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Margaret Weatherford -- August 2002 -- Walt Disney World (FWC)August 4 - 10, 2002 Pre-trip planning I have the Mouseplanet, WDWIG, and Mousesavers web sites to thank for the inspiration to make this trip. I discovered them while researching Disney Christmas events for a day trip in December 2001, and I've continued to check in for updates and trip reports. I grew up about 45 minutes away from WDW, so I've made many day trips to the MK and Epcot, but I've never been to the two newer parks or stayed at a resort. In May I decided to take the Virginia bar exam (to expand my employment opportunities as a lawyer in the Washington, D.C. area) at the end of July. I definitely wanted to take a post-exam vacation, and the exam was being given in Roanoke, Virginia, a few hours' drive southwest of my home, so I decided I might as well continue south to visit my parents and WDW. When I saw a $19 rate for Fort Wilderness campsites on Mousesavers.com, I picked up the phone. The $19 rate (for partial-hookup campsites) was sold out for some dates of my planned stay, but I was able to book a full-hookup campsite for $24 for August 4th through 10th - a total of $160, less than many people pay for one night at WDW! This rate is so low that someone who really wanted resort privileges might consider it in addition to an offsite hotel. Finally, the bar exam was over and I drove to Florida, where I spent a relaxing weekend with my parents before we headed over to WDW. Sunday, August 4 - check-in at Fort Wilderness and dinner at Boma To get to Fort Wilderness you drive through the far right of the Magic Kingdom parking plaza and then immediately turn off to the right. Despite being close to the Magic Kingdom and its resorts, it does very much retain a country look and feel. Because so many people arrive in RVs, you stay in your car for a drive-through check-in (but you have to show your reservation and ID to get through the security gate first). First we drove to the parking lot to drop off my parents' van, as you can only take one vehicle into the campground. We had to wait for a while to check in; I suppose Sunday afternoon is a popular arrival time. My campsite was number 1201. Loop 1200 ("Dogwood Drive") is fine, though it's far enough to both the outpost and the settlement that you will want to take the buses rather than walk. The site was very close to the road and I did hear quite a bit of noise from the buses and other vehicles. We got the tent up fairly easily, remarking on the improvements in tent design since we had last done this some time in the eighties. Our reservation at Boma was soon, so we didn't unpack the rest of my stuff. Before we drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge, I had never driven around the vast WDW property. While the signs are helpful, it can be difficult to navigate and drive at the same time. We were very impressed by Animal Kingdom Lodge, which is architecturally dramatic and filled with African art. We liked Boma a lot. It's very reasonably priced at $22 for an all-you-can-eat buffet with many remarkable dishes. We were seated towards the back by a window next to a little pond. I did feel that much of the food was quite sweet, especially the soups and salads. Our soups were oxtail stew, curried coconut seafood stew, and seafood gumbo. There were several cold salads, including couscous salad, curried pasta salad, and watermelon rind salad, which is shavings of the white part of the rind marinated in grenadine and ginger, tasting rather like the ginger served with sushi. There was a green salad with several dressings available too, as well as breads and different flavors of hummous. The main courses included some African specialties like a ground beef dish topped with egg and a spicy marinated chicken. There was also some good prime rib and I think some other options. Side dishes included spicy "Potatoes with Afritude," pap (which is rather like grits), and a mix of mashed white and sweet potatoes. The macaroni and cheese tasted too bland and rich to me, but I guess kids like it. The dessert buffet was extensive and included several simple American cookies and brownies as well as some African-themed desserts. The cassava tasted bland and I was too full for the bread pudding. Some of the little pastries were boring, but the mocha-flavored zebra domes are good and so are the passion fruit tarts. We also liked the African wine, beer, and tea. After dinner we looked around the nature preserve outside the Lodge. It's funny to see a pool full of kids on your left and a giraffe on your right. Seriously, there's a convincing African savannah behind the Lodge with zebras, giraffes, and gazelles. Back in the lobby we