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Jason Highley -- April 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite, WL)April 26 - May 02 2002 Cast Of Characters:
Friday, April 26, 2002 Well, the day is finally here. Since our plane doesn't leave until 8:55 pm, I work my normal 9-5. Big mistake! I can think of nothing but Disney World. I've been so many times I've lost count (I think it's somewhere around 30) but it's been almost three years since I've been there. That's the longest Disney World-free gap in my entire life! Plus, what if Lisa is not impressed with the place? I may never get to go back! Finally the workday is done. (In truth I think I snuck out a few minutes early). I go straight home, Lisa has everything packed. Have to wait for my parents to get there to take us to the airport. Fortunately, they get there not far behind me. We're off to the airport! This is our first time flying since the new security measures came into effect, so we wanted to get there at least two hours early. Come to find out one hour would have been more than enough time. We arrive at the airport around 6:45, check our luggage, grab a quick dinner at the airport KFC, then head to security. There is no line, thank goodness. Other than being 'wanded' and seeing the National Guard keeping an eye on things, security isn't much different than before. We find our gate and check our watches. Just after 7:00. Plane leaves at 8:55. Oh, well, at least we don't have to rush. Finally after an eternity that seems much longer than two hours, we board the plane. The Southwest Airlines crew does their usual cutting up, making for a pleasant, uneventful flight into Orlando. We arrive at Orlando, claim our bags (always the last ones to come out) and head for the ground transportation area. Here, Lisa takes off like a contestant on The Amazing Race. "Here it is, shuttle busses, come on, COME ON!" We buy our tickets for the Mears bus, find the man in charge outside, and are directed to sit on a bench for 30 minutes until our bus gets there. So much for winning the Amazing Race. In actuality, the bus is there in less than fifteen minutes, but we are squeezed in with a bunch of smelly strangers. And of course, each individual person is staying somewhere different. After four or five stops, we get to the Howard Johnson Maingate East. It is now just after midnight, and we head into the lobby. We encounter our first and one of our longest lines for the whole trip. There are no less than 3 million people waiting to check in. Okay, maybe not quite that many. But we are tired and hungry and no one at the counter seems to know how to work the computers. Finally I reach the front of the line. I explain that I have a reservation for the one night only, at a rate of $32.00. The clerk explains that in order to pay cash they have to collect a twenty-dollar deposit up front. Fine, I say. He then asks me for $89.37. I point out that 32 dollars, plus twenty, does not equal $89.37 unless they have really raised the resort tax rate in Florida. After several minutes of conferring with his equally clueless coworker, my clerk admits that possibly the computer made an error and I pay the agreed upon rate. We are given our room keys and shown on a little map where our room is (#2343). What the map doesn't accurately picture is the long hike we have to take to reach the building where the room is located, or that room 2343 is the very last room on the top floor of that building. We pass a security guard on the way to the room. Is that supposed to make me feel secure or worried? Finally, after a very long day, we collapse on one of the two double beds, our luggage landing where it will. We are still starving but too tired to walk back to the front of the property and over to the Waffle House. There are several fliers littering the room for nearby pizza places that deliver until the wee hours of the morning. The only explanation I have is that our better judgment had fallen asleep hours ago; I agree to call for a pizza. I pick up the phone, dial 9 and the first three digits of the phone number before I get a busy signal. I try again. Same busy signal. I immediately assume the phone hasn't been set up to make outside calls. Now, I am a little upset that I paid a twenty-dollar deposit to cover charges in a room I'm only going to have for a few hours, so I call the front desk to complain. I am told that Orlando has 10 digit dialing. I will need to dial the 407 and then the number. Embarrassed, I thank the front desk clerk and try again. Success! A mediocre pizza is delivered within 30 minutes. ($15.22) I