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David Wickwire -- March 2002 -- Walt Disney World (ASMoR)

Who:

• David (33) 3rd trip
• Arianne (30) 3rd trip
• Andy (8) 1st trip
• Julianna (19 months) 1st trip

When: March 18-25, 2002

Resort: All-star Movies/ Fantasia section (preferred room section)

Travel: Plane/ Town car service

My wife Ari and I traveled to WDW in 1991 for our honeymoon and wanted to return for our 10th anniversary. It took 11 years but close enough. We had all traveled for a shot trip to Disneyland last May, and were disappointed with all the cutbacks happening there. Originally we were going back to Disneyland, but we researched the airfare and found it was the same price to Orlando. It was a tough decision to take a 19 month old on a 7 hour plane ride, but the price was right and we were ready for something more.

March 18 Monday (Arrival/ MGM)- We took a red-eye flight from Seattle which worked very well, the baby slept almost the entire time. The only down side was that my wife and I didn't sleep at all on the plane. We arrived in Orlando about 11:00 am and were greeted by our Tiffany Town car driver who was great. We made a quick stop at the store for diapers and were at the Movies resort by noon. We were able to check in right away. Our room was in the Fantasia section only 50 feet away from the pool on the main floor (we paid $10 extra for the preferred rooms and it was worth the convenience of being close to everything). The room was small but clean and seemed quiet for being so close to the activities outside. Ari and I were tired but the kids weren't so we went to MGM for the remainder of the day. The crowds were good on Monday but we get hard to manage by the end of the week. We started with Playhouse Disney Live with no wait. Juli and Andy loved this show, and Ari and I thought it was really well done. Next we traveled to Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller coaster and used fastpasses(FP). Andy wanted to see Great Movie Ride which only had a 5 minute wait and we all rode together. We had priority seating at 50's Prime Time at 5:30 and got right in. The food and service alright but the kids were starting to get tired and Ari and I had been up for 36 hours and needed rest. We took the bus back to the resort and went to bed by 7:00pm.

March 19 Tuesday (Animal Kingdom/ Downtown Disney) We all woke up refreshed and ready to tour early on Tuesday. We had breakfast at the food court at the hotel. The food there was only mediocre at best the entire time. We arrived at AK 40 minutes before official opening to find out that they weren't letting anybody in the park until opening time. There were bag searches at every park which seemed useless because of the lax screening procedures, but I guess it would let security profile if they choose. Almost all of the people rushed for the safari ride upon the gates opening. We chose to go to Dinoland U.S.A. which was almost completely empty for the 1st hour. Ari rode Dinosaur without wait while I took Andy and Juli on Triceratops Spin. Ari came back and I rod Dinosaur without a wait and then we took turns with Andy on Primeval Whirl. It was open in the morning and being worked on later in the day. I thought the ride was fun for a carnival ride, but Andy really enjoyed it and was his favorite ride in the park. I guess it goes to show that with all the criticism that Dinoland has been getting from adults, the kids love the carnival atmosphere. I thought it was well done, but reminded me a bit of California Adventure. I ran and got FP for Tough to be a Bug while Andy, Juli, and Ari went to the Boneyard. Our FP were ready in about 30 minutes and we walked right into Tough to be a Bug. It was a great show but very loud for the little ones. Juli was a bit scared at the intense show. The park was starting to get busy so we walked over to Africa and got a FP for the safari. We walked the Jungle trek while waiting for our FP time. This worked out great, just as we exited the Jungle trek it was time to use our FP. After the safari we watched a live show in Harambe and wandered back to Dinoland for lunch. I grabbed FP for kali river rapids while walking past Asia. We had lunch a Restaurantosaurus and headed back to Asia to do Kali River Rapids. The FP line took about 25 minutes which was slow compared to most, and I thought the ride was rather short compared to other rapid rides I've been on. Andy and I were soaked afterward and the whole group walked the jungle trek in Asia. It was starting to get late and we all wanted to see the parade. Juli and Andy loved the parade. Ari and I liked it too but thought it was really loud. The road around the park is really small and the floats are right next to you. After the parade we walked around looking at some of the animal exhibits. The park closed at 5:00 and we took our bus back to the hotel with only a 10 minute wait. That night we took the bus to downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. Andy was disappointed we didn't have enough time to do Disney Quest.

March 20 Wednesday (Magic Kingdom) We were allowed into the park 1/2 hour early at this park, with only Main Street open. When the park opened we rode Buzz Lightyear, Pooh, Peter Pan, Small World, and Speedway without any wait. I had grabbed a FP for Space Mountain while traveling between rides. Ari and I took turns taking the kids on TTA while the other rode Space Mountain. I felt really good about how much we had accomplished by 11:15am and we all decided to go to Adventureland. We did the Tiki room, Pirates, and Splash Mountain(FP) without wait. Lunch was at Cosmic Rays (good food with little wait). After lunch we shopped a little and worked our way back to the Hotel for an afternoon break. That evening we went to EPCOT and rode Spaceship Earth and Universe of Energy without any wait. We walked over to UK for fish and chips and France for desert. We made an early night of it, leaving before the park closed.