explored an exhibit of photos and artifacts of an American couple who had photographed African wildlife. On the way out we picked up some information about the hotel, including the art collection. Then we drove back to Fort Wilderness to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the beach. We should have waited for a bus but we walked from the campsite; there are sidewalks but very little light. There are plenty of beach chairs at the marina and we relaxed for a while before the Electrical Water Pageant. This looks rather low-tech nowadays but it's still cute. We had an excellent view of the fireworks too. It had dawned on us that I had failed to put Dad's air mattress pump in the car, so I planned to go to Wal-Mart to buy one while Mom and Dad went home. Rarely have I seen a Wal-Mart so crowded. Is it the only affordable store in Kissimmee or what? It was after midnight when I finally escaped, and I still had to make up the air mattress and unpack. The result was that a lot of the stuff I had thought might be useful never left the car. Monday, August 5 - MGM and dinner at Epcot The next morning my loop's "comfort station" (bathroom) was closed for cleaning, which really annoyed me. Apparently this happens once a week, but right at the 8:30 am rush seemed ridiculous. (The bathroom did stay fairly clean for the remainder of the week.) I saw two cute cottontail rabbits on the way back from the nearest bathroom, and saw two more later in the week. After stopping at the cutely country "reception outpost" to buy a five-day Park Hopper Plus pass, I drove to Disney-MGM Studios. At MGM I picked up a Fastpass for the Tower of Terror, then rode the Great Movie Ride. I got a frozen coffee and browsed in the shops while I waited for my Fastpass time. When it opened I picked up a Fastpass for Rockin Roller Coaster before riding Tower of Terror. It's a lot of fun if you don't mind free falling. I realized when I rode it again later that I had flown out of my seat more than was intended because there's one safety bar for a whole row of people and ours included a very large person who kept the bar well above my (not petite) body. It wasn't yet time for my Rockin Roller Coaster Fastpass, so I rode Star Tours in the meantime. I found Star Tours very jerky and not as exciting as a Star Wars simulator should have been. Then back to Rockin Roller Coaster, which I loved. Aerosmith's music really works well with a roller coaster. The upside-down roll is more of a sideways roll than a loop, so it's not that noticeable. If you're familiar with the park, you may have noticed that I had been up and down Hollywood Boulevard several times by this point. Fastpass is great but it does inevitably lead to some backtracking, particularly for these two attractions, which are isolated from the rest of the park. I still think that it saves a lot of time. So at this point I wanted to see another part of the park and had lunch at Toy Story pizza, which is pretty good. As usual at Disney, it's more than you want to spend for more than you want to eat. Then on to Muppet Vision 3D. I love, love, love the Muppets - more than the Disney characters in fact (please, no nasty emails). It's a very cute show, though it could be more Muppets and less of that little 3D character. I especially liked the grand finale, "A tribute to all nations, but mostly America." After a brief stop in the gift shop (WHY is the Muppet Show not available on DVD?), I wandered over to the Backlot Tour. It's okay, but frankly it pales in comparison to the Universal Studios California tour. You do get to see the Golden Girls' house. The Catastrophe Canyon part of the tour is a little lame for the hype Disney gives it. Then I picked up a Fastpass for the next performance of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Play It! Walt Disney: One Man's Dream was right next door, so I did that in the meantime. It's a good exhibit, with more historical perspective than you usually get from Disney and lots of interesting memorabilia. The biographical film is good too. I also did some shopping and got some Mickey head earrings for only $3. I had not been to Millionaire before and it took me a little while to get the hang of it, but on the last round I made #5 on the fastest finger board and decided to come back later in the week (see Thursday). Next up: The Magic of Disney Animation. It was after five by this point and I should have followed the advice to go during the animators' working day. There were a lot of plugs for the current Disney animated release, Lilo and Stitch, on this tour. I did enjoy the montage of great moments in Disney animated films. In general I felt much more of a connection to Disney as a movie studio at the Studios than in the other