Lisa Cubbon -- March 2003 -- Walt Disney World (BWR)
Trip Report, March 23-30, 2003
Lisa and Andy’s Mostly Unusual Vacation
Names: Lisa and Andy Cubbon
We had to be in Orlando proper for an event on Saturday so of course that meant a vacation at our happy place! No arguments here about that. The wrinkle in this trip was that I have had a cold/flu since early March and just was starting to shake it off. Andy had surgery for a herniated disc in December so this was going to be a vacation with very little structure and a lot of rest. Turns out that was exactly what happened. We went at a slower that usual pace. We are not park commandos (Andy does not do mornings well at all) as we are often in The Tampa-Orlando area for things and we have annual passes. So it’s OK to miss some of our favorites since we will be back soon.
We drove down from Marietta on Friday and got into Orlando at 5pm. No traffic problems except on I75. The place was almost bumper-to-bumper with Northerners heading south. Not a good omen for us WDW fans who are used to light crowds but it would be OK. Every rest stop along the way was abuzz with teenagers and families. A happy group of travelers. We stayed at the Embassy Suites on Pine in downtown Orlando. It’s the third time we have stayed there and it’s a very comfortable clean place. Last year we met some friends at Lake Eola Yacht Club for brunch and liked it so we had dinner there on Friday. We had a delightful meal; sautéed red snapper with a wonderful cucumber/tomato salsa. And they have great calamari. Again, the cold I was getting over and the one Andy was getting didn’t help but it’s a very neighborhood friendly place. Not touristy. I could see there were a lot of locals eating. Saturday was our event and that kept us busy all day. We had drinks with friends Saturday night and then called it a day. There were two episodes of Law and Order and that was enough ‘cause tomorrow is WDW!!!!!
Sunday, March 23, 2003
Woke up to rain and lots of it. I went out to the car to sort out what goes to BWI and what stays. Got my breakfast and then got Andy up. We checked out of the hotel in a steady downpour. We headed to Publix on 192 for water and a few other things. We took Sherbeth Rd into the Disney Property, which is a great shortcut. We could see the Tree of Life from the road. Cool! Got to the BWI about 11:30a and unloaded Blanche and I checked in while Andy parked her. He was back before I got us checked in. There were plenty of folks with questions and checking in and plenty of CMs too. It’s just takes time. The room we requested (5308) was not available but the CM found us another great room, 3312. It’s also a corner room, king bed with a bigger porch than 5308, garden view. It was very quite and comfortable expect for an odd smell. We did eventually call engineering and a very nice manager came by, told us it’s not harmful, and offered to move us to our favorite room that was now available, but we were already three days into our vacation we not inclined to move. Way to settled. The smell is like Florida water, not harmful and we just forgot about it.
We unpacked and headed in the rain to Rose and Crown for our traditional first meal. It wasn’t too crowded and we sat inside. Headed back to BWI and just stayed in bed the rest of the afternoon. Too pooped to party and the rain was still there. Around dinnertime, we moseyed down to Spoodles and got a flying saucer. The CM said it was a 30-minute wait so we headed down to the General Store for some retail therapy and as we got to the door the saucer went off! That was a very, very short 30 minutes. Dinner was good. I have their veggie dinner (stuffed peppers) that was wonderful and Andy had pasta. Nice wine and we passed on dessert for coffee and something from the bakery. The colds and the rain just made us want to head back for cover. We didn’t ever attempt to see Illuminations, Reflections of Earth (RoE) but I did listen and heard the thump and roar of the pipe blowout. I thought it was a very bad traffic accident then my brain woke up and I knew WOW! I guess I had heard it before but Bob Richmond explained it and now I listen for it. Didn’t stay for it but I will someday.