go around to the vending area and pick up a Diet Pepsi for me, Dr Pepper for Lisa. The Diet Pepsi tastes like toilet water. Dr Pepper was okay though. We share that with the pizza. By now it is about 1:30. We push what's left of the pizza into the garbage and are both asleep before we know what hit us. Saturday, April 27, 2002 We had set a wake up call, but we wake up pretty early any way. We had planned on going to the IHOP next door for breakfast, but we both want to get to Disney after our less than magical first evening. So we get our things together and head to the lobby to check out. There is no line this time, and check out is quick and painless. I get back all of my twenty-dollar deposit, minus the one local call, and no one tries to get the rest of the $89.37 out of me. I ask the front desk clerk to call us a cab. The cab is there fairly quickly. A nice, chatty cabdriver takes us onto Disney property, and Lisa gets her first glimpses of Walt Disney World. Just about the first thing we see is the almost finished Pop Century Resort, which I think looks kind of tacky. But maybe it will grow on me like the All Stars have. The driver takes us to Animal Kingdom Lodge by accident ('too many hotels are called Something-Lodge') but he admits his mistake and offers to take 5 dollars off the total fare. I tip him the five dollars plus standard tip. We arrive at the Wilderness Lodge, and even from the outside it's something to see. We make our way in to the lobby and immediately stare strait up at the beautifully designed space. There's no wait at check in, and we are greeted right away. Our room is not ready yet (we didn't expect it to be) so we head over to Animal Kingdom on a Disney bus. Lisa is not impressed with the bus. She would come to like the boats and monorails much better. After one of the longest commutes on Disney property, we arrive at the park. There are a few people ahead of us at bag check, but it only takes two or three minutes to get through. (This would be the case each time we visited a park- never a wait at security. A nice surprise after some of the horror stories I'd heard on the Internet.) We meander through the jungle-like foliage at the entrance to the park, and as we make it into the clearing just before the Tree Of Life, I hear Lisa let out a loud gasp behind me. I hurry to her side, thinking she has fallen or something. No, she says. She is shocked at how big the tree is! (This is the only time I think I have ever heard someone make an audible gasp upon seeing a Disney park icon for the first time). I give Lisa the choice of what we do first, since this is her first time in any Disney park and this will be her first attraction. She picks Its Tough To Be A Bug. We make our way into the roots of the tree to the queue area and get our 3D glasses. I notice that now, instead of having extra cast members to hand out the glasses, they are in big bins on tables and you help yourself. I say nothing to Lisa, though, as this is just the random observation of a frequent visitor. Lisa comments that she is surprised at the level of detail in the queue area. I tell her she ain't seen nothing yet. We are admitted to the show, which gets rave reviews from Lisa. Glad she enjoyed her first attraction! Next we decide to hit the Safari before the park gets any busier. On our way there, we spot Baloo. Lisa can barely contain her excitement. Her first character! Since there is no crowd, she goes right up to him and begins a conversation. She tells him how this is her first trip to Disney World, and how excited she has been for so long, and how he is her first character. Baloo seems genuinely interested, and poses for some pictures. Now on to the Safari. The standby line has a wait of 60 minutes, so we take advantage of Fast Pass. The time on the Fast Pass gives us about an hour to see Pangani Forrest Trail, which is uncrowded but none of the gorillas are out. Oh well. We see a lot of other animals. Still not quite time for the safari, so we grab a quick snack at the fruit stand in Africa: two bananas and a bottled water. Yum! That will hold us until our priority seating at Rainforest Cafe. We return to the Safari in time to use our Fast Passes and whiz right through the line. We board the next available Jeep and we're off! We're in luck, lots and lots of animals are out today. My best Safari yet and it gets a thumbs up from Lisa. Next we meander through Asia on the way to Dinoland. We'd already decided to skip Kali River Rapids, as neither of us likes this type of ride. We arrive in Dinoland and ride the new Triceretops Spin with almost no