Trip Reports

Before going to Disney World, I spent at least 24 hours reading various Disney website's, I found it to be very informative and great reading - plus it really got me in the mood for my vacation. I especially enjoyed the trip reports and probably read at least 25 of them. I didn't think I would write a trip report myself, but our own experiences were quite different than a lot of the reports I had read and I thought I would like to share them. While we encountered rough spots the trip, overall we had a typical Disney happily ever after ending.

Here is the cast for this trip report: Myself, Paul (35) a computer reseller service manager (and a person who stutters by the way), my wife Bobbie (33) an insurance claims analyst, my mom and dad (from here referred to by their proper titles, Grandma and Grandpa) and most importantly our kids: Matthew (7, almost 8) and dear Katie (5). We all live in Wisconsin. I had been to Disney world in 1973 with my Mom and Dad and again with just my wife in 1989. My wife had been there with her sister in 1975 and with me in 1989. This was Grandma and Grandpa's first time since 1973 and my kids first time.

We had by some standards a short visit. We had only 3 full days in the park and 4 nights at the ASMR. We managed to get quite a lot accomplished though as you will see.

Before getting into a day by day, for those of you who may not have time to read an entire report, here is a summary of what we learned, what we really enjoyed, and what we didn't enjoy so much.

After reading the trip reports that I did, I really got some good ideas of what to do and what not to do. Most of it was pretty accurate however you do have to take into consideration that different people like different things.

I had written up a tentative agenda for the trip (I like to plan). Some of things on the agenda worked great and others did not. My main mistake was not taking into consideration the personalities and ages of our kids (and Grandparents) as much as I should have. Being flexible helped the situation though.

The Good

Here is what worked out great and what we really enjoyed:

The cast members. From the bus drivers to the parade officials and wait staff. Most were very friendly. I loved the interaction and how they at least seemed to enjoy their jobs. I found when you interacted with them in a positive way that they were more than willing to go out of their way to accommodate and have a good time with you. A little kindness was returned three fold. I think people who have not had great experiences with CM's need to take a look at themselves. They are not indentured servants but we found them to be nice and to go out of their way, especially when you acted that way yourselves. I wish the world outside of Disney could be more that way. By the way, my stuttering didn't seem to phase them too much :-).
The All-Star Music Resort. Nicer than I had expected. We stayed in Jazz 2. We were originally scheduled in Broadway. But, after reading the trip reports on how far some of the buildings were from the bus and food court area we asked to switch. We were accommodated by the nice CM that checked us in. Glad we did as this saved us a few steps. By the end of some long days these steps counted!. Rooms were very typical of most newer moderately priced motel chains but better because of the Disney theme. They were very clean - they had even shampooed the carpet the night before our arrival! For the amount of time we spent at the ASMR it was more than adequate. After visiting other resorts I'm glad we stayed where we did - especially for the age of our kids and the amount of time we actually spent at the resort. The decor is fun and it is a very family oriented resort. We ended up only grabbing breakfast there a few times as we had planned a lot of meals off-site. The food court though had a great variety of stuff to eat that my kids liked. They also liked the Disney movies while they were eating (and while we were checking in). I thought the decor more upscale that what you would expect, especially the court yard area in front of Jazz. They have great pools although they were closed most of the time (see "what we learned").
Visiting and eating at the different resorts. We went to the Wilderness Lodge and Port Orleans. It was great fun and also a good opportunity to check out where we may stay next. My wife and I just loved the Wilderness Lodge because we both love the look and feel of a log home. The lobby with its huge fireplace and carved poles is incredible and although huge, gives off a warm cozy feeling. That is probably where we will stay next time because we plan on staying longer then and spending more time at the resort. Our kids liked the indoor spring and river. Port Orleans was also very nice. I has a great courtyard that looks much like the French quarter; only nicer and more quiet. It has more of an adult romantic feel though and may not look as much fun for kids (although our kids liked the pool there) as the ASMR or WL. It would be a nice compromise though because of its attraction for adults as well as kids.
Going to the Spectromagic parade and seeing the fireworks. Not even on my agenda but a perfect way to end our last day at Disney and the Magic Kingdom!
All of these attractions: The Legend of the Lion King, Splash Mountain (could only get my dad on this one but it was great)!, Grand Prix raceway (this surprised me too), Toontown Country Fair (surprised again), the updated Land ride, Journey through the Imagination (an old favorite), The American Adventure, the Tiempo Del Rio boat ride in Mexico (wish they would update It's a Small World to this caliber), Country Bear Jamboree, Jungle Cruise, the riverboat ride at dusk in MK, Big Thunder Mountain Railway at night (had to ride this one by myself), Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and the regular railway at MK.
The character breakfast in the Land Grille. Good food and lots of it. Characters were extra special that day to my kids and family! The kids were very excited to have the characters come to them! When my son wrote a message to leave with the characters to leave at the table saying "I LOVE the characters" I had tears in my eyes!! Disney at its best.
Pleasure Island. Especially the Adventurers Club (outstanding interaction - we laughed really hard) and the Comedy Warehouse (outstanding improv - we laughed really hard again). Other than those two clubs, I had a hard time thinking that I was at Disney. I would love to see more places like the Adventurers Club at PI with different themes. This is the one type of place you can't find outside of Disney and even if you did, they wouldn't be "Disney" cast members! A fun place for adults all in all. My wife and I were actually a bit upset to see a lot of kids there as it is mainly geared to adults.. We were lucky though to have Grandma and Grandpa there to watch the kids. There are however many child care services available throughout the "World". The break from our kids (though we love them more than anything) was welcome on the third night. My wife particularly found it nice to be out as adults again - something we get few chances to do in our normal lives!
Refillable mugs. I actually vowed to my wife that were wouldn't buy these ($7.99 for a mug of soda/pop?). After we paid $3.11 for two small glasses of soda/pop on our first night though we found out how much of a value these were. It was fun for our kids to realize that they could have as much soda/pop for "free" as they wanted also. We definitely got our money's worth from our two mugs. Plus we now have two nice looking mugs at our home to remind us of the fun! Would love it if there wasn't a Coke-Disney alliance though! I'm for Coke and Pepsi and others. We ALL have to get along you know ;-).
Staying on-site. I will mention some bus problems below. All in all though, staying at a place that has the "Disney Magic" (Disney theme, Disney service, Disney everything) is well worth it. We have stayed off-site and you lose something having to go back to the "real world" at night. Part of the Disney magic is that Disney is its own world with a different set of values and priorities.
Buying the CD Music from the Parks. I'm listening to it now and the music brings back a lot of memories. They even have a great "gospel" sounding version of the "It's a Small World" theme song on it which is much better than the original!
Walking around the World Showcase in Epcot, the streets of MGM, and the Liberty Square/Frontierland area in MK. These are some of the most scenic areas in DisneyWorld, They are fun just to wander and look around or buy a snack/souvenir.
Surprise (Early Entry) Mornings. What a great benefit of staying on-site! Not only could we walk on most attractions for the hour and before the park opened, but, even when it opened, it took awhile for the crowds to build in the parts of the park we already were at! By the way fall is a great time of year to go. The most I think we ever waited in a line was 30 minutes and that was infrequent!
The weather. After starting off with a day of rain I thought "Oh my" this may be a bad trip but the weather changes fast in Florida and we only had the one bad day! Lows in the 50's and high temps in the 70's made it even seem a bit cool. It reminded us of a perfect crisp fall day in Wisconsin!
The Bad