parks. When I left the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade was going on. Unlike the other parks' afternoon parades, this is not a tall parade. If you don't get a place along the route early, you can't see it. The parade blocked my access to most of the park and I was hungry, so I decided to go to Epcot for dinner. I took the boat over to Epcot, which was a nice break and gave me a view of the Boardwalk, which I had never even heard of before I found Mouseplanet. On the boat ride I accidentally rubbed some sunscreen into my eye, and was weeping when we arrived at Epcot. Luckily there's a restroom available before the park entrance, and I felt better after I rinsed it out, but still had to dab my eye frequently during dinner. I ate at the Rose & Crown pub, which is near the boat dock and is one of my favorite Epcot restaurants. I had the English pie platter, consisting of a leek and cheese pie, a cottage (beef and mashed potato) pie, and a pork pie. No, I didn't eat it all. Over dinner I looked at an Epcot brochure and entertainment schedule and decided to spend more time there than I had planned. After dinner I caught the end of the British Invasion show. They're an excellent Beatles tribute band. Then it was time to take the boat back to MGM, where I headed for Fantasmic! and found that at 8:30 I was lucky to get standing room. You do get to sit down on the cement before the show. Fantasmic! is a show with fireworks and water and light effects that are supposed to represent Mickey Mouse's dreams and nightmares. Mickey triumphs over evil at the end. Is it just me or is Disney on its way to becoming a religion? Tuesday, August 6 - Magic Kingdom The next morning the Fort Wilderness bus took me to the marina (where the soda machine costs $2.50) to catch the boat to the Magic Kingdom. It's a lovely way to arrive. The Magic Kingdom was very hot and very crowded all day. I stopped at the Main Street bakery for a small Mickey-shaped chocolate bundt cake and orange juice, then went to the Carousel of Progress, which had limited hours. It's now been renovated to Walt's original attraction from the 1964 Word's Fair. It's entertaining, but I miss the "Now is the best time of your life" song. Tomorrowland was so crowded that I went on to Fantasyland to pick up a Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh and then continued on to the Haunted Mansion, one of my favorites. I walked on looking for something not-too-crowded and ended up in Adventureland, where I had tacos for lunch and went on Pirates of the Carribean. Then it was time for my Winnie the Pooh Fastpass. I had never been on this attraction and enjoyed it more than I expected. It's very cute and the "honey pot" cars have a fun bouncy motion. They also make it clear that it's based on a book, not just a movie, which is nice. Fleeing the Fantasyland crowds, I ended up at the Hall of Presidents, which I had not been to for many years. I don't really like the use of the short film to tell the historical story with the presidential figures used only for the roll call and speeches by only Lincoln and the current president. Why not use the others a little more? Also, it's odd to see a robot figure of someone you see on the news every night. Maybe if it were Al Gore... In Frontierland I did some shopping and went to the shooting arcade, which is pretty lame compared to Buzz Lightyear. I got a pressed quarter at the shooting arcade and continued to get pressed coins for the rest of the trip. The afternoon parade, with Disney characters in snow globes, was better than most Disney afternoon parades, but sitting on the hot pavement while waiting was miserable. After the parade I went over to the Country Bear Jamboree, which is very cute, especially if you like country music. Next stop: Adventureland. I picked up a Fastpass for the Jungle Cruise, then went to see Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. This is a fun show, with good music and cute characters. At the Swiss Family Treehouse I appreciated the view of the park and the tropical landscaping. I had forgotten to put film in my waist pack that morning and I bought some along with a pressed coin book. The film turned out to cost NINE DOLLARS! No wonder they don't post the price. It was exactly time for my Jungle Cruise Fastpass and I walked right on to a boat with no line at all. Then I went over to Tomorrowland to see Timekeeper, which had limited hours. I had never seen this before and it's great; a funny, smart voyage through time with Robin Williams. Before the flag retreat I stopped at the Main Street bakery for an ice cream sandwich, which wasn't as good as I remembered, probably because the cookie wasn't fresh. I had never seen the flag retreat, which