Trip Reports

November 20, 1997 to November 25, 1997

Who: The Ashley family, 3rd trip in 4 years

Becky: 30 something wife and mother, full time employee for major chemical company and Disney fanatic
Daniel: my 12 year old son,
Catherine: my 9 year old daughter
Duane: my 40 something husband, who was unable to join us on this trip, but remained very good-natured about our going without him.
Introduction and planning:

After months of being subjected to the 25th Anniversary marketing machine, I finally gave in and began to plot how we could swing a trip to WDW. The kids had three 1/2 days for parent teacher conferences and a full day for teacher's in-service right before the Thanksgiving break so this seemed be the optimal time for us to go. My husband had no vacation days remaining for the rest of the year, but assured me that it was fine with him if just the kids and I went. I called CRO on September 26th and was only able to get All Star Music for 4 of the 5 nights at regular rates ($74), and one night at the Disney Institute Villas at the Magic Kingdom Club rate($156). On September 29th, I made airline reservations with US Airways for $215.90 per person. Three days earlier, it would have cost me $15.00 less per person. Airline roulette! I also made reservations with National Car Rental for a midsize car using my corporate discount ($151 for 6 days). On October 1, I was able to get the 5th night at ASM, and also requested a room refrigerator and a room in Calypso or Jazz. On October 8, I changed our package to the "Hip hip Poohray package" that was advertised in the Disney Catalog. It included 5 nights at ASM, Length of Stay passes, a coupon book (the same one used for Fall Fantasy), a flex feature, and a "special" Pooh gift. The total cost for 1 adult, 1 junior and 1 child was $1181. In hindsight, it would have been cheaper to just get the room and Length of Stay passes with the Magic Kingdom Club discount as we didn't really use the coupon book. (However, my extra coupons were distributed at the Annual December RADP meet, so I did derive some measure of satisfaction from them!) We did, however, use the flex feature to buy a very costly character breakfast at Artist's Point. Right before Halloween, I told the kids that we were going. They were, of course, excited, but at this was their third trip in four years, they are past the "Oh my gosh, we're going to Disney World" stage. The weeks flew by, and the next thing we knew the airport shuttle was at our door.

Day 1, Thursday, November 20

A 7:05 a.m. flight time from Philadelphia to Orlando. What was I thinking? The airport shuttle scheduled us for a 4:35 A.M. pick up time. After a phone call from the shuttle driver to find out just where our house was, he arrived by 5:00 a.m. and we drove uneventfully to the airport. We did stop to pick up a couple with a seeing eye dog-in-training which the kids thought was pretty nifty. This was our first time on US Airways, as we had always flown on Delta before. Delta, for some inexplicable reason, has discontinued direct flights from Philly to Orlando (stupid!) During the plane ride, I gave Daniel a Tigger beanie and Catherine a Lucky (from 101 dalmations) beanie to jump start their Disney experience. They were very surprised. (Gold Star for mom). Everything went smoothly, and we arrived in Orlando by 9:20 a.m. energized by a hearty airline breakfast of yogurt, apple bread and a granola bar. We picked up our luggage and walked across the street to the National Emerald Isle pick-up. The woman gave me a choice of about 7 cars. My only request was that the car not be white. It seems like 90% of the rental cars in Florida are white, and it had really made it difficult to find our car in the past. We got a very nice four door Pontiac Bonneville and we're on our way. We took the South Exit to the Greenway to the Osceola Parkway which goes right to the All Star Music Resort (passing the soon to be McDonald's - yuk) After three recent trips to Orlando (2 WDW and 1 for non-Disney parks and Spring training) I felt very comfortable driving in and around Disney World.

We arrived at All Star Music (ASM) around 10:30 a.m. There was no wait at all at check-in. We got our passes, but they wouldn't be activated for our room until after 4:00 p.m. They gave us a phone number to call after 4:00 to get our room numbers. The CM did assure me that the room would be on 3rd floor in the Jazz building. I also purchased our tickets for E-ticket Express for November 24 ($29.68 including tax), got our coupon book and our free Pooh gift. The Pooh gift turned out to be a pretty nice small zippered duffel bag with a Pooh appliqué on the side. I saw similar ones in stores for $19.99. We also got the obligatory fanny pack for using the American Express card. I don't really know why I got it - we never use them at Disney, we use one large backpack. The kids play with them at home so I guess they have some value. We also had to pre-pay for our room refrigerator ($6.00/day). Daniel grabbed up a handful of park guides and maps, and we headed to the food court for lunch at 11:07 a.m. (How do I know the time you ask - it's on the register receipt!) A garden salad for me, a kid's hot dog meal for Dan, and spaghetti for Catherine ($12.49). After lunch, we grabbed our Florida clothes from the suitcases, changing in the bathrooms in the lobby of the ASM, and were off to the parks by noon!

