about another half hour enjoying the beautiful weather as John waited for his load of wash to finish. When his clothes were done we went back to the rooms to start getting ready ourselves. As soon as I opened the door I was greeted by a screaming kid and an unhappy mother. Becca couldn't get Cole to calm down and said that they were going to skip Hoop Dee Doo tonight. We still had an hour or so before the show so we decided to get ready anyway and of course Cole did calm himself down. We made it down to the bus stop around 4:45 and after a short wait took the Boone bus to Pioneer Hall. After a quick check in and a couple of pictures later we were shown to our table. Cole had finally fallen asleep so we were allowed to bring him in his stroller to our table. About halfway through the show he woke up and we transferred him to a high chair. Like most people we had read about we loved the show. I was particularly surprised by how much I enjoyed the show, from what I read it didn't seem like something I would like but I thought it was great. Seeing how much the girls loved the show I would probably bring Cole back to see it again when he gets a little older. The show was almost as good as the food, especially the beans which were sooo good. After the show which flew by we stopped at the general store they have at FW so J&J could pick up a few grocery's to replenish there dwindling supplies back in the room while we once again fed Cole outside the store. With our supplies in hand we walked down to the boat launch and waited for our ride back to WL. It was on the boat dock where I had a revelation. I realized that John was wearing his walkie talkie on his belt, up until now I didn't realize that I could use this to embarrass him. I walked away from John a good 15 feet and started to make farty sounds into my walkie talkie. Let me tell you to 3 adults who were a little on the tired side this was the funniest thing ever, John wasn't as amused as us. The best part about it was watching all the people look at John as these sounds were coming from his waist area. Very funny and John was a good sport about it. After wiping the tears from our eyes I realized that the boat was bypassing WL and stopping at MK first. Although John thought I planned this it was truly an accident so we made a plan to grab the mono at MK take it to Polynesian and watch the fireworks, which were starting in about 20 minutes, from the beach. Once the boat docked we made our way to the resort monorail. This mono had virtually no wait to it and no sooner was I explaining to John how the TTC was the second stop and all those people who were waiting for about 3 express monos before they would board than a man asked the resort CM if this would take him to the TTC. The CM told him that he would have to get in the other line, which he did no problem. I guess that they are suppose to keep the trains clear for MK resort guests only. By the time we boarded and were underway it was now about 7:50 and we weren't sure if we were going to make it. As we exited the mono at Polynesian we heard the music starting, it's so cool the pump in the music at the resort, so we boogied to the elevator and made a bee line for the beach. We joined the light crowd on the beach a few minutes late but still had a great view of the fireworks and enjoyed our improvised trip. Erin and Emma had a great time spending half the time watching the fireworks and the other half playing in the sand. I pointed out to Becca the people watching the fireworks from their room balconies Becca agreed with me when I said earlier today I would like to sleep on the balcony if I ever stayed here. After the show ended we walked down to the TTC with plans to catch the bus to WL. Along the way we stopped and showed off our brick to J&J. They thought it was super cool and regretted that they no longer sell them. I can only assume that Disney thought they would sell more tombstones at Epcot than bricks around the lagoon. John grabbed our camera and began to pose us in all these goofy positions, which turned out really corny when we got them developed. After we had cut John off before he snapped off a whole roll we kept walking through the TTC were the Boone was bus waiting for us. Back at the hotel we put all the kids down for bed, which wasn't very hard, and made plans to baby swap. We took the first shift and listened for Erin & Emma who were sound asleep while J&J went down to the hot tub. We were suppose to go down to the pool when J&J were done but before they even made it to the elevator we walkie talkied them and told them to take there time because we were too pooped to change into our suits and make the trek down to the pool. After about 30 minutes J&J came back up to the rooms and we said our goodnights. February 3rd, 2002 Thanks to our day off yesterday we were well rested and ready to take on the parks again. Mickey gave us our wake up call today at around 7:00 and we started to get ourselves ready. Actually it's mostly Cole who has to get