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Robert Kennedy -- April 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)
Trip Planning: This trip was a Christmas Present from my in laws in Celebration of their 40th Anniversary. We booked the flight through Jet Blue on the Internet (got a great deal) and booked a luxury villa through Villa Direct.com. Park tickets for WDW and Universal were purchased through AAA. Also 4 members of our family are going to Discovery Cove/ Sea World to swim with the dolphins. I will also be taking time out to take the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. We made priority-seating reservations for each day at WDW for lunch and dinner and lunch at the Nascar restaurant for our one-day at Universal Studios/ Islands of Adventure. For Christmas my wife and I came up with the idea of Family Vacation T Shirts complete with a picture of Mickey Mouse and their name on the back. We also gave everyone a gift of breakfast at Cinderella's Castle. Making priority-seating arrangements for Cinderella's Castle is no Picnic. Especially for 12 people! Exactly 60 days out we got up at 5:30am (eastern time) and started calling. In fact we had about 4 of our friends dialing as well. Finally my wife made it through at 6:10 am and we scored 3 tables of 4. I purchased new copies (from Amazon.com) of both the Birnbaums guide and the Unofficial guide because mine were a few years old. I also called WDW Vacations and got my free video. The only new thing I did to prepare this time around that I hadn't done in my past 7 trips is surfing the web. I found the web very helpful and it made the anticipation for my trip very enjoyable. April 13th - Saturday (Travel/Arrival) . Met at Nonni and Poppi's house at 6:00 am for Car service to JFK. The van they sent for 12 people, luggage and car seats was way too small. We felt like a clown family packing everything in. My sister in law Dee Dee stood the entrie 2-hour ride to JFK. We curb side checked in at Jet Blue and waited for boarding. Jet Blue was awesome. They offer a great price and great service. The personal TV's (13 channels!) and wide seats made the trip go very fast, especially for the kids. We arrived in Orlando early and rented 2 cars from Avis and 2 cars from Dollar. I found a great price at www.floridatickets.com for $209.00 for a minivan or convertible. My wife and I having no children opted for the convertible. Needless to say moments later we were cruising towards Kissimmee with the top down in 85-degree weather. The house was beautiful! Five bedrooms, (two of them Disney themed) four baths, pool, kid pool, hot tub and all the amenities one would need. It is located only 1 1/2 miles from the WDW entrance off of I-92. (Check out www.villadirect.com and ask for Nicky's at Mickey's.) We ordered out some food, grocery shopped and went for a swim. After a long day of traveling we were all off to bed early dreaming of Mickey Mouse. April 14th -Sunday (Magic Kingdom) Everyone was up very early to arrive for our 9:15 priority seating at Cinderella's Castle for breakfast. But as is the case with small children, things were moving along slowly. My wife was nervous about not getting there in time and loosing our reservation that she worked so hard for. So we decided to go on ahead and meet the rest of the party at the MK. After AAA diamond parking, we walked up to the TTC and saw the line waiting to take the monorail or ferry. We asked a cast member if we could go on ahead because of our priority reservations and we were waved on in. We boarded the monorail and laughed with excitement as we were told to "please stand clear of the doors" in English and Spanish. We went quickly through security (which was never a hassle) and up to a cast member with the priority-seating list. We were allowed to enter and we headed down an empty Main Street. I have never had this opportunity to drink in all the great energy of the MK with no one else around. My wife skipped all the way down Main Street towards the castle. Just as we reached the base of the Castle we experienced a truly Magical Moment. We look up and appearing from the entrance to the Castle is Mickey and Minnie! They are all alone. They point to us and skip down the ramp to meet us. Here we are all alone in the MK hanging out for a private audience the mouse and his girlfriend. Andrea was so moved by the magic she began to cry. After a few photos we let M & M on their way and we checked in for our breakfast. We waited about 30 minutes for the rest of our party and enjoyed private time with Pluto, Chip and Dale. Our family found us and all of us were sporting our family Mickey t-shirts with our names on the back. We waited for about ten minutes in the lower lobby to be seated. We were entertained by the Fairy Godmother who was telling stories and posing for pictures. Then her majesty welcomed us to her Royal Table. Breakfast was great! I am still dreaming of stuffed French Toast. Food and service were outstanding, worth every penny! We saw Belle, May Poppins, Cinderella, Alice and Sleeping Beauty. They all took time out with the kids and were just plain terrific. I cannot say enough good things about this dining experience. Do your self a favor and get up early 60 days prior to your trip and get a reservation. What I really needed was a nap but we decided to hit the attractions. First up: It's a small world. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but even my 7 yr old nephew said the song is annoying. Next up is the Haunted Mansion, one of my favorites. So far the crowds aren't too bad. I saw the new Madame Leota tombstone with moving eyes - very cool. After getting rid of our hitch- hiking ghosts we headed off to Adventureland. On the way I made everyone stop to take in the Country Bears Jamboree because I had never seen it. Boy, what was I thinking? I will never go to WDW again with out seeing the Country Bears. A very Disney show. Now it was time to go up the ramp and over to the Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids really seemed to like this one, but the adults simply can't get enough. Yo Ho Yo Ho! I finally convince everyone we must start using the fast pass system. I gather the tickets and go to get FP for Splash Mountain while the kids go get in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpets. The younger kids enjoyed themselves, especially the spitting camels. With Splash Mountain FP in hand we all get in line for Peter Pan's flight. We finally get hit with a line wait. Not too bad though only 25 minutes. Cute ride. I love the flight over London. When we exit PP's F, the sky became dark and the kids were getting antsy. The parents and the kids are going to get in line for the Carousel and me Andrea and I decide its time for a little break. We take our 2 fast passes for SM and walk towards Tomorrowland. We get FP for Buzz Lightyear (because 2 hours had elapsed) and we walk right into Alien Encounter. I never noticed how technically advanced "Sir" the robot is. This attraction is great fun and lots of laughs. Upon exiting AI the skies have opened and it is pouring. Andrea and I manage to make it to Main Street with out getting too wet. We finally break down and get MK ponchos. We have been to WDW 7 times previous to this and never bought ponchos before. So that will tell you how hard it was raining. We jumped from shop to shop and kiosk to kiosk and made our way to SM. What we found at Splash Mountain was that the ride was closed until the rain stopped and we also found the rest of our family who had just come off the ride. We huddled under cover for another 20 minutes or so, until SM was back up. Love this ride. One of my all time top 5. After SM we walked back across the park for our FP time at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I got a great tip from Disney Magazine. When you enter the first room, on the left is a giant Orange robot. When you get past him turn the car around and on the outside of his left arm is a target. Every time you hit it its worth 100,000 points. I had 300,000 points in no time! After BLSRS it was time for our 2nd PS of the day at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I really like the way they say the name of your state when they call your name. Food was great, like Thanksgiving in April. Served family style and fairly reasonable by Disney Standards. We got visits by Minnie, Chip & Dale and Pluto. After our large meal some of us decided to take a break and go home to clean up and take a swim. Most of the family joined us except Dee Dee, Carl and their 3 kids. They were trying to stretch out the day. Andrea and I enjoyed a swim and a hot tub and even slept for a few minutes. We then returned to MK for the Electric Light Parade and the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks. Totally by accident we found my sister in laws family who had been at the park from open until close. Hardcore!! Not bad for a 3,5 and 7 year old. The parade was as good as I remembered and the fireworks were unbelievable. If you have never seen Tinker bell take off from the castle you are missing out. I took lots of great pictures with my new digital camera and they came out great. Andrea and I helped carry the kids back to the mini van and for the first time in my life took the ferryboat back to the TTC. Exhausted we all went home and passed out. But not before a good night Jacuzzi. April 