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Lori Vonachen -- July 2003 -- Walt Disney World (BCV)

Dates of Travel: July 25 to August 2, 2003

Weather: Low 90s every day but pleasant at night (70s). HUMID!! Thunderstormed 6 days out of 8 but only for an hour or two or three.

Participants

• Lori Vonachen (50), Trip Planner Extraordinary (self named)
• Tim Vonachen (15), son of Lori
• Keith Frymark (15), friend of Tim
• Steve Cunniff (40), brother of Lori
• Laura Cunniff (37), wife of Steve
• Danielle Cunniff (9), daughter of S & L
• Chase Cunniff (5), son of S & L

Travelling from Madison, Wisconsin (the Cunniffs) and from LaGrange, IL (the rest)

Planning: We began planning a year in advance by trying to make our hotel reservations. We wanted to stay at the Beach Club Villas but couldn’t get reservations there that far in advance. I made our reservations for 2 rooms at the Beach Club hoping to snag a villa later. I kept calling every week or so and finally was able to get the 2 bedroom villa that we wanted. Yes!

Next came the airline tickets. After several days of checking prices and flight times for several different airlines, we finally decided on Southwest for cost and convenience. We were to fly out at 6:30 am on July 25th and return on August 2nd at 4:50pm. We wanted to have most of the day on Friday to swim and relax, so our departure flight was a good choice. It was also non-stop, which is a requirement. The return trip turned out to be a bit of a mistake because, although we wanted to return late in the day, we didn’t take into account the summertime late afternoon thunderstorms and were delayed 1 ½ hours. Better to leave earlier or later. This also was a non-stop flight.

I made our van reservation right after the airline reservations and was able to get a great deal with Budget. I joined their Perfect Drive Program, got a discount and a $20.00 off coupon and didn’t have to wait in line to pick-up our car. It’s great – I highly recommend it.

Next came the meal reservations and the Illuminations Cruise reservation. We made all of the reservations on the exact day either 120, 90 or 60 days ahead. We was able to get pretty much what we wanted, including the Cinderella’s Royal Table Breakfast. For the Illuminations Cruise, I started dialing at 6:57am Orlando time. Laura helped with Cinderella reservations, because I wasn’t available to call on that day. We didn’t always get the exact times we wanted and for a couple of reservations we were told we might not be able to sit together (this didn’t end up happening).

About a month ahead of time, I bought our 5 day Park Hopper Passes and our tickets to Sea World (a great park). We are ready.

Thursday, July 24
Steve, Laura and the kids have to drive to Chicago from Madison, WI. They work all day so don’t arrive until about 9:00pm. Keith’s mom drops him off at almost the exact same time. He lives only a few blocks away from us but since we need to get up at 3:30am, he’s spending the night. To bed, to bed!