wait. Cute ride, but we feel a little silly riding without kids. Next comes one of the big surprises of the trip. Lisa was dead set against riding Primeval Whirl, because we have a wild mouse ride at the Six Flags here in Louisville and Lisa hated it. She decides Disney's version looks a little bit safer so hesitantly, we get in line. Lisa has a blast! She later says this was one of her most favorite Disney rides. I have to admit, it was a lot more fun than I expected. And we both felt the loud colors of Dinoland made a nice contrast to the rest of the park. It's getting close to our priority seating time, but we decide to squeeze in a ride on Dinosaur. (I like the old name better.) Lisa says it was an okay ride. Not very scary. I have to say, if you've been on the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, Dinosaur is a bit disappointing. Once we finish our ride back in time, we realize we have barely three minutes to make our priority seating. (Should have had the folks at the Dino Institute drop us off a little bit in the past.) We race to Rainforest Cafe (Lisa returning to Amazing Race mode) and just make it. We are shown to our table rather quickly and enjoy a leisurely lunch. It's hard to believe how much we've done in just a few hours! We are both very satisfied with our lunches (I had chicken fried chicken, Lisa had the turkey wrap) and the bill comes to $36.00. After lunch we go back into the park long enough to pick up the picture we'd had taken that morning (the best picture we bought the whole trip, the Animal Kingdom photographer took his time and did a really good job.) By now it is 3:00 and our room should be ready. I call from a pay phone and get our room number (6064) and we head back to Wilderness Lodge on the bus. When we get to our room, we are very pleased. Although we have standard view, all we can see is trees unless we stand on the balcony and look straight down, then we can see the delivery area of the hotel, which we are directly above. Everything in the room from the mission style furniture to the bedspread and carpet make us feel at home. Even though it's not yet four o'clock, we decide we are too exhausted to tackle another park tonight. We decide to explore the grounds of the resort, and end up sitting on the beach watching the boats go by. Later we hit the arcade for a couple quick games, then off to a quick dinner at the Roaring Forks ($13.00). By now we just want to watch some TV and go to bed. We turn in early. Sunday, April 28, 2002 Today we wake up with the wake up call. Strange- Lisa picks up the phone and there's no Mickey voice. Just silence. Oh, well. Maybe the system's down or something. Today we planned to do Epcot, but Lisa doesn't want to ride a bus again. And since she's never been to Epcot, I think it would be more special to ride the monorail in anyway. So, we head over to the Contemporary on the boat. Once there we take a quick look at the hotel. Lisa is very impressed. (We wouldn't find out until we're back in Kentucky, but this was just two days after the employee jumped from the top and killed himself.) The shops aren't open yet, but Lisa says she'd like to come back another day and check them out. Then on to the monorail. The trip to the TTC is quick, with hardly anyone on the train. Then we go to switch to the Epcot monorail. The ramp is chained off. It's just past 8:30, and Epcot isn't scheduled to open until 10. But for some reason I assumed the monorail would be running whenever we got there. I ask a cast member when the first monorail to Epcot leaves. "Epcot doesn't open until 10:00," the cast member says. "I know that. But what time does the monorail start running?" "Epcot doesn't open until 10:00. You can go up the other ramp but Epcot doesn't open until 10:00." We head up the other ramp, ask this cast member, and he tells us the first Epcot monorail leaves at 9:00. Okay, I can live with that. We get comfortable on a bench, it's about 8:40, and here comes a monorail! We board, and it takes off, getting us to Epcot right at 9:00! We make our way to the turnstiles and find that they have just started letting people in. We are greeted by a caravan of characters! Lisa gets pictures with Pluto and Tigger. She approaches Chip and Dale just as oom-pah-pah music starts playing- and they dance with her a bit. Great pictures! Our first attraction at Epcot is Spaceship Earth. Funny story- we get to the top of the ride- the part with the star field- and Lisa says "where's the ride?" "We're on it," I say. Turns out she was picturing the Astro-Orbiter, which she had seen pictures of, and thought it