March21 Thursday (Typhoon Lagoon/ M.K. E-ride night) We had priority seating at Whispering Canyon Café at Wilderness lodge that morning. It took over an hour to travel between hotels via Disney's bus/boat system. After breakfast we headed for Typhoon Lagoon. The park wasn't too busy and we were able to do most everything without wait. We stayed until about 1:30 then headed back to the hotel for lunch and a rest before going to the M.K. When we arrived at the M.K. we noticed a significant increase in people in the park. The waits for all of the major rides was well over an hour with some at 90 minutes. We rode small world, jungle cruise (FP) and Winnie the Pooh (FP) before watching the fireworks display. Mickey's Toontown Fair was less crowded after the fireworks and we toured that section until the park closed. We had purchased E-ride night tickets at check in and so we headed for Tomorrowland first after the park closed. Andy and Juli rode Buzz Lightyear 4 times. My wife and I rode Space Mountain 1 time ( this was by far the most crowded ride during E-ride night 25 minute waits). We rode TTA once more with the kids and headed for the Haunted Mansion which had no wait time. Ari and I took turns riding with Andy on Big Thunder and Splash Mountain with only short waits on each. I thought that E-ride night was well worth the extra money.

March 22 Friday (Chef Mickey's/ M.K.) Friday morning we had a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's. The characters were great and the kids loved having them come to our table. The service and buffet food was also great. We rode the monorail back to the M.K. around noon to find the park completely packed. The standby waits at many of the rides were 60-90 minutes again. We were able to walk right on to Country Bears. Andy wanted to go to Tom Sawyer's Island, so we all had a desert at Aunt Polly's and explored the Island. It was hard to find a spot for the parade but we were able to find a shady area near a bridge to watch. After the parade we shopped main street and headed back to the hotel for some swimming and rest. We rode in the front of the monorail to Epcot and took a bus back to our hotel. We had planned to go to EPCOT after dinner and had boarded the bus when we realized Andy had forgotten his ticket and pins on the table in the food court. We rode the bus back to the hotel where luckily someone had turned in his things at lost/found. It was starting to get late and we decided just to take some time off and relax.

March 23 Saturday (EPCOT) Saturday was our marathon day at EPCOT. The crowds were still heavy but much thinner than at the MK. Guests were admitted 1/2 hour before official park opening but only Spaceship Earth was open. We rushed over to Test Track at opening, and while I waited to get FP's Ari rode in the single's line. Next we went to Innoventions East which was a big hit with Andy. Wonders of life and Body Wars was next without any wait. We returned to Test Track with our FP's and took turns riding with child swap. Andy had purchased a passport for world showcase which turned out to be great to keep him interested. We traveled to Canada and United Kingdom and on to Japan for lunch at the Teppanyaki. This restaurant was great and even the kids liked the food. The price was about 1/2 that for lunch over dinner and was a great value. We toured Morocco and France before heading back to future world. The living Statue was out at France and Andy jumped at the chance to walk up and be part of the show. We toured all of the shows at the land without wait. (used FP for living with the land). Next we went to the Living Seas and Innoventions West before heading back to the world showcase. I thought that the pre-show at the Living Seas was a real waste of time. The sea cabs were the best part and now they are gone. The dolphins were out and they were a big hit with Ari and the kids. The ride at Mexico didn't have a wait and only a 10 minute wait at Norway. We stopped for a live show at China and continued around the showcase until we had finished at the United States. We found a good spot for viewing both the parade and Illuminations and stayed until we left for the hotel. What a long day!

March 24 Sunday (MGM) Once again there was no early entry to the park. We were admitted through the gates shortly after opening and went opposite of the masses of people. We rode Star Tours, Muppet Vision, Indiana Jones, Honey I Shrunk Playground, and Backlot tours without any wait. Lunch was at Pizza Planet which was very noisy and our only really bad experience with a cast member. The person filling the order made multiple mistakes and accused my wife of ordering wrong when she showed him the printed ticket. The only thing was that the ticket was correct, the cast member just didn't fill the order right. My wife, who isn't afraid to speak up when we get bad service, went to the counter after we ate and asked for the manager. She was told there wasn't one available but remarkably became available when she said she was heading for guest relations next. The manager was very polite and offered us a free desert at Mama Melrose's where we had dinner plans. My wife thanked him and told him that we really just wanted to point out the rudeness of the cast member which he promised he would address. I had run down to get FP's for Rock-n-Roller coaster and TOT before lunch and we used those with little wait (less than 15 minutes at RNR and 5 at TOT). The standby wait for RNR was over 90 minutes so the FP's were lifesavers. We revisited Playhouse Disney once more and watched the Parade. My son loved seeing Darth Vader and the other villains. Voyage of the Little Mermaid was letting in right after the parade and we watched that before heading back to Mama Melrose's for dinner. The food and service was great and the manager insisted we take 3 deserts for the earlier problems at Pizza Planet. After dinner we rode star-tours and great movie ride during the first Fantasmic performance. (The Muppet vision side of the park becomes very empty in the evening). We had originally planned to do a Fantasmic dinner package but were told they didn't offer it during the busy time of year. This didn't make much sense to me because I thought the point of the package was to get a seat during the busy times without having to get there hours in advance. We did go to the second show which wasn't too busy. We slowly made our way to the busses and went back to the hotel.

