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Mark L. Fendrick -- December 2003 -- Walt Disney World (PORR/PCR)Dates: More photos from this trip can be seen at: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=8v5l1ur.blz0m45z&x=0&y=n98pwb PrologueThe calendar this year gave us an unusual opportunity. With New Year's Day on a Thursday, we knew that the NYC schools would not reopen until Monday, January 5, making for a long vacation opportunity. Even my work situation allowed me to use a few vacation days to make for an extended vacation. I wasn't sure exactly when we could get away, so I played it safe and made our first reservation to start on December 26. When we found out the exact NYC Department of Education vacation schedule, we realized that we could leave a day sooner than planned. No problem, we would have a very easy trip down, and stay one night on 192 before checking in to Port Orleans, Riverside on the 26th. However, though we don't generally have a gift exchange for Channukah, Iris treated us to an additional night at POR. starting on December 25. We would have to technically check out and check back in to the same room ... but we would not have to physically move. Yet it all seemed as if it would become a moot point, when on Monday, 2 days before we were to leave, I was coming down the stairs to answer the doorbell when I felt something pop in my leg. Right away I knew it was my achilles tendon, and could barely walk ... and that on my toe! I have had this happen once before so began treating it right away, hoping that I would be able to drive when the time came. While my wife would share the driving with me if necessary, I couldn't ask her to make the entire drive herself. I got into bed and hoped that I could at least get down there and if necessary get a wheelchair or ECV. In the best of worlds, even the drive down there would be enough to allow me to walk through the parks. Only time would tell. The next day I was able to get around, including driving, although walking was still with a bad limp and a lot of pain. But I knew now that driving itself would not be a problem. All was now ready, including my newly installed XM Satellite radio which should give us plenty of choices for the entire trip without bringing along so many of our CD's or having to find a new station every 20 minutes or so. Day –1 (December 24)Out of the door and on the road at 7:00 AM right on schedule. There is a rainstorm in the Northeast, but this is better than a snowstorm which is always possible this time of year. The goal today is about 700 miles (the trip is 1100 miles in total) which should put us somewhere in South Carolina. Despite the weather and some traffic in northern Virginia, we stop at 9:30 PM - 739 miles into the trip. Day 0 (December 25)No need for a very early start today, but we are on the road again by 9:00 AM. Iris gets off from work at 2:30 PM today and the reservation at POR is in her name - although if we get there very early my name was on the reservation as well so I could check in and meet her in the room. (She already knew the room number and would be able to check to see if we had checked in before she left work. A colleague of hers who is currently deployed to POR had assigned us a room with a beautiful garden view. When Iris's General Manager found out we were coming down again, he made sure we had been assigned a nice room as well.) As it was we called Iris from the POR parking lot 10 minutes before she was finished working, and called her to tell her we would meet her in the POR lobby. We checked in and went to the room to unpack. At that point Sandy took a nap, and Iris had to go home and get her suitcase for the week. I took this opportunity to run over to Animal Kingdom to exchange my AP voucher for my AP. (While there I went in for a moment to get a chocolate covered banana and watch the parade.) I returned to the room and once Iris got back we went to the food court for dinner. After that a return to the room to get ready for the week to come. Day 1 (December 26)We start this day by heading over to the lobby to check in to our room once again. That done we had breakfast at the food court and then off to Animal Kingdom ... this time to enjoy the park, unlike my quick visit the afternoon before. A quick test of my leg showed that at least so far it would hold up. If I went uphill or downhill I felt the strain, but for the most part I felt I could get by without a chair - powered or not. We arrived at AK and headed back to get fastpasses for the safari. The way the timing worked out we would be able to get a fastpass for Dinosaur and see Flights of Wonder before our Safari Fastpass. (There were glitches on the times to get a second fastpass throughout the week and we took advantage of that.)
From there we headed back to Harambe and the safari
Then the fastpasses for Dinosaur became valid and we headed back over there for our ride.
From here we decided to get some lunch at Tusker House and then see It's Tough to be a Bug. We dodge the parade to get back to the Theater in the Wild next to see Tarzan Rocks before heading out of the park, an hour before the 7:00 PM closing.