Monday, March 24
OK I am the early riser and Andy is not. I was at up at 7am. I got showered, dressed and down for coffee and milk (we bring cereal. It’s just easier) and a sweetie at 7am. I got Andy up and by 9 he was ready to eat. We headed down to the bus kiosk and as usual got on the first bus; it turned out to be Animal Kingdom. Yikes! This was the first time I have ever seen long line to buy tickets. I mean all the way back to the security check area. That was a good sign for a stockholder and the ticket gates were empty so we were quickly in the park. We headed back to get a Fast Pass (FP) for Kilimanjaro Safari. Standby was at 50 minutes. No way! The place was pretty jumping. We headed to the Flights of Wonder show. It’s a neat show and I love the birds. Then we sat in Harambe village and people watched. The stroller brigade was in full force. We were just resting and enjoying the view. One of the things Andy wanted to do this time was just sit and watch stuff so we did it. I got popcorn. WDW is the only place I get popcorn. It’s fresh and yummy. The drummers came out and they could hardly get through the mob of folks. When it was time for our safari, we heading past the mob waiting for their time to come up for Fast Passes. I do not understand, clustering around the entrance. Shrug. Our safari was very good. Not too many animals were out since it was hot, hot out. I could see places where they were baby proofing the savannah for the new baby elephant. When the safari was over we headed to DinoLand. I know a lot of folks don’t like Chester and Hester’s area but I do love it. I we got FPs for Primeval Whirl and then had lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Well, it was food. I had a pretty good hotdog and we had a place to sit down. That’s about all I can say for it. I watched the families pack into the place. It’s kids food for sure. The ordering lines were a mess and the kitchen could not keep up. Did the Whirl and enjoyed it. It’s a goofy wild mouse ride and it’s fun.
We left the park to head to the Magic Kingdom. From AK you have to go to the TTC and then monorail or Ferry into the park BUT you can take a bus to the Contemporary and walk. Oh, what a lovely idea. Just what we did. Took a fraction of the time and we had the bus to ourselves. This scheme was a winner. The security kiosks are open on one side and of course it’s the monorail side so we trundled over and entered the park very quickly. MK was packed too. We arrived just before the Parade so we headed into Adventure Land to watch it. We found a nice place to stand and lean in front of the closed Diamond Horseshoe Saloon. After the parade we headed to attractions that might not have long lines. Tiki Birds was a good one. 30 minutes at the Pirates of the Caribbean (nope), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 55 minutes standby. Got a Fast Pass for 6:20p and it was 4p! So we threaded our way to the Hall Of Presidents. The show had just started so we sat outside the Christmas Shop. One guy came by and said, “I wish I was sitting there.” We were in the shade and off our feet. The Hall of Presidents was interesting. The crowd cheered at George Bush began to talk. Very patriotic group. We then wandered into Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land. Very crowded. Peter Pan had a standby line of about 40 minutes. Small World was only 20 minutes but Andy wasn’t buying that. In Tomorrow Land the standby line for Space Mountain was unbelievable! It snaked all the way under the TTA towards The Carousel of Progress. We took a spin on TTA which also had a line (I don’t think I have ever seen a line there before) and we could see that one reason the line outside for Space Mountain was so long was because there was no line inside. They were holding people outside. It was pretty hot out but I guess the AC was not sufficiently cranked up inside to handle so many folk. The whole of TL was pretty crowed too. I would have been nice if CoP and Timekeeper could have been open. Oh well.
We had out picnic supper. I got Caesar salads from Cosmic Ray’s and Andy got a turkey leg and drinks. We found a table next to the Indy Speedway and enjoyed out supper. We do this picnic at least once on every visit. It’s great people watching too. The Indy Speedway was interesting this time. A car stopped and we waited to see how long the line would get before a CM came out of hiding and got the line moving again. There were 8 cars stopped behind this one. Finally a CM showed up. Opened the trunk end and started the car like a lawn mower! One pull and the cars started moving again. After supper we headed back to Liberty Square and to Haunted Mansion. There was the usual milling about crowd clustered at the FP entrance BUT the line was like 10 minutes! Hello!!!! After Haunted Mansion, we started heading out of the park. We managed weave our way thru the shops as the fireworks were starting. I was pooped and so was Andy. We got to the bus and there was a bus waiting. Yeah!!! Instead of getting off at the Swan and walking to the BWI, we rode around, saving our feet and energy. We headed back to the room, watched some of the war coverage on TV and then around 8:30p we headed to Epcot to see RoE. We found a nice spot on the bridge to Mexico and enjoyed the show. We were both surprised that the World was not revolving. Not sure why. We saw the show a couple times during the week and it never did. I sure would not want to be the CM to hand crank that gizmo! No way. I asked one CM about it and she was not aware that it wasn’t working. We also noted that GE is no longer sponsoring it. That’s not a good sign. I don’t remember hearing that they had bowed out. We took our time heading up stream and out of Epcot. We both think out ideal job would be to turn folks upside down as they leave the park, shaking out loose coins.