ready, there's not much Becca and I need. Today was our special flag family morning. We were told to be in the lobby by 8:15 so we made sure we were there with plenty of time. When we opened our doors we were treated to the character caravan greeting guest in our lobby this morning. Most of the characters we had all ready met except Pinocchio, Cole didn't get to meet at MK when the girls did because he was sleeping. Our character greetings didn't take too long so we spent the rest of the time waiting to go up to the roof in front of the hot springs relaxing in the rocking chairs. By around 8:20 we didn't notice anyone come to the counters with the flags so John and I walked up to the counter and asked the CM, Carla, who we should see. She seemed very put out by us asking her about flag family but after a few minutes in the back room she came out with the flags and keys to get on the roof. She apologized for us having to wait and explained that someone else was responsible for flag family and she was upset that that person wasn't doing their job. Carla took us to the concierge floor where the cm at the continental breakfast table looked at John and wished "Mr. Jones" a good morning. Kind of funny. We were led up a couple flights of stairs and then down a narrow corridor through a door and led outside to a beautiful sunny morning and an unbelievable view. The morning was perfect and even through a light haze we were able to see the Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth and the Tower at MGM. Carla was great and she gave us as much time as we wanted, I think she was happy to be away from behind the counter and outside. After about 15 minutes of looking around and taking pictures it was time to raise the flags. Erin and Emma were the first to go and they rose the American flag followed by the Florida flag. John was next up and he raised the first of the two WL flags that's located on the stair well as you walk up. Next was our family's turn. We were given the second WL flag that's located on the vacation club side of the resort. The last flag to go up was the WDW flag which Erin and Emma also rose. The flag family experience was fantastic and especially fun to do with a group. On our way down from the roof we stopped off at our rooms and dropped off the sweatshirts we were wearing, it was now very warm and we were very comfortable in our t-shirts on the roof. Our next stop was my favorite, MGM. By the time we got to MGM it was 9:30 and the park had been opened for 30 minutes now so Hollywood Blvd. was kind of congested with all the guests arriving at the park. Once we got into the park we all spilt up momentarily. Becca took Cole to the baby center, J&J stayed in front of crossroads of the world and got more picks and autographs for Erin while I went to ToT and RnRC to get FP's. With FP's in hand I walked back to the MGM entrance where J&J were still getting autographs so I tried to find Becca in the baby center. I had trouble finding the baby center so I asked a CM that was walking by if he knew where it was. He told me that it was across the street next to the lockers, he thinks, and then walked through a door to backstage. Right away I knew he wasn't right and was thinking that a well trained CM would walk me over to it or at least until we could see it clearly in front of us. As it turned out I was actually only a few feet away from me to my right and I just shook my head over the info the CM gave me. When I walked into the baby center Becca had already left and was standing with J&J. I finally met up with them and we made our way to Sunset Blvd with plans for ToT and RnRC. We stopped off at the side street next to B&B stage show where we dropped off Becca who volunteered to watch the kids while we jumped on the rides. Our first ride was ToT which was a complete walk on so we didn't need to use our FP's. we made it trough the pre show and watched EVERY person in front of us make a right turn at the fork in the boiler room road. We continued straight ahead and we were given our waiting spot for the back row. I tried to talk Jen into taking the seat belt seat but she refused. While trying to convince her that's the best seat in the house some other lady chimed in saying that they're not seating the seatbelt seat anymore. I haven't heard that so I just kept my mouth shut. When we were ushered into the elevator I took the seat belt seat much to the other ladies dismay. When the CM checked my seat belt the lady asked why when she inquired about the seat she was told it was unavailable. The CM said tat it was unavailable because we were sitting in it. I thought it was pretty funny and goes to show that yapping your mouth all the time can make you look like a moron. The ride was great and J&J absolutely loved it. After the ride I went to check on Becca but I was unable to find her so I walkied talkied her. Becca told me that she was fine with the kids and to go ahead and get RnRC taken care of. Like the tower before it RnRC didn't disappoint and on the way