We drove to the Polynesian Resort and parked (no lectures please - the brochure says free resort parking - it doesn't specify which resorts). It did take us two tries to get to the Poly parking lot. A helpful hint - if you're going to any of the Magic Kingdom resorts go through the toll gate on the far right, otherwise you have to cut in front of a lot of traffic to get over in the right lane. The Poly was where we stayed during our first family visit in 1994 and I still love the atmosphere there. It is so laid back and quiet, especially after the hustle and bustle at All Stars. When we walked into the lobby, a cast member was handing out shell necklaces. Her name was Becky (same as mine), so I told her she had a nice name, and ta-da, my kids both brought home shell necklaces. Ahhhhh-Disney. Upstairs we went to the monorail where I promptly requested the front if available. It was and we climbed in for the brief ride to the Magic Kingdom. We collected our monorail co-pilot's licenses, thanked the kind and friendly cast member (CM) and walked towards the turnstiles. The monorail licenses used to be on 8 x 10 heavy paper, very nicely decorated, and now they come on flimsy wallet sized cards. I guess so many people want to ride in the front that the other certificates may have been too costly. We entered the Magic Kingdom (MK) and went to get our Guest of Honor badges (1973 for me, 1994 for Daniel and Catherine) saw the movie, and collected the first of several 25th Anniversary lithographs. We proceeded up Main Street, and into Tomorrowland. We walked into Alien Encounter with no wait. I actually enjoyed this much more than I had the last visit. Last year, Daniel and I both had sunburned shoulders and found the restraints very uncomfortable. I made sure to remind Daniel and Catherine to sit up very tall so that they could get the full experience of the ride. After AE, we walked on to Space Mountain with again, no wait. We requested the front car, with Daniel in the front seat followed by Catherine and then me. Fun as always , and it didn't seem to bother my neck as much as it had in the past. The exit line from this ride became a family favorite over the next 5 days..."In the future, packages will be sent large distances through beams of light". The "Lab receiver" was also a favorite - we have a yellow lab at home. Next we headed over to the Carousel of Progress, a family favorite. Daniel is always asking me to sing that "great big beautiful tomorrow song". I get a kick out of watching the people who are seeing this for this first time. They know it's really hokey, but they always end up humming, singing and tapping their feet. I don't think that most people know the history of this attraction, and don't really appreciate it for what it is and what it represents.

After Carousel of Progress, we strolled over to Frontierland. Catherine and I got Hercules ice cream bars (YUMMY), and Daniel had popcorn. We wandered around a bit trying to decide where to sit for the parade. There were CM's all over the place giving out stickers for parade participation, but neither of my kids were interested. They still hadn't shifted into complete carefree Disney mode yet. Actually though, I noticed during the parade that most of the children participating were younger than mine. We finally found *seats* (i.e. the ground) in front of some kindly older folks who were sitting on the wooden platforms in front of the shooting gallery. The parade was okay, but the 25th anniversary song got old fast. Also, we were in between the areas where the audience participation happened so we only got to see a few bits and pieces of that. At the end of the parade, we checked the wait time for Splash Mountain (45 minutes), and decided to save it for later. We boarded the train, and made our way back to Main Street. I had never seen all the theming on the train route. Kind of outdated, but fun. We got to Main Street and watched a little bit of the parade again. Left the park, got our hands stamped, hopped on the resort monorail, and drove back to All Star Music. Stopped in the lobby to get our room number (2406), and proceeded to our building. Found the elevators AFTER carrying our luggage up three flights of stairs! The room was okay - certainly smaller than rooms at Caribbean Beach, but comfortable enough for the three of us. I called housekeeping and requested the fridge which appeared some time later in the day, and some extra towels, which never did show up. We changed into our suits, and headed down to the pool. The kids swam, I had a pina colada. After calling home to hello to dad, we drove over to the Dolphin for our 6:00 .m. dinner reservations. Used the valet parking, and headed towards Gulliver's. I could definitely tell that the Dolphin is a convention hotel. We saw quite a few guests who seem to have passed some time in a hospitality suite. When we got to Gulliver's it turned out that our reservations were for 6:30 p.m. not 6:00 , but it was no problem, and we were seated right away. There were only about 4 other tables of people there. I lost my receipt so I'm not quite sure what the kid's had - some sort of children's meal. I had a seafood bisque which was excellent, followed by filet mignon and lobster tail. They were both very good, although somewhat small. I also had a glass of the featured white wine (don't remember what it was). The total was $55.81 + tip, minus the $50.00 Rita Aero coupon. Helpful tip - the Swan and Dolphin restaurants do not take the Disney room charge cards. I knew this before I went, but, of course, forgot. Although I had no other credit cards with me, I did have my trusty Visa quick check card. During dinner we were visited by Pooh and Tigger. They both spent a good deal of time with us. Daniel was wearing one of his Tigger shirts which made Tigger very happy. Good memories from dinner include Daniel and Tigger bouncing side-by-side, and Catherine (who is generally very reserved) enjoying Pooh's big hug! After retrieving our car, we drove over to Goodings, bought breakfast stuff and soda, and then headed back to All Star Music. This was the first of many times we drove by the Virgin Megastore at the new Downtown Disney. Now understand, my kids probably don't even know exactly what a virgin is, but they know that it's somehow related to all that secretive adult stuff, and to see the word Virgin in huge neon lights was enough to start little snickers which would develop into full scale giggles if I played along with them. It was very weird, but one of those goofy memories that we'll all remember for a long time! After a long day, we were in bed by 9:00 p.m., and I was asleep before my kids - a pattern that was repeated almost every night!