Friday, July 25
Laura and I are up at 3:30. Coffee, toast and shower. Everything’s packed and sitting by the front door. The limo is picking us up at 4:30. The rest of the sleepyheads get up at 4 (Steve and the kids) or 4:15 (the teenage boys who refused to go to bed before 11:30pm. I warned them!) The limo is on time and we’re on our sleepy way. We get through Midway Airport with no glitches or lines to speak of. Plane boards and leaves on time. We were eligible for pre-boarding because of Chase (yea, Chase) so we didn’t have to wrestle for seats together (the one drawback to Southwest). Great flight and we’re in Orlando by 9:50am (a little early). Pick up luggage, it’s first off? And pick up car. We arrive at the Beach Club at about 11:00am and MIRACLE, our villa is ready. We really didn’t expect this and came prepared with our suits and sunscreen in our carry-ons. Our villa is on the second floor facing Epcot; great for watching the Illuminations fireworks. The villa is perfect for us. Two bedrooms: a Master Suite for Steve and Laura – a king bed, a Jacuzzi tub and separate shower and a bedroom for Lori with a queen bed and a double sofa bed for Danielle and Chase. Yes, I get the kids. This room also has a full bath. There’s a small fully equipped kitchen and a living room with a queen sofa bed for the teenagers (so they can stay up as late as they want, watching TV). We also have a triple balcony. Cool! We unpack and the kids and Steve get ready to go to the pool. Laura and I go to Publix for supplies. We buy breakfast and lunch food, snacks, drinks and WINE. Unloading groceries from the parking lot is no fun but we manage. After everything’s put away, we go down to the pool to get the gang for lunch. Everyone eats but not too much because we have dinner reservations at Spoodles on the Boardwalk at 6:00pm. Short naps are taken (we did get up before dawn). At 5:45, we’re ready to go to dinner. The sky is threatening and it begins to rain just as we’re walking up to the restaurant. This is sad because our Illuminations Cruise is set for tonight and we don’t get to go if it’s lightning. We’re supposed to meet Jeff, our captain, at 8:00pm in front of the Boardwalk pier. He told us on the phone earlier, that last night’s cruise had been cancelled due to weather. Dinner at Spoodles was fabulous. I had the Stuffed Spanish Peppers which was roasted vegies with chickpeas, grain pilaf, tomato, almonds and onion topped with manchego cheese. Steve and Laura both had the Rigatoni Pasta with Italian Sausage, tomato and portabella mushrooms. The kids had Mickey pasta and chicken fingers. We then ordered the Dessert Tower where you pick 3 desserts to share. We picked the Crème Bruee, apple crisp and chocolate ice cream? (the kids and Laura wanted that). Delish! Dinner’s over and it’s still lightning. We meet with Captain Jeff and he has to cancel the cruise. BooHoo! He’ll call us if he gets a cancellation later in the week (this never happens). Next time, I’ll make 2 reservations and maybe have a better chance, especially during the summer. Home to watch the Epcot fireworks from our balcony and to bed. The kids are exhausted.

Saturday, July 26th
Up at 6:15am for Lori and Laura – the rest got up at later times but before leaving the room at 7:15am for Early Entry at MGM.

Note: This is our modis operendi for the week. We hit every early entry for the different parks, come back to the hotel around 1:00pm for a swim/nap and then back to a different park for late afternoon and evening. We relied on the Unofficial Guide for our touring plans though definitely not in a commando way and on Fastpasses. This combination worked very well for us – we never had crabby kids or adults and we never waited in line for more than 20 minutes (remember, this is summer and very crowded).

We took the boat to MGM and arrived at about 7:30am. Perfect timing! First up was Tower of Terror. We all rode and loved it except for the kids, who were a little scared – not a lot. Then we went for Fastpasses for Rock N’ Roller Coaster. Off to MuppetVision 4D. The kids were a little nervous about the 3D. They kept taking the glasses on and off. Went back to Rock N’ Roller and we all rode except for Chase who was too short. Got Fastpasses for Little Mermaid and in the meantime rode Star Tours. Everyone liked it but the kids loved it (maybe a favorite for the trip). Chase thought he was really in space – so cute. Back to Mermaid. Steve and the teenagers weren’t thrilled about going but ended up being very impressed. It is a cool show! Lunch time at the Primetime Café. We stopped to get Fastpasses for Millionaire first. Lunch here is always fun but our waitress wasn’t really into it. I was a bit disappointed because Tim and I were the only ones who had ever been there and I wanted the newcomers to have the same experience that we had had previously. We didn’t. I had the meatloaf, Laura, Tim and Keith had the fried chicken and boring Steve had a turkey sandwich. Hot dogs for the kids. Tim and Keith left early to catch Millionaire with the Fastpasses. The rest of us waited for the check and took the boat back to the Beach Club. We didn’t feel like running for the show.