out Jen proclaimed it the best ride she was ever on. As we passed underneath the limo outside we got a hold of Becca who was stopped halfway up the entrance to B&B, not because the show was full but because Emma was afraid of "hauney". Once we caught up to the other half of our party J&J reassured her that this show wasn't hauney and she would love it which of course she did. We were seated late so we ended up with seats in the very back which worked out well for us because shortly into the show Becca and I took Cole out to give him a bite to eat. We grabbed a bench in the shade next to the stroller parking and Becca got his grub together while I borrowed a highchair from Anaheim Produce across the street. Since I had time and a FP I ran down the Tower and was given the same seatbelt seat by the same CM, very fun. As I walked out of the Tower I ran into hordes of people so I knew that the show was over and everyone wasn't waiting forever for me. The group had found Becca and we were all just relaxing as we got our bearings and made a plan for the rest of the park. We decided some sort of food was in order so of course we stopped at my favorite sweet spot, Starring Rolls. Along the way John stopped to get some french fries and met us at our table we grabbed. Since it was so late they were of course out of my favorite, cheese danish, so I settled for a cookie which was delicious. After we finished Becca took Cole down to the baby center for a little freshening up while the rest of us made our way to the Mickey's Sorcerers' hat. Like this entire vacation there were an abundance of characters around so we took some pictures while we waited for Becca to catch up with us. Becca didn't take to long and we were able to get some pictures with Cole and a few character's. After getting all the available character's J&J wanted to take the kids to see Playhouse Disney. Becca and I decided to skip this one and decided to do a little browsing while we waited. We first stopped at the art store next to the Magic of Disney Animation where we didn't really see anything to interesting. We also stopped in at the One Man's Dream souvenir shop that had quit a few things I liked but I didn't end up buying anything. We kept walking around and found ourselves in front of the commissary where we jumped in line to get our picture taken with Sulley. We just made it in time because the line was stopped just after we joined it. J&J where still in the show so we decided to head back to the sorcerers' hat and relax for a little. We picked up some ice cream along the way and took a seat in front of the hat next to all the characters that were still signing autographs. After a nice break we saw people starting to file out of the show so we walked in that direction and met up with J&J who were waiting in front of the closed Mermaid show. We saw that Buzz and Woody were at Al's Toy Barn for a little bit yet so we walked over there hoping to meet them. We didn't have as much luck with Woody and Buzz as we did with Sulley because they were going in as we walked up. We still had tomorrow so we weren't really worried. Everyone was ready for lunch but since we were snacking while they were in the show Becca and I decided to hold off until we were back at WL so we said so long for now. J&J decided to grab a bite to eat at Pizza Planet and they ended up going over to he Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground for a while. Once we were back at WL Becca took a sleeping Cole up to the room while I went down to RF where I grabbed us a hot dog and chicken sandwich for lunch. The food was surprisingly good as we relaxed watching the superbowl pregame show in our room. After I finished my meal I rested up a little bit but had trouble watching TV in the room when I could be walking around the resort so I took advantage of Cole sleeping and did a little more sight seeing. On my way out I ran into J&J and told them I had made PS for tonight at LeCellier for 6:30. John decided to join me so with our camcorders in hand we walked around the property. After our taping session we went back to our room to get ready and were walking down to the bus stop at 4:30. we took the bus to the TTC instead of the one to Epcot with hopes of getting the front cab of the monorail. Once the bus pulled up to the TTC Cole and I rushed ahead with hopes that there wasn't a huge line for the mono. I was in luck, just as I was walking up the ramp one had just left so I figured we'd be all set. We almost were, there were a group who skipped the last train so they could get the front cab of the next one so we took our seats for the one after the next mono. John, Erin, Cole and I enjoyed a great ride, as our wives mocked us for being losers, to Epcot and for the first time ever we received our co-pilots licenses. Our plan for this evening was to concentrate on world showcase but first we made a stop at Spaceship Earth, which was a total walk-on. We warned J&J that Emma may not like this ride but they insisted she would be fine