Day 2, Friday, November 21

Mickey's wake up call came at 6:00 a.m. and I woke the kid's at 6:30 a.m. Showers and cereal and we then drove to Epcot by 7:30 a.m. First stop was Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I had to remind Dan and Cath to put their feet down to get the full enjoyment of the movie, and they did! After the movie, we went through Journey Into Imagination which we all agreed is not great overall, but parts of it are neat. After the ride, we spent at least 45 minutes in Image Works. We had the whole place to ourselves, and all had a great time. The kids particularly enjoyed the computers where you make faces, and "conducting" the orchestra. I really enjoyed giving them the time to do and see everything without the "Hurry up were in Disney world and we have to see everything mentality". We hit the Fountainview Cafe around 9:00 a.m. I had a cafe mocha and a cinnamon raisin bagel. Daniel had a cheese danish and Catherine had 2 ("they're really small, mom") glazed donuts. ($8.43) We took our goodies outside to the tables and watched the fountain show. After our snack, we headed over to the left side of Epcot and wandered into the Wonders of Life Pavilion. We rode Body Wars with no wait. Been there, done that. I wonder how hard (expensive) it would be to make new movies for these types of rides - it would make it a lot more interesting and up-to-date. The kids spent some time on the exercise bikes riding through the Disneyland parade. After expending some energy and working off those glazed donuts, we watched "Cranium Command". Still very funny, especially with Daniel being close to the age of the boy in the film. Next we went to Ellen's Universe of Energy. This definitely gets my vote for most improved attraction. We all enjoyed it a lot. Using Ellen and Bill Nye makes it very appealing to a wide audience, and the dinosaurs are cool! After Universe of Energy, we walked into Innovations East. On our last two visits (1994, 1996), I had purposely steered clear of Communicore and Innoventions due to their reputations for using up large chunks of time that could be better used elsewhere. I had decided before this trip to let the kids spend as much time as they wanted in Innoventions. Then we found out that Innoventions West was closed for rehab! We did however, manage to have fun and waste lots of time in Innoventions East. We quickly found the Apple display and felt right at home on the many Macs! Catherine played "Toy Story" while Daniel and I logged on to AOL and sent E-mail home to dad. We left Innoventions and caught the tail end of the Epbots show. We arrived back at ASM around noon, and our large assortment of animals were waiting for us, arranged on a chair in the window! We put on our suits, and headed down the pool, and a lunch at the food court. I had a grilled chicken sandwich (not bad), Catherine had macaroni and cheese (a 99 cent bargain), and Daniel had chicken tenders. ($13.93) The kids swam while I enjoyed a pina colada (sense a pattern here?).

We took a brief nap and then headed out to MGM. We got a parking space right up front, and proceeded directly to the Tower of Terror, and went right on with no wait. I had meant to request the seat belt seat, but was distracted by Catherine's last minute decision not to ride. This is the only attraction in Disney World that Catherine wouldn't do during our last visit. After riding her first inverted roller coaster (the Loch Ness Monster in Busch Gardens Williamsburg) this summer and really enjoying it, I had hoped that she would do the Tower this year. But, alas, it was not to be, so Daniel and I sent her off to the service elevator, and went on to enjoy our multiple drops. Our last visit they were still doing only single drops, so this was new to us and lots of fun. If Catherine hadn't been with us, I'm sure Dan and I would have gotten right back in line. However, we headed back down Sunset Boulevard stopping to get pictures and autographs with the big Mouse himself with NO WAIT!

We then went to the 4:35 showing of the Hunchback of Notre Dame show. We only caught the last few minutes of Matt the juggler's show, and found it very entertaining. We were seated on the right side of the runway about 3 seats away and 7 rows back. As everyone else has noted, this show is excellent. I really admire all the performers in this show. If you consider that they perform the same show 4 or 5 times a day, 7 days a week, it's amazing that they have such obvious enthusiasm for their roles. I knew immediately that we would be seeing this show again. The kids insisted on stashing large quantities of bell confetti which I am still finding pieces of almost two months later.

After HOND we headed over to Honey I Shrunk the playground. We got there around 5:30 and it was closing at 6:00 p.m. Just enough time for me to relax and have a beer ($4.25). We called Duane from a pay phone by Mama Melrose's to reassure him that we were having just an awful time without him there! Next, we went to see Muppet 3D. We saw about 4 minutes of the pre-show which I always enjoy. The kids still really like Muppet 3D, and I think it's fun. After the film we ambled over to Star Tours and went on with no wait. We sat in the very front row which offered a different perspective. I think we enjoy this ride more than Body Wars. We headed over to the 50's Prime Time Café for our 7:20 priority seating. We were seated immediately. Our server was Jennifer. Due to the late dinner time, we were the only table in our room, so we didn't get too much activity, but after 3 warnings, Daniel had to go out in the larger dining area to receive his "punishment". For dinner, I had clam chowder and buffalo chicken strips, both which were very good. Catherine had spaghettios which she would never touch at home, but she enjoyed them. And Daniel had the usual hot dog. And of course, dinner was followed by those wonderful S'mores!!!!! Total for dinner with tip and MKC discount was $30.73. Jennifer was an excellent waitress. The kids had her sign their autographs book, and I took a picture of the three of them. All in all, it was not as much fun as the first time we went. I guess once you know what's going on there it's just not as fun. It was fun watching the obvious first timers!!! After dinner, we slowly made our way back to the car and returned to ASM. I love walking through the parks after they are closed. It really gives one time to appreciate the theming.

