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Karen Seemuth -- April 2002 -- Walt Disney World (PORR)
Monday, April 29, 2002 -- Day 1 -- MK Every other year or so, we leave our husbands and kids behind to fend for themselves while we take a break from responsibility at our favorite vacation destination. We were both coming off a stressful and hectic winter, so I am calling this the Pixie Dust Therapy trip report. The goal for the trip was not a commando tour, but rather a slow and relaxing pace. We flew out of Milwaukee on United at 6:40 AM and arrived in Orlando at noon. I had reserved a compact car from Dollar and we were delighted to pick up a PT Cruiser! It was very fun to drive. We headed to WDW and stopped for groceries at Albertson's, Exit 11 off 417. Very easy off and on, with a 50 cent toll. We both do our regular grocery shopping at warehouse food stores so we did not find Albertson's to be as bad as some people had reported. The Albertson's Cinnamon Raisin bagels alone were worth the stop! We had lunch at Chick Fil A right nearby. There is a traffic signal at the entrance to this shopping area so it was very easy to get in and out. We headed to WDW and because we were thinking that Riverside is an Epcot resort, we missed Bonnet Creek Parkway and ended up at the parking lot for Epcot. We turned around and headed towards Downtown Disney via Backstage Road and took the first right turn instead of the second. We finally ended up at the resort. No trip to WDW would be complete without me getting lost at LEAST twice! Check-in at Riverside was uneventful. Our room was 9035 in Oak Manor, first floor, a corner room, 4 rooms from the sidewalk near the river. Both quiet pools were equidistant from our room and the main bus stop was 0.2 miles from the room. We had no trouble at all with noise from the outside or adjacent rooms. We unpacked most of our stuff and left at 3:30 for the Magic Kingdom. Spectromagic and Fantasy in the Sky were on the schedule for that evening. You would think, being veterans of 11 trips each, we would have realized MK would be a mob scene. But no. We took the bus from POR and went right away for a Dole Whip in Adventureland. We headed to Frontierland to ride Splash Mountain. The wait was 45 minutes and the Fast Pass return time was right during Spectromagic, so we continued on to Fantasyland. Fast Passes for Pooh were gone and the standby wait was quite long, so we decided to check out Buzz Lightyear. Long wait, bad return time for Fast Pass, so we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, one of my favorites. We had planned on dinner at Pecos Bill's, but since the park was so busy we escaped via monorail to the Concourse Steakhouse. We did not have a PS but the restaurant had just opened so we were able to get a seat right away. Terry had a green salad and we split linguini with sun-dried tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and spinach. It was fabulous. I ordered a slice of Walt's 5 layer chocolate birthday. Yum! I should have eaten only half. The coffee was great; the ice water was not. Terry said the iced tea was good. We got back to MK about 7:30 and found a curbside spot on Main Street near the firehouse. It's a great spot, right at the beginning of the parade. Spectromagic was great as usual. I prefer it to the Electric Light Parade. Since we had been up since 3 AM we decided to skip the fireworks and we took the bus back to the room. A fun thing in our room was a Shaker peg wall rack with Mickey shapes cut out of the end pieces of the rack. We got organized and phoned home and I went for a quick swim at 10:30 and went to bed.
