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Jean Pugh -- June 2002 -- Walt Disney World (CSR, BCR)
Jean's Day One: Thursday, June 6, 2002: TRAVEL and ARRIVAL CS Background: My DH is not a big fan of Disney or WDW. He gamely went along on WDW vacations in March and November of 2001. That was enough Disney for a while, but I persuaded him to go again in June. Friends of ours who are DVC were going in June, and our sons could play together. My DH is a very good sport! The Trip That Didn't Go As Planned... We did not get off to an auspicious beginning on travel day. Insomnia struck me at 3AM the night before. I forgot to check email for meeting time and place with online friends tomorrow. DH is dealing with a few things at work... and was on his cell phone with conference calls all through packing, leaving home, the drive to the airport, and check in. This led to forgotten items at home and in the car (a cooler with a milk bottle left in a hot car for a week...ewwww)... and some bad tempers all the way around. My tiredness didn't help. Never mind, we're going on vacation. Except a few things came up at work for DH, so he's not really going on vacation. Or rather he is coming and going, coming and going, coming and going on vacation. I was lucky: we breezed through security. We even made it to the gate with enough time for a bathroom break and a McD's breakfast. DH flies a lot on United, so he wasn't pleased that we were on American this flight. No express check in, express security, or express boarding for us on American. I did get a good price buying through the American web site. Once on the plane, I find my Palm keyboard is not working. I bought the darn keyboard specifically for writing my WDW trip report. I just changed PCs, so should have tested it again before I left home. Now I'll be writing the trip report using the stylus. Phooey. We arrived at MCO early. All the bags, the stroller, and the car seat showed up, hurray! It felt like a sauna outside: very hot and very humid. We picked up our minivan from Dollar (had Fastlane, but didn't need it... no line) and headed south to the highway to WDW. And through purple gates... We stopped at McD for take out. Youngest son has fallen asleep in the car, so drive through fast food is easiest, if not tastiest. Then we drove over to check in at Coronado Springs. I ran in while the family ate in the car. We had reserved two rooms, so they upgraded us to a suite, and it was even in building 9B as I requested. The downside of the suite was that it only had two beds, but it was huge and had great amenities. I stopped to buy e-night tickets for tomorrow night at Guest Services and then went out to tell the family that the room is not ready yet. We run over to Downtown Disney for the Lego store, while we wait for our room. The Lego store at Downtown Disney is now just a regular Lego store. We have one near us at home so it was no big deal. Everything that is sold in the store is available from the Lego Shop At Home catalogue. They used to sell bags of spare parts in this store... They do still have the play area outside. We called and found our room was ready so we headed back to Coronado Springs. We were in #9656, which was as close to the main building and bus stop #1 as you can be. The suite was great! There was a bedroom with a king bed and a full bath. Then there was a 30' long living room, with a sitting area with sofa, etc. Off to one side was an eating area that sat four, with kitchenette (fridge, microwave, sink). There was a big TV with VCR and DVD players, with a few wicker chairs. The far end of the living room had a queen sized Murphy bed, a desk with fax machine and office supplies, and another full sized bathroom. We were just across the bridge from the pyramid pool, so of course we had to go swimming right away. My boys loved the slide, and the fountains in the kiddie pool. Next a quick shower, 6 or 7 more work calls, a swing in the hammocks on beach, watched the minnows and weird egg cases on water grasses, then off to AKL and Boma for dinner. At Boma we experience a magical Disney moment with chef Tjenjet (sp?). DS2 is allergic to peanuts, and Boma is not a good buffet for those with peanut allergy. At least one dish at every station had peanuts, and it was difficult to keep straight which were okay and which were dangerous. Chef Tjenjet bent down to talk to DS2 to find out what he wanted to eat. DS2 lives for waffles and sausage, so Chef Tjenjet went back, warmed up the waffle iron, mixed a fresh batch of waffles, and cooked sausages (both links and patties!) It was so nice of him to make DS2's favorite foods. He checked back several times to see if there was anything else DS2 wanted, or if there was anything he could make us to take with us. My favorite food of the night was the passion fruit meringue tarts. Normally I am a chocoholic, but those tarts were amazing. Of course we stopped at the gift shop on the way out and bought enough stuff that we had it shipped home. We walked out to the savannah and saw zebras! We stayed a week at AKL last November, and saw all the animals except zebras. How perfect that we saw them right away tonight. Looking back in through the large window wall into the lodge, we conclude that AKL is remarkably beautiful. :) Jean's Day Two: Friday, June 7, 2002 Today I abandoned my family in the morning to meet