Now, with all the good stuff mentioned, we must also mention some of the bad. Most of it became a learning experience. We could have done many things differently and possibly better. There are also quite a few things that Disney could do better also. I hope they are listening.

The scare factor. For some reason, Disney believes in putting a scare factor into almost all of their attractions. Whether it be loud thunder, a villain that pops out at you, darkness, "unexpected rain", etc., fear was a constant theme. While my daughter Katie (5) normally has a very strong personality, the scare factor was enough to eventually make her afraid of every attraction we went to. We ended up having to constantly explain to our (usually crying) little Katie (who is very darling at her age - so many strangers also tried to comfort her) that everything was OK and that these were fun attractions. Unfortunately some of the stuff we thought would be OK, even after reading the book "Disney World with Kids" turned out to be totally frightening to Katie.
Katie's fear eventually got transferred to my older son Matthew who also started to not to like going on any of the attractions. Now I know every kid is different. Some little ones didn't seem to be phased. I'm personally glad mine were a little apprehensive of some actually scary things. I might be a little scared if they were not! We adapted (out of necessity) and eventually started leaving the kids with Grandma and Grandpa while my wife and I went through the attraction and then switched for them to go through the attraction. By this time even if an attraction was not scary our kids were too frightened to try.

I learned (when I got back home) that we could have all gone through the lines to the attractions and when we got up to the front, asked the CM to do a "baby" or in our case "child" swap. A "swap" is where one of us could have stayed with the kids in a holding area while the others went through the attraction. When we were done the other person could have immediately gotten on to the ride. This would have saved a lot of time. I wish a CM would have suggested it during some of the times when our crying Katie actually did go to some of the attractions. Most of them just asked why she was crying and told her it wasn't scary (which in all cases it was for her)!

I must admit that there really isn't a lot at any of the three parks that a frightened 5 year old can handle well. We noticed we weren't the only ones with crying little ones! We wanted so bad for our kids to enjoy Disney and instead most of the time they were frightened. I'm sure this is not what the original Disney folks had ever intentioned..

Our worst experience was to take our kids to HISTA. My wife and I had been to Captain EO before and found the 3D experience charming and very good. Not all that scary either. Having seen the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" movie we thought that this would be a lot of fun also. Our kids were excited that this was "just" a movie and not a ride.

My daughter became absolutely terrified of everything in the movie. I have never seen her so scared. We were in the middle of the row so an exit wasn't possible. Covering her eyes just made her more terrified!

My son was also totally scared by this movie.

There has got to be a much stronger warning about this movie!!!!

Why on earth does Disney have to be so intense about everything? Most of the attractions would be just as fun, if not more, with only 75% of the intensity.