is a nice, low-key, patriotic moment. The veteran of the day, who accepts the folded flag, was a young woman. Everyone nearby stopped and put their hands on their hearts for the national anthem. At the Town Square shop I bought some pins and put some film in for developing because they offered a free pin and the price was fairly reasonable. Then I realized I was in an unusual situation - I had finished everything I wanted to do at the Magic Kingdom before E-ride night by about 6:00. I sat in a rocking chair in Liberty Square for a while and then wandered around the park getting pressed coins. About 8:30 I bought a smoked turkey leg (where do they get turkeys that huge?) and sat down near Splash Mountain to wait for the Spectromagic parade. I think I preferred the Main Street Electrical Parade, though Spectromagic does have some cool fiber optic effects. Many of the Spectromagic characters are from newer movies and I didn't recognize all of them. When the parade ended I made a dash for Splash Mountain and had almost no wait. Then on to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; by then E-ride night had begun, and again, there was almost no wait. Unfortunately the train stopped for a few minutes at the end of the ride and I missed the beginning of the fireworks, but ran right out and saw most of the show. Then I had to pick up my film before the shop closed, but it was so crowded that I went over to Tomorrowland and rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority before returning for the film. This wasted a good deal of time. I headed back to Tomorrowland to see how many rides I could fit in, and went on Buzz Lightyear twice, Space Mountain twice, and Alien Encounter once. At almost 1:00, I headed to Casey's for an excellent hot dog and fries. On leaving the park I would not have known to take the monorail to the TTC before taking the bus to Fort Wilderness if I had not read something about this online. Back at Fort Wilderness, a bus driver got off his bus to ask where I was going (I was waiting for a different bus and had not gotten up) and then varied his route to take me back to my campsite, which was nice of him, though entirely reasonable as he would have been leaving a woman alone at the bus stop at 2:00 AM otherwise. This was the first time I ever felt that I had been able to do everything I wanted to do at the MK. Partly this was because I had never been there alone, and usually I have to do some attractions for others' sake. Also, I'm not interested in many of the child-oriented attractions anymore. But the big difference was being able to postpone the E-rides until E-ride night and use Fastpass for others - I spent much less time waiting in line than in the past. Wednesday, August 7 - Epcot I was tired the next morning and it was raining, so I stayed in bed until about noon. When I got up I discovered that the rain had come in through the screen-only central portion of my three-room tent and soaked the pile of laundry I had left there. Worse, the stuff that was near the front of my bedroom tent was also wet, as I hadn't closed the partition. The only serious problem was that the notebook I had been keeping my trip report notes in was soaked, so I transcribed them. I drove to Epcot and went straight to Norway for brunch - cloudberry horn pastry and lefse. The cloudberry horn is more whipped cream than cloudberries, which are very expensive. Lefse, if you don't know, is a Norwegian flatbread made with potatoes and served with butter and sugar. Then I went to the Land pavilion, where I went to the gift shop to see if there was a Behind the Seeds tour available, and it turned out that one began in fifteen minutes. It only costs $6, and I highly recommend it for anyone at all interested in plants. You can take photos and should bring plenty of film. Our guide, Lori, was very enthusiastic about her internship at the Land. She had just graduated from college with a degree in agriculture, had grown up on a farm, and planned to teach agriculture in high school. First we went around the back of the pavilion and saw the tissue culture lab through a window. Then we went into three greenhouses for different climates. In the first greenhouse we saw columns of hydroponically grown (using nutrient-enriched water instead of soil) plants, including herbs that are used by WDW restaurants. Some larger plants, such as sweet potato vines, are on rotating conveyor belts, mostly just to look cool, though it also helps regulate the amount of water they get. All of the plants at the Land are in beautiful condition, as you might expect at Disney. There were also lettuces in stacked styrofoam containers that were watered by an aquarium pump, and baby lettuces in a large styrofoam