We then headed back to Port Orleans and decided to take the boat to Downtown Disney Marketplace where we would have dinner and Sandy could buy a few souvenirs for colleagues. We decided to have dinner at Captain Jacks this evening. During dinner it got quite a bit colder and since we took the boat, rather than a bus, back to POR, we were freezing by the time we got there. Day 2 (December 27)Iris is working today, and although she is due in at 2:00 PM, she decides to sleep in while we head out to Disney/MGM ... Sandy's favorite park. Last time, in November, when she was there, she was completely involved in Super Soap Weekend so she really didn't get to do any of the usual park stuff. We would do that this trip. Still, we don't get up to get to the park when it opens, no real need for that. We get up around 9:00 AM and by the time we get there, it is about 11:00 AM. A quick breakfast at Starring Rolls and we head back towards The Making of The Haunted Mansion Movie. Iris and I saw this in November, but Sandy had not, and since we had seen the movie in the time since the last trip, Sandy wanted to see the set. At first we were going to get Fastpasses for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It!, but since the return time was immediately, and we were not ready to go in, we waited until we were finished. After going through the set and seeing the movie, we got our Fastpasses for the next show and decided to go on the backlot tram tour and see how it has changed since residential street was removed for the stunt show which is to come.
Finishing the tram tour, it is just about time to return to Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Play It! In the past, Bobby has made the hot seat (after his 3 year stint as a cast member) as had I. Iris was required to turn it down on occasion, but Sandy had only come as close as third place in the past. The first contestant was a fellow who was a regular, and had been trying for years to hit the million point plateau ... now worth a Disney Cruise. When he reached the 1000 point level and they showed the high score board, Sandy was in 7th place and I was in 8th. But when he missed on the 32,000 point question I was in 2nd place, and there ... on top of the list ... was Sandy. All excited, she found her way down to the hot seat, and soon realized just how nerve wracking it can get there. At one point I thought she would lose it on the question; "What relation is your mother's son to you?" (Sandy is an only child and had to think hard about that one.) She handles herself very well through some hard questions and some a bit easier. She passes the 1000 point plateau and gets her pins and baseball cap.
Then she gets to the 32,000 point question ... the place where I lost on a question I knew very well when I though too much. Turns out the same thing happens to Sandy and she leaves with her 1000 point prizes, just as I did a few years ago. Leaving the show, we go back to the stand-by line for the next show, but this time, although I find myself in first place one question before the hot seat occupant gets his question wrong, the show ends there and even if I had stayed in first place (I didn't) I would not have gotten to play. Sandy, of course, is ineligible for the hot seat for another 30 days. From there we head to One Man's Dream, an exhibit which we both have seen a number of times, but still enjoy walking through.
We spent the rest of the day doing all the things you would expect at Disney/MGM including The Great Movie Ride, The Muppets 3-D, Voyage of The Little Mermaid, and had dinner at the Sci-Fi Drive In before heading back to our room where we would meet Iris at the end of the day. We did check out the new animation tour in the building with animators, and both Sandy and I got a bit annoyed when at one point, in trying to explain why there are no actual animators working in the building, it is explained that they are very tired from working so hard on their last two projects that they are on hiatus so they can spend some time with their families. Yeah, right!!! Day 3 (December 28)Iris is off again today, and Epcot is our planned activity for the day. We have a dinner package for the Candlelight Processional (why can't Jews enjoy the beautiful music of Christmas?) and we want to ride Mission:Space. Ideally we would be able to do that at the end of the day so that if Sandy and/or I get sick from the ride we wouldn't lose the day. Iris had ridden it when it first opened, but we didn't get a chance when we were there in November. We went back to get our fastpasses for M:S at noon, and found, ideally for us, that they would be good in the 9:12 - 10:12 PM hour. Amazingly, although the park closed at 9:30 PM, Mission:Space and Test Track would be open until 10:30 PM! We had breakfast at The Land and then saw Food Rocks for what will be the last time, since it will be closing in a few days to become the entrance to the new Soaring attraction which is now being built between The Land and Imagination. We go see our old friend Figment and then a trip through Spaceship Earth before heading over to World Showcase where we would see the second Candlelight Processional of the evening. The narrator tonight, as he was the last time we saw the show a few years ago, was Gary Sinese. Even though we are not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas, we enjoy the music and singing along with the orchestra. As always, Voices of Liberty lend their amazing voices to the show. But first, we travel around a bit, watching the Christmas around the world presentation.