15th- Monday (Animal Kingdom) The nephews had us up early but again it took forever to get everyone ready. Andrea and I wanted to get to AK early because on our honeymoon in 1998 we never got our butts out of bed early enough to see all the animals on Kilamanjaro Safaris. So we went on ahead. We parked for the second day with our AAA diamond parking passes. (A word on diamond parking: If you are a member of AAA get these passes, they are free. You still pay the $6.00 to park but you get to park on the end of a row closest to the trams in AK, MGM and Epcot. In MK they have a special lot right next to the handicap lot that is 30 second walk to the TTC.) Once inside AK we made a beeline to Kilamanjaro Safaris. I got to take lots of great pictures and even saw the Lions. After KS we checked out the Gorilla trails and strolled around Africa. Next up was my first ride on the Kali River Rapids. Warning: you will get soaked on this ride! Not "may get wet", "but will get soaked"! A good tip is to take off your socks and shoes and place them in the waterproof container in the middle. It was our saving grace. When made a break from Asia over to Dino land for a ride on Dinosaur! Why did they change the name again? Great ride, scary dinos and we saved the iguanodon! I took a slow walk through the Chester and Hester's Dino area. It looked like a Six Flags midway area. I think it looked fun but I question its placement in the Animal Kingdom Park. This is supposed to be an Animal and Nature themed Park. The new coaster looked like something from a Carnival and the Primeval Whirl is just a retread of Dumbo and Aladdin's Magic Carpets. I expect a lot from Disney (maybe too much) so I was disappointed to say the least. We then went to check out Tarzan Rocks. I had heard from many web friends that this was not a very good show. I was pleasantly surprised by how much my wife and I enjoyed it. The acrobats and the skating was a lot of fun. Go see it if you have the time. It gave us a nice rest and a chance to relax. Next it was off to Its tough to be a bug. I am still very intrigued by the Tree of Life. My wife makes fun of me because I always end up with way too many photos of it. I still have not found the elusive Tree of Life hidden Mickey. Again by a freak of nature we found our family right as we were entering the ITTBAB theatre. The stink bug rules! My 3-year-old nephew got a little scared but no big deal. We had made reservations at the Rainforest Café before we left and went and enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Good food and the service was really top notch. I would have enjoyed an adult beverage but in the spirit of family I had a coke. The kids had not yes ridden Dinosaur! So we went with them and rode again. Afterwards it was off to the bone yard for the kids to do some digging and it was time for Uncle Rob and Auntie Andrea to go back to the house and enjoy it while it was still kid free. We enjoyed some quiet time in the pool and Jacuzzi and had every intention of going out to pleasure Island but never made it. We were still a little tired and enjoying marathon Scrabble games into the night. We passed out around 11:00 pm. April 16th- Tuesday (Discover Cove, Keys to the Kingdom Tour, Staying home) today was a day for the family to split up a little. My Wife, Carl, Dee Dee and Bob were going to Discovery Cove next to Sea World to enjoy a dolphin experience. I made reservations to take the Keys to the Kingdom Tour that I had wanted to do forever and Nonni, Poppi, Denise and the kids were going to have a swim day of fun at home. I woke up early and took the ferry -boat from the TTC to the MK. I went over to the Main Street bakery and got my traditional Mickey Shaped breakfast treat. This was my first time ever visiting a Park by myself. As I sat on Main Street and ate my breakfast I really enjoyed people watching. There were two types of faces that pass by early in the morning at the MK. The first kind is the smiling, wide-eyed face of a young child or first time visitor. The second is a determined planning face trying to figure out the best plan of attack for the day. I think most times I am the guy with the second face. I am going to make a conscience effort to take it easy more and stop to smell the roses while visiting WDW. Time for the tour! The tour garden is located to the left of town hall. I was greeted by two cast members from guest relations that checked my reservation, gave me my name badge, took my lunch order (chicken fingers and fries) and offered me coffee or water. SPOILER ALERT!! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS ON THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM TOUR OR JUST DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE MAGIC: SCROLL DOWN TO WEDNESDAY THE 17TH. Our tour guide Jessica gathered all 7 of us at the flag- pole at the top of Main Street. We each shared our names, where we were from and favorite Disney character. Apparently there are over 1000 animated characters to choose from. Jessica told us about the TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves Magic) and the 4 keys to the kingdom: Show, Courtesy, Safety and Magic. There are over 50,000 cast members working in and around the WDW resort. She talked about forced perspective of the buildings on Main Street and the names over all of the Main Street shops. For example over the bakery is the name "MT Lott", that was one of the names Walt used to buy land in Florida to hide his name from money hungry landowners. Walt's name appears at the end of the street over the Plaza Restaurant. He is the only one who gets a patio and a great view of the park. She spoke briefly about the partner statue and how it was designed so Walt could wave hello as we enter and wave goodbye as we exit the MK. Jessica then herded us over to the entrance of Adventureland. She stopped off to the side and told us the story of Walt's vision of Disneyland and finally his vision of the WDW Resort. This was about a fifteen-minute history lesson, but very interesting. She then took us into Adventureland and we side entered the Jungle Cruise and rode it with out the Skippers corny jokes. Jessica told us about Walt's wish to have real animals on the ride and how the water is dyed brown to hide the machinery. Did you know that on the Jungle Cruise when the natives greet you one of them says, "I love disco"! We continued past the Tiki room (the roof is aluminum) and took a 5-minute break. Jessica took us over to the front of Pirates Of the Caribbean and she talked more about forced perspective. I even got to walk up a set of cordoned off stairs and it showed how little the doors and windows are. I looked like a giant. Next on the tour we went backstage right next to Splash Mountain to check out the parade floats. Having people watch you go backstage is very cool. We all felt important. In order to go backstage, Jessica had us raise our right hands and swear not to take any pictures or videos so help us Walt. We then got to poke around all the parade floats from Share a Dream Come True and the Electric Light Parade. An aircraft company that makes cockpits makes each float "snow globe". There is no A/C in the floats only fans. The costumes are actually placed inside the floats and the cast members get dressed inside the bubble. There were quite a few cast members touching up and cleaning the floats. This is something that happens everyday. There is a hidden Walt on every float. We then were taken inside another warehouse to look at the Electric floats. Very interesting to see inside each float and see how they work and where people sit. We than went around back and looked at the Lagoon floats on the water. After almost forty-five minutes backstage we went back on stage and Jessica pointed out the changes from land to land. How the sidewalk changes and the music changes. We stopped at Liberty Square and were told about the duplicate copy of the Liberty Bell that was cast from the original. The 13 flags of the original colonies hang there (Go Connecticut!) and there are 13 lanterns in the tree as well. She spoke briefly about the hall of Presidents and the new George Bush, who is wearing his own suit picked out by his wife. Apparently George W has yet to so his own animatronics self. Next stop was lunch at Columbia Harbor House. We walked up a special staircase to a roped off area where our lunch was waiting for us. Another cast member named Brick was with us and he told us about his 12 years at WDW as a cast member. He started off at attractions in EPCOT and then worked for five years in entertainment as a character. He has been in guest relations for four years now. He also told us about the VIP tours that they get to do with celebrities. Our own tour guide Jessica apparently had the holy grail of VIP's last fall with Mary Poppins herself - Julie Andrews. She said she was very nice and she spent 4 days with her and even ate with her and her family at the finest WDW restaurants. We then received a special edition pin that looks like a key. We were advised not to trade the pin and asked not to put it up on ebay. Now that lunch was over we went across the way to the Haunted Mansion. Jessica pointed out the pet cemetery that I had never noticed before and told us about the designer of the attraction. I never knew the Mansion has many chess pieces placed on top of the roof. If you look carefully you