Tuesday, April 30, 2002 -- Day 2 -- AK When I went to bed the night before it never crossed my mind to look at the alarm clock. I should have. It was set to go off at 4 AM. Fortunately I went back to sleep and finally woke up at 8 AM. Sleeping that late never happens at home! We got ready and left at 9 for AK. The bus from POR to AK stops first at Blizzard Beach and there was a high school group going to BB that day. We were packed like sardines on that bus till they got off. We had a 10:30 PS at Donald's Breakfastosaurus, so we headed in that direction. We actually got there early and were seated about 15 minutes before our PS time. Donald's Restaurantosaurus is huge; there are 5 separate dining rooms, all with a different theme. We were in the Quonset hut, which is the "Maintenance Shed." The other rooms were a 50's diner, the mess hall, the bunkroom and I forget what the last one is. The food was good and plentiful. Donald was greeting guests in the entryway of the restaurant and Goofy, Pluto and Mickey visited us at our table. Breakfast was ending and Donald came around to visit the remaining guests at their tables, which was nice. Cost for the breakfast was $15.95. We bought the photo they take outside before you are seated. We bought one 5 X 7 but you can get a package with 2 - 5 x 7's and 2 refrigerator magnets for about $25. Stuffed, we headed out for some touring. We were just in time for the 11:30 show of Tarzan Rocks. This show is very well done--costumes, staging, singing, acrobatics and roller blading! It's a "Do not miss" on my list. We went over to Dinoland to check out Primeval Whirl. It was quite fun. Not fast at all and no major drops, and definitely no inversions! Cute theming and funny looking vehicles. Be sure to check it out. I know people are upset about Chester and Hester's area, but I thought it was kind of fun. Of course I didn't have kids along, begging for money to play the games! We just walked past it all, just like we do at the State Fair. We looked around the Dig Site play area and then headed over to It's Tough to be a Bug. OK, I admit it. I kept my eyes closed for a good bit of the show and I did NOT sit all the way back in my seat! My favorite part of this attraction is all the posters in the waiting area that are insect related knock-offs on Broadway shows and movies--A Stinkbug Named Desire, Antie, etc. I wish I had written them all down, they are really funny. We had never walked around the Tree of Life before so we explored the Discovery Island Trails. This is a really nice overlooked attraction. You can see quite a variety of animals, lots of flowers, and there are some great photo ops. Along the way there are benches where you can sit and rest. It's a great place to slow down if you need it. Then we went to Asia to see the tigers. The architecture and theming on the Maharajah Jungle Trek are amazing. We did not see much of the tigers today. We planned to see the 3 PM Flights of Wonder so we stopped to rest a bit and then saw the show. I had never seen it before; it was very well done. We found a spot to sit and watch Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, which started at 4 PM. I liked this parade a lot; catchy music and the animals/floats are very well done. They are similar to the puppets in Tapestry of Dreams. There are also vehicles with characters on them. Worth taking the time to see, in my opinion. We followed the parade out and stopped at Guest Relations to change our dinner PS. We originally planned to have dinner at Jiko, but after the late all you can eat breakfast buffet, we didn't think we'd be able to enjoy Jiko that night. So instead we made a PS for Hollywood Brown Derby and rescheduled Jiko for the next night. We went back to POR and I swam and showered and then we drove to MGM. There was a brief light rain shower about 6 PM, but after that the skies were clear. Well, except for some threatening looking clouds that rolled through around 8 PM. We wondered if Fantasmic would be cancelled. But the clouds moved out and left a clear sky. We had a light dinner at the Brown Derby, I had a salad and an ala carte side of roasted sweet potatoes. Terry had salad and the crab cake appetizer. Of course we did NOT have dessert! It was about 7:30 and Fantasmic was showing at 8:30 so we went and got a seat. There was no pre-show entertainment so we took turns playing a new addictive game on my Palm called Chain Reaction. Fantasmic was awesome as usual, and the house was packed. Afterwards we let the mobs rush out and we browsed in the shops. After driving back to POR I took another swim. We had perfect swimming weather the whole week. The quiet pool was always busy in the afternoons and at night--even one night after 11 PM! I got to bed around 11:30. One suggestion I would have if you are staying at POR and have a car is to drive to AK. The extra stop at Blizzard Beach makes for a long trip to AK--about 25-30 minutes.