Day 3, Saturday 11/22

Early entry at the Magic Kingdom. Mickey wake up call at 6:00 a.m. followed by cereal and then on our way to the Magic Kingdom. Took the bus for the one and only time during the trip. Upon arrival we headed straight back to Fantasyland and road Mr. Toad. I explained to the kids about the scheduled closing so they would have a higher appreciation for the ride! Not to worry, they enjoyed it anyway. Any ride with black lights is fun for them. Hey, look at your teeth, socks, shoelaces, handstamps, etc. After going through once, there was still no line, so they let us stay in our car and go around again!! Next we went on Snow White followed by Peter Pan. Peter Pan we like, Snow White we could do without. Then Daniel went solo on the teacups while Cath and I caught our breath. After having enough Fantasyland, we headed over to Space Mountain and rode after a 5 minute wait. Time to head over to rope drop for an early morning ride on Splash Mountain. We waited at the rope behind the castle, and when the rope dropped we scurried off and were in the same position as the people who were at the rope drop at the central hub. I quickly realized that for our next trip we should do some sprint conditioning prior to our trip. I ran out of gas in front of the shooting gallery, but we still were one of the first families to arrive at Splash Mountain. I think we were about the 5th log of the day. We sat in the two rear seats and enjoyed it as always, and stayed reasonably dry. The picture place was not ready, but we knew we'd have an opportunity to ride again, so it was not a big deal. Also, one of the guys in front of us had taken his shirt off, so they would not let him purchase a picture. Splash Mountain was followed by a quick ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I really enjoyed this as I did not get to go on it our last trip. We had waited in line on a hot humid evening for about a half hour when my daughter decided that she needed to use the bathroom "right now!!!" So Daniel and his father got to ride while Catherine and I backed out of line (no easy feat!) and found a bathroom. This time, I really looked at all of the little details in the theming and had a great time. After BTMMR, we went to the Haunted Mansion and walked right into the stretch room. I had a Disney lapse and set up camp under the wrong portrait to be first into the ride! I did get it right later in our trip! The new additions were very good. Catherine still does not like the "pop-up" guys, but we all enjoyed the rest of the ride. Daniel went in his own "doom buggy" so it was fun to compare which hitchhiker we ended up with. By now it was definitely time for a sit down break so we headed over to "The Diamond Horseshoe Review" for the 10:30 a.m. show. We purchased some cookies, a brownie, birch beer for the kids and the much needed coffee for mom! We sat at a table near the center of the room, which was a good choice as we got to be involved in the show! There are two rows of tables in front of the stage and then an aisle followed by a few more rows of tables. Our table was in the row right by the center aisle. When we were sitting down, a CM came out and moved the tables to create a larger aisle, so I correctly surmised that some of the action might be in that aisle area. Anyway the show was a lot of fun. We saw a man and woman team of interpreters for the first of several times. They are extremely entertaining, and several times I found myself watching them instead of the show! The singing cowboy whose name escapes me right now was the highlight of the show for us. He came to our table and sang to Catherine (who is extremely shy), but she held up quite well even when he put his cowboy hat on her head! He even paused long enough for me to take a picture. I did however have to "pay" for his generosity. He asked me my name (I told him "Becky" ) and where we were from and made some sort of appropriate remark for Delaware. He then spotted all the maps and literature on our table and gave me a very stern lecture, calling me Rebecca and telling me this was not a library and the only place I should look at that reading material from now on was when I was in the little girl's room. Needless to say, my kids were just thrilled that mom got in trouble! The dancing girls were a lot of fun, and the man they choose to help them out was a very good sport and quite a good yodeler! This was our first time at Diamond Horseshoe, and I'm sure we'll go back next year! I had wanted to see the Country Bear Jamboree, but it was closed for conversion to the Holiday show. We could have seen it later in the week during E-ticket night, but I was trying to discourage any Christmas type activities since we will be in WDW in December 1998. After the show, we hopped on the Railroad and rode over to Toontown. The lines were pretty long for Barnstormer, so we skipped it. We went in the character tent and got in line for "Fairy Tale Friends." Got autographs and pictures with Snow White, Pocahontas, and Cruella de Vil. Catherine was wearing a Simba T-shirt, and Cruella told her that lion fur is only good if they are cubs, and not when they are grown up! We walked over to Main Street and got a seat for the 12:15 p.m. "Every Day's a Holiday" show at the Castle Forecourt. We sat to the right of the stage up on the brick wall. Very good view from there. It was a cute show. I especially like Captain Hook and Maleficent dressed in orange and black for Halloween. After the show we walked down Main Street to Tony's Town Square restaurant for our 12:45 p.m. priority seating. They have a very pretty statue and fountain in the center of