and about a minute into the ride she fell asleep. After the ride John carried Emma out to the fountains where everyone enjoyed the show for a couple minutes while I retrieved our strollers. After another brief detour through Ice Station Cool we were back on track for WS. By now it was about 6:00 so we went to Canada where after a little browsing around Becca and I went to check in for dinner. We were told it would be about a 25 minute wait so we radioed J&J and told them to go ahead to UK and we would call them when the table was ready. The wait turned out to be only about 10 minutes so we took our seats while we waited for J&J to join us. The meal was delicious and while we were waiting for the check John and I told the girls to go ahead and shop while we got everything in order here. John and I strolled through UK with the kids in hand and looked around France for the girls. We weren't able to find the girls in France so we tried to radio them with no luck. We decided to continue on to Morocco when the girls found us. They came back to tell us Aladdin was signing autographs and they told us how they dropped the walkie talkie and that was why we couldn't get a hold of them. Aladdin had a pretty sweet set up with a back drop of Agrahbar behind him and everything. He was great with the kids and very interactive, I think because he was so hidden and he probably doesn't get many visitor's when he's out. Jen and Becca took of on us again while we let Erin have a little fun at the kidcot station. Eventually we met up with the girls again in Japan where they finished up their shopping and John and I watched the end of the drummers show. We walked through the beautifully lit gardens they have here while we waited for the girls to join us. Once we were together we walked past America and then through Italy were the girls shook us loose. By now it was 8:00 and Tapestry of Dreams was about to start. We ended up stopping right in front of the model train display next to Germany and had a great spot to watch the parade. It was great until these 2 old people decided to park right in front of us. I know this happens all the time at the parades here but there was no reason for it to because there were no crowds at all so they could have taken 1 step backwards and be right next to us with the same view. It was very aggravating. After the parade the girls continued their shopping while we finished our walk around the lagoon. Our timing was perfect because we ended up arriving in Mexico with about 10 minutes before Illuminations was to start. Becca took a seat across from Cantina de San Angel and fed Cole while J&J stood with the crowd next to the outdoor seating area. Illuminations was a great closer to our whirlwind tour of the world showcase tonight. To help get myself ready for this trip I have been listing to my copies of ToD and Illuminations so it was nice to be able to see the visuals that go with the great music. Like everyone else we were standing with we stratigically picked this area to help get us out of the parks faster, well it wasn't that fast but soon we were boarding our bus. As I mentioned earlier today was Superbowl Sunday so wouldn't you know that there was someone on our bus who brought along a portable TV so he wouldn't miss anything. Almost all the guys around him were curious about how the game was going but he was pretty stingy with the information so I had to wait until we got back to our room to find out how the game was going. It ended up being a great game with a fantastic finish, just like the superbowl we watched at House of Blues 2 years ago. After the game it was time to hit the sheets and get ready for our last full day. February 4th, 2002 Our plan for this morning was MK which was opening at 9:00 today so we ended up getting ourselves together in time to catch the 8:30 boat. It was a very cold ride to MK today from the front of the boat but it did warm up as the day went on. We had skipped breakfast so we went into the Main St. Bakery, which has expanded since I was last here, and picked up some goodies to hold us over until our early lunch. With our snacks in tow we grabbed a seat in front of Casey's Corner and I had the best cinnamon roll I've ever had, it's the kind of good that you plan your mornings around on you next trip so you can have it as many times as possible. We haven't done the left side of the park yet so after our snacks we went to Adventure land and rode on the new Aladdin ride. There was practically no wait so we left John and Emma who didn't want to go in the ride. When we found our magic carpet Becca sat down to find her seat was wet so she made me switch with her. She was very shocked to find out that the she was in the perfect spot for the spitting camels. It serves her right for making me switch seats with her. John didn't want to miss out so he jumped on while Becca and Jen stayed with Emma. This was a very fun ride and a great addition to Adventureland. Our next stop was Pirates of the Caribbean, with a brief stop at