Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Summer
• Travel Method: Plane
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Stayed with Family Friends
• Ages Represented in Group: Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Frequent
• Comments: Andrew stayed at a friend's family's home near WDW on this trip. He only spent a few short days in the parks, but covered a lot of territory in that short time.

Walt Disney World July 4-7

Participants:

• Andrew - 28 year old Computer Programmer from Atlanta Georgia 2nd trip in a year. last visit Sept 13-18, 1995 at the All Star Music. (All 'I' and 'My' refer to Andrew)
• Shelly - 26 year old accountant from Tallahassee/Orlando visited many times in the past year including Sept 13-18, 1995 (she stayed at her parents house).

The Arrangements:

I booked a round trip ticket from Atlanta to Orlando on Kiwi airlines and we both were staying at her parents house which is 10 minutes from WDW.

Over View:
For a holiday weekend it was not overly crowded and the fringes of the tropical storm/hurricane keep the temperatures low but the humidity high with only a few scattered showers. Lots of Turismo groups but absolutely no problems.

Number One Rule:
Always get up early and get to the parks at least 30 minutes before the official opening time. If you do not you deserve to wait 2 hours for Splash Mountain.

Packing:
On our last journey (Sept 13-18, 1995) I took a huge black canvas bag and a small canvas bag that contained everything but the kitchen sink and I was ridiculed by the 4 other members of our party. I took everything I could think of: Radios/Sweatshirts/Jeans/Jackets/Beach towels, all of which were totally unnecessary. This time I crammed all of my necessities into just the small bag, although I would have liked to have had a second pair of shoes after the storm Friday night.

This time I also took a large Jansport Fanny pack that I carried each day in the parks which contained: my sisters Camera, and extra roll of film, a small baggie (with a travel toothbrush and toothpaste, aspirin, a trial size of sunscreen) and a walkman with 2 sets of headphones and a headphone splitter which came in very handy on the longer waits for shows or rides. Shelly took a small backpack that served as both her purse and our water bottle holder. On the last trip I tried to go hands free and stuff everything into my pockets, the fanny pack did much better and still left my hands free.

Day 1 - July 4th.

After a 2 hour delay my Kiwi Airlines flight to Orlando finally got off the ground. Arrived at Orlando International at 3:50 pm and was met by Shelly. We then proceeded to the Local Target to get toiletries for me and to the Albertsons Grocery store her sister works at to get breakfast food and water bottles.

After unpacking we (Me, Shelly, Her Mother, and Sister Cathe) went to Olive Garden for dinner and the back to the house to try and get some sleep despite the neighbors personal fireworks displays.

Day 2 - July 5 the MAGIC KINGDOM.

We got up early and make it to the TTC by 8:15 and I bought a 1 day ticket (Shelly has a Floridian Annual Pass) and the gates opened at 8:30am. We rode the Ferry across and got into the park at 8:45. Only Main Street was open so we got in the pack for the Space Mountain Dash.

The wait on Space Mountain was about 15 minutes. We took the right side and the lighting did seem to be much brighter than even my last trip in September. At the top of the ride you could really see the track ahead of you, but as the car when lower it got darker and the desired affect was achieved.

The wait for Alien Encounter had already gotten up to 45 minutes and since we both had done it about 5 times on the last trip we headed on to Fantasy land and rode the carousel with a 5 minute wait. After checking my horse's teeth to make sure it was healthy I climbed on. When we got off I told the CM that it looked like Shelly's horse had Anthrax and he might need to put it down, this joke got absolutely no reaction. I guess it was not that good.

The Legend of the Lion King still had about 10 minutes before the next show so we headed over to Snow White. I had never ridden this (apparently is has been updated to show more of Snow White, the earlier version assumed you were Snow White and were going about the ride from her perspective but most people never got the idea and were constantly asking where Snow White was) and probably will not again. Boring.

The Legend of the Lion King was really good. Live action, puppets, film all intermixed; all the songs and the happy ending. The little girl to our right sang every word of every song and we ended up singing Hakuna Matata and the Timon hula song (not featured in the Legend of the Lion King Show) for the rest of the day.

Next we walked onto the Haunted Mansion with about a 10 minute wait. My favorite part is the singing statue heads towards the end.