the restaurant from Lady and the Tramp. We sat out in the front section which was also quite pretty. The kid's ordered pizza (plain for Dan and pepperoni for Cath) I had the Joe's Pizza (Shrimp, wild mushrooms, oven-dried tomatoes served with pesto cheese sauce for $9.95. The kid's pizza was in the shape of a Mickey head. I, of course, thought this was very cute, so proceeded to take pictures of them. This attracted the attention of a nearby CM who said, "Geez, you'd think she'd never seen a pizza before!" The kids enjoyed their pizza, while mine as just O.K. and two much for one person! I did enjoy the bread with olive oil and fresh parmesan cheese. Total with MKC discount plus tip was $25.25. We headed back to the bus stop, stopping to get pictures and autographs with Donald Duck next to Town Square. My kids think it's funny how short Donald is. He's the only character they see whose the same size as they are! Got the bus with a minimal wait and headed back to ASM. The kids swam, I had a pina colada or two. Relaxed, took showers, called home and were headed back out by 5:30 p.m. Drove over to the Beach Club. The Main Parking lot was closed for some special event so we had to scour for a parking space way in the back. Walked through the Beach Club trying hard to ignore the in progress Christmas decorating and on to the International Gateway into Epcot. Here's where I made one of the only serious errors of the trip. I decided that instead of having a nice sit-down meal, we would munch our way around Epcot. I should have known from past experience that this just does not work well with our family! We were also at that period of every WDW vacation where we were pushing just a little too hard and everyone was getting a little frazzled, but we persevered. First order of business was to purchase a Beaver Tail outside of Canada. Very good, very messy. Much like a cinnamon and sugar Aunt Annie's pretzel. After dusting ourselves off, we walked over to Future World (but wait…I wanted to see World Showcase!). We rode through Spaceship Earth with no wait. However there always seems to be a lot of small stops on this ride. I think it may be when they are loading handicapped people due to the moving deck they have to get on the ride. We were stopped for quite a few minutes on the way down. Very strange feeling! Next, we went to Horizons. Yup, it's outdated, but we still enjoy it. Daniel particularly likes the tie in to Carousel of Progress. And it's fun to pick the environment at the end. We saw signs for character greetings at the Centorium so went to check it out, and who should we find but Tigger. Daniel was happy to see him again and get another autograph. All of the Tiggers have similar but somewhat different autographs. It's neat to see the variations. Also, got photos and autographs from Chip and Dale. Mickey was there too, but the line was too long and they had already seen him at MGM. We wanted to go to Universe of Energy again, but they were closed due to technical difficulties. We headed over to The Land and saw Circle of Life and Food Rocks. The kids wanted to go to Image Works, but it had closed at 6:00 p.m. for some unknown reason. We caught the Krystos show (contortionists in silver lame) while eating treats from the Fountainview Café. Café Mocha for me, cheese danish for Dan, and a Chocolate Toffee Cake for Catherine which I had to help her finish! After our snack we headed back to World Showcase which was very, very crowded. The booths for the Wine and Food Festival added to the congestion. I think if my husband and I had been down together we really would have enjoyed sampling at the booths, but most of the food items were a bit too adventurous for my kids. I did however, have a nice little glass of Australian Shirraz (a red wine). We watched the end of the Off Kilter show. I would have liked to have seen the entire show. They are definitely an energetic and entertaining group of guys. We were going to see "Oh Canada" but the show had just started and we didn't feel like waiting for the next one. Well, I did get to see what was behind the front of Canada for the first time. Every time we go to WDW I say that I am going to get to explore and enjoy World Showcase, and it hasn't happened yet. I am hoping that by staying at the Beach Club next year for 8 days, I will have ample opportunity to wander over the World Showcase and enjoy it fully! After Off Kilter's performance we were directed to the United Kingdom to see the British Invasion. Good songs, but a very short set. My kids were impressed that I knew all the words, but I don't think they appreciated my rendition of "Henry the Eighth!" By this time, Catherine was getting extremely cranky, but I was determined to make it until the 10:00 p.m. showing of Illuminations. We bought baked potatoes from the cart outside of the Rose and Crown. They were pretty good and reasonably priced. We had the opportunity to watch Illuminations from the patio next to the Rose and Crown, but had to wait about 30 minutes to be allowed in. Apparently they had to wait and see how many VIP people showed up before they could let us common folks in. Anyway, Illuminations was o.k., but I just don't get it. Is there a central theme for the show? The pre-25 show was much more cohesive. The fireworks however, were spectacular as always. After the show we trudged back through the International gateway, and I showed the kids where our room will be next year. We struggled to find our car and made our way very tiredly back to ASM. We were all very tired and very cranky. I was beginning to worry that Catherine might not be able to make it through E-ticket Express!