can see almost all of them. She told us about the design, the man who does the voice over (Tony the Tiger), Madame Leota the costume designer and the official and unofficial hidden Mickey's. There has been enough dust placed within the mansion to cover it over three times. We entered a side entrance and took a ride. Upon leaving the mansion we headed towards the castle and Jessica spoke about its construction (there are no bricks in the Castle) and a little about the Reedy Creek organization. WDW has its own emergency dept., fire dept., water, power, garbage and city council. They don't however have their own police dept. We then headed up main street and stopped where the old arcade and barber shop used to be. We went into the new building and went through two doors (after taking another oath) and again we were back stage. We were in a parking area where some cast members were enjoying a break. Across the parking lot was the Jungle Cruise Dry Dock. Who knew that the Jungle Cruise and Main Street were so close? They butt right up against each other. We saw some of the boats being refurbished and some hippos and crocodiles being touched up. We then went up some exterior stairs into some office space over Main Street. There was a display case showing the "Disney Look" with proper dress codes and grooming along with some construction photos of the MK. We then went down 3 flights to the Utilidors! The mysterious tunnel system was very cool. We walked around a bit and Jessica showed us how people find their way around and she showed us the employee cafeteria and costuming. Everything is bar coded so they know where everything is at all times. She spoke at length about the WDW laundry and how everything is so high tech. We walked under Main Street and back up stairs to behind the bakery. This is where they launch the outside food vendors. We also got to see the back of the Tomorrowland buildings. It's incredible that all of these attractions and restaurants are really just large square buildings that we only see the front of. From here were asked for any last backstage questions, because onstage Jessica said she would not disclose any backstage "magic". We had no questions so we continued onstage back to the flagpole. This is where we said goodbye to Jessica and completed our tour. What a great time we had. I highly recommend it. But bring your walking shoes! Since I had to pay for a single days admission in order to take the tour I decided to stay a little bit and do some attractions that I didn't get to on Sunday. The park was much less crowded on this day. I went over to the Hall of Presidents to catch the George Bush addition because my family refused to go with me just two days earlier. They call the Hall of Presidents- the hall of naps. They don't know what they are missing, I love it. I then watched the Share a dream come true parade that had been rained out Sunday and I took a quick ride on Space Mountain (which had no line). After a stop to the Christmas store for Pluto and Tigger stockings for my Dog and Cat I took my weary body home for guess what? A Jacuzzi! My wife and Sister in law really enjoyed their Dolphin Swim and had a video and pictures to prove it. Andrea and I finally got up the energy to head down to Pleasure Island and purchased tickets with the 5-day extension for $27.00 each. We got a drink and wandered over to the Beach Club, The Jazz Club and 8 Trax. The Island was very quiet that night so we got in line for The Comedy Club. I can't get enough of that show, it is so funny. The highlight of the evening was a rap song about a death by Q-Tips. (The Q to the T to the I to the P..... I guess you had to be there). We walked to the Adventurers Club and watched the show for a while and re- learned the theme song and official salute- Kungaloosh! We didn't bother staying for New Year's because apparently there isn't a dance show anymore just the band on stage counts down and about 2 minutes of fire works. We went home (with the top down) and prepared our selves for Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. April 17th- Wednesday (Universal Studios- Island of Adventure) Andrea and I continued our habit of leaving the house in the morning before everyone else for a quiet breakfast. I really like the original US and I was looking forward to IOA especially after hearing all the Internet buzz about the Spiderman ride. We had a family photo taken at the entrance and I immediately took everyone's tickets and got express passes for Spiderman for 3 hours later. I caught up with the group in Suessland. We rode the very spinny Cat in the Hat ride, which was basically a Disney like dark ride retelling the CITH book. It broke down twice while