was inside of the big ball! After Spaceship Earth, we find out that the other attractions don't open until 10:00! So we poke around Innoventions a bit. We try out the dancing game with Mowqli and the monkey and I win! And I have absolutely no rhythm. We line up at the rope and when it drops, it's straight to Test Track! Grab Fast Passes, and we have about 45 minutes to kill. So we head over to Wonders Of Life and are able to catch The Making Of Me and Body Wars with no wait. We head to Universe Of Energy, which is closed. By this time our Fast Passes are ready for Test Track so we take a ride. Another big thumbs up from Lisa! And I enjoyed it more than I did the first time I rode it, mainly because the first and only other time I rode it I was alone and had to stand in line for two hours (this was B.F.- before Fast Pass.) By now, World Showcase is opening and since Lisa has really been looking forward to seeing the countries, we walk around to Mexico. We are both a little hungry, so we head to the café next to the lagoon for an early lunch. We share a tacos al carbon and giant nachos, and each get a margarita. The margaritas are delicious and just what is needed on a hot day! Total bill is about $33.00. Next we ride the boat rides at Mexico and Norway, and check out the shops. Hand in hand we enjoy a nice leisurely stroll through the other countries until we get to Japan where Lisa goes wild in the department store. We come out loaded down with bags and decide that due to the heat we've had about enough of Epcot for the day. Instead of walking to the front of the park we cut out the International Gateway and walk over to the Beach Club, enjoying glimpses of the Epcot resorts as we walk. We catch the bus from the Beach Club to the Magic Kingdom, where Lisa gets her first up close look at the park. She decides we've waited long enough; tonight should be a Magic Kingdom night. But first, off to the Wilderness Lodge by boat. We get back to the room and find a surprise: the maid left us a little puppy made out of towels! Lisa gets a big kick out of this. After a little nap to cool off, we head back to the Magic Kingdom. We get through security and the turnstiles at about 6:30. The park isn't very crowded. We head straight back to Fantasyland and grab Fast Passes for Peter Pan, which has a surprisingly long line. While we wait we enjoy quick rides on It's A Small World, Snow White, The Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh- all virtual walk-ons. Next it's time for Peter Pan, which Lisa enjoys quite a bit. We both think it's the best ride in Fantasyland. By now the park is getting ready to close, and we find ourselves fighting the parade crowds to get back to the exit of the park. Lisa switches to Amazing Race mode again, zigzagging through people, and I do well to keep up. After a quick boat ride we are back at our hotel. By now the Wilderness Lodge is beginning to feel like home, and that's something I've never experienced at the other Disney resorts. We stop in Roaring Forks for a quick dinner, Lisa has a turkey sandwich and a cup of soup, I have a personal pizza and a beer ($4.50 for a 12 oz. Bud Light! Teaches me to check prices ahead of time.) and then it's back to the room for a well-deserved night's sleep. Monday, April 29, 2002 Okay, so today we plan on sleeping in. We're at Disney are you crazy? We wake up at 6:30, even without a wakeup call. And now, for one of my happy surprises of the trip: there is a USA Today in front of our door! Now I'm really feeling like we're in a deluxe resort. (I know, simple minds, simple pleasures.) We grab a quick breakfast at Roaring Forks ($13) and hop on the bus to MGM. Unlike at Epcot, there are no characters greeting us at the studios entrance. No big deal. Now, Lisa is a huge Little Mermaid fan so the first attraction today has to be Voyage Of The Little Mermaid. They are dispensing Fast Passes for the day's first show so we grab them. Now, we have about an hour so we ride The Great Movie Ride (as cool as ever!) and MuppetVision 3D (my favorite thing in all of Disney) with no wait on either. Next we head to the Mermaid theatre where, even with Fast Passes, we have to wait about 15 minutes for the show. Oh well, at least we're inside. Lisa thinks the actress playing Ariel is too nasally. All in all the movie is much better. We leave the theatre and Lisa feels the sudden urge for a temporary tattoo (of Ariel of course.) It stays on the rest of the trip (her ankle, very cute). Next we take the backstage tram tour, which Lisa gets a big kick out of, I've been on it a few too many times. We follow this