We went to the pool and hung around until 3:30pm when we left for the Animal Kingdom. This is a great time to go because everyone was leaving. We went on the Safari with no wait. Keith was startled when the bridge started to collapse and we teased him the rest of the week. We kept telling him that “This isn’t real”. Tim and Keith wanted to ride again (they said the second ride was even better than the first: rhinos were fighting and lions were roaring) while we went to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. This show is great but the kids were a little scared especially Danielle. They both removed their glasses and neither wanted to see it again. We then met up with the boys (walkie-talkies are great) at Festival of the Lion King. Again, no crowds. Since AK closes at 6:00pm, we went back to the hotel to decide on dinner. ESPN turned out to be the choice but I wanted to call first to find out how long the wait was. They refused to even give me an estimate about the wait. They don’t give out that info over the phone. Ridiculous! We went anyway and were able to find seating in the bar. Okay food, very loud. After dinner, we strolled over to Epcot for Illuminations. We actually got a decent spot 10 minutes ahead of time on the bridge between the International Gateway and France. We were behind some kids so all of us could see. Back to the hotel and to bed. Teenagers watched TV.

Sunday, July 27
Up at 6:00am for Lori and Laura. Everyone else up later with the boys last. Eat breakfast and leave the room by 7:00 for early entry at the Magic Kingdom. The MK is the one park that we take the bus to. It is more convenient because they drop you off at the gate rather than having to deal with the Ticket and Transportation Center. We arrive by 7:30am and await the opening. They let us in right at 8:00am and we’re off to Space Mountain. We ride with no wait and then get Fastpasses for later. Everyone rides and everyone loves it. Next, Peter Pan, which is one of my all time favorites. After that we stand by the rope between Fantasyland and Frontierland and wait for the regular opening. We head for Splash Mountain and have little wait, maybe 5 minutes. I’m surprised because it seems that everyone is headed there. We go next to Big Thunder Mountain with about a fifteen minute wait. The Haunted Mansion is next with no wait. Danielle is pretty scared and wants to close her eyes through the whole thing. It wasn’t her favorite ride but the rest of us liked it very well. We go back to ride Space Mountain again with our Fastpasses. Now it’s time to head to the Contempory Hotel for our Chef Mickey Reservations. This was a boisterous affair with napkin twirling and lots of character interaction. The food was so-so – a buffet but you can’t beat the convenience of seeing a lot of characters in a short amount of time without waiting. Chase has been asking and asking about seeing Mickey and now’s his chance. We saw Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale. Many, many pictures. After this we grab the bus back to the Beach Club for our usual.

We had MGM planned for this evening and were on our way by about 4:00pm. We again took the boat and after we arrived headed to The Great Movie Ride. I love this and I think everyone else enjoyed it also. We then got Fastpasses for Who Wants to be a Millionaire and in the meantime went on the Backlot Tour. They were having technical difficulties so we didn’t get to see the first part of the tour. I’ve seen that so many times that I didn’t really mind. We went right to the tram, which was great as usual. After that, we went back to WWTBAM. No one in our group made it even close to the top ten. We are slow. The first hot seat winner was a woman from England who made it there by guessing. She didn’t last long because the first few questions had to do with things American and she had no clue. It was quite entertaining. Now it was 7:30 and time to stake out our spot at Fantasmic. People were streaming in even this far ahead but we were able to get seats in the center section close to the top. Great as far as I’m concerned. Steve and I went back out to get food for everyone. I don’t think Laura was too happy about being left behind with the kids. As we were leaving, cast members were warning us that we might not get back in (this was 1hour and 15 minutes ahead). It made us nervous, but later we noticed that they were still letting people in 30 minutes ahead. We got pizza at Catalina Eddies’s (some BBQ Chicken pizza, some pepperoni and some cheese) for everyone and decided to get the drinks back inside the theater so we wouldn’t have to carry so much. We actually “borrowed” the trays they gave us and brought them into the theater. No one stopped us. We got everyone settled into eating and went and got drinks. The pizza was excellent and it helped to pass the time. I bought everyone Glow necklaces so we were really in the spirit. Finally, Fantasmic Time! I believe that this is one of the most spectacular shows on the property and it is well worth the wait. Tim and I were the only ones who had seen it before and everyone else was mesmerized. Steve had heard that it wasn’t worth all the wait so his expectations were somewhat low, but he totally agreed with me. We were able to leave fairly quickly because we were so close to the top. So, back to the boat, back to the hotel. Kids went to bed and adults had wine on the balcony. Teenagers, of course, watched TV.