we were inside. (A note on the new IOA: Do not expect the same feeling or vibe that you get from a Disney park. The lines are long, often not themed with little more than a TV to look at. The service is not the same either. The employees are nowhere near as helpful and often look bored. I also found the food and drinks to be quite a bit more expensive. ) Anyway, I digress. The kids then took a ride on Caro-Seuss-el (carousel) while I took pictures. Dr Seuss' land does a great job of capturing the feeling of a Suessical world. Next for the kids it was time to play in the Seuss playground, which they loved. It had interactive toys and jumping fountains and showers. It also had a Dumbo type ride called One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, which we didn't ride. The twelve of us then walked slowly to the next island called the Lost Continent. We took in the walking show called Poseidon's Fury which is one of the highlights of the park. The exterior has to be seen to be believed. The show has all kinds of special effects with water and fire. This show is not to be missed. While most of the family continued their trip around this Island, Bob, Andrea and I got in the line for Dueling Dragons. This was a very long wait. It took us almost an hour to get through the line. This is a great coaster that pits the red coaster (fire) against the blue coaster (ice), where you look like you are going to crash right into the opposing coaster. A fun ride but if I want coaster parks I will go to Six Flags. Because DD took so long we had to run to the other side of the park for our Spiderman Express line time. We found the rest of our group and made it with 2 minutes to spare. This is a must see ride. Maybe the best action ride in all of Florida. Awesome 3-D effects. Next we decided it was too much trouble for all 12 of us to exit the park for our Nascar reservation so we opted for fast food Universal style. Burgers, Fries and sodas for two were $25.00. Ouch! Spiderman is located on Hero Island where they keep most of the parks thrill ride including the Hulk coaster, which had too long of a wait so we decided to go back to Jurassic park. We passed through Toon Lagoon on the way, which we skipped all together. We decided to go on the flume ride called the Jurassic park River Adventure. With the exception of the T-Rex and the big drop at the end, this ride kind of disappointed me. It could have been great. The effects looked cheap and the ride is not so scary. The IOA was very packed this day and Andrea and I decided we wanted to see a few of the attractions over at the original Universal Studios. We left our family and walked a good mile from where we were over to US. Jeez haven't they heard of monorails? We waited 45 minutes for Men in Black Alien Attack, which is like Buzz Lightyear on steroids. We then took our traditional trip in a DeLorian to Back to the Future (one of my favorites). We ended our day at Terminator 3-D. Always a great 3-D show. After a day of waiting in long lines with rude people and walking for what seemed like 10 miles we called it quits. We stayed in this night and watched movies and played a few games of travel Scrabble. April 18th- Thursday (Epcot) Today is special because it is my wife Andrea's 32nd Birthday. We arrived late on purpose today because we wanted to stay right up until Illuminations. We parked in diamond parking again (this is a great perk) and entered EPCOT. While the parents rented strollers Andrea and I went over to guest relations where I was told they may do something nice for her birthday. The cast member got a card and the entire guest services CM's signed it and put what country they were from. Andrea got a phone call from Goofy and they gave her a bracelet and a toy ladybug. They really made her feel special. The whole family took a ride on Space Ship Earth. The new flat panel screens warning about the reverse trip down didn't take away from the attraction in the least. The kids played in the AT andT Communicore for a while and we sat around while various people used the rest rooms etc. This is pretty much what it is like to travel with such a large group. We would take fifteen to twenty minutes to decide what to do, we would wait in line and ride the attraction or see the show, and then we would take a twenty minute break for the bathroom or food and we would then start the whole process over again. Let me tell you its hard work! While waiting I bought my wife a Magic Moments pin. If I knew that this pin would be so cool I would have bought it on out first day. It was fun to see when it was going to light up. While buying the pin I really noticed how big of a deal this pin trading is getting. People