container. There was a sensitive plant, which curls up when touched, that was a big hit with the children on the tour. In the second greenhouse there were larger row-crop plants, including cotton, which has pretty flowers. There were also very tall and impressive columns of cherry tomatoes. These plants appear to be planted in sand, but it's just there to look good - they're hydroponic. Then we saw the "aquaculture" part of the Land, a little fish farm with eels, baby alligators, and tilapia fish. The two little girls on the tour got to feed the tilapia, and one dropped the food so slowly that a fish jumped out of the water for it! Then on to the third and final greenhouse, which held tropical plants. The palm trees at the center are the oldest plants in the Land; they have had to be cut back to keep from hitting the roof. This greenhouse also had bananas, pineapples, passion fruit, rice, and cassava. Then Lori walked us back the way we came in to the Land pavilion. I had gotten a Fastpass for the Land boat ride, but that seemed redundant after the tour, so I dropped it on the Fastpass machine and headed out to see some more of Future World. I was trying to see attractions I had never been to and was aware that I only had a few hours, so I didn't spend much time in the pavilions. I didn't much like Body Wars. Like Star Tours (which is essentially the same ride), it's very jerky. The visuals seemed more gross than educational. I know some people are just thrilled that the Figment character has returned to the Journey Into Imagination ride, but it didn't do much for me either. As for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, I took the warning in the Unofficial Guide about this show to mean "scarier for preschoolers than you might think." Call me a wimp, but this show is genuinely scary. Frankly, I would put it not far behind Alien Encounter. A 3-D snake that shows every intention of eating you, complete with air blowing at you for its breath, is not my idea of fun. Then there was the attack cat...and the dog sneeze water effect... Warn your kids. After I did Test Track (let's hear it for the single riders line!), I had seen all of my top priorities in Future World, so I decided to go to World Showcase to see live entertainment. I took the boat across the lagoon and walked to France, where I ate a crepe while waiting for the living statues. They're women wearing white draperies and heavy makeup so that when they stand still they resemble statues, and then they change positions. It's cool but I felt that I got the idea pretty quickly. I went on to the UK and bought fish and chips - good but expensive for the surprisingly small portion - and intended to see Off Kilter in Canada nearby, but it started to rain and I didn't want to wait for a show that would likely be canceled, so I returned to Future World. I saw Cranium Command, which is great; I was glad the Unofficial Guide had recommended it so highly. After Spaceship Earth I went to Morocco to eat at Tangerine Café before Illuminations. Tangerine Café is one of my favorite Epcot restaurants; it's reasonably priced, it has a pretty courtyard dining area, the Middle Eastern food is good, and it's healthier than most Disney options. Illuminations was good as always, but I wish Disney would forbid flash photography; someone near me was snapping away with a strong flash and it was very distracting. Thursday, August 8 - Animal Kingdom and MGM I was at Animal Kingdom by about 9:30 and went first to Africa to get a Fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Breakfast was a cinnamon roll at Tusker House, which has a very nice atmosphere for a counter-service restaurant. Don't be misled by the outdoor food service counter into thinking that there isn't a seating area behind it. Then I walked the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, which features a underwater viewing area for hippopotamuses. Somewhere I saw a person in a very convincing plant costume striking poses, much like the living statues at Epcot. Kilimanjaro Safaris is definitely the highlight of a visit to Animal Kingdom, with sightings of lions, hippos, giraffes, elephants, and other animals. Bring lots of film. Then I headed to Asia and picked up a Fastpass for Kali River Rapids. This was one time when I felt annoyed about having to hang around until my Fastpass time, as it was very hot and crowded. I ate a frozen chocolate-covered banana, walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek (which has tigers and an enormous walk-through aviary) and saw Flights of Wonder. This is an excellent bird show that showcases natural behaviors but also featured a parrot singing "How much is that doggie in the window?". I got soaked on Kali River Rapids, but it