Jungle Cruise to pick up some FP. Emma so didn't want to go on PoC but J&J planned on doing the baby swap thing but when we walked up to the boat we were told that baby swapping wasn't an option on this ride so they decided to bring Emma on the ride with us. Emma didn't take to the ride right away so Becca gave John a blanket to cover her head and it worked like a charm, after a few minutes John was able to take the blanket off her head and she enjoyed the rest of the ride. We still had quit a bit of time before our FP so we started walking toward Frontierland with Fantasyland being our final destination. Once we got to a closed Splash Mountain John and I went to BTMR and told the girls we would give them a call when we were done. Now when John and I came to WDW about 10 years ago during Easter we waited about an hour to ride this ride. The wait this time was posted at 20 minutes but turned out to be only about 10. After our very quick ride through Big Thunder we walked to fantasyland but couldn't find the girls anywhere so we headed to Cinderella's Castle forecourt where Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was going on. On our way there the girls called us and told us that they were also at the show. We tried to find them but it was awfully crowded so we just waited until the show was over and the crowds cleared out before we met up with them. It turns out they took the kids to see the show instead of going to Fantasyland. After a few more autographs from some of the characters in the show we headed to Adventureland to hit JC. Jen decided her and Emma were going to skip this one so we walked up to the FP entrance where the CM checked our times and then took our tickets before letting us in. I found this odd but didn't say anything. Once we got up to the second FP CM asked us for our tickets. We told her that the other CM took them but she didn't believe us. After a few people behind us told her the other chick did take them she let us through reluctantly. She was even glaring at us as our boat left the dock. After our voyage the tour guide returned us safely to port and we met up with Jen and walked to Crystal Palace for our lunch. John did a lot of research for this trip and found out about CP offering a guest to be a guest chef for lunch and John was hoping that Erin could be the special chef. Unfortunately it is offered to the first family to check in for lunch not the first family to request it so we missed out. Becca went next door with Cole and was shown to our table when she was done at the baby center. The food was pretty good, although we thought that the breakfast they offer is much better. We even managed to throw in a little fight along with our several courses of food. The fight wasn't anything much even with Jen sitting at the table trying to pit Becca and me against each other. After our meal John and I were waiting for the girls outside and decided that since it was already 12:30 we should skip our afternoon break today. When the girls joined us we told them about our new plans and they agreed with us. With a little more spare time, thanks to our revised schedule, we walked over to the castle and caught the end of the Surprise Celebration. Afterwards we were able to get a few more autographs. Erin only had to get a couple of characters and then we took a walk to fantasyland where Jen took pictures of the scenes from Cinderella inside of the castle. After Jen snapped her shots she joined us in tinkerbell's treasures where they picked up a few things including a Minnie Mouse costume for Erin this Halloween. It was getting late and we still had to ride the train before we said goodbye to MK so we made our way down Main St. and met up again in the train station, J&J stopped to look at some stuff in the emporium. As soon as J&J joined us a train pulled up and we grabbed a couple of rows in the back car. The ride was great and the conductor was even better. He struck up a conversation with a few guest in the last row and let one of the kids yell All Aboard over the microphone. When we got back to the Main St station we parted ways and told John we would meet them at MGM for the parade. This morning we had plans to come back to WL for our afternoon break so we didn't have any of Cole's dinner with us so we had to stop off in our room before gong over to MGM. We left our room and was down to the bus stop at 3:00, the parade was at 3:30 so we were feeling a little pressure to get to MGM in time for the parade. On the bus I kept reassuring Becca that we would make it in time even though she was sure we wouldn't. When the bus dropped us off we briskly walked up to security John called me. I let him know that I was at security right now, which got a chuckle out of the guard going through my bags. John had a great spot in right on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the Dark Room for all of us. We of course made it to the parade with about 5 minutes to spare just like I said we would. After a great parade Becca made a quick stop