are all caught up in this phenomena. Andrea and I gathered everyone's tickets to get past passes for Test Track. Our entry time was almost six hours later. If you want to get on Test Track go early! We met up with everyone at the Land Pavilion. I enjoyed a Fajita potato and a drink; I am saving myself for my dinner in Italy! We met a cast member who was cleaning around the dining tables and he heard that it was Andrea's Birthday. He got her a chocolate chip muffin and gave her a fast pass for twelve on the Living with the land Ride. Another magic moment, the cast members at WDW are so great. While the family finished up Andrea and I took two of the kids to the Circle of Life film, which always makes my wife cry. We collected the rest of the group and experienced Living with the Land. Cool space age farming and huge cucumbers! We got out just in time for Food Rocks. I have been to WDW 7 times and never went to Food Rocks. What a great little attraction! Tone Loc as the MC is priceless. This whole trip I wished I could shrink my family so I led the way to Honey I shrunk the Audience. Always fun, watch out for the mice! By this time it is almost 5pm. We have been inside Epcot for six hours and only managed to see 5 attractions. We have a PS at the L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante in Italy for 5:30. I suggest we take the Ferry across World Showcase Lagoon so we do just that. The youngest kid, Hogan, really likes boats. Unfortunately that is all I will see of Future World on this trip. We strolled leisurely and entered Italy for our PS. Dinner was great. I got the Italian trio and my wife enjoyed Pasta and shrimp. Even the small kids seemed to enjoy their meals. After dinner the family split up a bit. Andrea, Bob, Denis, little Brayden and my in-laws and I went to see Norway. The rest of the gang hustled over to Future World to see Test Track and Ellen's Energy Adventure. I like Test Track but I was enjoying the atmosphere in World Showcase, so we gave it a skip. We took a ride on Maelstrom. I love the oil drilling rigs and those trolls sure are scary. When we got out it was time for the Tapestry of Dreams Parade. I didn't know what to make of this Parade. The floats they had were all the same with a drummer and a circular float. It's a kind of new age puppet thing. The kids near us seemed fascinated so I guess it performed its duty. We then walked to the top of the Lagoon for Illuminations. Enough has been written about Illuminations. I just wish I had staked out a better spot. I was in back of some trees and light towers but I enjoyed it just the same. Andreas pin went crazy through out the show. It's been a long day so we gathered up the troops and went on home. Andrea and I enjoyed a nightcap of Flurry's from Dairy Queen. April 19th- Friday (Disney's MGM Studios)- Finally we got a day to ourselves! When we went to Universal on Wednesday we received a second day free with our pass. The parents decided there were more things that they wanted to see at Universal (Nickelodeon Studio, Barney and ET) rather then go to MGM. Since Andrea and I already went to US we got the day alone at MGM. This was by far the best vacation day of the whole trip. Have you ever had one of those days at Disney when you just seem to hit everything right? Well this was what it was like for us this day. We parked in diamond parking and entered past security. Now when it was twelve of us going to MGM we had PS for Lunch at the Prime Time and Dinner at the Sic FI. We cancelled those and made a reservation for two at 5:20 at the Brown Derby with the Fantasmic Package. After dinner will receive a pass to sit in a special section for Fantasmic. When we walked in I got my first view of the New 100 years hat. I kind of like it although I do miss the view of the Chinese Theatre. It looks like this is going to replace the Earful Tower as the official Icon of MGM. The hat is everywhere at MGM. We posed for a picture in front of the Hat and we eventually ended up purchasing it. We try to get one every trip. The only picture we still need is one at Epcot. We went over to Starring Rolls for breakfast. I enjoyed a delicious chocolate croissant- yum! And we casually made our plan for the morning. We walked down towards the RRC and TOT. The wait was longer for TOT so we got a fast pass and went into the standby line for RRC. The wait wasn't too bad only about 20 minutes. What a great coaster! This was my first time. Wow the beginning knocked my socks off. Zero to sixty in 3 seconds. We browsed the Aerosmith store and walked across the street for our FP time. The theming on the TOT is some of the best in WDW. Although for the first time in my life I saw two cast members