The main focus of my trip to Orlando was to ride Splash Mountain so we got in line. At this point the predicted wait was 30 minutes. I had packed a walkman with 2 sets of ear bud earphones and a signal splitter so we put on the phones and listened to a Crowded House compilation tape I had made since Shelly was not familiar with their music and I knew she would like it. This passed the time very quickly and became the staple of our trip. It was also during our queue experience that I got my first glimpse of Turisimo. There was a gaggle of orange-shirted people being led by a guy with a video camera and a small pennant like flag. My stomach immediately sank and my mind clouded with thoughts of trip reports reporting many bad things about these marauding Brazilians. Fortunately every encounter we had with one of these groups was pleasant.

The lady in the seat in front of ours put a neck brace on at the start of the ride then took it off at the end. I bought the picture they show you after the ride and she looks just like the Bride of Frankenstein with her hair blowing back and her eyes bugged out and a sheer look of terror on her face. I hope to get it scanned in and put up on my Disney Vacation Web Photo Site soon.

Since we were in the neighborhood we visited Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road. The line was about the same size as Splash Mountain's. We again took out the headphones and finished the Crowded House tape and moved onto a Jackson Browne Compilation Tape. The Train seemed kind of slow that morning but it was still very enjoyable. I had to keep the Splash Mountain Photo clutched between my knees to keep my hands free to grip the safety bar/put my hands in the air.

We both love the Country Bear Jamboree so we took it in while there was no line and only a 10 minute wait for the doors to open. I had heard they sometimes change the shows based on holidays/summer travel but it was the same show we had seen in the Fall. The funniest moment was in the waiting area: a little girl there with her grandparents folded her arms, put on her best pouty face, and declared: I'm not gonna like this. She kept fidgeting and whining and her Grandfather told her he was going to spank her after they got out of the show and I thought to myself: Oh Yeah, now she's really going to enjoy the show now. Knowing that immanent doom was facing her she should could really sit back and take in the humor.

We were hungry so we got Cheese burgers and Hot Dogs in the restaurant at the exit of the Jamboree. All the tables were full so we asked a couple at a 4 person table if we could sit with them and they were nice enough to let us. They said they had a problem with a very tired Turismo group the day before bounding ahead of them to the front of the Jungle Cruise Line (we skipped this one because we did it in SEPT. '95 and the lines are just too long all day long). The food was about what you would expect for WDW counter service food.

We headed over to the Pirates of the Caribbean and waited in the air conditioned comfort for about 15 minutes. Unfortunately the music in the waiting area overpowered our walkman so we surrendered and listened to pirate music instead of the Rockin' Hits of the 70's from Time Life. It was the same as it ever is. I would like to see the Disney Land version, it is rumored to be better.

At this point it was getting hot as the sun had peeked out of the clouds and the park was getting crowded. We were about ready to go home for a rest period but since neither of us had seen the Transportarium Circle Vision movie we took it in with only a 10 minute wait. It features the voices of Robin William's and Rea Pearlman and some non movie 3D props. It was enjoyable but not anything I would want to go on again this trip.

It was now 3:00 o'clock and we were hot and tired so we hopped a monorail (contrary to popular belief you cannot get Mono from a monorail, although if you ask nicely they will let you sit up front with the driver). The monorail at the station was packed but the announcer said that they were having problems and this would be the last monorail to leave for the TTC for a long while so we squeezed in.

Shelly's mom made pepper chicken for dinner so we ate before heading back to the MK. When we got there the Train was just pulling out of the Main Street Station so we walked over to Tomorrow Land to ride the Tomorrow Land Transit Authority. There was no line at the Carousel of Progress, but Shelly will not ride it since they changed the theme song from "Now is the time, Now is the best time, Now it the best time of our lives" to "Its a great big...". We walked onto Dreamflight which no longer featured the Delta logo but seemed exactly the same in all other respects.

What trip to the Magic Kingdom is complete without a ride on its a small world. Fortunately it was a walk on as I can not see spending too much time waiting for this one. We then walked back through formerly Mickey's Starland now Mickey's Toon Town - Under Construction. Not much here yet, just lots of construction. We caught the train and rode around to Frontier Land where we exited and took on BTMRR again with a 25 minute waited finished up the Jackson Browne compilation tape in line.