with the Animation tour, which I always enjoy; this time, though, we are there at lunch and there's only like one or two animators in the building. We do get to see some neat artwork for Lilo and Stitch and Treasure Planet, though. Next, we check out the One Man's Dream exhibit. I enjoy looking at the displays, and find the movie touching. Lisa isn't quite as into this sort of thing as me. That's okay. Next comes one of the big moments of the trip that Lisa has been looking forward to: our priority seating at 50's Prime Time Café. This is the one restaurant she has wanted to eat at ever since she started reading the trip planning books. And I'd never eaten here either so we both are eager to check it out. It lived up to our expectations. Our 'Mom' (waitress) gave us homework to do at the table, and played along anytime we had our elbows on the table. We were in a little corner with only about 4 tables, so we got a lot of attention from 'Mom' who stayed in character without overdoing it. I could see how some may not like the restaurant, especially if you got a waitress that took it too far, but we had a great time. When we leave the restaurant we're treated to another surprise: Mary Poppins and Bert are posing for pictures and signing autographs. In all my trips I have never seen Mary Poppins interacting with guests, much less Bert, so this was a treat. We get some great pictures! Well, enough of MGM for now. The heat's getting to us. Back to the room! After a little nap, we head over to the Contemporary on the boat and check out the gift shops. Then it's back to the Roaring Forks for dinner (again! Can you tell we liked that place?) and back to the room for yet another surprise- we can see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony! Tuesday, April 30, 2002 Again, no wakeup call. Again, we are both up at 6:00. Today I go down to the Roaring Forks myself and bring breakfast up to the room while Lisa gets ready. We decide not to rush but wind up at the Magic Kingdom as it is opening anyway. We decide to hit the left hand side today, and start in Adventureland. First up is a ride on the Magic Carpets. Cute ride but I could have done without it. After the ride, as we are poking around in the Agrabah gift shop, Aladdin shows up out of nowhere, grabs a little boy out of the crowd and takes him for a ride on the carpets! Probably made the kid's trip. I guess that ride's not a waste of space after all. Next we check out the Jungle Cruise (Lisa is not impressed) and Pirates (thumbs up from Lisa.) After watching the Tiki show (I liked the original better) we head into Frontierland and ride Splash and Thunder. Both get big grins from Lisa. We take a ride on the steamboat, but decide it's too hot for Tom Sawyer Island. It's after noon now, and we decide to head somewhere else. We end up at Downtown Disney. Lisa enjoys the various shops as we head around to Pleasure Island and the West Side. As we approach Disney Quest, we decide on a whim to buy tickets. I'd never been there before, and it turns out to be a lot of fun! It's air-conditioned and a lot of the games are really cool. We spend about three hours there. Wednesday, May 1, 2002 Well, we've hit all the parks, so today we will just play it by ear. For the first time, we actually sleep in, leaving the room a little after 10. We decide to go out on the lake so we rent water mice. After a rough start, Lisa gets the hang of it and we have a blast zooming all over the lake. After this we go for a swim. The lodge's pool is a lot of fun. After we get dressed we head into the Magic Kingdom for lunch, we end up at Pecos Bill's. Great burgers. From there we head over to the Polynesian, and check out the shops there. Then back to the room to pack. Thursday, May 2, 2002 The last day. Sniff sniff. We enjoy a last breakfast at the Roaring Forks, followed by checkout. I owe a couple dollars for some phone calls. I can handle that. Next we take the bus to Downtown Disney for some last minute shopping. Lunch is Wolfgang Puck Express. Great food. Back to the resort to wait for our Mears shuttle. It arrives at 2:30 with no one else on it. Great. That means we were the first stop. The bus picks up folks at the Polynesian, Contemporary and a couple of off site hotels before heading to the airport. We check in for the flight home only to learn it's been delayed thirty minutes. Oh well, that gives us that much more time to talk about all the fun times we've had over the preceding days! Post script:
Jason Highley kjhighley@hotmail.com Mail a Comment to Jason Highley |
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