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Lisa Wilber -- June 2002 -- Walt Disney World (PORR)
Tuesday, June 4th Today was the longest day in history. Brian had to work and I was at home finishing up the last minute details. However, there were not enough "details" to keep me busy so I pretty much watched the clock all day long. I did have some excitement with the bird that flew down the chimney but that's another story. Brian arrived home at 2:30 at by 3:00 we were on the road. Brian drove us to Marshall where we stopped for dinner at Burger King. I took over the driving from there and was the one who drove us in Minneapolis. We checked into the Super 8 and hauled up our bags for the night. We were both very impressed with the Super 8. It had been recently remodeled and we got a really good deal on the room. We checked out TV (imagine that) and watched The Real World before turning in for the night. We were both pretty excited but somehow managed to get some sleep. Wednesday, June 5th We were both up before the alarm, somewhere around the 7am mark. We decided to check on the breakfast buffet and try to find a Wal-Mart to purchase some ribbon to tie on the suitcases. After getting this accomplished we showered, reorganized the luggage and headed to the front desk for our 10:30 shuttle to the airport. Delta flight check-in was quick and security was painless. We found a Chili's and had a leisurely lunch. We shared some chicken fajitas and toasted to our honeymoon. After lunched we shopped a little and headed to our gate. Our flight to Cincinnati was smooth and so was our connection to Orlando. We tried to spy WDW out of the airplane window but this proved to be impossible. We safely landed, took the train to baggage claim, and met our Tiffany Town Car driver, Mike. We felt pretty cool coming down the escalator seeing a guy standing with a sign with our names on it. (Well, Brian didn't feel as cool because the sign only had my name.) We collected our luggage and headed out to wait for Mike to bring the car around. The weather was beautiful. It was very hot and humid but absolutely fantastic! We got the car loaded and hopped in for our ride to Port Orleans Riverside. When we finally saw the Disney World Resort signs the smiles on our faces were HUGE. This was what we had been waiting for! We arrived at POR around 7:30pm and check-in was smooth. We had bell services to take us to our room in the golf cart. Our room was in #3653. It was located in Alligator Bayou Building 36 on the second floor. It was about a 30 second walk to a quiet pool and about a 2 minute walk to the bus stop. Not exactly what we had requested but it turned out to be pretty great location. The building was surrounded by lots of trees and small ponds. The room itself was very nice. The beds were constructed of rough-hewn wood and the décor of the room was very rustic. We unpacked the bags and headed out for our first meal in WDW. We walked to the hotel's main area, exploring the grounds as we went. It was very beautiful and relaxing. We decided to take the riverboat to Downtown Disney to get some food and to look around. The boat ride was wonderful, very peaceful and romantic. What a great way to start off our honeymoon! Except Brian was ready to eat his arm! We quickly made our way to Gourmet Pantry and selected egg salad sandwiches on croissants, slices of cheesecake, and a water. We ate our meal outside and watched some kids playing in a fountain. We explored the stores some more and caught a bus back to POR. The bus was extremely crowded but our bus driver told stories, sang songs, and asked trivia questions the whole way back. It was the second-best bus ride of our entire trip. After arriving back we took a late night swim and headed for bed. Thursday, June 6th We woke up around 7:30 and hit the showers. A quick bus ride later we arrived at the Animal Kingdom. The first site of the Tree of Life was amazing. The tree stands 14 stories high and completely dominates the park. Brian and I were simply in awe and could not believe how magnificent it is. The first thing we did was head towards Africa and the Kilimanjaro Safari. We collected Fast Passes and then headed back towards the Tree of Life. We explored the Tree of Life (there are over 325 animals carved into the trunk) and made our way into the It's Tough to Be a Bug theater. We were made honorary bugs and enjoyed this 3-D movie. (It was our favorite one!) We trekked back to the Safari stopping to buy Brian a visor and pick-up some ice cream treats. The Safari was really cool and we were kicking ourselves for not bringing the video camera. We decided that we would have to make a trip back to do it again and get it on tape. On this safari ride we saw rhinos, hippos, elephants, giraffes, zebras, lions, crocodiles, and numerous amounts of various antelopes. After the safari ride we explored the Pangani Forest Trail. It was a leisurely stroll through lots of vegetation and animal habitats. We were able to see a hippo underwater and a family of gorillas. After this trail we headed over to Asia. This is where we made our favorite purchase of the entire trip. Along the trail to Asia was a shop called The Pearl Factory. The