It was now about 8:15 and Splash Mountain had a 50 minute line. Not wanting to take a chance on missing SpectroMagic we staked out our spot at the entrance to Splash Mountain where it meets the walk way cross section. These were great spots as the Spectro dudes had to congregate there before entering the exit for the parade and the spots were still open at 8:30, up front unobstructed view spots. When we came back into the MK at 6:00 the Turisimo people were already sitting on the curbs of Main Street.

SpectroMagic was all you would expect from a Disney parade. Extravagant and short. Only about 20 minutes long. After the parade ended we went back up to the entrance of Splash Mountain and about 5 minutes into the 40 minute wait it started to rain lightly and they announced that since it was an outdoor attraction that weather might cause them to shut down. We were already beat so we decided not to chance it an head out of the park. When we got on the Ferry the sky opened up and we were glad we did not waste 50 minutes in line for something they were sure to shut down because of the lightning (Florida: Lightning strike capital of the World).

Some idiots tried to sneak around the line for the Tram and get on from the opposite side everyone in line started yelling and the CM made them get off and get in line, and the crowd cheered.

The tram rider on the back had a few funny lines on the stops at various parking areas:

• Please watch your step and lower your head, and if you don't please watch your language and lower your voice.
• Folks, I'm gonna tell you what my parents told me when I turned 18: Get out and take your stuff, the free ride is over.

Day 3 - July 6 EPCOT Center.

I bought 2 Mickey Mouse T-shirts at a shop just inside the park and took them back to the car. We then waited 5 minutes for Space Ship Earth (Shelly's mom and dad work for AT&T so I had to pay close attention.) It was the first time ever that I got a continuous ride. Usually it stops for some unknown reason about half way through. I liked Walter Cronkite more than Jeremy Irons but it's still a classic.

It was still early so we braved the Honey I Shrunk The Audience crowds with only the pre-show wait. We were lucky because when we got out the line was way back down the path. I have a new EPCOT Favorite: The HISTA pre-show I have seen it once before on the previous trip but I did not pay that much attention. Its the song True Colors adulterated to fit the Kodak movie ( this replaced the old "Takin' pictures is makin' memories" ). If anyone has a video tape of it I would give my soul for a copy. Please contact me at the email address link below. Sitting closer to the back of the theater was much better than the time we sat up close. Up close we missed a lot of the lighting effects. If you visit EPCOT and have not seen this, make it priority one!

The dancing fountain was going to the Yanni tune Standing in Motion (it sounded more like the Live at the Acropolis version). I never appreciated Yanni until I heard this song last trip (Sept. 95). After that I got a few of his CD's looking for this song and they are pretty good.

Horizons was not open in Sept. We walked on with no wait. There were about 6 empty cars on both sides. This ride is like a less well done Spaceship Earth. Hopefully their visions of the future will look as outdated in 20 years as the old Tomorrow Land looked a few years ago before the rehab. There is really no need for the Horizon pavilion. It is basically the same thing as the end of Spaceship Earth, only not done as well.

The GM World of Motion was not open but the re-hab looked like it was well on its way.

I wanted to see the Circle of Life movie (We did not see it last trip and I only recently saw the Lion King Movie and really liked it.) and got confused and thought it was in the Body pavilion and go inside before realizing my mistake. So we made our way across Future World to the Land but stopped to see the dancing Fountain (yes it is one of my favorite WDW attractions). This time it was playing a song from the Rocketeer Soundtrack (I had heard reports that this CD was out of print but I found it at the local Best Buy).

When the song was over we ate at the pasta place we liked the last trip and made it to the Land and got into the Circle of Life movie in about 5 minutes and just before a Turisimo group came in the door. The CM running the show got a little testy when some of the people did not move all the way down the row and said "Get up and move, your only going to delay the start of the show". If you are into personal space and do not like to have to sit in a theater beside a 'stranger' then avoid Disney World. If you are not crammed into a line, your crammed into a pre-show area and then your sitting in a theater that is more than likely to be full, i.e. no empty seats between you and the person beside you. Yet another playing of the Circle of Life song.

The last time we were here we did not get to do all the World Showcase lands so we went on the Mexico Boat ride in a boat all by ourselves and an empty boat on both sides. We then waited about 5 minutes for the China Movie. Does anyone know when this pavilion opened? I could swear I saw this movie in '88 when I came with my brother and sister.