At last, it was time for the Candlelight Processional.
When over, we go to the Biergarten at Germany for the dinner portion of our package. Less than an hour later, it was time to ride Mission:Space - with our host, Gary Sinese of course! Because of the late hour, with our Fastpasses we walk right up and into the simulator. I have to admit that the feeling was amazingly realistic! And, although I knew we were spinning, I never had the sensation of doing so ... but I did find myself getting badly disoriented and experienced a slight nausea. Sandy mentioned about the same feelings. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Be sure to follow advise about keeping well hydrated before riding and not closing your eyes or looking to the side, and you should be fine. It is an amazing experience that you should try at least once. With the park now closed, we headed back to the room. Day 4 (January 29)Iris sleeps in once again before going to work, and Sandy and I decide on an easy day ourselves. Plans call for us to meet her at 7:30 PM at Shutters at Old Port Royale for dinner once she is finished for the day. Since there is a boat from POR to Downtown Disney we decide to ride it rather than the bus as we are in absolutely no hurry today. As it is we must have just missed a boat, and at this time of day they run once every hour. No problem, we sit at the pier watching the birds and enjoying the wonderful weather we are having. I realize at this point that I have left my cell phone in the room. Sandy calls both Iris and Bobby (back at home) to let them know to call her cell phone if necessary. The boat arrives at the Marketplace and Sandy goes to find a place to get some coffee while I sit and continue to chill out and vegetate as much as possible this day. Sandy actually wants to look through the stores on the West Side so we start heading in that direction, trying to decide where to have lunch as it is already past noon and we don't want to eat too late if we will be meeting Iris for dinner. As we pass the Fulton Crab House we check the menu and decide that this will do fine for lunch - and although we don't have Iris with us for her discount, we can get an AP discount for lunch here. Needless to say it was a fine meal which we both enjoyed. We head to the West Side after lunch while Sandy does her shopping, and I check out the magic shop (I used to perform magic for a long time and love watching others perform so I can learn from their performance. I nearly replaced some of my older props, but decide not to at this time.) I check out a few more shops before taking a seat in front of The House of Blues and simply relaxing until it is time to meet again. Although it is still a while to wait until we meet Iris, we decide to head directly to CBR and sit by the pool bar and have a drink while we wait for her. While we are sitting there, Sandy's phone rings and it is Iris. She has just now gotten Sandy's earlier message about me not having my phone, which is where she left me a voice mail to let us know that she would be working late and that she would call us when she was going to finish. We told her that it was no problem and that we would wait the extra hour she figured she would work (she had to finish reclassifying in the computer all the rooms which were going to be "preferred" starting in a day or two.) She wasn't sure exactly how long she would be staying so she came back to the pool to meet us so we could drive her back to the Custom's House from where we would then take her car back to POR. When she finished work she would call us and we would pick her up and decide what we wanted to do for dinner. As it turned out, when we picked her up we decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner. Day 5 (December 30)Today Iris is back with us again and we are heading out to Universal Studios Florida (as opposed to Islands of Adventure). We expect crowds, but these are the longest lines we see all week. Part of the reason for that is the way Universal uses their version of fastpass, express pass. All of the guests at their resorts can show their room keys to use as express passes, and then anyone can buy (for an additional fee) an express pass plus which is an express pass valid for all of the attractions - once each. That has the effect of making multi-classes of guests in the park as well as causing the smaller amount of express passes available to the average guest, and making for unusually long stand-by lines. In fact, the average line this day was over 2 hours long! Because of this, and since all the express passes were distributed very early, we never got to do the two new attractions, Shreck 3-D and Jimmy Neutron. We did manage to ride Men in Black, Back to the Future, Terminator, and Earthquake.