Day 4, Sunday 11/23

Time to slow down just a little bit. Slept in a little later and had the usual breakfast. Except I went to the food court and used a coupon for free coffee with the purchase of a cinnamon roll. Very good. We put on our suits and headed over to Blizzard Beach around 9:30 a.m. Originally we had planned to go on Monday, but the forecast was for very chilly weather so we moved it up a day. It was kind of overcast so I was hoping it wouldn't be too crowded. When we got there I saw a bunch of buses and was kind of worried, but it was still reasonably uncrowded. We have been to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and I really prefer Typhoon Lagoon, but it is closed for rehab in November and December. They let us in through the main entrance, but we had to wait at rope drop and were entertained by Chad who I believe has the wonderful job of spending the day making people happy. Later in the day I saw him walk up to a small child who was building a sand castle and pull a little flag from his bag and give it to her. Cool job! Chad had us practice counting down to drop the rope, but we had to say the number one in Portuguese which is "Ohm". Whenever we saw him throughout the park, we would say "Ohm"! After we got in, we stowed our stuff by the wave pool and went up the ski lift. We hadn't done this before due to long lines! We road Teamboat Springs which was a lot of fun. Much better than the family raft ride at Typhoon Lagoon. We hopped into Cross Country Creek and made our way around to Runoff Rapids. First we did the left open slide in a three person tube. Then we did the right side with Cath and I in a double tube and Daniel in a single. This was followed by single person tube rides down the center enclosed tube (you can't do double or triple tubes in this one). The dark tunnel is really fun and really dark! The kids took two more rides down Run-Off rapids while I rested my weary legs. (My feet and legs were much less kind to me this trip than compared with the other two times we have been here. I went through shin splints, blisters and just a lot of soreness and achiness. Ack, maybe I'm just getting old!) Next we did the slalom races on mats. The heavier people win, so we can all guess who that was! We again hit Cross Country Creek and then the kids played in the wave pool while I rested again. We at lunch at Lottawatta Lodge. The kids had the hot dog kids meal which had excellent french fries. They also got little buckets and shovels, which we left behind when we came home (no room in the suitcases!). I had a chicken sandwich which was just o.k. Total for lunch was $15.48. After lunch, the kids played at the Ski Patrol area while I enjoyed some type of frozen concoction. I was having a little trouble relaxing as I knew that my football team was playing a fairly important game and I was dying to find out the score. We returned to ASM around 2:00 p.m. and got snacks at Maestro Mickey's. I watched football and drank Corona's at the Singing Spirits Lounge. After paying $3.00 a bottle for Coronas I later found out they had them at Maestro Mickey's for $1.50. Oh well, it's vacation. Hakuna matata.

Around 5:00 p.m., we drove over to Fort Wilderness to have dinner at Trails End. We parked and took the Chip bus to the settlement area. The kids played with the goats, and looked at the horses. Saw Minnie Moo too, but she was napping. We had dinner at Trails' End using a 20% off Coupon from the booklet. I was not very impressed. I ate a lot of ribs and chicken and apple crisp. The kids did not find much of anything to eat. On Deb's website menu it says they have pizza, but it is not part of the buffet! There were also some small black bugs flying around the food (I saw the same bugs later in the week at the Crystal Palace - maybe they are buffet bugs!). Daniel tried some donuts that were extremely soggy. After dinner, we took the Dale bus back to the parking lot and headed over to the Disney Marketplace. All I can say about this place is YUK! I used to really enjoy it as a place to get away from the Disney crowds, relax and stroll around and do a little shopping. This trip it was so congested. It took about 20 minutes to find a parking space, and then it was wall-to-wall people. It was very claustrophobic for me. We spent all of our time at the Lego Store and the World of Disney Store. The Lego Store was fun. The large lego structures outside are very impressive and the play area is fun for the kids. The World of Disney is a nightmare. It's just too darn big, with too much stuff and too many people. I would really enjoy it if it was broken into several smaller shops. It just seems like total sensory overload in there, and it is really hard to keep track of your kids in this place. Rant mood off. We did however, manage to spend some money here, and using our MKC discount purchased Toy Story Soldiers, Mickey shortbread cookies for Dad, a plush Pluto for Catherine, and an articulated (read hard plastic with movable arms and legs) Tigger for Dan. After our shopping spree, we headed back to ASM, passing the Virgin Mega Store snickering all the way.

Day 5, Monday, 11/24

I hate when we get on the "down" side of a Disney vacation. At first it seems that we have all the time in the world to be there and the next thing I know we only have a day or two left. At least with E-ticket and several character meals, we still had a lot to look forward to.