Wednesday, May 1, 2002 -- Day 3 -- MGM I guess I must have been pretty well rested by Wednesday because I woke up at 5:30 AM. I finally got up at 7 and went for a 2.4-mile walk around Riverside so I could see the Alligator Bayou section. It is very different from Magnolia Bend, but it is also very lovely. The landscaping is much different, more "natural" than the "formal" appearance at Magnolia Bend. There are 3 quiet pools in Alligator Bayou and they seem a bit smaller than the 2 quiet pools in Magnolia Bend. We ate breakfast in the room and left around 9 AM for MGM. Our first stop was Rock n Roller Coaster; it was a walk-on. It is fast and short and leaves you somewhat breathless for about 20 minutes after getting off the ride! I really enjoy the queue area with audio equipment from over the years. We did not want to miss Who Wants to be a Millionaire--Play It! so we went to see if we needed a Fast Pass. Two cast members were outside and they said we would be able to get in about 30 minutes before the show time. We walked through Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. It was great! We loved all the memorabilia there. There were several CM's there who were a wealth of info. We skipped the movie at the end in order to get back to WWTBAM-PI on time. We did not get high scores at WWTBAM-PI, but it was a really fun attraction, very well done. A great addition to MGM. Then we rode Star Tours, one of my all-time favorites. It was close to noon and this was a walk-on, in fact, there were only 9 people in our Star Speeder. Then we went through the Animation Tour, which was interesting, but hard to hear the guide because there were lots of little kids. Didn't they used to have TV monitors by each section with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite explaining what was going on? I think this was the attraction where the guide told us to leave "about 2 empty seats at the end of the row" in the movie theater. "About??" It gave us a chuckle. Then we went back and watched the movie at the end of One Man's Dream. As we exited, a CM surveyed us. They are trying to gauge guest interest in keeping the attraction after the 100 years celebration is over. We emphatically said, YES! I forgot to mention that sometime during the day we walked underneath the Sorcerer Mickey Hat. I know the hat is a controversial issue, but I kind of liked it. Even Walt himself said the park would always be changing. We left about 1:30 to do some heavy duty souvenir shopping at Downtown Disney, so we took the bus back to PO-R and then another bus to DD. We ate a delicious Asian Noodle Salad at Wolfgang Puck Express and then shopped up a storm at World of Disney. We got back to Riverside about 4 PM and I went for a swim and then rested before dinner. We drove the PT Cruiser to AKL for our 7:15 dinner at Jiko. I had stayed at AKL in January with my sister and niece and we never saw the giraffes or zebras, so we were hoping to see some wildlife other than birds, antelope and cattle. We did see two giraffes so we were happy. Dinner at Jiko was wonderful. We started out with focaccia bread with ginger curry butter and Cape Indaba blush wine. We split the appetizer of Cinnamon Beef rolls, which were delicious. Then we shared the pan-seared monkfish. It came with shredded and fried parsnips, which were very tasty, and some potatoes and other vegetables underneath. We felt the fish was not quite done, it was a bit pink and not tender, so we had them cook it a bit longer and then it was just right. For dessert Terry had the crème brulee and I had the Kilamanjaro cake, a spice cake/cookie filled with chocolate ganache and peanut butter sauce, topped with chocolate malt sauce. It was delicious. All in all we very much enjoyed our dinner at Jiko and we highly recommend it. With your Disney Club card you can get a free glass of the house wine. The coffee there was wonderful but the water tasted bad. I started ordering Perrier at our meals after that. We drove back to the hotel and I was too tired for a swim so I was in bed by 10:30.
Thursday, May 2, 2002 -- Day 4 -- Epcot We got up at 7:15. Boy, I did love not having to wake up at 6 AM everyday! I went for a swim. It was a bit foggy and the quiet pools were nearly deserted, so I thought it would be a good time to take some photos of flowers and greenery in the Magnolia Bend area. We ate breakfast in the room again and left about 8:45 for Epcot. This was our longest wait for a bus, about 20 minutes. We went to Innoventions West to the IBM area to email some post cards and then to Innoventions East to the Disney booth to send a video email. We also got a look at the Segway motorized vehicle, it is quite amazing. We strolled through Mouse Gear but I resisted buying anything, even though there were some really nice Mickey T-shirts. I limited my personal souvenirs to a giraffe pin and a Mickey tin with candy turtles inside. We rode Test Track via the Singles line--no wait. It really is a great attraction. Then it was time for the traditional visit to the FountainView Café for an iced mocha. We also enjoyed the choreographed fountain. While there I ran into an acquaintance from back home. I knew she was going to be at the World the same time as I was, but never expected to actually see her there. Next we waited about 30 minutes to ride Living with the Land at, of course, The Land. It has been several years since I did this attraction and I enjoyed seeing it again. We took a rest stop at the AP lounge above the Garden Grille. Hot drinks and soda were available. It was a nice cool and quiet place to escape to. We wondered if there was a soft opening for Journey into Your Imagination, but there wasn't, so we wandered through the Image works area and sent a couple of goofy email photos where you can add special effects or morph your photo and email it to someone. Suffice it to say that it scared my sister when she received it! There were 10 of these email stations. We started heading toward World Showcase for our 1:30 PS at Teppanyaki. We stopped in Canada to enjoy the flowers and I phoned my sister to give her an update on the trip. Lunch at Teppanyaki was delicious. Terry had the shrimp and I had shrimp and chicken. We did not have dessert as we were planning to visit the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain for a chocolate malt later that afternoon. We wanted to see the American Adventure; we arrived just in time to hear the Voices of Liberty. Russell was the CM announcing entry into the theater for the American Adventure and he was hilarious. His voice and intonation were just like a game show host. He said, "You all want to sit in the center of the row, but really only 1 person can." I guess you kind of had to be there. Then it was time for a nap so we took the bus back to Riverside--a mere 7-minute ride! Well rested, we took the bus to DD and Ghiradelli. The malt and shake were delicious! I guess that was our dinner that day. We caught the Epcot bus and arrived in time for the 8:10 Tapestry of Dreams parade. We did a little browsing in the shops of Great Britain and then watched Illuminations between Great Britain and Canada. We had a great view of the globe but not-so-great view of the fireworks. Standing right behind a tree may not have been such a good idea. I guess I haven't really mentioned the Flower and Garden Show. We didn't attend any seminars, but we certainly did enjoy all the beautiful flowers and topiaries. Epcot was filled with many colors of New Guinea impatiens as well as many other types of flowers. We sure appreciated the colors and varieties. We caught a bus around 9:45 back to the hotel, I swam a bit and got to bed about 11:15.