up with some online friends and ride some rides. We had some friends from home checking in to CS, too, so they could all go to the pool while I rode rides. I caught the MGM bus at 8:10. The character caravan had just driven up with Jessie, Minnie, Hook, and Goofy. I met my online friends at Sid's at 9:15, no problem figuring out who they were. Okay, so I was late. Luckily they waited. :) They had planned ahead and gotten Fastpasses for Tower of Terror, so we rode that first. Heights make me nervous, so while I enjoyed it, once was plenty. Then we went to One Man's Dream. They were so nice to go through it again with me (seeing it once is enough, in my opinion). Next we rode Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I just stood there in line with my mouth hanging open after watching that take off! I have a new favorite ride at WDW. RnRC is the best. The take off is faster than anything else I've experienced-even faster than the cut offs in the morning rush hour commute on Boston's Route 128. <g> My friends had to head home, so they walked me over to Star Tours, and I went on the ride by myself. It felt a bit dated but still fun. I love Star Wars stuff, but I was running late so couldn't really take the time to look around in Tatooine Traders. I stopped at guest relations on the way out to get a Penny Press Master List to send to the website that cares about such things. Then it was time to see the family and get some lunch! I waited for 15 minutes for the bus back to CS. This was the longest wait for a bus I had all trip. Mostly the buses arrived within 5 minutes. On my way to our room I see DH and both DSs walking to the big pyramid pool. I quickly grab my suit and join them. It is hot and extremely humid so the water feels great. I get a cheeseburger at the pool and it is good. Heartburn special. We all take a nap after swimming to rest up for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. We meet up with our friends from home and drive to the Contemporary in our rental van. We take the kids on monorail ride before dinner. No time to wait for a ride up front. My friends make some pin trades, and lots of pin purchases. Chef Mickey's was fun as always. My DS7 is getting blasé about the characters, but he'll still hug them and pose with them. It just isn't the same level of thrill as it is for DS2. We skipped the autograph books this time. (The kids never look at them after we get home.) Instead I brought large T-shirts with the fab four on them for the characters to sign. I felt badly because it was clearly a nuisance for the characters to sign on cloth, but I must admit it looks wonderful and the kids love the shirts for sleeping in. I must have apologized to each character about 10 times while they were writing. After dinner, DS7 and I headed off to e-night. I hate to take the 7-year-old to e-night, because he'll be too tired tomorrow, but this may be his only chance this trip to ride a few of the mountains. DH has to go back to work at the end of the weekend, and so it'll be just me with the two kids. No one to baby pass to means we stick to the rides that DS2 can do. So, we rode Buzz, Space Mt. (B track), Buzz again, Space 2x (B track, then A track), got some water and a frozen ice drink, took a picture with the castle and partners statue, pressed a couple of pennies, and finally rode Thunder Mt. We got back to the room at 12:30, and the 7-year-old was a basket-case the next day (too tired.) Nothing like a little guilt on vacation. <g> Jean's Day Three: Saturday, June 8, 2002 I woke up at 5:45AM and couldn't get back to sleep. Around 8, I hear DS2 awake, so I throw on some clothes and take him outside before he wakes anyone else. We wander around enjoying the landscaping. We spend a few quarters to feed the fish and ducks. (Two different people stop to videotape DS2 feeding the ducks. I thought it was a little bizarre. Why tape a stranger's kid?) We met the rest of the family and our friends from home for brunch at the Pepper Market. Afterwards, everyone except me and DS2 went to mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. (It was DS2's nap time... my turn to stay in after yesterday's ride-time.) The mini-golfers got rained out, got rain checks, came back; the rain stopped and they went to play again. DS2 woke up so we went out to feed the ducks and fish again. Here was my little 2 year old feeding the ducks on the grass at the edge of the water, when I notice two small eyes watching him intently. It was a little alligator! I guess it was too small (maybe 2.5' long) to do any harm, but it scared me nevertheless. I've had little exposure to alligators and did not expect the thing to move so FAST. I dragged DS2 away to a bridge to watch the alligator from a safer distance. The alligator made a move for a bird a few minutes later and it did move very fast. And its eyes followed us everywhere. We were still standing there watching when the mini-golfers returned again. We all got in the van to go to our dinner at Grand Floridian 1900 Park Fare with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, & Pinocchio. The food was mediocre. The characters were fun. The staff was wonderful. Back at the CS gift shop, I experienced another Disney Magical Moment: I am carded when I buy two bottles of Corona beer. It has been at least twenty years since I have needed an ID to buy