We made it to American Adventure about 10 minutes before show time and caught the Voices of Liberty. The Duke Ellington tribute was still listed as the show at the theater across from the American Adventure. The American Adventure was well done with nice AA. Shelly remarked that they glossed right over that whole Indian thing sort of like the Universe of Energy glosses right over the Exxon Oil Spill and the 'benefits' of Strip Mining. I don't think Ill ever go on the Universe of Energy again. Not because of the a fore mentioned environmental violations, but because it is so mind numbingly boring.

I have never ridden the boat across the lagoon at EPCOT so we caught it across and caught one of my personal favorites: O Canada. Some idiot and his sister sat on the rails and the CM told them to get down. Then ten seconds later they got back on. I guess rules don't apply to everyone.

It was now about 2:00pm and getting hot so we left the park and went home. After a lackluster Salad bar dinner at the Sizzler we went home and I went to bed early.

Day 4 - July 7 MGM.

We had to go back to EPCOT to exchange one of the shirts I got: It had a hole. We then got to MGM at about 8:50 and got in line for the Tower of Terror with about a 50 minute wait. We got out the headphones and Rocked to the Alternative hits of the 90's. Rock on dude!. The line seemed to move to slowly and when we got on we found out why: The thing dropped us not once, not twice as advertised, but three times. But not before our elevator came up lame just as we were about to board so they moved us to the one to the left. Some people who had never been on the ride asked if this was part of the ride and I replied 'do you see anyone else playing musical elevators?'. All the special effects were still there and still amazing.

It was too early for the Beauty and the Beast live show so we headed over to the Muppet vision 4-D. We walked right into the pre-show and watched for the second time this year. Very funny, I wish the Muppet/Disney pact had held up Id like to plant one the that porker Miss Piggy.

We saw the Ace Ventura Show and passed up the Indiana Jones Stunt Show: It just seems overly staged, I want to see the dude in a little danger, i.e. possible decapitation.

By now we were hungry so we stopped at a counter service restaurant and got the usual burgers. It was getting close to 11:30 so we staked out a park bench to stand on for the Toy Story Parade. Shelly had not seen the movie so she was clueless to the goings on. It was also pretty short and at its end we walked over to the Little Mermaid show and waited only 5 minutes for the pre-show to start It was pretty amazing the way they made it seem you were underwater with all the lasers. I had never seen the movie so it was very entertaining for me. Shelly has seen it a million times (she worked at a day care center for a while) so she seemed mildly interested.

We had seen all we needed to so we checked the board for the TOT and it said 90 minutes so we decided that our Disney experience had come to an end and went home.

I packed and showered and we made it to the airport at 5:00. Kiwi had over booked so some gave up their seats for a nights lodging, a round trip voucher, and a flight the next morning. I was tired and ready to sleep in my bed so I did not volunteer. The flight got off on time and I was at home by 9:30 PM.

Final Thoughts

• It did not seem as crowded as I had expected, and we knew what order to go in and when to leave so all in all it was a very pleasant experience. We accomplished all we wanted to and were able to go home before the heat of the day. It may seem that we did not do all that much, but we did only what we wanted and saw many of the things we missed last time while leaving some stuff to do on the next trip.
• It was nice of Shelly's family to let me stay with them, but I did miss some of the Disney Magic of stay at an on site hotel. Even the All Star last time was more than adequate. I would like to stay at the Wilderness lodge or the Polynesian on a future trip.
• If you have any questions, comments, etc. Please E-mail me at: monkyman@atl.mindspring.com
• Thanks for reading this and have a great Disney Vacation, when ever you go.
• OK here is a tip that is totally unrelated to WDW but was one of the few good ideas I have so I'll share it: If you're moving and you have a rack of CD's (either on a swivel base or a wall or stand up mount) a great way to transport them without removing them from the rack is to put the rack in a big garbage bag, tie it at the top and then use packing or masking tape and go around the rack securing all the CD's beneath the plastic. When they reach their destination just cut the plastic bag off and you are set.

__________________
You just read a trip report that was originally published in our MousePlanet Trip Reports column.

Reader-submitted trip reports have always been an extremely popular feature here at MousePlanet. In order to improve the search functionality and shorten the time from when you submit a trip report and the report gets published, you can now post your trip reports directly to our Trip Report forums. The forums are moderated, but reports should become available for reading very quickly.