at the baby center before meeting us at the sorcerer's hat. At the hat we decided to try and meet Buzz and Woody at Al's toy barn. As we walked down Mickey Ave we stopped in at Walt Disney One Man's Dream which was one of the best attractions I have ever seen. We spent about 45 minutes at this attraction but I could easily have spent 2 hours here. Hopefully this attraction will make it past the 100 years celebration. It was especially fun seeing some of the WDW dishes I have at home and also the old ticket books for the rides. After watching the incredible movie at the end of OMD we walked over to Al's Toy Barn where we were able to our picture with Woody and Buzz. We just made it because after us Woody was given a break, had to visit the ol out house I'd imagine. J&J FP time was just about up for Millionaire so they took off for that as Becca and I stayed back to tend to a very cranky and tired Cole. Becca thought that she could feed Cole at the Hunchback show so we grabbed a seat off to the right of the theatre. We were able to catch Matt's show, which he has changed slightly since we last saw him but was still as great as ever, before Cole started really acting up and we had to leave the theatre. During Matt's show some other kid started crying and he made a point of thanking the kid for crying during his routine in his witty way, luckily it wasn't Cole who disturbed him. We put Cole in his stroller and walked down Mickey Ave to wait for J&J to come out of Millionaire. After waiting a few minutes J&J showed up and we started walking toward the Hollywood Hills Amphitheatre which was starting in 1 hour. Along the way the girls told us they would catch up with us in a little bit so they could do some last minute shopping. The girls met back up with us before to long and we were walking into Fantasmic at 6:30. Since we had a little time I went up to the concession stand and picked up our dinner for tonight, half a jumbo dog for each of us and a little cotton candy, delicious and nutritious. While waiting for the show to start we had a bunch of kids in the row behind us who managed to get the wave going in the amphitheatre. The show was great but Cole wasn't to happy with it, as we found out later it wasn't the show he was upset about, it was the nugget he had in his diaper. After picking up the strollers we walked down Sunset Blvd. stopping in a few shops on our way out. Even though it was a little chilly John promised the kids they could go in the pool since it was our last night here so they were looking to get back, We told them we would meet them back at the room a little later. Our big purchases for tonight, a few sweets to enjoy later. With our snacks in hand we left the park and headed back to the room to start the night time ritual of putting Cole to bed. Just about the same time that we put Cole into the crib J&J returned to there room from the pool with the kids. We took advantage of the next door baby sitting service and headed down to the pool ourselves. The hot tub wasn't very crowded and the pool was empty, probably because it was so chilly, so we were able to enjoy the hot tub without feeling like sardines. Becca stayed in the hot tub for about 10 minutes and I only stayed another 5 minutes after that before all that steam started to bother my eyes. On the way back up to the room I grabbed some more goodies for us to enjoy in the hallway. By the time I made it back up to the room Becca had gotten all our food together and we enjoyed our late unhealthy dinner and my new favorite dessert, chocolate marshmallows covered in M&M's. it was so great. We ended up people watching for about a half hour before we came back to reality and went to bed on the last night of our vacation. February 5th, 2002 Today is always the worst day of the trip but I knew I had to be strong and set a good example for my son, I knew he would be devastated about us leaving and I had to be there for him. We were up pretty early today, 8:00, so I volunteered to get Cole out of Becca's hair so she could get the rest of our stuff together in peace. Cole and I had a good little walk around the resort and took a couple of pictures of him around the property. When I got back to the room everything was just about in order so we went downstairs to join J&J for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café. Breakfast was pretty good, filled with good food and even a pony express ride that Erin joined in on. After our meal we all went back up to the room where we called bell services to bring our bags down to the lobby where Berkley was waiting to take us to the airport. The trip home was very uneventful except for me being pulled to the side for a random search in Atlanta. Cole and the girls were great on the flights back and slept most of the way. Before we knew it all the years of waiting and the countless hours spent planning were over and we are left with great memories of an unbelievably wonderful vacation. Mike Banks banks37@localnet.com Mail a Comment to Mike Banks |
|