Monday, July 28
Today is Sea World day. This is a great park; very well organized as far as the crowds go. We didn’t wait for anything here but we did get to the shows about 30 minutes early. We didn’t have to leave quite as early as other days because Sea World doesn’t open until exactly 9:00am. We got up around 7, with Laura and I first as usual. We ate breakfast and were out the door by 8:15am. Sea World is about a 20 minute drive so we were parked and inside the turnstiles by 8:45. At exactly 9:00, we were on our way to Journey to Atlantis and Kraken.

Note: A word about strollers – You would think that kids 9 and 5 are too big for a stroller. Not so! Danielle is a very small 9 year old (she only weighs about 50 lb). She and Chase could easily fit in a double stroller. Strollers saved us endless complaining about being tired and hot. We learned after the first day and ½ to rent a stroller whenever possible. We couldn’t rent one when we arrived for early entry because Disney doesn’t let you in until right when they open. We would lose valuable time in that case. But when we arrived in the afternoon, we always rented one. Also at Sea World, they let you in a few minutes ahead and then held you up at a rope. This method allowed us to rent a stroller right away. We also took the time at Epcot to rent one even though we were in a rush in the morning. We figured that time spent in the renting process would be saved by being able to walk more quickly to the other end of the park. We were coming in through the International Gateway rather than the front gate and had more ground to cover.

Journey to Atlantis is a great ride – a combination roller coaster and water ride. Very good special effects and fun. We all rode it and loved it. Laura even took the little ones on again while the rest of us rode Kraken (she got her turn later). Kraken is arguably one of the best coasters around. Your feet hang and there are quite a few upside down loops and it is very smooth. Loved it! We all rode except Danielle and Chase – too short. After that we made our way to the two shows we wanted to see: the Clyde and Seamore Show and Shamu the Killer Whale Show. Both are great. Clyde and Seamore is a sea lion and otter show (the otter has a very small part) based on pirates. Very cute and funny. Shamu is, of course, the killer whale. They had a problem with the whales the day we were there. They weren’t cooperating with their trainers. They eventually had to use one of the younger and less trained whales for the show and it wasn’t as good as the shows we’ve seen previously. In between the shows, we made stops at Dangers of the Deep, which is an exhibit that displays “dangerous” creatures of the sea. This includes a fantastic shark people mover – you stand and move under the aquarium where the sharks swim. I must say this is done much better here than at the Living Seas at Epcot. Also many other poisonous fish, eels, etc. We visited the Penguin Encounter and fed the sea lions and stingrays. We were able to pet the dolphins but our timing was off for the feeding. We squeezed a couple of snacks in here and there and left by about 1:30. Back to the hotel for lunch and swim/nap. Sea World was the hottest park we were in all week. Most of the exhibits are outside and so are the shows. Even in the shade, there is no air moving in the bigger amphitheaters. The heat just seems to sit. It’s better to go here during the cooler months of the year.

We had dinner reservations at the Flying Fish on the Boardwalk so we were on our way at about 4:45. This is my very favorite restaurant on Disney property and I was really looking forward to our evening here. It did not disappoint. Steve, Laura and I all had the signature dish which is Potato Wrapped Red Snapper. It is absolutely fantastic. We also shared a very expensive bottle of Champagne – a perfect meal. Tim had a Double Cut Pork Chop with bleu cheese mashed potatoes (I helped him with those) and Keith had the Oak Grilled Atlantic Salmon. The little ones had Mickey Pasta and Fish and Chips.