Up early, breakfast and another cinnamon roll! Drove to MGM, parked in the front row, and went directly to the Tower of Terror. Had about a 15 minute wait, probably the longest wait of our whole trip. I finally got up the nerve to ask for the seat belt seat, but the CM said that the seat belt was not functioning! Boo, hiss. Catherine again declined so Dan and I went it alone. There was a family of all first timers in our elevator and Dan and I had lots of fun with them "We're all gonna die!" After TOT, I forced the kids to go on The Great Movie Ride. They always enjoy it, they just don't remember it from one visit to the next. Anyway they were having technical problems and we sat in our car for about 10 minutes before we started and also had one long stop during the ride. At least it wasn't in the Tarzan section! We had the western side and the CMs did a fairly good job. Next we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. We had only seen some of it last year while having lunch at the Soundstage, so Daniel really wanted to see the whole thing. He enjoys all the manly stuff in it - you know, fighting, fire, crashes, etc. We went by Mama Melrose's to see if we could change our priority seating from 12:55 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. They said no problem. The kids played at the Honey I Shrunk playground and I caught up on some notes. Lunch at Mama Melrose's was great. Probably my favorite meal of the whole trip. I would definitely go back there again. The kids both had make your own pizzas which was a lot of fun. I had the Santa Fe chicken pizza (not very Italian, but very, very good). I finished lunch with a mocha cappuccino. The waitress included a rock candy swizzle stick with the cappuccino, and once the kids saw that they had to have one too. I asked, and she not only brought one for each of the kids, but one more for me too! My kind of waitress! Total w/ MKC discount and tip was $30.57. After lunch, I wanted to see "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" but it was just too crowded. I have never seen so many strollers in one place before! I guess the marketing geniuses who re-released the movie were responsible for the crowds! I was somewhat disappointed as I had taken Dan and Cath to see the movie right before we left for WDW, and we had not seen the show since our first visit. Oh well, by next year people will have moved on to something else! The kids got autographs from the Green Army Men and we got in line for Woody and Buzz, but then they went on break, and I wanted to see the Hunchback show again, so off we went. Hunchback was just as good the second time. There was a different Esmeralda who was almost as good as the first one we saw. Also, we got to see Matt's whole show. When we went to get our seats there was a whole row of seats roped off. I had hoped to get seats right next to the stage, but by the time we got there the seats were all taken. So I asked the nearby CM, Kimberly, who the seats were for. She said that they have to hold them until right before the show for any VIPs that come in. I asked her if we could move there if no one showed up and she said sure. Then she asked Catherine if she would like to do something. I said before that Catherine is shy, so I was a little apprehensive of what she was going to be asked to do. Kimberly asked her if she would like to open the show, and Catherine, to my surprise, said yes! When the MC came out, Catherine went over to the side of the stage and he asked her what her name was and where she was from. Then Catherine read from a piece of paper, "Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (dahm), A Musical Adventure!" Even though they had the phonetic pronunciation of Dame written on the paper, Cath still pronounced it with a long a. No big deal. Two VIPs (two young males with body piercing and make up - wonder who they were related to???) did show up, but we got to move to the row and were 2 seats away from the stage. Kimberly brought Catherine a "Magical Moment" certificate with her name on it and a description of what she did. Very cool! After the show, we checked the wait time for the Tower of Terror but it was 75 minutes so we headed back to ASM. We had missed the Hercules parade, but the kids didn't seem to mind. I think they still remember being underwhelmed by the Toy Story Parade last year. Once back at the hotel, I forced everyone to take a nap in anticipation of E-ticket express. Catherine had not napped all week, but today she finally did. Also, when we got back to the hotel, all of our animals were arranged on the bed and the night stand, even on the phone! Of course, I had to take pictures. Also, when I started leaving a daily tip for the cleaning service, they leave a very nice card telling you to enjoy your stay.

Dragged ourselves out of our slumber, took showers, called home, and prepared for the evening. As it was kind of chilly we put on jeans, sweatshirts, and jackets. It felt very strange putting long pants on! Our priority seating at Crystal Palace was from 6:15 p.m. and we really had to hustle to make it. Parked at the Poly and again, tried to ignore the ever increasing Christmas decorations. Rode the monorail and made it to Main street in record time. We stopped outside of City Hall to turn in our E-ticket express cards for wristbands. Didn't we think we were hot stuff! Proceeded up Main Street to the Crystal Palace and waited about 5 minutes to be seated. As with Trails' End I was somewhat disappointed in the buffet here. Our previous buffet experiences were at the Cape May Café and Chef Mickey's which were both excellent. We'll be going back to those next trip. The kid's filled up on Macaroni and Cheese, and I don't remember what I ate- not much. But we did take advantage of the wonderful deserts. We were visited by Tigger and Eeyore, but never did get to see Pooh. Also, right by our seats there was large area of window space that was covered up like it was being renovated. I think we would have enjoyed the Crystal Palace more during the day with the sun shining in and everything. Maybe we'll try it for Breakfast some time. After eating we rode Pirates of the Caribbean with no wait and the Jungle Cruise. We had never done the Jungle Cruise at night. It's pretty neat, but our group was not appreciative of the lame jokes. We walked over to Frontierland and watched part of Spectromagic, and then hung out until the fireworks started. This is a great place to see the Fireworks from. And we even saw Tinkerbell! The kids played checkers by the shooting gallery while I bummed around in the shops. Even though it was not officially E-ticket time, we went over and rode Splash Mountain with no wait. We got stuck going up the track right before the big drop, and they turned the light on for few minutes. I was just about to take some pictures when boom, the ride started up again. We were in the rear with people in front of us, so decided not to get the picture this time. We wanted one with just the three of us in it. Daniel got pretty wet, but I had put my coat up over my head and stayed dry. Next we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad riding in the rear car, and then, we did it again! Back to Splash Mountain for our solo trip. I think I actually heard Catherine singing along. Catherine gets extremely embarrassed when I sing or make a fuss on any of the attractions! Cath and I sat in the very back, with Daniel in front of us. Dan and I had our hands high in the air, and Cath while holding on had a big smile on her face. In our picture from 1996, Catherine looks scared umm…senseless. So, we decided this was the picture for us. When we went to the pick-up area, we were the only ones there, and Jace, the CM, asked Daniel if he wanted to help out. Dan and Cath both went behind the counter, and Dan helped cut the picture and put it in the frame. He then stapled the receipt to the number card, and had to call out our name to pick up our picture. Jace made him do it again, because he wasn't loud enough the first time! Jace assured Daniel that he would have a job in the future if he needed one. He then gave us the extra picture free of charge. Ahhh, Disney magic. I was really glad that Daniel got to do something special, as I think he felt a bit left out after Catherine got to do her Hunchback thing! Special thanks to Jace! We then proceeded to the Haunted Mansion. It was entertaining as always, but there was no special effort by the CMs as others had reported at other E-ticket evenings. Oh well, no big deal. We skipped the Country Bear Christmas Special, since we'll probably see it next year. Stopped for popcorn and soda and go three 25th anniversary lithographs. Oh boy, now we have 5! Made our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the left side of Space Mountain, then went on the right side. On the second trip, Catherine actually asked to sit up front! Woohoo! The kids went on one more time while I rested and chatted with another weary mom. We got autographs and pictures with Goofy, Pluto, Minnie and Mickey in their space outfits. They were also in Frontierland in their Western outfits, but we had managed to miss them. We went on Alien Encounter and sat in the very first row. I really have come to enjoy this attraction. It was close to midnight and we were dragging big time, so off we went to the monorail, picked up our car and drove back to ASM. Due to our late return, we had to park miles away from our building. I finally let the kids off by the building and went and parked the car.