alcohol, so this was a big thrill for me! Jean's Day Four: Sunday, June 9, 2002 Today we move to the Beach Club. We checked out of Coronado Springs and go to the Magic Kingdom. We were trying to get there at rope drop, but it was too hard to get two families moving at that hour. I was grinding my teeth with impatience, because there isn't any point in going to a theme park late morning in the summer. It is just too crowded. I must admit I caused my share of the delay, too. After one spat per couple and one child meltdown... we entered MK at about 9:30AM, not too bad. We split up immediately. Someone zoomed ahead for Fastpasses to Pooh. I took DS2 to Fantasyland where we rode the Teacups 3x, and the Carousel. We met the others at Cosmic Ray's for a late breakfast. We rode Pooh with our Fastpasses (someone sprinted over for Buzz Fastpasses before we rode), then we rode Buzz with Fastpasses. My hand got sore shooting in Buzz. Guess I am not going to save the galaxy today. Someone ran ahead for Space Mountain Fastpasses while the rest of us used the restrooms. I saw the Carousel of Progress was open and have never been on it, so of course we had to do that next. DS2 adored it. I hope they keep this attraction open. It is so interesting to see one of the originals. Having more time to kill before our Fastpass, so we rode TTA all squeezed into one car (7 of us; mistake!) Coming back down the escalator, we hear the Tomorrowland Countdown performing so we stop to watch. They are fantastic. We used our Space Mountain Fastpasses, and the two 7-year-old boys get to ride again courtesy of our baby swap pass. I hate that the ride exit is at the arcade. The boys played a game or two. Then tempers began to fray so we ride the monorail to the Poly to try Kona Café for lunch. It is too crowded so we just go to the BC. On the way over, even the most anti-theme-park members of our group say that it was a great morning. Nothing like good planning and careful use of Fastpasses to make for a good day. We arrived at the BC at 2:30PM and the rooms were ready. I checked in at the same time as our friends, who are DVC, so I got to hear a "Welcome home...almost." We got rooms 1540 & 1542 on the ground floor. (Why have all the Disney resort rooms we've checked into in the last year had wet carpet and a disinfectant smell?!) Walking to our rooms, we see the new Beach Club Villas. They are attractive buildings, although not my favorite green; it looks very nice all lit up at night. (The CM at the DVC desk told me that DVC members won't be able to pool hop to Stormalong Bay as of July 1st; they'll have to be staying at Yacht Club, Beach Club, or Beach Club Villas to use Stormalong Bay, just like the rest of us poor folk. <g> Stormalong Bay is so crowded already they had to limit it.) After a short nap to recover from the Magic Kingdom, we hit the great pool at the Beach Club: Stormalong Bay. It was fantastic as always. The bubbling sands were off; a lifeguard said they are a safety hazard. They are short on staff right now so maybe that is why. We swam from 3:30-6:45, and then grabbed some dinner at Beaches and Cream. The ice cream was excellent. We went to bed early because DH had to leave very early for the airport, to go back to work. Jean's Day Five: June 10, 2002 DH left for the airport at 5:30AM. The rest of us had a nice room service breakfast of Mickey waffle, croissants (eh), sausages, milk, & coffee. Then we joined our friends and went Epcot by 10:30. First we got Fastpasses for Test Track...and the return time was already 4:20! We went into Ice Station Cool and I tricked my friend into trying the Beverly. She was not too happy with me. Next up was the FountainView Bakery for friends' breakfast. DS7 had 100 year cake (chocolate). I ran over to Mouse Gear for a pressed penny. Then we spent quite a bit of time in Innoventions. Friends and DS7 loved it, but it was dull for DS2 who couldn't play anything and dull for me who had to watch him. DS7 played tune tag 3x and the dancing thing. Then we went to Imagination and saw the new Figment. Yawn. We took the boat across WS to Morocco for lunch, and then walked to Japan for a Gundam Wing toy. At this point everyone is melting down again, so we walked back to our rooms for rest and lunch for DS7. At the last second possible with our Fastpasses we went back and rode Test Track. The 7 year olds got to ride twice because of baby swap. We saw a pretty neat turtle in the pond by Test Track. The boys wanted blue Frozen Cokes. Then we saw the last showing of Ellen's Energy Adventure. It was fun and enjoyed by all. This was the first time I had seen the Ellen & Bill Nye version. On our way out, we bought the 100 Year video & a voice changer toy. As we walked we watched Tapestry of Dreams in the distance... I loved TON, especially the music. I didn't get a chance to see any of the parades this trip. Back to the room for a room service dinner and bed by 10:30. Jean's Day Six: Tuesday June 11, 2002 My lack-of-sleep finally caught up with me this morning. I didn't wake up until 8:30...too late for the Magic Kingdom. The alarm clock woke the boys at 9:30. DS2 must have set it last night. We went to the Goofy buffet at Cape May Cafe. The food was okay. The chef put me off a bit. He implied that we shouldn't be there without making a PS 24 hours ahead of time, because of DS2's peanut allergy. I