One of the oddities that occurred this trip was the mysterious “lost objects” on the bridge from BW to Epcot. On Sunday, we found a teen’s backpack, On Monday, we found a child’s sandal and on Wednesday we found a hair scrunchie. Very peculiar. We actually turned in the backpack at Customer Services at the International Gateway. I guess the alien invaders were finished then since we found nothing the rest of the week. But still strange.
Tuesday, March 25
Our usual routine is now in place and by 10a we were on the way out the door. This time it was Disney Studios/MGM. When we hit the boardwalk, there was a boat heading to MGM there. Must have been meant for us to ride it. DS/MGM was packed! Wall to wall. I got a FP for Tower of Terror for three hours later. I secured a PS for Mama Melrose’s for 12:20p and we then just wandered around. We thought about the animation tour but the line was just too long for us. One of the advantages of visiting so often is you know there will be a next time and we just shrug it off and move on. We headed to Muppets and the line was outside. Took a pass on that. We did go into Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream and slowly went through it. We did not stay for the movie since lunchtime was upon us. Mama’s was fine. We shared a salad and I had the calamari appetizer for my main and Andy had a Panini sandwich. Oh we also had wine, of course! As we passed Muppets, there was zero line, so we heading into the show. I love it. As many times as I have seen this, it’s still pretty darn good but I noticed that one section of the wall in the theater was not resetting. Hopefully that’s just a temporary occurrence. Star Tours had only a five-minute wait so I rode that while Andy had a Mickey Ice cream bar. There was a smart-alec teenager sitting behind me who commented on the WHOLE ride. Mostly showing off to his friends who didn’t seem to be paying the kid too much attention. We thought about Indy but that was standing room only so we took a pass on that too. We decided to leave the park then. There was a boat and the dock so we rode back to the Swan and walked from there to the BWI. We never did walk the path. Just too worn out from the colds. We took a nap and then headed to the Yakitori House. I have the tempura shrimp with udon noodle soup. Andy had a combo platter. By the time we sat down to eat, the shrimp had lost all its crispiness. Yech! It was a nice evening so we sat outside. We then walked over to China to see one last time the 360 film. Today was it’s last day before going down for re-hab and a new film. There were only about 15 guests watching the film. That’s sad. I hope the new film is as good as this one. I seem to remember that Canada is going to replace its film too but I have not heard anything about that recently so maybe it’s a victim of the current economic state.
We headed over to Test Track but the single riders line was 45 minutes and they meant it. No way. We headed over to see the exterior of Mission: Space and WOW, is it great looking. I did not have my camera with me so I had to come back later to take photos. The entrance in just beautiful. Large planetary objects. You can see the message boards for the wait times, even single rider. I could not see where you actually got in line. The walls of the entrance appear to have plaques mounted with information about space maybe? We were too far away to tell. We headed back in the World Showcase and on to Norway and Rice Cream. Still very good. I love the creamy texture and the strawberry sauce on top. We then headed to the bridge at Mexico to watch RoE. The earth is still not rotating. Hummm…
Wednesday, March 26
Andy’s cold is worse. Mine is about the same so after our in room breakfast (I noticed that I was able to get a different breakfast pastry every day we were there. No repeats. Is this place great of what?) We headed off for SHOPPING! We try to do a Downtown Disney shopping event midway through out vacations. That way we can see what’s available and if there is something we want we must get in the parks. If we miss something we can stop by on the way home too. We had to hit Publix too. We needed more water. I knew that Goodie’s was expensive but a gallon of spring water there was $1.45 vs. $.75 at Publix. Never again… We got a couple of gifts items, T-shirts, a really cool fridge magnet that’s a 3D image of the parks arranged in the Mickey Icon. Also got a key ring with same image but it’s not 3D. I also had a brainstorm. We got the poster of Mickey in front of the flag, got a frame to fit it. We were going to take the poster and get Mickey to sign it. We headed to Puck’s for lunch, indoors. Andy had a Reuben and excellent French fries and I had the chicken Caesar and we shared the warm chocolate soufflé for dessert. I had to save room for that treat. It’s such a deep dense chocolate flavor. Of course, after lunch we headed back to the BWI (I started to wonder how were going to get all the purchases home. The trunk was pretty full.) After our lie down, we headed by boat to MGM. Andy had never seen Voyage of the Mermaid so we got FPs for that and headed to Rosie’s on Sunset Blvd for a quick dinner. We sat watching the crowds swim up and down the street. They were heading to Fantasmic! And we decided that we were not doing Fantasmic! This time. I don’t think that Andy was overly impressed with VoM. Especially when they misted the audience. I think we will skip that one until we have little ones with us. Once we got out of VoM we sat in the center hub and watched the world go by. We finally pulled ourselves to our weary feet and headed out. There was no boat at the dock but we were just too tired to walk so we waited a long time.