After dinner, we took the kids back to the hotel – Tim and Keith had agreed to watch a movie with the kids while the adults went to Pleasure Island (a first for all of us). We took the bus so we didn’t have to worry about our excessive drinking (just kidding). We enjoyed this. Our first stop was the Adventurers Club. We got drinks and were ushered into the Trophy Room for a mini comedy show. It was quite hilarious. After that was the main event in the library, which was cute but not as funny as what we had already seen. Next was the Comedy Warehouse. We timed it pretty perfectly and arrived just as they were letting people in. We loved this – it was very funny and so unbelievable that these comedians can think so quickly and come up with all of the jokes that they did. I highly recommend it. After that, we entered all of the clubs but only stayed at two. The Rock n Roll Beach club was a lot of fun (LOUD). It was pretty empty. We also stayed a while at the Pleasure Island Jazz Company. This was one guy playing many instruments (not at the same time) and also singing. He was quite a musician. This was excellent. It was now time to head back to the hotel. As we were leaving (about 11:30) the line to get in was huge. You can certainly tell the old fogies from the young hip crowd. We were leaving and they were just getting started. No wonder the clubs were empty. We caught the bus back to the Beach Club and nighty-night.

Tuesday, July 29
This is our day off. No need to get up too early, but of course, the kids are up by 7:30am. Tim and Keith had decided to use this day to go to Blizzard Beach. It was tempting for them to sleep in but I pointed out that Chase and Danielle wouldn’t let them sleep anyway, so they might as well get up and get going early. They took the bus and arrived right before opening. They said it wasn’t crowded until about noon when they decided to come back to the hotel. The bus driver told them that they had closed the park because it was full. Mom is always right. The rest of us ate a leisurely breakfast in the room and then went to the pool. We relaxed there for a couple of hours, had lunch at Beaches and Cream and napped. Beaches and Cream was pretty good but they wouldn’t let Chase in without a shirt. Laura had to go back to the room for one, not a short hike. The food was just okay but the milkshakes were awesome. I had a Lime Rickey (I had several the last time I was at the Beach Club). I was very disappointed. It didn’t taste as good as it did before. It’s lime soda with cherry syrup and cherries.

We had dinner reservations at Ohana at the Polynesian Hotel. We drove there at about 5:30 and arrived on time for our reservations. We had to wait about 15 minutes and we were seated by the windows but on the far side of the fire pit, away from the action. The big and little kids all ran the coconut race (for the gummy worms) and Chase and Danielle did the hula hoop contest. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any of it from our table. The food here is okay but the atmosphere is fun. The best thing is the dessert, pineapple with caramel sauce. Way too much food. After dinner, we walked around the resort and Tim and Keith went down the water slide in their shorts. It’s a beautiful place and the pool area is really cool. Back to the hotel. Tonight was a drink wine on the balcony and watch the Epcot fireworks night.