Pearl Factory sells lots of pearl jewelry but they also give you the opportunity to select your own oyster and retrieve a pearl. I decided that this might be the chance to spend some of my birthday money. Brian and I selected the ugliest oyster (supposedly they have the prettiest pearls) and the lady performed the pearl "birth" ceremony. This involved some tapping of the oyster, a few magic words, and the hitting of a gong. After digging through the oyster we finally saw my pearl. A beautiful 7cm blue pearl! (The darker the pearl is in color, the more valuable it is. In fact, only 8 out of 100 pearls are blue and only 3 out of 100 are black.) Needless to say, I was very happy with my pearl. We selected a necklace and had the pearl set into the symbol for eternal love. We thought that was pretty appropriate for our honeymoon trip! After collecting my pearl we headed out to watch Festival of the Lion King. We were sitting in the elephant section right on the end for the floats and performers come out. We had great seats and really enjoyed the performance. They performed many of the songs from The Lion King and they had some pretty good acrobatic tumble-monkeys! After the performance we made a quick stop to meet Goofy and then headed out to Kali River Rapids. We had to stand in line for awhile but it was a great ride. We didn't get soaked but we both got wet! We spent some time exploring the Maharajah Jungle Trek and saw fruit bats (disgusting) and the tigers. It was now about time for our Priority Seating at The Rainforest Café. We checked in and were seated in the Gorilla section. We enjoyed both the air conditioning and the food. Brian had the Rainforest Burger and I had the Bamba's Barbecue Wrap. We decided we had enough of the Animal Kingdom for the day so we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Well, neither of us could sleep so we went swimming in the quiet pool and relaxed for awhile. After another set of showers, we packed up the gear and headed to Epcot. We moseyed around World Showcase for awhile and then snagged some really good seats for the Tapestry of Dreams parade. I thought this parade was awesome. The music and the puppets were so cool. After the parade we wandered around some more and picked up some food. Brian had ice cream for supper and I had Yakitori )chicken skewers with rice in a Teriyaki sauce) from Japan. After eating, we continued the trek around the Showcase, looking for a place to watch Illuminations. Well, this brought us back to Mexico. We finally found an okay spot and held our ground for the fireworks to begin. The Illuminations display was very cool. It's a combination of fireworks, lasers and fire explosions. There is also a spinning Earth in the middle of the Lagoon that shows picture that represent how the Earth has evolved since the beginning of time. After the fireworks we made our way back to the bus stop. We had quite a wait for the bus but finally made it back to our hotel. Friday, June 7th We were up bright and early this morning for our 8:00 Priority Seating at Chef Mickey's. We were unsure how to get to the Contemporary but I figured if we got to the Magic Kingdom we could just walk. Well, after getting to the MK we had very little time to get to our PS and were a little confused. A bus driver asked us if we needed help and we asked him for the quickest way to get to the Contemporary. He said the Monorail so we started walking towards the Monorail but then he called us back and told us he would take us. This was the best bus ride we had! He took us over to the Contemporary, in an empty bus, and we made it in plenty of time for our breakfast. The service at WDW is extraordinary! The breakfast was well worth the early hour. It was a buffet full of eggs, hash browns, donuts, biscuits and gravy, and waffles (Mickey-shaped). Plus, the Fab Five was present including Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip & Dale. After breakfast we headed to the Magic Kingdom to check it out. The first place we headed was Adventureland. We walked up the Swiss Family Tree house (I always wanted to live in that when I was little), rode on the Jungle Cruise (we had a really good guide who told lots of corny jokes), went through the Pirates of the Caribbean (Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me), and watched The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management show (a little annoying, but enjoyable). We also did a little shopping on Main Street before heading back to the hotel. (We forgot sunscreen and were too cheap to buy some more!) After dousing ourselves with sunscreen we decided to hit MGM for the afternoon. We grabbed a FastPass for Tower of Terror and hit the Backlot Tour. The tour of okay but got to be a little long. We both really enjoyed the beginning where they show how they use special effects to create movie scenes. After the tour we head back to ToT and used our FastPass. I was really nervous but ended up loving it! Brian thought it was okay. We went to check out Rock N Roller Coaster and decided to do the stand-by line, the posted wait time was only 30 minutes. However, we ended up waiting over 45 minutes. This roller coaster was the best! It shoots