Thursday, March 24
Today is the big day! I am going to see Mickey and get him to sign my poster. When we got to the MK, he was signing in Town Square and there was quite a line of families waiting in the sun. I checked the Times Guide and saw that he would be signing at his home in Toon Town too so we headed that way. It was a short wait in the air conditioning and we were ushered into out own private greeting room with Mickey. OK there were about 12 of us in there but it was private. He was a very gracious and signed my poster. We got our picture taken with him too but alas we did not get it. I went into Exposition Hall but the line was just too discouraging to me. I thought it would be nice to have real documentation in case people accused me of signing it myself or, perhaps that it was pre-signed. Most of my friends would know it’s real… We put the signed poster in Andy’s backpack (I want to comment on this backpack. We picked it up at Wal-Mart in the fall for 4 bucks. It’s a mesh bag and very light. The security guards loved it. One guard commented that it was his favorite color, clear! We had ponchos and other stuff in zip lock bags so if it does rain we can get still get dry.) We took the train around twice and finally got off in Adventure Land. The park was packed. We know to weave out way along the water front path and managed to avoid most of the stroller brigade. Did see a couple of Ibises wrestling with a turkey leg. We had lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus. I think the chicken salad there is one of the great cheap meals in the whole of WDW. It’s mixed greens, grilled chicken, and peaches, light cheese and very light vinaigrette. It’s a big serving and very filling. After lunch, back to the hotel for our daily rest. The skies were darkening and you could tell that a storm was a brewing. Andy needed a little more flat on his back time so I went over to Epcot and took photos of Mission: Space. There were others there with the same idea but I was able to take the photos without getting too many people in the shots. I thought I would take a crack at TT again but the CM said the Single Rider wait is ½ the wait time of Standby. I went and rode Space Ship Earth instead. I did ask to not get seated with the teenagers just ahead of me. The CM was very kind to me. I headed back to BWI, as the skies got darker and darker. I took photos just to use of film on the camera. We are investigating getting a digital camera and so far all we have found are a lot of choices. The storm started after I got back to the room. We headed over to Jiko’s for dinner. We were a bit early so we looked at the animals on the various savannahs. Our dinner was wonderful! Nasser was our server and he’s just great. We shared the Kalamata and four-cheese flatbread. Andy got the Monkfish and I got the Lamb Shank. Even with the colds, this was very tasty. It was enough for three people. I hated not taking it back with me to the hotel but I had nothing to keep it in. We each had a glass of Pinotage. For dessert, we shared the chocolate banana bread pudding. I had to fend Andy off with my fork to get any of it! We did meet an interesting couple from New York who had finagled Florida Resident AP and DDE card. Told us exactly how to do it. They have a bunch of DVC points too so they are down for three weeks every year. Since I have to look at me every morning in the mirror, I don’t think we will try this scheme. Very inventive way of dodging the rules. We got back to BWI and then had to go back to AKL. Andy’s hat had decided to stay at Jiko’s and he went back to claim it. When we got back the second time, the storm hit big time. It was so vigorous, that you could barely hear RoE.