Wednesday, July 30
Today was early entry at Epcot so we were at the gate by 7:45. Unfortunately, we were at the International Gateway and we had to walk all the way through the park to get to Future World. We did stop to rent a stroller because we knew we could go faster with one. We were at a distinct disadvantage because the Test Track line was already a 45 minute wait. We got Fast passes for that and went on to Universe of Energy. They were not letting people in for some reason so we moved on to Spaceship Earth. Early entry did not really help us this time because only the three attractions were open and we only go on one in that hour. We then waited for the rope drop to hit the Imagination Pavilion to see Honey, I shrunk the Audience first and then Journey into your Imagination. We all loved Honey (the kids kept taking off their glasses) and the new version of Journey was cute but nothing to wait for (and we didn’t). We then went back to catch our Fastpasses for Test Track. Danielle was real nervous but enjoyed the ride. We all did but I feel that it is overrated and not worth a long wait. We decided to eat something and were on our way to Pure and Simple when I noticed that Mission: Space appeared to be open. We checked out the line (about 45 minutes) but the Fastpass return was about an hour away. This is fun! We go eat. I had the fruit and cheese plate – not much fruit and pretty overpriced. The rest of the gang got HUGE hot dogs and chips. We decided not to ride Body Wars: too rough. We saw Cranium Command; always fun and played at the Fitness Fairgrounds. We hung around here until it was time to head back to Mission: Space. We had to wait about 15 or 20 minutes even with the Fastpasses. They were having some technical difficulties. While you are waiting, they warn you constantly about the spinning. Even I was getting nervous and having second thoughts and I will go on anything. I decided I might not be back for a while and would regret it if I didn’t go. Finally, our turn. Danielle ends up chickening out at the last minute so she and Laura head for the exit. The rest of us ride. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure when we were spinning. There was pressure but no spinning sensation. This was an incredible ride and we all loved it. The cast members were a little surprised that Chase was riding. They were high-fiving him. It was so cute. We exited and went to find Danielle and Laura. Danielle cried when she found out that we really liked the ride so we went to immediately get Fastpasses for later. Still, not too bad – only an hour away. We went back to Universe of Energy and waited about 15 minutes for the show. It was good although it seemed somehow shorter than I remembered. I think part of it was not working. Time to head back to Mission: Space. Danielle and Laura loved it also although Danielle almost chickened out again. Now it’s time to head back to the hotel for swimming.

Tonight is the Magic Kingdom. We take the bus and arrive at about 5:00pm. Yes, we rent a stroller. We make a beeline for Buzz Lightyear, where there is a 20 minute wait. No problem. While we are in line, the boys go to see about Fastpassess for Space Mountain. No luck – all gone for the day. Tim is the big winner on Buzz (I don’t remember his score). Anyone who rides with Chase is a huge loser because he’s in charge of spinning the car. You get no aim. We ride Small World, next. This is a tradition with Tim and myself. We force ourselves to go and as a result, we force everyone else to go also. About ¾ of the way through, I tapped Keith on the shoulder and told him that we still had another 15 minutes to go. His face was priceless. We ate dinner at The Pinocchio Village House. Pretty ordinary: burgers and hot dogs. There was one interesting dish here, BLT fries. They were fries with bacon, lettuce, tomato and a mayo sauce; unusual and pretty good. We then go to Adventureland and ride Pirates of the Caribbean and take the Jungle Cruise. The Jungle Cruise is so lame and pretty boring – not one of my favorites. This was pretty much the consensus among the adults but the little kids liked it. Pirates, of course, is awesome. Pretty much no wait for either of these rides. It was now time to get our spot for the parade. We were about an hour ahead and we found a good spot in Frontierland near Splash Mountain. We parked the stroller and I tried to save spots while everyone else went to ride Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. They were gone for about ½ hour and I had to defend our territory. Finally, they came back with Dole Whips to which Steve became addicted. He had one each time we came to the Magic Kingdom and so did the rest of us. They are good and quite refreshing. The parade was awesome. We decide to go back to see if we can get on Buzz again and it was only about a 15 minute wait. We ride and then decide not to wait for the Fireworks. We go to the bus stop and head home. Wine on the balcony – there’s a theme here.