Friday, May 3, 2002 -- Day 5 -- All Four Parks and Drive Through Celebration Today we had reservations for the Wild by Design tour at AK. We needed to be in AK at 8:15 AM, so we had to set the alarm today. We ate breakfast in the room and drove to AK. The tour was great, very interesting and informative. We learned lots of info regarding the stories behind the attractions in Asia, Africa and Discovery Island. Paul was our guide. You can tell he loves his job. We got to see the bachelor clan of gorillas, the white-cheeked gibbons with their one-week old baby and the tigers. We had a break at Tusker House and had fresh fruit and cinnamon rolls. We expected the tour to last 3 hours; it actually lasted nearly 4 hours. I highly recommend the tour. It is open to those 14 and older. Lunch was at Kona Café at the Polynesian. Terry had a grilled chicken breast sandwich and I had a mixed greens salad (still full from the fruit and cinnamon rolls!) Terry ordered the lemon mango mousse and I had a few bites. It was very good, even if it wasn't chocolate! We rode the monorail over to MK for the 3 PM parade. It was very hot, in fact, the record temperature for the date was broken that day. It was 96 degrees. So we were happy to find a bench on the porch at Tony's Town Square. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the parade. It lasted a mere 5 minutes. Not worth waiting more than 15 minutes for, IMHO. We took the boat back to the Poly and relaxed by the pool for a few minutes. Then we went back to the room to rest. We wanted to see Celebration so we got in the car and drove through the main street area of Celebration. We were also looking for the Publix down near there but never found it. We ended up at the brand new Winn Dixie at The Shoppes at Lake Avenue. It looked like they had pretty much everything you would need. I didn't really check prices but did note that you could get health food breakfast cereal and soymilk, for those who are interested. Supper that night was Chick Fil A. There are no Chick Fil A's in Wisconsin, so we got our chicken sandwich fix this week! Terry needed a pressed penny from MGM so we drove over there. I considered a ride on Rock n Roller Coaster but the wait was too long. We left MGM about 8:15 or so and the CMs were telling people that Fantasmic was standing room only. Turns out this was the infamous May 3 production of Fantasmic where Mickey failed to show up on top of the mountain and also dropped the sword into the water while slaying the dragon! Next we drove to the Boardwalk and went into Epcot for Illuminations. This time we watched near Chefs de France. We could not see the globe as well, but the view of the fireworks was great. We drove back to the hotel and packed and Terry settled the bill with the front desk as we were leaving at 4:30 AM, before the express checkout envelopes would be delivered. We got to bed at 11:30 for a short night of sleep.
Saturday, May 4, 2002 -- Day 6 -- Travel back to reality We got up at 4 AM, quickly showered, loaded the car and left. Car return at Dollar was quick and easy, and check in and security at the airport did not take very long. Before we knew it, we were on the plane and traveling home. It was a wonderful dose of Pixie Dust Therapy; we highly recommend it for all moms! : ) Total miles walked all week, including walking at the airports = 23 Karen Seemuth kswdwnut@yahoo.com Mail a Comment to Karen Seemuth |
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