Friday, March 25
Back to Publix for more water. We are both drinking it by the quart. I had picked up a six-pack of Zephyrhills Spring Water and we were refilling them. Andy does not like the taste of Danasi and the bottle don’t sit well with the rounded bottoms and by refilling our bottles we saved a bit of money. Today was Epcot day. We wandered at our usual leisurely pace and went the Land first. Got the tour guide who must have had my cold ‘cause he was doing every thing is slooooow motion. Sometimes we get the woman who takes one breath at the start and never takes another one but at least she’s entertaining. I noticed some new vegetables but the guide did not explain anything about them or much of anything else. We headed to Le Cellier in Canada for lunch. I think I had eaten there once when it was a buffeteria and since we had heard so many wonderful things about it, we wanted to try. We shared a small bowl of the wonderful cheese soup. I can understand how Sue makes a meal of it and a glass of wine and of course the pretzel bread. Andy had the prime rib sandwich and I had the warm veggie salad. I loved it. It’s hit the spot and I snitched a bit of Andy’s prime rib, for quality control reasons of course. I think this place is on the do-over list.
We headed over to Test Track. The Single Rider Line was 15 minutes so I got my pass and headed in. I got to the head of the line immediately. I was behind a dad and his son who was about six. We were let into the empty queue for the single rider briefing room. Not a problem. But as our queue filled I noticed the “Dad” and the son looking at the dummy heads in the cage and then it dawned on me what he was doing. He had gone around the holding rope and was maneuvering himself into the Standby line! So I stared at him, hard. The kid kept looking back at the single rider line but when they opened the briefing room, the “Dad” took the kid by the hand. The kid dropped his orange single rider card and into the briefing room they went! Nice trick, Dad. A TT manager came over after the doors closed and picked up the orange card. Nice lesson to teach a kid but it gets better. After TT, I got Andy and we went over to Universe of Energy. We were standing in the back, finishing a Mickey Bar when in walks BAD DAD with the kid. They sit down and Dad immediately gets out his cell phone pager combo and starts frantically punching in text. But it doesn’t work since UoE is like a metal cage. During the Ellen film, he walks out since this is very important. When the film is over, the kid starts to panic. He’s crying and finally BAD DAD comes back in. I am still staring at him. Why should I stop now? He’s trying to calm the kid down and once we are all seated in out cars, he finally forces the kid to high five him. Then he goes back to the cell phone pager. I continue to stare. I was amazed at his performance. Taught the kids how to cheat and feel abandoned in less than 30 minutes. We did not see him again the rest of the vacation, thankfully. He’s a real role model. NOT.
We headed to Space Ship Earth and had a nice rest and then it was back to the room for some more rest. We took time out every afternoon to rest. The colds called for it. We headed to Beaches and Cream for supper. There was not crowd there at all. We watched one family of three adults and two kids try to get through a Kitchen Sink but their hearts just were not in it. I think they got less than half way through it. The Dad finally ordered French Fries and called it a day. Andy had a burger and a Chocolate chocolate shake and I had a veggie burger and sampling rights to the shake. On the beach, there was a private reception going on and a karaoke kind of arrangement. He played a guitar and no one was paying him the slightest mind. Seems like a waste to me. We entered Epcot and headed to Mission: Space for some twilight photos. We watched the Future World fountain for almost an hour. It was a very pleasant night out and there were lots of folks heading into World Showcase. We headed to China since I wanted to pick up some of their decaf green tea to try and I wanted a Bubble QQ Tea! It’s your basic iced Chai Tea with black pearl tapioca on the bottom. I had read about a restaurant that serves bubble tea in Atlanta and I was eager to try it. I loved it! Lots of fun trying to gather up the tapioca pearls with the straw thingie. I did not see anyone else with one so it might be an acquired taste. It’s sweet and very refreshing. We headed to the bridge between France and the United Kingdom to watch RoE and to see if the world was revolving yet. It was not. Too bad. The show is great and I guess if you didn’t know the earth was supposed to revolve it would not bother you but it bothered me. Seems to take a dimension away from the presentation.