you from 0 - 60 in less than 3 seconds and the G - forces are STRONG! It flips you over numerous times with lots of loops and twists. We rated it a 10. By now it was time to head back to the hotel to relax for awhile before e-ride night. We went swimming for awhile, showered up and returned to the Magic Kingdom for supper at Tony's Town Square. This restaurant is modeled after the restaurant in Lady and the Tramp. They took us to our table which was decorated with confetti and streamers (they knew we were on our honeymoon). We were absolutely starving by this time (we pretty much snacked our way through lunch with pretzels and ice cream) and we devoured the bread they put on the table. Brian ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and I had the Pollo alla Marsala (chicken with wild mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes). We shared a dessert but neither of us can remember what it was! Towards the end of our meal our waitress asked if they could do a cheer for us since we were celebrating our honeymoon. We agreed and a few minutes later another waitress came to our table and announced to the whole restaurant that it was our honeymoon and that on the count of three everybody in the restaurant is supposed to say, "That's Amore". And when they say "That's Amore" Brian has to roll a meatball across the table to me with his nose! (Just like Tramp does for Lady in the movie.) I was laughing quite hard but it was super cute!!! After supper we picked up our e-ride nights wristbands, bought some yellow rain ponchos, and headed for Fantasyland to do some of the rides that are not open for e-ride. We got a FastPass for Winnie the Pooh and then headed to Mickey's Toontown Fair to check out Mickey and Minnie's house. Totally cute but geared for the younger crowd. (I think Brian got embarrassed at times!) I really wanted to meet Tigger so we stood in line for about 1/2 hour to meet Tigger, Pooh and Eeyore. I got all of their autographs and my picture taken with all three. We headed back to Pooh to trade-in our FastPasses and then got in line for Snow White's Scary Adventures. Pooh was cute and very up-to-date, Snow White was okay but I thought it was outdated. By this time e-ride night had started so we hightailed it over to The Haunted Mansion. We visited the 999 ghosts in the mansion but ditched the hitch-hiking ghost before leaving the building. After HM we got in a (short) line for Splash Mountain. This ride was great and I wish we would have had an opportunity to ride it again during the day. Big Thunder Mountain was next and I thought this was a great coaster. We decided to head out to Tomorrowland but we caught the Country Bear Jamboree before leaving. This was quite the entertaining show. We especially liked Big Al and his song "Blood on the Saddle". Once in Tomorrowland we rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This ride was fun but it took me awhile to figure out how to shoot for points. We both ended up with pretty good scores but mainly because the ride stopped for awhile in the middle! The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was next. This was scary and loud, according to Brian "way too loud". We headed for outer space on Space Mountain and then decided to call it a night. We had planned to go back to Frontierland but we were exhausted. A quick trip through the Main Street Bakery for a slice of carrot cake and a cherry turnover and we were on our way home. Saturday, June 8th After waking up this morning we hit the pool for a relaxing morning swim. The pool was very quiet; the whole vacation there was never more than six other people in the pool while we were there. Today we were hitting MGM Studios so after some showers we caught the bus. Since we had done some of the rides yesterday we decided to take it slow. Top priority: Rock N Roller Coaster! Once we got to the parks we headed over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. The next show was about 3 minutes away so we did a run/walk to the theater. This show was enjoyable; they demonstrate how the stunts in the movies are done. There was fighting, dodging of steel spikes, and lots of fire. Next up was The Great Movie Ride. I thought that this ride was neat. The ride takes you through different movie scenes throughout history, including the Wizard of Oz. And our car was hijacked by an unruly gangster but was reclaimed later by our tour guide. It was time to cool off with a little window shopping. It started to rain (really hard) and we had left our ponchos back at the hotel. We were going to buy new ponchos but bagged the idea since it was time for our Priority Seating at The 50's Prime Time Café. We dodged the raindrops (sort of) and checked in at the diner. We were seated in about five minutes. I was really looking forward to this meal but was a little worried about Brian's reaction. However, he (we) LOVED this place! This restaurant is themed like a kitchen out of a 50's sitcom. The décor is 50's and you sit in a "kitchen" with TV's playing reruns of old sitcoms. Our waitress (Mom) was very attentive and made sure we minded our manners. No elbows on the table and you better eat all of your vegetables! Brian had the meatloaf