was spoiled by Chef Tjenjet at Boma, who was much friendlier. The boys enjoyed their breakfast and the characters. I took pictures of them with Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Minnie. We didn't bother with autographs. Afterwards, we went to pool, just in time for a downpour with thunder & lightning. They closed pool for 45 minutes. We played a few games at the arcade to wile away the time. Then we spent two hours enjoying Stormalong Bay. DS2 went down the little slide about 20x in a row. We made our way back toward our room, stopping for another little swim in the quiet pool. We had yet another room service lunch. I like room service when I am traveling alone with the kids. It just makes life easier. I spoke with DH who was on his way to the airport & will arrive back in Orlando around 8PM. Just in time for me to run off to e-night. I loaded the kids up in the van and went to Gooding's for baby wipes. WDW has the longest traffic lights I've ever experienced. Back to BC to get kids ready for bed. DH's flight was delayed. He got to the BC at 9:05PM, and I was out the door by 9:10PM. Hmmm... plans that include having to walk up Main Street right before fireworks... not bright. As planned I met another group of online friends for the first time in front of Splash. We all rode Splash together. Happily I didn't get too wet. Then we went on Haunted Mansion. Saying goodbye to my new friends, I took off for Main Street. I wanted the chance to shop without my family slowing me down. I zoomed through the shops that were closing before the end of e-night, and then took my time strolling through the Emporium, which is open later. I bought some silver Tinkerbell earrings and chocolate Mickey bundt cake. Now for some rides. I went to Tomorrowland and met up with the online friends again at Buzz (got my worst score ever) and then did Space Mountain with them. I took a final spin on Buzz, scoring 541,200 planetary pilot and called it a night. The BC bus was waiting at the bus stop. I'm getting too old for this late night stuff! Jean's Day Seven: June 12, 2002 This is our last full day. DH left for airport at 6AM again to go back to work. What an incredibly nice guy he is, to fly down to Orlando just long enough for me to go to e-night, and take the kids to the pool. The rest of us got a slow start. DS2 & I woke at 9:30AM; DS7 woke at 10:30AM. I ran to the BC gift shop for milk, stamps, and socks. They are adding more food items in the gift shop in anticipation of the Beach Club Villas opening. The shop is selling an adorable voice interactive Stitch, but I couldn't bring myself to spring the $45 for it. We ate doughnuts and milk in room for our breakfast. The only thing I had left on my list to do this trip was take DS2 to MK at opening. But it wasn't to be...I couldn't get the kids awake early enough. Instead we took the boat to MGM at noon (exactly when you shouldn't go to any theme park!) It was hot and brutally crowded. We stop for a photo in front of a huge inflatable Stitch. There is lots of Lilo & Stitch promotion all around WDW. We went in MGM and headed right toward Star Tours. There weren't any Fastpasses being distributed, so DS2 & I went through the standby line with DS7. DS7 rode...I brought DS2 out the chicken exit. I wished I could do a baby pass, but it isn't fair to load a 7 year old with that responsibility, even when it is just waiting at the exit. We went to Muppetvision 3D next and got Fastpasses for 2:10. We tried to get some lunch, but Pizza Planet was too crowded. I forgot to bring any cash for the cart vendors, so I searched out change from the bottom of my bag to get the boys an ice cream. Muppetvision was fun. It was too hot and too crowded, so went back to the BC to hit the pool. It may seem crazy to pay for park admission for two people and then only go on two attractions, but we were there and that was what we wanted to do. We swam for several hours. Somehow I missed getting a Mai Tai at Hurricane Hannah's -- something I had been looking forward to all week! We walked back to the room at 9:10, admiring the Illuminations fireworks on the way. My DS7, who I couldn't talk into going back to either Epcot or MK tonight, was grumpy that he didn't get to see any fireworks shows. Kids!! We saw a cool toad on the beach. This has been quite the trip for reptiles. Not having been in a pool for five minutes, of course the boys had to hop into the quiet pool as we walked by. Finally we made it back to our room for yet another room service dinner. DH arrived back at BC at 11:30PM. I think his flight had been delayed by thunderstorms in Chicago. Poor guy, who ever heard of commuting away from a Disney vacation? He isn't a big Disney fan, but flying back and forth everyday isn't any fun. Jean's Day Eight: Thursday, June 13, 2002 We got a quick swim (the big slide was closed...DH was bummed because the big slide was the main reason he flew back one more time!) then we checked out and went home... Flights were uneventful. Once we got home DH gave me a great WDW CD with ride music and a beach towel with a picture of Y&BC on it. He is so thoughtful! Now if only I could be planning another WDW trip... Jean's conclusions
All in all, it was an excellent trip. Thanks for reading. Jean Pugh Jeancbpugh@aol.com Mail a Comment to Jean Pugh |
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