Thursday, July 31
Today was Early Entry at the Magic Kingdom. We had Priority Seating at Cinderella’s Breakfast at 9:15 so we needed to hustle to rides. Steve and Laura had never been on Alien Encounter and that is definitely out for the kids. I sacrificed and went to Fantasyland with Danielle and Chase while the rest rode Alien. They enjoyed the show, by the way. We kids went to ride Dumbo, my first experience. The wait was about 15 minutes (not bad). This ride is cute but not worth the wait for me. The kids loved it, though. Next we rode Snow White’s Adventures, which I love, and so did the kids. Tea Cups were next. Not my choice and they really took Aunt Lori for a ride (those little so and so’s). By this time Alien was done and the rest of the gang wanted to ride Snow White so off we went again. It was now time to get to Cinderella’s Castle for the meal that Danielle has been waiting for (she’s so excited). This is quite a pricey little affair and my first time as well as everyone else. The food was fair with a couple of shining stars. We loved the French Toast and the potatoes. Tim barely ate anything – he’s very picky. Now to the princesses! First came Sleeping Beauty. Danielle and Chase got autographs and had their picture taken with her. When they were done, Sleeping Beauty kissed Chase on the forehead and left lip prints. He came back to the table smiling but then the big boys started teasing him about the lipstick on his head. Now he was crying and telling his mother to wipe it off. She did get a cute picture before the tears. Next was Snow White and then Cinderella. This was Danielle’s favorite. Chase did get in the picture but no more kisses for him. Belle, who is Steve’s favorite fantasy, was next and all of the boys got up for this picture. She really was cute. Mary Poppins was last (is she a princess). She had a British accent and was quite charming. All in all, a good experience. We rode a couple more things: Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain with a Fastpass, before catching the bus back to the hotel.

Pool time and naps. We had priority seating at the San Angel Inn at 5:00pm and at about 4:00pm, it begins to pour and I mean pour. We waited until about 4:45pm when it let up a bit and we were a few minutes late for our seating. No problem. We were seated right away. I love the atmosphere in this restaurant. We ordered Margaritas and ate chips while the kids rode El Rio del Tiempo. I did not need to ride this again. They actually rode several times, with no wait, of course. The food here is okay and sometimes better than others. Laura had nachos, I had the enchiladas (so-so), Steve and Keith had the combination plate and Tim had tacos. Chase and Danielle had quesadillas. After dinner, this was our night for the World Showcase. We strolled through all of the countries (in the rain), stopping for dessert at the Kringla Bakeri in Norway. We got sweet pretzels and cinnamon rolls. Delish! We also rode Maelstrom with about a 20 minute wait. This is cute and a little scary but the kids thought it was great fun. We didn’t watch any movies or run into any shows, but we shopped a little and then headed back to the hotel. Tonight the boys again agreed to stay with the little ones while we went out. They rented a couple of movies, got settled in and then we were off. We had decided earlier, since I had read good things, to go to Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk, only a short walk from the Beach Club. This was new for all of us and was one of the most memorable things we did. It was a blast. It’s a dueling pianos sing-a-long. There were four piano players who alternated, so there was never a break in the fun. They were not only talented musicians but comedians on top of it. We never laughed so hard in our lives. They played requests from the audience and then some planned songs. It was great and we had a hard time leaving. I think it was 1ish before we headed back to the hotel. A great night that I highly recommend.

Friday, August 1
Today was early entry at the Animal Kingdom and we arrived at about 7:30. This place was packed. I never saw so many people crowded into the area outside the gates, ever. I thought there were going to be hopelessly long lines for the three attractions that were going to be open. We went immediately to Kilimanjaro Safari and surprisingly there was very little wait, maybe 15 minutes. We had an excellent ride with many animal sightings. After this, we went to It’s Tough to be a Bug which the little kids hated but the rest of us loved. The 3 D glasses were off almost immediately. We then headed over to Dinosaur, which is so cool. Steve really liked this attraction (one of his favorites). Again, very little wait. We ate lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue, which I thought was pretty good. Most of us had either the pork or chicken sandwiches, which were tasty. We sat overlooking the construction of the new roller coaster. Now, on to Kali River Rapids. It was a very hot day and we had to wait about 20 minutes. We were told at the front that it was a 10 minute wait but that was a lie. It was at least 20, maybe more. They don’t let you take your shoes off any more but I snuck mine off (bad) as we were taking off. I just can’t see walking around in soggy shoes for the rest of the day. The cast members working here were some of the grumpiest I’ve seen on the property. Tim got yelled at because he didn’t understand what she was saying to him and when she had to repeat it, she got snippy. She also got mad at Steve because he sat down next to Chase (5) and she wanted him to move to the next set of seats. She didn't understand why a father might want to ride next to his little son. She made some sarcastic remark about other people wanting to sit together too. It was weird but we enjoyed the ride nonetheless. Steve got soaked to the skin almost immediately when a huge geyser landed on his head. That was pretty funny. Chase got wet too but he loved it. The rest of us were relatively dry. Steve had to wring out his shirt and he was pretty uncomfortable the rest of the day. After this, we got in line for Tarzan Rocks, which is one of my favorite shows of all. It didn’t disappoint. It’s very entertaining and I love the music. We went back to Kali River Rapids because the kids wanted to ride again. We got Fastpasses first, walked the Maharaja Jungle Trail, then went back to ride the rapids. Steve and I didn’t go because he was still soaked and I figured that the law of averages would get me this time. Actually, nobody got really wet this time. My favorite trail in the Animal Kingdom is the Maharaja. The Bengal Tigers are incredible. They’re so huge and beautiful. I also love the bats. They’re giant and fascinating in a creepy kind of way. After this, we headed back to the car and the hotel for rest, relaxation and Champagne by the pool.