Towards evening we watched the Macy's Parade (a hometown event for us, especially the time we watched it from an office right on Herald Square - but that's another story for another time).
We also managed to catch an Animal Planet Live show.
For dinner we decided to try Lombard's Landing - a sit down restaurant in the San Francisco section of the park. We had never eaten there before, but we certainly weren't disappointed. We were seated outside in the back where it was very restful and we enjoyed our meal. We had hoped that by the time we had finished eating that some of the lines might be smaller - they weren't, so we decided to head out of the park. Originally we were going to stop by Pat O'brien's for a drink (or two as it was Two for Tuesday) and check out Iris's picture on the wall (what a life she has!), but we decided that we just wanted to get back to the room and relax to get ready for the next day - New Year's Eve - which we knew was going to be a very busy day. Day 6 (December 31)This is it ... the day folks start planning for midnight from the moment they wake up. New Year's Eve! This will only be the second time that we will be in WDW for this event ... at least for Sandy and me. Once before, when the kids were younger, we welcomed the New Year (mid 1990's?) from the Magic Kingdom. Often, we found ourselves on the way home on this date ... often spending New Year's Eve in a motel in Georgia - watching home (Times Square) and where we were coming from (WDW) with Dick Clark. In 1999/2000, Bobby was a CP in the Haunted Mansion, and when the attraction closed to guests for 40 minutes for the millenium New Year's Eve (I know, I know that would be next year ...) being the low man on the totem pole as far as seniority goes, Bobby spent the stroke of midnight alone inside the mansion ... watching empty (?) doom buggies pass in parade. The next year, both Bobby and Iris were working in WDW, and both were able to celebrate together. In the days we are home in NYC for this evening, we get some good NY kosher deli for the evening as we watch the celebration from nearby Times Square. (I did that once ... 1969/1970) To bring some of the old tradition to Iris, I arranged for Katz's Deli in NYC to overnight the necessary deli, knishes, noodle pudding, rye bread, deli mustard and of course sour pickles to Iris at the Caribbean Beach Resort, where she would be able to share our tradition with her fellow CM's and Sandy and I would get our deli fix as well. I made the call earlier in the week from Epcot, and when Iris arrived at work today, the box was there waiting for her. It was wonderful!!!
As for Sandy and me ... well I would have been happy to take a boat out and simply relax until we were to meet Iris later in the day, but Sandy wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom since we hadn't been there yet this trip. We knew that it would be a very crowded day, but we knew that we weren't going to stay until midnight, but ring in the new year from the Polynesian Resort, drink in hand, watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks. We arrived at The Magic Kingdom and took a while to look at some of the 75 Mickey Mouse statues representing the mouse's 75th birthday.
Tomorrow we will have the time to look at them more closely, but we head towards the entrance now. As usual, we head towards the Haunted Mansion, but when we get there we are amazed at the size of the queue ... outside of the mansion gates, down to the water and back up towards the Paddlewheeler entrance! We take Fastpasses and return just a bit later. Unfortunately, a young man with a new (?) digital camera is taking flash pictures all through the attraction - from the moment he entered the foyer until the unload area. Not only was he taking a picture or two in each room, but snapping them as fast as his flash could recycle. It is amazing how some people feel that the rules don't apply to them. From there we head into Fantasyland and once again marvel at the lines ... 70 minutes to 120 minutes were not unusual. Even the queue for It's a Small World overflows its boundaries. We decide to do the attractions that usually have no lines, and start with the Tomorrowland Transit - the People Mover to us oldies. There is even a short line here, but not anything to speak of. We get our Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and then go into Timekeeper, and attraction we had not seen in years, since it had not been open most of the time. But now that Alien Encounter is closed to be converted into a Stitch Encounter, both Timekeeper and Carousel of Progress are opened. We do both. In the meanwhile Sandy gets a Turkey Leg as lunch, as most of the eating places are just too crowded. After we are finished here we head over towards The Country Bear Jamboree which is now running the holiday show. From there, we cross over into Adventureland where we pick up a few egg rolls and sit down at a table near one of my favorite treats ... yes it is time for a couple of Dole Whips!!! We next decide to ride the train once around the park before we decide what to do next. When the train rolled into Mickey's Toontown Fair, we noticed them starting to give out New Year's Eve hats and noisemakers, so we get off to get ours. Can you imagine what an overstuffed Magic Kingdom sounds like with free noisemakers being given out? Well, you get the idea. Next stop is the Tomorrowland Theater where we catch a performance of Mickey's "The Night Before Christmas".