Saturday, March 29
We decided to head to MGM today. We just missed a boat so we picked up the walking speed a bit and beat it to the Swan dock. The place was jumping today too. We headed to Tower Of Terror so I could get a Fast Pass and then headed to the back of the park. We went back into One Man’s Dream to see the film. I really like the history part of the film. I have some old slides of Disneyland that my grandparents took right after it opened and I love looking at them. We got in line for the Backlot Tour. Had to wait thru two cycles but it was in the shade. The tour is so consistent that I start listening for differences in the script that the tour guides use. I was pretty stunned at the lack of work in the production buildings. Usually there are some projects they are painted or fixing but nothing this time. Except for some new trashcans. We left the park and took the boat to the Swan and I picked up sandwiches at the Bakery and an éclair. I got the chicken salad sandwich and it was pretty darn good. Lots of big chunks of chicken. We left the room and walked through Epcot to the Monorail. Tonight the MK was having Spectromagic and I wanted to see that. So did a whole lot of other guests. When we got to the Ticket and Transportation Center, there was a ferry waiting so we took that to the Magic Kingdom. Combined with the bus trip back, we hit every form of transportation that WDW has to offer today. The new security kiosks were open on the monorail side so we schlepped over there and were quickly in the park. We did nothing special at all. I got a FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then we walked the long way, through Fantasy Land, to ride the TTA then back through Fantasy Land to have supper at Columbia House. It was loud and not very good. I have read reports about how much folks like this place but to me it’s your basic chicken finger place. We would have been better off at Pinocchio’s with the salad and fries. I got in line for my ride on BTMRR. A woman was in line with her daughter and commented on the lack of a standby line. I pointed out the wall and that the standby folks were on the other side of it. It did look like there was no line but they were all over there. We headed back to find a spot to watch the parade. We perched over by the silhouette artists where we could stand on the brickwork and see over heads. It was a very good spot. We didn’t have to stand until the parade got close to us. There was a family with an infant standing in front of us and I think they were on burn out. The Mom was clearly at the end of her control leash. I think she wanted to do every thing and was running out of time and energy. Her husband just stayed clear of her. Good idea! After the parade we headed back out and almost made it out before the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks started. We were not alone in the Boardwalk, etc bus line. There were two families with big strollers immediately ahead of us. I was more than willing to wait. One family had a single and a double stroller. Grandma was helping but she could not get the double stroller collapsed and the Mom had to do that one it. It’s amazing how easily they fold if you know where the magic button is. Back at the Boardwalk, we got coffee and a sweetie and settled into packing for the trip home. Tomorrow we make the journey North again.
Sunday, March 30
So today we go home. I went down to the Boardwalk Bakery for our last breakfast and to pick up our spare cinnamon Yummies and chocolate chip muffins. I put them in zip locks and freeze them so I always have a little bit of WDW at home. We headed to Disney Marketplace and picked up a Mickey Mouse desk lamp. My desk lamp died so we thought it would be a good replacement. No AP discount available. We checked at World of Disney but they did not have any there so the Home Store was the only outlet. It seems like they are moving merchandise around so that items are only available in one shop. We packed up and repacked the trunk of the car. Amazingly, it did not all fit. So some of the new stuff got to ride home in the back seat. We headed to Animal Kingdom for a spin on the Safari. The standby line said 10 minutes so we got FPs and got in line only to stop about 10 feet inside. We came right back out and I mentioned to the CM that the line had halted. He thought it was because of the stroller parking lot but we decided to sit it out. We got seats by the Harambe bar, out of the rain, and watched folks trudge around in the rain. It got kind of heavy too at times. Finally it was our turn and it was a great safari. There was a young giraffe crossing the road right ahead of us. That was cool and we saw a White Rhino in a different spot than usual and one of the Cheetah’s was actually walking! The only times we had ever seen them was laying down way in the back. After the safari it was time to head on up the road. We stopped and picked up a couple turkey legs for home and that was it. The rain was really coming down heavily now. We pulled into the driveway at 8pm. It looked like Illinois was heading back home. Lots of license plates from there. Traffic wasn’t too heavy but heading south seemed heavier. Lots of happy people heading to WDW on Spring Break. Good for stockholders.
We had a very nice time. Our colds are mostly gone now. The crowds were pretty heavy at the start of our week but dropped off considerably by Friday. The engineer at BWI said that they were not as booked for the next week. We moved at a leisurely pace and still after a week there were things we did not get to do like see but there is always next time. Which looks like maybe a very short trip at the end of June and another week in early September.
Thanks for reading.
Lisa Cubbon
cubbon@bellsouth.net
|