was so hot that I didn't mind too much. I headed over to DinoLand U.S.A to get a Fastpass for Dinosaur, then backtracked to Flame Tree Barbeque for lunch. The pulled pork sandwich and key lime pie were yummy. I had some doubts about whether I really wanted to see It's Tough to be a Bug after my reaction to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, but I decided not to wimp out. It's both cuter and less scary than Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, but the effect of the bug crawling under you at the end did freak me out a little. Still, could Disney consider using their remarkable virtual reality skills to simulate something other than a critter trying to bite you? Then I went back to Dinosaur (really big critter trying to bite you), watched Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, and left. On the way out I bought a T-shirt with Winnie the Pooh in safari gear encountering a real tiger and asking, "Tigger, is that you?" Obviously I didn't see everything there was to see at Animal Kingdom - I skipped Rafiki's Planet Watch and Camp Minnie-Mickey, and spent little time in the Oasis and DinoLand U.S.A. - but I felt like I had seen as much of the park as I wanted. It's a very attractive park, but on the whole I didn't enjoy it as much as the other parks. Maybe I'm just not that interested in zoos, and the tropical landscaping isn't all that impressive to a Floridian. Animal Kingdom's relative lack of indoor attractions also made the heat and crowds more uncomfortable than at the other parks. After leaving Animal Kingdom I returned briefly to Fort Wilderness to pack to spend the night at my parents' house. On Friday afternoon I had to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (the ethics portion of the bar exam), as Virginia would not accept my four-year-old passing score. This was not being given in Orlando or Tampa, so I had to drive to St. Petersburg. So I was going home for the night because my parents' house is considerably closer than WDW to St. Pete, and because I was sick of sleeping without air conditioning. Now for the important part of my trip report, for which some of you have probably been skimming, as I expect it'll be in my Mouseplanet main page blurb. I went to MGM to try to get into the hot seat at Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Play it! - and I did. After picking up a Fastpass for Tower of Terror, I headed to Millionaire to wait for the last show of the day. The fastest finger round was won by someone who guessed quickly and he seemed very nervous in the hot seat. He hung in there for about five questions while I hit the buttons as fast as I could (before the light comes on). The fastest finger board went up, I wasn't ten through two, I held my breath - yes! Seat 194! Me! The host was friendly and encouraged the audience to applaud for me, which they did several times. I did feel self-conscious about how awful I looked on the screen, with my hair in a ponytail and no makeup to cover my fourth-day-in-the-parks sunburn. The only time that I felt uncomfortable about being alone at WDW was when the host asked me who had come to the park with me, and I claimed to be visiting my parents nearby but just in the park alone that day, which seemed satisfactory, if not 100% true. The first few questions were very easy, so I wasn't too nervous. Then they got a bit harder, but I still knew the answers. I did use my "ask the audience" lifeline for a question about the star of a new Disney movie. It was the $64,000 question that did me in. It was, "What does the V in JVC stand for?" Do any of you know this? I certainly didn't, and I figured the lifelines wouldn't help either, so I guessed "value." Nope. Apparently JVC is the Japanese Victory Corporation, and understandably doesn't put that on their packaging. When they usher you off stage, you have to go into an office to sign some paperwork and get your prizes. A CM had thoughtfully retrieved my waist pack from my seat. So I didn't get the trip to New York, but that's okay; I've been there before. I was in it for the merchandise, which consisted of a polo shirt, a cap, a pin for each question answered, and a pin lanyard. It's all very nice. After leaving Millionaire (and receiving some compliments from audience members on the street), I went on the Tower of Terror using my Fastpass and then found that the Rockin Roller Coaster was closed. There wasn't anything else I really wanted to do at MGM and it was after 8:00, so I decided to leave and go to Downtown Disney. I browsed in the Marketplace shops and bought some pins at the new pin store and a Chef Mickey soft toy at the new toy store. Then I headed for Tampa. Friday, August 9 - away from WDW Driving to St. Petersburg