Another solution would be to offer different versions on some of the attractions where it wouldn't be all that hard to do. They could alternate a milder version of HISTA. They could easily offer a less jarring Star Tours on one of the "modules" by splitting the line at the end between beginner and veteran flyers (I enjoyed the flying effect - but they took it to an extreme). One of the Body Wars modules could be a learning experience journey through the Body without all of the jarring.

In Fantasyland the scare factor I feel should be tuned down or taken out of the attractions all together as this is the one place specifically geared toward small children. Everyone needs their own place! Kudos for Toontown, but it should be extended to Fantasyland!

I have heard that Disney has toned down some of the rides which I applaud. They could go farther on some.

These milder versions would have also appeal to older adults. Grandma and Grandpa accidentally got in line for Body Wars and were not impressed with the experience Milder versions would have left them with a much more favorable impression of Disney World.

By comparison some of the attractions they advertise as being wild such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain are really not as bad as they sound.

The Disney Bus System. Moving on: we found the bus system to be efficient most of the time with never too long of a wait for the bus. The problem with the buses are that they are slow when traffic is slow and usually overcrowded. While OK for the city, this is Disney where you expect more (and pay more - but it is usually worth it). Not so with the bus system. I would like to start a petition to extend the monorail all over Disney. At least to all of the parks!
Maybe though the monorail isn't the answer. It can't merge into an existing track like a train (at least this has been my observation)- therefore it needs a looping track - and they are somewhat slow. What they do have going for them is that they can hold a large amount of people comfortably and they don't have to deal with traffic or stoplights. Whether it be a monorail or something similar the Disney transportation system needs to be updated now. The buses are too crowded and slow - especially to the DVM and PI. I'm sure the Disney imagineers can imagine something better than a city bus!

Here is one lesson we learned. If you are in a big line waiting for a bus and all of the seats are filled: wait for the next bus! Now the bus driver may highly encourage you to take the bus to its limit, but I can assure you that you will be first in line for a seat for a different bus that usually comes along within 5 minutes. Standing for 20 minutes on the bus after walking all day is not worth it and not what you paid for.

Short pool hours. The third problem I can't blame directly on Disney however there is a fix that Disney could have incorporated into their resorts. The (encephalitis) mosquito problem has now caused the pools to only be open from 8am to 5pm. We only had 3 full days in the parks and wanted to take advantage of them. My kids however were dying to try out the pool. I did end up getting up at 8:00 on a 50 degree morning to take them swimming. Don't laugh this was still warm for a Wisconsinite!
Just a thought though: Has Disney not heard of indoor pools? We didn't notice any at the resorts. Sure the weather is nice 75% of the time but an indoor pool would be a nice alternative on a rainy or cool day!

The Disney Marketplace Area. Just one other complaint. While I liked Pleasure Island, I did not care at all for the rest of the "Disney Marketplace". East, West or what have you. While all of the shops and restaurants might be OK somewhere else, this is Disney. It is just too commercial and reminds you of any other congested shopping area (what you are trying to get away from - yuck)!
All in all we had a good time though. I had budgeted more than I actually spent although I did budget a lot. If your goal is only to see all of the major attractions I'm here to tell you that for us, and the time of year we went, 3 days was plenty. We did not rush all that much and even got to add things to our agenda.

If however your goal is to relax a bit more and visit more of the resorts (which we would recommend and would like to do next time) 5-7 full days would be wise.

For those still interested, here is a play by play of our trip.

Day one - Wednesday, November 12th.

At the advice of my Mom, who used to be a travel agent, we got up at 4:45am for a 7:40am flight out of a medium size airport. This was really OK as we all didn't sleep too well in anticipation of our trip. I didn't have as much trouble sleeping as I had a meeting of the stuttering support group I had founded the evening before our trip and I got home late. We had been packed for awhile and left our house for Grandma and Grandpa's at 5:30am. The six of us then piled into Grandpa's somewhat small Ford Escort as Grandpa works for security in the airport and had a sticker for free parking on this car - a great advantage. It was actually a fun beginning to our adventure.

We arrived at the airport at 6:20 and had a very short line at the check-in. Being in the travel business, Grandma actually knew the person who checked us in so this was smooth! It is advisable to get to the airport with kids early, but in such a small airport this was not much of an issue.

Had about an hour wait before we took off but we were all excited and the weather was cool but nice.

For my kids this their first flight and we were a little nervous on how they would react. My wife and I have flown quite a few times and Grandma and Grandpa are true veterans of flying so we were well prepared with chewing gum and coloring books. Much to our surprise (unlike the rides at Disney) the kids actually liked flying very much - even with a pretty bumpy trip on the way down! Relief for Mom and Dad!

Had a 2 hour layover in Detroit (we flew Northwest as they had the best deal at the time). I had been to the Detroit airport many times and I like this airport, so it was fun. Kids had fun on the people mover (first ride). We boarded the airplane for Disney around noon but were delayed getting out a while due to a "static" on the airplane's computer. I work in the computer service field and have never had a computer in for "static"! Maybe a pilot was finishing his lunch. I was going to offer to fix it but just then we were called to board. Had a rather bumpy ride but got into Orlando at about 3:00 - a half our later than scheduled. I had factored in a lot of time for delays though. We didn't have to leave for our first evening activity until 6:00.