Day 6, 11/25 Tuesday

Last day. Boo hoo! Woke up and immediately realized we would never make it for our 8:50 a.m. priority seating at Artist's Point. We were tired!! So, I called the restaurant, and they said no problem, be here anytime before 11:00 a.m. We got ourselves together, packed up and were on our way. It was much easier getting the luggage to the car since we used the elevator this time! We drove out to Walgreens to get batteries for my camera and assorted munchies and magazines for the plane trip home. It was our first time out in the real world in 5 days. It always feels really strange to go outside of WDW after being there for any length of time. We drove over to the Wilderness Lodge for our character breakfast with Pocahontas and the gang. They had the Christmas tree up in the lobby. It was very pretty, but again we tried not to look at it to closely as we'll see it again next year. We were seated immediately and soon visited by Captain John Smith and his rather plastic looking hair. Governor Ratcliffe was in attendance, but is too big to go around to the tables, so the kids had to go up and see him. We also were visited by Pocahontas and Meeko. The characters were good, our waitress was not, and the food was just okay. I had higher expectations for this breakfast. Overall , our food experience this trip was not as good as it had been the past two trips. After breakfast, we went for a walk around the Wilderness Lodge. We walked past the pool and down to the docks. They were working on the walkway by the geyser, so it was not turned on. After our stroll, we went back to the car and drove over to the Disney Marketplace. Again, it took quite a long time to find a parking space. They were setting up for a taping for a Christmas show that was going to be taped that evening. A lot of cameras and scaffolding that made the area even more congested than it usually is. We again visited the Lego store and the World of Disney Store. I bought a ceramic musical Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey for myself, and a blue mesh T-shirt with a very discreet Mickey on the pocket for my husband. We also went to the Christmas shop where I saw many, many things that I would have liked to buy, but didn't. I especially wanted to buy the Christmas Tigger Beanie for Daniel, but I didn't want to buy it with him there. I was hoping to find it at the local Disney Store when I got home. (They never did have it!). After finishing our shopping, we headed off to the airport, returned our car, made the long trek from the National Car drop off to the US Airways counter, and were quickly on our way home.

Conclusions and Final Thougths:

All Star Music: Okay for a short visit with 1 adult and 2 children. I would feel very cramped with 2 adults and 2 children. We had to be very careful with keeping stuff straightened up to have enough room. The water volume in shower was excellent. It's nice to have the sink/vanity outside of the bathroom. Housekeeping in general was good. We needed to have the channels reset on our t.v., and it took 3 calls to have it fixed. Overall, I definitely prefer the quieter ambiance of the more expensive resort, but if you're on a tight budget it still pays to be on Disney property

Time of year (weather/crowds)

Weather - In general, the weather was very nice - mid 70's and sunny during the days. We had one day that was in the 80's and humid, and one day that was in the low to mid 60's. No rain!

Crowds - Early in the trip there were virtually no lines. The crowds began to build as it got closer to Thanksgiving. We used Early Entry and E-ticket to avoid the worst of the crowds. Our longest wait times were 5 - 10 minutes.

Parks - Overall, being our 3rd visit, our navigational skills in the parks made the visit much more enjoyable.

Magic Kingdom:

Old favorites: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, BTTMR
New experience: Diamond Horseshoe Review
Still haven't done: Hall of Presidents, Astro Orbiters, Steam Boats
Missed this trip: Tom Sawyer Island,
Looking forward to: New Tiki Birds, Swiss family treehouse
Epcot

Old Favorites: HISTA, Cranium Command
New experiences: Ellen's Universe of Energy, Imageworks, Fountainview café.
Still haven't seen: Most of World Showcase (someday!!!!!)
Missed this trip: Living Seas, Test Track
Looking forward to: Test Track
MGM

Old favorites: Tower of Terror, Star Tours
New experience: Hunchback of Notre Dame
Still haven't seen: umm… nothing
Missed this trip: Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Superstar T.V.
Looking forward to: Fantasmic
Blizzard Beach

Old favorites: Wave pool, Cross country Creek
New experience: Runoff Rapids
Still haven't done: Summit Plummet, Slush Gusher
Food

Old favorites: Cereal in room, popcorn in parks, pina coladas
New favorites: Mama Melrose
Been there, done that, won't do it again: Artist Point Character Breakfast, Crystal Palace Dinner, Trails' End Buffateria
Looking forward to: Artist's Point dinner, Chef Mickey's (again)
Well, that's it. Thanks for hanging around through all of this. Any questions or comments are welcome.
Becky Ashley

Ashleyrm@aol.com

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