March 25 Monday (Checkout/ EPCOT) Monday morning we got up and packed our bags and checked them with the hotel. Our town car wasn't scheduled to pick us up until 3:00 and so we went to EPCOT for some last minute touring. It was now Easter week and the crowds were really swelling. I ran to get FP's for Test Track which had return times of 12:50-1:00 by 5 minutes after opening. We revisited Innoventions west and the Living Seas. Andy was selected to help the cast member demonstrate the Water Lock when a diver was heading into the tank. We had a quick lunch at the Land pavilion before heading back to Test Track to use our FP's. By 1:00 all of the FP's were issued for the day and the wait was 120 minutes. It was obvious that the crowds were going to be extremely large around the Easter holiday. We went back to the hotel to wait for our ride to the airport.

Observations and Lessons Learned:

• Trading Pins: We had purchased a few pins for Andy before leaving home. He purchased a few more in the parks and traded many with cast members. All of them were very friendly when approached and we even had a few come up to us in the parks asking if we wanted to trade. This could be an expensive hobby, but Andy had a few pins he kept trading over and over and he ended up with about 10 pins total. We also purchased a $20 magical moments pin that lit up in certain areas and during shows. I didn't think this pin was all that great and Andy was more interested in the pins he was trading.
• Fastpass: Disney has done a great job with this option and they are trying hard to get the word out to guests. Disney is trying to advertise Fastpass all around the parks and in the guidemaps. There seems to be, however a large portion of guests that don't know how or don't think they can use it. I heard many comments from people in the standby line regarding people in the Fastpass return line. They seemed to think we were getting some kind of special treatment. We used Fastpasses at every park every day to our advantage. Many times I would run ahead to get FP's while the rest of the family were making their way to the next ride. I ended up doing a lot of walking but saved a ton of time waiting for rides. Through using FP's, arriving early, and planning ahead, we never waited more than 25 minutes (usually less than 5) for any attraction.
• Strollers: To rent or to take was the question. We ended up taking a good umbrella stroller for Juli (19 months). The cost was less than $30 so we were willing to take the risk of it being damaged on the plane or stolen at the parks. It was a good decision. We didn't have to wait to rent at each park and we were able to find our stroller much easier when exiting rides. The stroller became Juli's favorite attraction. She would sit in it even when in our hotel room.
• All-star resorts: We stayed at the Movies resort, which I think was the best themed of the three for small children. Andy loved the Toy Story area and the Fantasia pool area. The food court was large but almost always crowded and the food was mediocre. The rooms were small but clean and surprisingly quiet for the location. I think it was well worth the extra $10 per day for the central location. There seemed to be a large amount of school groups staying at the resorts, especially the all-star sports. There were tons of cheerleaders in for the nationals along with bands and school sports teams. The one drawback for movies was that we were always at the end of the line for the busses so we had to stop at both sports and movies before getting to ours. The buses were always plentiful and we never had long waits. If a line started getting large, a cast member would call in extra busses. We all agreed that the resort was well worth the money spent.
• Tiffany Town car: We used this service instead of transfers. We were very happy with the service and the price was about the same as shuttles. The driver met us at baggage claim and stopped at a local grocery store for us to stock up. It was $85 round trip for 4 people.
• Doctors-on-call: Unfortunately Andy woke one morning with an eye infection and had to be treated. We could have taken him to a local minor emergency or have a Doctor come to our room. We decided to save time (2-4 hour wait at minor emergency) and spend about $20 more to have a doctor come to our room. The doctor arrived within a half hour and was able to examine Andy, give him an initial dose of eye drops, and order a prescription which came to the hotel desk while we were out touring that day. Total cost was about $250 dollars with around $50 for the prescription. It was unfortunate but we didn't want to lose an entire day of touring if we didn't have to. I would definitely recommend Doctors-on-call to anyone staying at the resorts without immediate transportation.

David Wickwire

fishingdve@msn.com

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