and I had the chicken pot pie. For dessert Brian had Walt's Favorite Lemon Meringue Pie and I had a S'mores. The food was wonderful; we declared it the best of the trip. And both of us became members of the Clean Plate Club! By the time we finished eating the rain had stopped so we were really glad we hadn't purchased those extra ponchos. After lunch we rode on Star Wars which is a simulated ride. This was okay but made me feel slightly nauseous. We strolled over for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and got into the line. The next show started in about 10 minutes so we watched the pre-show and tried to sharpen our trivia skills. This show was great; the stage looks exactly like on TV. Neither of us made it into the hot seat but we had fun trying. You have to be really fast (and right) to get into the hot seat! We ventured over to MuppetVision to watch the Kermit and the gang. Another great 3-D adventure. Now it was time to collect some FastPass tickets for Rock N Roller coaster. Right after we collected our tickets a guy came up and handed us two FastPass tickets that he wasn't going to use so we turned around and got in line. It was another great ride and we made it to the Aerosmith concert just in time. We moseyed over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid and pressed our way into the air-conditioned pre-show. This was a must do for me because the Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie. This was a cool show with some really neat special effects. After our show we had about 1/2 hour before the parade. We staked out some really good spots and rested our weary bodies. The parade was great, lots of characters and neat floats. However, the people around us were rude! They eventually crowded into our really great spots and made viewing (and taping) the parade difficult. Needless to say, Brian was not impressed! It was time to leave. We were tired and wanted to rest before deciding what to do for the night. We relaxed in the room for awhile and then walked over to the food court to get some supper. We each had the Colonel's Platter (ribs, chicken, mashed potatoes, corn) which was pretty good. We decided to go miniature golfing for our nighttime entertainment. We caught a bus to the Swan/Dolphin and walked across the street to Fantasia Gardens. We debated on the course and finally decided on the whimsical side. We had a lot of fun, each got a couple of hole-in-ones, and Brian only beat me by three strokes. We caught a bus back to Port Orleans and turned in for the night. Sunday, June 9th We slept in today and got ready at a leisurely pace. The plans were Epcot where we wanted to spend some time exploring World Showcase. We entered the park at about 11:00 and visited some of the exhibits in Innoventions East before heading into the World Showcase. We first entered Mexico where they have a wonderful Mexican marketplace set up. It reminded me a lot of Mazatlan! Next up was Norway, Brian's country of origin. We rode Maelstrom and saw the Land of the Vikings and visited a few trolls. We skipped the movie, not our thing! China was next where Brian played with a puppet and we browsed the shops. I absolutely loved looking at all of the merchandise from the different countries. Germany was next, my ancestral country. The architecture was amazing, you feel as though you are truly walking through a German city. And those clocks! I would love to have one of those someday. As we were walking we saw Snow White entering the Showcase so I stopped for an autograph. Italy was pleasant, we thought about sampling the wines but we weren't in the wine drinking mood. We had planned to watch The American Adventure but the show time didn't work into our plans so we skipped on through. Japan was beautiful; I could not get over how gorgeous the landscaping was. We browsed around the shops and I almost bought a bonsai tree but I couldn't figure out how to get it safely home so I passed. We also watched a young girl making candy animals outside. People would request an animal and about a minute later she would produce the candy. It was pretty cool to watch. We moved on into Morocco which had some wonderful architecture constructed from colorful tiles. We also spotted Aladdin and Jasmine so I added those autographs to my book. We headed into France in search of Belle and the Beast but couldn't find them. We quickly explored France before heading over to England for our Priority Seating at the Rose & Crown Pub. We had a little time left so we glanced through the shops and relaxed a bit in the gardens. We checked into the restaurant and were seated immediately. We started with a fruit and cheese platter (we were starving) and Brian ordered the Fish & Chips and I had the Curry Citrus Chicken Salad. The food was delicious and we ended it with a free dessert. (It pays to tell them you are on your honeymoon!) The Sticky Toffee Pudding was yummy. We practically licked the plate clean! We decided to hit up a few attractions in Future World before our FastPass for Test Track came due. We watched Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (we love those 3-D movies), explored the Living Seas (dolphins are so cool), watched the