and taking the exam went fine. I had planned to stop at my parents' house only briefly on my way back to WDW, but it was raining and by that point I was tired and had no great enthusiasm for doing anything in particular at Disney. I also don't see my parents very often, so I stayed the night. Saturday, August 10 - Fort Wilderness I woke up late enough that I had to scramble to get my stuff into the car and say my goodbyes so that I could make the drive to Fort Wilderness before the 11:00 check-out time. I went to the reception building and asked about late check-out; it turns out that there is no late check-out at Fort Wilderness. Despite the CM's stern insistence that I be off my campsite by 11:00, it was clear that with express checkout I didn't have to return to reception and probably no one would catch me if I overstayed slightly. It wasn't like the maid had to make up the room. The tent came down surprisingly quickly and I got everything stuffed into the car by 11:20. Then I drove the car to guest parking, dropping my resort ID and parking pass into the express check-out box on the way. I took a bus from there to the settlement, where I walked to the marina and asked about renting a water mouse. They were all out, so I went to Trail's End for lunch. I wandered in right at noon and was the first person seated. It's a good, reasonably priced buffet. The fried chicken is really exceptional, and the vegetables were unusually well seasoned. I thought that the apple cobbler that is the only dessert option was mediocre at best. After lunch I went back to the marina, where a water mouse was available. These are little mini-powerboats that seat only two people (if that; there's a 300-pound weight limit). I'm a little surprised that such a notoriously liability-minded corporation as Disney lets people whiz around in these all over a lake with as much traffic as Bay Lake (which is really a stupid name for a lake, isn't it?). I went through the canal to the other half of the lake and stayed as close to shore as I could to get a good look at the Magic Kingdom and all of the resorts. It's fun to do something so independent at Disney, where you're normally so passive. Then I went back to the Fort Wilderness part of the lake and got into some trouble. I had been told that I had to stay in front of a line of buoys, but I didn't notice that there were two lines of buoys, and by staying close to the far shore I had inadvertently gone right around my line. So a Disney patrol boat came up and ordered me out of the area. The Disney patrol boats aren't marked as such, and the patrol people don't wear uniforms, so for a few moments I thought that this was some guy who had rented a boat and wanted to harass me out in that distant corner of the lake, and I was reluctant to cut my engine so that I could hear him. But I got the idea and headed towards my area. On the way there was an empty Magic Kingdom shuttle boat whose pilot warned that I was getting too close to him (because I was trying to stay away from the jet skis who had the right to the area). I got caught up in his wake and had a bumpy ride for a bit. By the time I got back to the Fort Wilderness area I was concerned about getting the boat back within the hour, so I headed for the dock. Someone else headed into the dock just as I approached, and I was afraid I would bump into them, so I turned sharply and hit the dock instead. I tried again and was so flustered that I hit the dock again. The third time I managed to ease the boat into the channel cut through the dock. Despite my several mishaps, I enjoyed the experience. I did get sunburned, though. So I took the bus back to reception, got in my car, and headed north to Virginia. I had intended to stop for the night, but once I started looking for a hotel, all of the hotels were booked, and I didn't want to spend money on a hotel close to home, so I got home to Alexandria at 4:30 am. It had been quite a week. I liked Fort Wilderness, but August is not the best time to camp in a tent, even with an electric fan. I felt that I had been able to do everything I really wanted to do at WDW, but this was in part because I skipped many attractions at the MK and Epcot that I had seen before. Also, anyone who is visiting the parks with children would want to see many attractions I was happy to pass by. At both Animal Kingdom and MGM there were several shows and minor attractions I missed, though nothing I regretted not seeing. At Epcot I would have liked to see more of the live entertainment in World Showcase. As Disney knows so well, WDW can keep you busy for many vacations. Margaret Weatherford mweatherford@prodigy.net Mail a Comment to Margaret Weatherford |
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