arguing in front of us. "Don't do my job, do yours!" Very un Disney like. We sat front row. The drop sequence has changed since my last trip. I love the way it fools you. I didn't know if I was going up or down. After our trip back from the Twilight Zone we walked down toward the Muppet Vision 3-D. On the way we picked up FP for Who Wants to be a Millionaire- play it! Muppets were a riot as always. We poked around the New York Streets and we noticed how quiet the park was that day. We hiked over the Chinese Theatre for a ride on the Great Movie Ride. For the first time in my life I had a Gangster instead of a Cowboy. The updated movie at the end is great new addition. It was now time for our WWTBAMPI FP time, but first it was time for a Mickey Premium Ice Cream bar. To be polite my wife and I stood off to the side of the FP entrance while we were eating. When we entered the CM thanked us for following the rules and asked us if we wanted to sit in the fastest finger seats. That was a special treat. We were really excited about this. I am a trivia buff and to be able to sit so close was so cool. In fact my wife sat behind the host and she was on camera for the whole show. The host reminded me of a soap opera actor/ model type. The first guy into the fastest finger seat was a retired gentleman who was attending his 280th viewing of this show. He has been in the hot seat over twenty times. Wow that's dedication! He only made it to 16,000 -point question and got a wrong answer. A younger girl went in after him. She was very nervous but she did well. I love the phone a stranger. Oh well, maybe next time I will get in the hot seat. After this we were right in time for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. I love Indy and the bit with the guy in the Hawaiian shirt is a riot. We were so close on the right side we could feel the heat from the explosions. We decided to go home for a while and freshen up. I took a swim and vegged out on the couch while Andrea took a short nap. We drove back to MGM just in time for our Brown Derby PS. We got to sit outside which I highly recommend and we saw the Stars and Motor Cars parade from the comfort of our shady table. The Star Wars car is my favorite. Dinner was out of this world. The best meal we had all week. My wife got Surf and Turf and I got Pork tenderloin. For Desert we ordered cheesecake that comes complete with an identical mini version of the 100 years celebration sorcerer's hat made of colored white chocolate. To die for! We now had some time before Fantasmic so we took in the Studio Back Lot tour. The new Pearl Harbor sequence in the beginning was fun. The tour itself is a little stale. They need newer props. By this time we went over to the theater for Fantasmic. We had to sit there for almost 40 minutes before the show. Other than doing the wave there is not much to look at before the show itself. They should take a page from the Legend of the Lion King at AK and have some sort of pre show warm up. Words cannot describe how impressed I am with Fantasmic. The projections and the Finale with all the characters were my favorite parts. This was a great way to end our time in the parks and our special day, all-alone without the family. But the night is still young. Off to Pleasure Island for one last hurrah. The parking lot was packed and there were signs for Grad Night everywhere. I was worried my evening was about to be ruined. When we entered PI the place was again very quiet. The clubs were not hopping and there was no energy. We decided to go to the comedy show again and really enjoyed it. We had another drink and went on home. PI just didn't do it for me on the trip. I think next time we will try City Walk at Universal. We went back to the Villa to pack up for flight home. I got in a final Jacuzzi, and though to myself how fast this week went. All this planning and it was over in a blink of an eye. April 20th- Saturday- Downtown Disney/ Travel home (Rental- Car Plane) We had to check out by ten and our flight was at 2pm so we tried to fit in last minute shopping at DD. I hit the World of Disney Store, the 365 days of Christmas and the Disney at Home Store. We got gifts for people at home and some fun souvenirs. We ended up dropping about $350.00. Ouch! Back to MCO Airport and on to JKK. Again Jet blue is a great way to fly. I got to watch the NFL Draft all the way home. Go Cowboys! We ordered a second car to meet us at JFK so we wouldn't have to pack in so tightly again. We returned home to an excited dog at around 5pm and ordered out for Chinese Food. Final Thoughts and Tips:
Rob Kennedy robbyk@optonline.net Mail a Comment to Rob Kennedy |
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