I need to mention that on our way down we had a great flight attendant who had heard that our kids were on their first flight and went and got them a signed certificate by the pilot to recognize their first flight and also got a pair of wings! My kids loved this and I must admit this was very akin to the Disney type of service we later got used to (and from Northwest at that)!. Kudos - I wish I would have gotten her name!

The train at the Orlando airport was neat. My son and I went straight to purchase Mears tickets to the ASMR while the rest of the gang went to get our luggage. This worked out good as we avoided a line when the others from our flight later came down. It still took Mears around 15 minutes to arrive. About 30 minutes later we were at the ASMR - exciting! Our Mears driver was quiet until the rest of the people got off at the Marriott and then was very friendly to us. He must have sensed our excitement (and a big gratutity)! It was now about 4:15. I thought we would be checked into our rooms by 4:00 so we were a little behind. The 40 minute wait I had heard about to check-in at the ASMR though was non-existent. We walked right up to a CM and began the process while the kids watched Disney movies. My wife thought it took a long time to check in, but we were actually checking in for two rooms and there is a lot of stuff to give out at check-in. I loved the all-in-one card for room key, charging, ID, etc. Was disappointed that no one ever checked for our ID's the whole time we were there. Oh yes, they did check at Epcot to verify early entry but that was all.

We found our room and looked around the resort a bit.

I had read a lot about what to do on the first night without having to go to the parks. I thought that I had come up with two good options. Our first option was to go to the Downtown Disney Marketplace and eat at the Rainforest Cafe. The second option was 7:20 priority seating at the Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge.

Deep down, I really wanted to go to the Wilderness Lodge as I had heard great things about it. After talking to guest services though the Rainforest Cafe seemed easier and quicker via a direct bus there. (We later learned that we could get to the Wilderness Lodge easily by catching a bus to the MK and tranferring). At around 5:45 we boarded our first Disney bus to Downtown Disney.

A side story about this bus. Our first wait was probably our longest waiting for a bus. Many other buses came for the other areas but it took awhile for the Downtown Disney bus to arrive. One of the neat things about the ASMR is that you can see the buses coming from a long way off. There seemed to be an endless stream but not a Downtown Disney bus. Finally a semi truck with a weird looking trailer that had windows came up to the resort. I thought that this was some sort of construction vehicle but it pulled right into our bus stop! Out of the cab hops the CM bus driver announcing that this was indeed the Downtown Disney bus. This "super" bus, as they call it, is really a modified semi trailer that can hold I guess somewhere around 150 people. If you have ever wanted to ride in the back of a semi (which I actually did - I'm weird) this was the bus for you!

The problem with this bus is that the communications from the driver (who sat separately in the cab part of the truck) either never existed or wasn't working so we couldn't tell exactly what was going on. I had a strange thought that the bus driver could have taken us to Key West and we wouldn't have had anything to say about it (I'm weird, remember)! Also, it was a warm night and the air conditioning was not working well in the back. Someone had asked the CM bus driver if this bus was a special treat and his response was "he wouldn't consider this special" Hmm. I though it somewhat fun especially when we made a sharp turn and through the window in front if the trailer the cab disappeared and it seemed like no one was driving the bus! The front people always mildly screamed when this happened!

Anyway we got off at Downtown Disney and headed to the Rainforest Cafe (which you CAN'T miss) There was a fairly long line outside of the RC so we asked how long of a wait. 2 hours and 45 minutes was the answer so we immediately decided that we probably still had time to make it to the WL.

The bus depot at Downtown Disney is pretty nice. According to the transportation guide I received while checking in it also served as an "official" transfer point to the WL. We looked at a sign that said the bus depot to the WL was number 4 so we waited and waited for a WL bus. Eventually we got nervous as it was now around 6:40 and still no WL bus. We started to panic in true family style and eventually asked a bus driver (it took us two) who finally told us to take the Grand/Poly bus, This bus was actually at depot number 3 and we had probably seen at least two of them go by already. Here is a tip: the buses for the Grand/Poly only once in awhile flash on their marquee that they are for the WL also!

We were nervous about not making it on time by now but soon enough a Grand/Poly bus came and we were off. It really didn't take us all that long to get to the WL from there and happily for us it was the first stop.

I had read a lot about the lobby of the Wilderness resort but didn't know quite what to expect. Even before I got to the lobby I fell in love with the lighted pathway up to the WL. I like the "flickering lights" Disney uses all over the "World" at night. The lobby IS incredible! The whole feeling is quite warm and cozy. Especially for someone from the northwoods as I am. I liked it so much that my mom went and inquired for rates at the resort. Expensive but nice.