dancing fountain, and did some more shopping. Our Test Track FastPasses finally came up so we got in line. We both enjoyed this ride but decided that it wouldn't be worth standing in line for a terribly long time! We called it quits with Epcot and headed back to the room. We didn't get to rest for very long because we had a reservation at Fulton's Crab House for 8pm. We showered and got decked out for our night on the town! Fulton's Crab House is set on an old paddleboat in Downtown Disney. We had a short wait in the bar before we were shown to our table on the top of the boat. We had a wonderful waiter who thoroughly convinced us to try the most expensive items on the menu. (Hey, we're on vacation!) We started with calamari (the best I've ever had) and Brian had the crab claws and I ordered Australian lobster tails. It was a perfect meal and well worth the price. We waddled out of the restaurant, taking some time to enjoy the view from the boat. We strolled through Downtown Disney heading for Pleasure Island. We explored the nightclubs at Pleasure Island and played a game of pool at the Rock N Roll Beach Club. At 10 we got in line for the show at Comedy Warehouse. This show is improvisational comedy based on suggestions from the audience. We laughed our butts off! We talked about catching the last show but we were absolutely exhausted so we decided to call it a night. Monday, June 10th This was our last full day in WDW. :( We slept in again and quickly got ready for our day at Typhoon Lagoon. We caught the bus and arrived at TL around 10:30. The first order of the day was the wave pool. The wave pool was awesome. About every two minutes it would generate a HUGE wave, all the people in the pool would scream, and you would make a valiant attempt to dive into the wave. We body surfed a few waves and then headed for the Lazy River. We made a complete circle around the park in our tubes before making our way up the mountain for the tube slides. We did each of these once and then made our way back to get some lunch. We grabbed a burger and a wrap and found a shady spot to people watch. It truly takes all kinds of people to make the world go around! After lunch we rested awhile and then headed over to the body slides. We did all three of the body slides and then picked our favorite one and did that one a couple of more times. Brian did the Humunga Kowabunga which gave him a backache. I really wanted to swim in the Shark Reef (Brian wasn't so sure) so we headed that way. This was a cool experience but it took awhile to get used to the snorkel equipment. We saw a couple of sharks, a stingray and lots of other colorful, tropical fish. After this we caught the Lazy River again and made two loops around the park before deciding to head for the Animal Kingdom to tape the Safari. We caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and went in to look around. This resort is really remarkable and we decided that we would love to stay here the next time we visit WDW. (One can hope, can't they?) We caught another bus to the AK and headed straight for the Safari, dodging around people lining up for the parade. We walked right on the ride (it pays to catch it while a parade it going on) and taped the whole thing. It was raining and the animals were very active. After the ride we walked over to Dinoland to go on Dinosaur. I thought this ride was great, Brian thought it was too loud. We headed back to the hotel to relax and shower before heading to MK for our last night. We arrived back at MK and grabbed some supper from Pecos Bill's. The burgers were delicious and the toppings bar had sautéed onions and mushrooms, yum! We walked around and taped some of the sites and caught a ride on TTA before finding a spot to watch the fireworks. We had the perfect view of Tinkerbell flying from the castle and the fireworks were spectacular. We made our way to Main Street (it was a zoo, the crowds had definitely picked up) and found a spot right on the curb to watch the Spectromagic parade. We waited about 45 minutes but we had the perfect spot. This parade consists of floats that are entirely lit up with various colored lights. It was amazing! It was a perfect way to end a perfect vacation. We stopped in the bakery again for another cherry turnover and a warm cinnamon roll before heading back to the hotel. We packed up a little and turned in for the night. Tuesday, June 11th It was depressing to wake up and know that tomorrow we wouldn't be here. We finished packing, called bell services and headed out with the camcorder to get some footage of the hotel. We strolled our way to Boatright's Dining Hall where we had breakfast. We purchased some last minute items in the gift shop and met our driver (Mike again) at 11:30. We breezed through airport check-in and security and killed some more time shopping. The flights back were uneventful (the planes were nicer on the way back then on the way there and we got to watch a movie, High Crimes) and the drive back from Minneapolis even more uneventful. We arrived home at about 12:30 and collapsed into bed. Hits:
Misses:
Lisa Wilber lisawilber@hotmail.com Mail a Comment to Lisa Wilber |
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