Next it is on to Main Street and a seat on the Exposition Hall porch to watch SpectroMagic! Then it is time for our Buzz Lightyear Fastpass and enogh time to head to The Hub to watch Wishes.
We decide that now would be the time to head out of the park and over to the Polynesian. There was still a while until we would meet Iris, but we could grab a bite to eat at Kona Cafe while we waited. However, it seemed as if the whole world was pouring into the Magic Kingdom and it was impossible to walk towards the exit down Main Street. A backstage exit was arranged, but with the flow of humanity, we couldn't reach that either, so we stuck with the CM's who were trying to establish a two way flow on Main Street. It was at this point that a remote controlled camera on a boom swung in front of us with its red light on. We usually are watching the Dick Clark New Year's Eve show with its reports from Times Square and WDW ... well we were now the report from WDW so we did our best to wave as we continued to make like salmon and swim upstream. We eventually make our way out and take the resort monorail to the Polynesian, where we have supper at the Kona Cafe and then meet Iris for a drink while we watch the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom, before heading back to POR for the night. Day 7 (January 1)New Year's Day and Iris is with us again. We decide to try the Magic Kingdom again since it could not possibly be as crowded as it was the day before. It wasn't, but that is not to say that it wasn't very crowded. In fact I did something I had not done since visiting Disneyland in 1969 ... spend a day in a Magic Kingdom without riding the Haunted Mansion. The line was so long that it rivaled the previous day. We started off by getting Fastpasses for Mickey's Philharmagic. We had done this the last time we were here, in November, and really did want to see it again. From there we decided to see how long a walk-up of 3 would be at Liberty Tree. We were told it would be 40 - 50 minutes which was fine with us, so we got comfortable and waited. We had always eaten here for the character dinner (as adults ... never with young children) but this would be the first time we ate here for lunch. It was all we had hoped it would be and we enjoyed a good lunch. The day went relatively similarly to the previous, without the oppressive crowds, just the normal extremely large ones. At the end of the day we had dinner at the Plaza Pavilion, a traditional last meal stop for us and a favorite of Iris's. We got there early enough to get good seats to watch Wishes from as well. Once over, we headed back to the room. Day 8 (January 2)We would check out of POR this morning, drive over to Pop Century and check in.
(Don't forget - more photos at: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=8v5l1ur.blz0m45z&x=0&y=n98pwb) We have lunch at Pop's food court and then Iris heads to work and Sandy and I head back to The Disney/MGM Studios for our last visit of this trip. By this time of the trip, however, we are starting to feel exhausted, so we make it a rather short day and head back to Pop where we can relax and prepare for the beginning of the trip home in the morning. Packing had already been done at POR and we just brought our "on the road" overnight into the room with us so getting out in the AM would be easy. Days 9 and 10 (January 3 and 4)Iris has to be at work at 8:00 AM this day and we want to be on the road at the same time, so we are up early and having breakfast in the food court for the last time. We say our goodbyes there as Iris heads to work and we shortly get on the road to NY. We make it to Peterson, VA for our overnight and then arrive at home about 3:00 PM on Sunday ... another trip but a memory. Ordinarily I would be talking about returning in February, but the workload in my office looks as if that will not be a possibility this year, so instead we are considering a 7 day Disney cruise during the summer. Stay tuned ... Mark L. Fendrick MarkLF@si.rr.com Mail a Comment to Mark Fendrick |
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