While we were in the lobby we witnessed an "accident". Apparently a little girl had fallen off of something and skinned her arm. In true "Disney" fashion, an ambulance with lights a blazing was outside of lobby and two Disney EMT's (yes, Disney EMT's ) were inside attending to the crying little girl while a Disney security person interviewed the parents. The WL manager was also there as well as another CM who was just standing there assuring other people that everything was OK. They know how to handle an emergency! Both of the EMT's looked like "your favorite uncle". They couldn't have been nicer and told jokes of assurance while they did their business of patching up the girl. At the end they took of their gloves and blew them up, drew faces on them, autographed them and had everyone around them smiling - including the little girl and her parents! Sure they were probably just trying to prevent a lawsuit, but the kindness and attention was nice to see anyway.

Well by this time my kids were hungry and tired. I went and checked on our table and they said it was ready so they led us in. Whispering Pines Cafe is fun. The CM's put on a good show here. Our waitress was full of a lot more energy than we were. She explained all about our how things worked there (this took awhile - even at her fast rate of talking) and then took our drink order. Unfortunately it was a long time before she came back and my kids were quite hungry. My wife finally went up and asked the host where our waitress was. Word must have gotten back to her as she quickly returned with our drinks. I then explained our situation that we had both very tired and very hungry kids and she winked at me and said no problem. She then cut out a lot of the "routine" and went straight to work on getting our food. I normally would have loved all of the banter and interaction, but not this late (we should have made this meal for later in our stay and earlier in the evening).

One thing though, even if things were slow at first, a little complaining produced a big result. The Chef himself was out with the kids food (to the delight of all of us) in less than 5 minutes. Shortly after our large skillets of roasted food came out. The food really was good and we were really hungry. While eating I did enjoy all of the interplay at the tables. We were asked to participate in singing and cheering and clapping. My daughter loved being asked to participate no matter where we were at Disney. She was quick to join in on whatever she was asked to do. Once Katie had her food she was happy again and ready to go. Matthew however complained of being tired (I don't think he slept much the night before). He asked if he could go and sit on a couch that was in the lobby next to our table. We said sure (what the heck). All of a sudden we noticed him fast asleep (while we were still eating). Fortunately we were only a few feet away and could keep an eye on him. A CM came along to straighten up the pillows in the lobby, saw my son, smiled and let him be. We enjoyed the rest of our meal. I offered to buy this meal knowing it would be a bit. Grandma and Grandpa I think were surprised at the size of the bill but I had been prepared. We had a lot of good food, but for the price we paid I would have liked to enjoy the atmosphere even more. It was, however, a memorable experience that I should like to do again someday.

I carried sleeping Matthew back to the bus station. He did finally wake up which was good (he's heavy). I wished at that time that there was a direct bus back to the ASMR but no such luck. We transferred easily to the ASMR resort bus back at the DDM. Got back the ASMR and wanted something to drink. Since we didn't have our refillable mugs at this time (and I wasn't planning on buying them) we paid $3.11 for two small drink cups. It was at this time that I changed my mind about refillable cups!

I scheduled our Mickey wake up call and we went to sleep.

Day 2 - Thursday, November 13th

Had our first Mickey wake up call at 6:00. Listened to the weather on the phone. Didn't look too good - a 70% chance of heavy rain. Not raining yet though and fairly cool. Went to get doughnuts and juice at the ASMR food court. Good doughnuts. Packed our rain ponchos which we bought before we left (good idea they were better and less expensive) and headed out to the bus stop at the ASMR at 7:00. This was an early entry day for the Magic Kingdom. Our bus came shortly and we were off. For some reason I thought that the bus would just go to the TTC was surprised that it took us all the way in - we were actually early. We stood as the first people in line in one of the lines until the CM told us we were standing at an exit! Quickly shifted over to a "real" line. Went in, made a rest stop and walked quickly down Main Street. I had forgotten how nice it was. It was shorter than I remembered though. Got our first good look at the 25th anniversary castle. As others have said; it is better in person. Went through the castle and walked on It's a Small World. We then did Peter Pan, Snow White and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. All of these in less than 45 minutes! Snow White and Mr. Toads ride both scared Katie. The apprehension had begun!

We got through all we wanted to do on Fantasyland and still had 40 minutes before the Lion King opened so we went on the Grand Prix Raceway. This turned out to be one of the kids favorite attractions. I must admit that we all had fun driving the cars - even Grandma and Grandpa. Only a short 5 minute wait. Early entry is great!

Went back and saw that there was no line yet for the Lion King so we all went on the Carousel. As we were boarding we got to listen to the "official opening" of the park. Glad that we had most of our morning plans already accomplished. We waited awhile for the Lion King to open but were near the front of the line. Loved the preshow, had tears in my eyes as I was holding my daughter and the "Circle of Life" song played. Thought to myself how wonderful this was. Kids enjoyed the show. Katie was a little afraid of the "steam" but knew the movie very well so knew what to expect. We sat in one of the first rows and I would actually recommend sitting back further - I think the overall effect would be better.

After this was done we walked over to Toontown Country Fair. As we were walking the skies opened up and we had our first heavy rain - albeit brief. We quickly donned ponchos and moved on. We went to see Mickey's house and then went to meet Mickey Mouse. I was surprised how fast the line moved but I think I've figured out why! ;-) Kids loved meeting Mickey (I did too). We then went to the train station and began waiting for the train and we planned on using the train to get to Frontierland. No train in sight so the kids ran to see Donald;s Boat. Of course as they were just getting there the train came. Not knowing when the next one would be along we quickly boarded the train and were off to Main Street and then Frontierland. This proved to be a smart move. Not only is the train fun but also fairly dry that day.