Originally, I had scheduled Epcot for tonight, but we decided to let the kids choose where they wanted to go and it was the Magic Kingdom. We got there at about 6:00 (by bus) and immediately went to Buzz Lightyear which we rode again with about a 20 minute wait. We had a priority seating at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant (a first for all of us). It was very good. We had to wait quite a bit even with the priority seating (about 30 minutes) but it was delicious. We all had a different pasta and Laura and I split a dish because our waitress warned us that it was huge. There was plenty of food. After dinner it was threatening rain, and we were undecided as to what to do. Tim and Keith had E-Ride tickets for tonight, which didn’t start until 10:00. We decided to brave the weather and went for a ride on the Tommorrowland Transit Authority and the Carousel of Progress. The Transit Authority in nice and relaxing but Carousel is BORING. Tim loves it for some reason. Now, it’s really starting to rain so we decide to go back. We just make it to the bus stop when it begins to pour and pour. I felt sorry for the people waiting for the parade for hours, because it ended up being cancelled. Tim and Keith stayed, of course, and it did stop raining soon enough for them to enjoy their E-Ride night without getting soaked. They got back to the hotel by about 1:30am after taking a little detour to the Beach Club pool to jump in illegally from one of the bridges. Apparently, it was quite a thrill for them and I didn’t know about it until the next morning.

Saturday, August 2
BooHoo, last day. It’s so sad when a great vacation like this is over. We had the best time. I had had some reservations about coming in the height of summer and facing the heat and the crowds. We found that both were quite manageable as long as we stuck to our plan. Today, we had a character breakfast reserved at the Café Cape May for 7:40am. Of course, the teenagers didn’t want to get up so early so it was just the five of us. It was very uncrowded, so we got lots of attention from the characters. Chip and Dale were there, as well as Goofy and Mickey. Minnie Mouse made a special appearance toward the end of our meal so on the way out the kids got to meet her. Now it was time to get ready to leave. Our flight wasn’t until 4:50 so we took our time packing and showering. We planned to hang out at Downtown Disney until it was time to head to the airport. We had fun shopping and eating lunch. I basically bought all of our souvenirs at this time. We ate lunch at the Wolfgang Puck Café and thought it was excellent. We all had pizzas. After lunch, it was time to head to the airport. Our flight home was delayed on the plane by thunderstorms. We were delayed by about 1 1/2 hours. When it was pouring rain, our luggage apparently sat out long enough for my suitcase to get soaked and I mean soaked. Several of my shirts were ruined because a dark color ran and also the book I was reading was curled up and smudgy. I did receive some compensation from Southwest, however. Sad to be home, but looking forward to the next time. And there will be a next time!

Lori Vonachen

lorivonachen@SBCglobal.net

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