When we got to Frontierland we were hungry so we grabbed some Chili and fries at the Pecos Bill cafe. Very few people here yet. Restrooms were right there also. I personally like this area of the MK the best (including Liberty Square). It is neat just to be around here. When we were done we went over to the Country Bear Jamboree. This was fun for all. My kids liked "participating" in the show by yelling out and clapping hands. I next talked Grandpa into going with me to Splash Mountain. The line was just 20 minutes long! The rest of the troop went shopping.

I loved Splash Mountain. It remains my favorite attraction in all of Disney World. I felt bad that the kids were too scared to go on it as the show part of it is very good and very well done! The Splash at the end was more fun then scary. A note that we didn't get too wet during the drop (we were already in rain gear). My dad reported getting wet after the drop when the ride goes next to a waterfall. I was on the opposite (left) side and didn't get wet. Hint, Hint!

My wife had found a shortcut by the Country Bear Jamboree to Adventureland where we went on the Jungle Cruise. I had been to the MK twice before but somehow never got on the Jungle Cruise. We had a little longer wait but the line moved fast. Had a great tour guide who had lots of good jokes. You wonder how they can keep that up all day. The rain outside added to this attraction and made it seem more real. We then went on the Pirates of the Caribbean where Katie got real scared and cried through most of the whole ride. It is a well detailed ride and I could see how some little ones could be frightened. I thought it scarier myself then I had before.

By this time it was really raining and our kids were pretty wet, scared and whiny. We decided to break into 2 groups to do the Haunted Mansion. My wife and I went first. The line was not bad at all - read the "gravestones" and soon we were invited inside by a realistic "Dracula looking" CM. The effects here are really good. Loved the holographic looking faces such as the one in the crystal ball. How do they do that!

When we came out our kids were laden with gifts that Grandma and Grandpa had bought them and they were in a good mood (not surprisingly). Grandma and Grandpa then took off for the HM and we found a dry spot to sit on a porch. I went and got something to drink and a huge baked potato. It may be that I was hungry but I never had a baked potato that tasted so good (even soggy)!

I went over to the HM after awhile and waited for Grandma and Grandpa to emerge. It was raining but it was a peaceful moment that I enjoyed a lot. Did I mention that I like that area!

We had basically now done everything on our agenda and it was only mid afternoon! This was fortunate for us as it just then stared pouring cats and dogs and we were totally soaked by the time we left the MK.

We had originally planned on going back for the evening activities that night. But, because of the rain, we decided to think of something else. You need to be flexible at Disney World!

We went back to the ASMR and rested. This is a great thing to do after a long day. Being at Disney World though, I personally could not rest. It seemed like such a waste when there is so much to do. I went and explore the resort, bought some refillable mugs and took them up to the room. We then planned on going out to Bonfamilles at the Port Orleans resort for dinner. It was already late afternoon but I thought I would call for reservations anyway. Fortunately for us (after our late night experience the night before) they had a 5:30 opening which was just right. We took the bus to MGM this time because it was the first bus there. I also remembered that it was pretty close to Port Orleans. At MGM we transferred easily to a bus to Port Orleans. We arrived there early so we all had a drink in their bar. Expensive, but good. Bonfamille's at least looks like an upscale restaurant and I was beginning to wonder if we should have taken the kids there. What was I thinking - this is Disney! Soon I found almost every table had little kids at it. They know just how to handle children at Disney also. They always had crayons and a picture to color at every restaurant we went at Disney. Since this is one of my kid's favorite activities they were quite content!

The food was good and plentiful. Especially if you like Cajun. I loved the salad with its unique ranch dressing! While we were eating, we saw a group who just went there for desserts and they looked absolutely wonderful. What a great idea also if you are not up to paying for an full meal to be able to enjoy the restaurant. Unfortunately we were too full to even attempt them. After dinner we strolled the ground as it had stopped raining. This was a lot of fun. Port Orleans is definitely quieter that the ASMR. As I said before I thought that it may be not as appealing to kids as it was to us though! I could be wrong!

Returned to the ASMR via the Marketplace and decided as long as we were there to go and see the Disney Store and the Lego Store. This was OK but seemed too much like a hectic mall to me! Eventually got back to the ASMR around 9:00 where we scheduled our Mickey wake up call (Matthew learned how to do this on his own, loved doing it, and did it for the rest of our stay by himself)!

Day 3 - Friday, November 14th

Mickey got us up at 6:30 this time as we did not have to eat breakfast this morning. We had 8:25 reservations at the Land Grille for a character breakfast. Checked the weather, they were again calling for a 70% chance of rain. Didn't look good so we brought our ponchos.

At around 7:00 again we hopped a bus from the ASMR to Epcot. Again it was an early entry day. Matthew was upset from yesterday that we hadn't bought him a watch (because they were $30 and he is just 8). When we got to Epcot my wife took him to a gift shop while we waited for the park to open. Here he found a Mickey watch that only cost us $12 and we were ALL happy.

By this time we knew enough not to force our kids on a ride, so Grandma, Grandpa, Matthew and I went on Spaceship Earth while my wife and Katie stayed behind (I was going to go twice with her). I really like Spaceship Earth. It seems to have been updated a bit. I miss it being narrated by Walter Cronkite though. My dad would have liked that too. When we got done we realized that we didn't have time to go through the attraction again so unfortunately my wife missed this attraction this time. We started feeling raindrops and headed on over to the Land Grille for breakfast. Here things became much better.

We were seated almost right away at the Land Grille. Our server brought us out big skillets of good typical breakfast food. I thought the ham and cinnamon rolls were excellent! Before long Minnie sneaks over to our table and lightly tickles Katie's shoulders. She was coloring intently at the time and didn't know who it was until she looked over. The big smile on her face I will never forget! Minnie signed autographs for the Kids and posed for pictures all around. She even went and sat on Grandpa's lap (which I think he enjoyed). Next came Mickey and Chip and Dale. They were all quite fun. Lots of pictures taken here. An unforgettable part of our trip. The neat thing about the Land Grille restaurant is that it is round and it revolves. Not only does the scenery change, but this also allows the characters to literally appear out of nowhere.

I think the great thing about a character breakfast or dinner for the kids is that the characters come to visit them (and not the other way around). This makes them feel special. Matthew was so happy about these visits that he insisted on leaving a note at the table that said "He loved the characters" (he asked me how to spell "characters"). Cool!

After breakfast we looked outside and couldn't believe our eyes. Blue skies and sunshine. The weather people can even be wrong in Florida! Next we went on the Land ride. This ride had been definitely improved since I saw it last. The fact that it wasn't scary made it one of our favorite attractions! For some reason (which I can't recall) we didn't go to see Food Rocks but headed instead to Journey through the Imagination. I remember long lines on this one before but we were able to walk on. Still a good attraction. After that we made the mistake of taking our kids to HISTA (see "The Bad" above). After HISTA we needed to take the kids to the Journey through the Imagination play area to calm them down. They seemed to like this.

From here I had planned on seeing the Universe of Energy, Horizons and Cranium Command, but the kids wanted something familiar that they wouldn't be frightened of so we went to The Living Seas. Livings Seas for me is OK but there are lots of other places where you can watch fish in a tank. The dolphin and manatee demonstrations were interesting however.

After a short while there we decided to go through Horizons. We split up for this one so the kids didn't have to ride - they were still shaking from HISTA. I had never been to Horizons and it was better than I thought but already a bit outdated. I went through this ride twice (with Grandma and Grandpa and then with Bobbie). I could have sworn I saw two different "movie" presentations. I saw the different presentations not only on the end of the ride where you can choose (we picked space the first time and desert the second - desert was better), but during the beginning when things are on the large screen (my favorite part by the way). By the way this was my first experience with a ride that stopped. Halfway through we got stuck between the futuristic house and farm. We noticed that an orange scent gets sprayed here every couple of minutes adding to the orange harvest effect! We were wondering how they were going to get us out of there. The dialogue in the scenes kept going while we were stopped and soon we had it memorized!

Because going through Horizons took so long we now had to head to Canada for our lunch reservations at Le Cellier. I had heard some good things about Le Cellier but must admit that I found the menu rather limited. Most of the items were heavy also and we had just eaten a big breakfast. It was OK but next time I'm eating in Mexico! By the way the kids seemed to like the food and atmosphere of Le Cellier - maybe because it was quieter.

The weather had actually turned less humid and cooler when we got outside. Just perfect for a stroll around the world. Touring the World turned out to be one of our best experiences at Disney World. The kids liked just touring more than I thought (and really more than the rides). My son had taken a French class and was really interested in France. He insisted in taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower. We toured a lot of the shops and really enjoyed this part. Unfortunately we were too full to partake of the wonderful looking pastries in France. We leisurely made our way to the American pavilion after seeing a great drum presentation in Japan

along the way. We decided to wait for the next American Adventure show and got to hear the I believe they were called "Freedom Singers" before hand. I like music and really enjoyed this. The American Adventure show was very good also.

After the American Adventure we caught the end of a show with fiddlers playing Celtic music that was real good. We continued around the world showcase. Kids and Grandpa liked the spraying Coca-Cola bottles at the Coca-Cola cool spot rest stop. My mom and dad we looking forward to Germany and when we got there we were entertained by a polka playing band that was interacting with the audience (making unsuspecting tourists dance, etc.. . I was having a lot of fun at this point despite my son misbehaving badly at this time. From there we were going to "tag team" the Maelstrom ride in Norway but the line was too long (one of the only times this happened). We did end up going to Mexico and riding the River De Tiempo boat ride. This was a better ride than I expected. It is a lot like It's A Small World, yet better and updated technologically. They should update "Its A Small World" to this caliber as I mentioned before.

We were now headed back for the ASMR when Matthew said out of the blue, "Let's ride the monorail to the MK". At was such a nice afternoon and we thought, Why not? We got to the monorail station just as one was leaving but that put us first in line for the next. Talked to some nice people in line and explained our fear situation with our children. They agreed but didn't have the same as bad of an experience with their little one. Everyone is different. The monorail was fun and I'm glad we did it. It was a chance to ride through the Contemporary hotel also. Matthew and Katie both liked this. We were just going to catch the ASMR bus but when we got to the MK the weather was so nice (the MK looks much better in the sun) we took some pictures and just hanged around a bit. We then went back to the ASMR and me and my wife prepared for our night in Pleasure Island.

Before mentioning about Pleasure Island and must say that we were quite thankful to have Grandpa and Grandma there to watch the kids for our night out. My wife and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary this year and we had this planned as a special celebration for our anniversary. It was special!

We headed out to Pleasure Island around 6:15. We were thinking about eating at Planet Hollywood but when we arrived there the line was one of the longest we have seen at Disney. We were hungry and didn't want to wait so we bought our tickets for the Island and got our wristbands. I was surprised that the tickets looked like "Disney" park tickets but then remembered this was Disney. Maybe I just have a hard time associating night clubs with Disney!

We walked through Pleasure Island getting a feel for it and looking for a place to eat. I was surprised to see that you could get a drink almost anywhere including on the street. I then remembered that this was truly in fact an enclosed and "regulated: island.

We didn't spot anyplace really to eat (we later learned that many of the night clubs serve food - the Neon Armadillo and the Jazz Club for sure). We did however spy some quiet "romantic type" tables by the water and a gyro stand. We went to get some gyros and I went over to get margaritas at a nearby stand for both of us. I then found out that I could only get 1 drink at a time per wristband. We had heard that they were having trouble with people buying drinks for minors. I just needed to bring my wife over though. By this time I learned that all alcoholic drinks at Disney are $5.25! No matter what the drink - $5.25! Gyros and margaritas were good.

After we were finished we went to find the Adventurers Club. Found the Adventurers Club but found that it did not open till 8:15 and it was about 7:40. We decided to head next door to the Neon Armadillo. I had seen the Neon Armadillo on many TV shows but it looked smaller in person. I did like the fact that the live entertainment started at 8:00. Heard a pretty good band but I wanted to head over to the Adventurers Club I had heard so much about. We got there just as the first initiation was ending. Went downstairs and mingled. I had ordered a Kungaloosh. To me it was better than even the great things everyone had said about it. A near perfect drink. Bobbie thought it was too sweet.

Before long the "Club President" came along mingling with the crowd. Great improvisational interaction with the people standing around. We watched and listened. Soon the "Maid" came along. She seemed quite fun. She invited us to the mask room and she also was very funny. She interacted specifically with us a few times. Loved the "genie in a box". I was not expecting special effects and this was a good one. This did seem very "Disney" to me and quite fun. From there we were invited to a show in the library. All of this was very humorous. They have some of the best CM's here in all Disney. They all fulfilled their roles quite well and their spontaneous humor was very funny.

After the library show we left the Adventurers Club. Not that we wouldn't have liked to stay but we wanted to see what else there was. We decided to go to Mannequins. It has been awhile since we've been to a dance club but after seeing some "seniors" out on the revolving dance floor it didn't take long for us to hit the dance floor ourselves. Great light show. Impressive.

After dancing for awhile we left. It was nice to be adults again. I passed a lady selling flowers and stopped to get one for Bobbie. Bobbie hadn't noticed I had stopped (this was the plan) and I was able to catch back up to her and surprise her with a rose. I think she liked it. We watched some young and very good dancers on a stage for awhile and then headed back up toward the comedy club.

By this time it was already getting late (time flew by). We waited in line for the next show and I'm glad we did. It was truly the best comedy act I have ever seen and I've seen a few. It was pretty "clean" also. Maybe we just caught a good show. Since it is all improvisational it could have been. I couldn't believe how fast the cast came up with skits based on audience participation. Quite well done. We both laughed pretty hard. As a person who stutters I'm glad I didn't sit by one of the phones though. Hint.

I was near midnight and we needed to go back and relieve our "babysitter". I had remarked how fun it must be driving the 2:00am bus home with all of the wild people!

What is great about Pleasure Island is that you can get a "night on the town" atmosphere without any (or very little) of the sleaze that you could find outside of Disney. Plus, you don't have to walk very far to get to a different venue and you get a "free" ride home if your staying at a Disney resort! In addition no one seemed out of control or rude even when we were there. I did wish that there were even more places like the Adventurers Club as this was unique and very "Disney"!

Day 4 - Saturday, November 15th

After our night out this was a planned sleep-in day. Had Mickey wake us up at 7:30. I promised my kids I would take them to the pool. Even though the temperature was just in the upper 50's off we went: exactly at 8:00. I thought for sure we would be the only ones there or that they might not even open the pool. To my surprise a CM was there precisely at 8:00 and opened the pool right on time. Even though it was just 50 degrees in the next 15 minutes there were 5 other kids in the pool with them. Apparently we hadn't been the only ones waiting for the pool to open!

After 30 minutes of swimming I coaxed them out of the pool and by 9:00 we were off to MGM. From the ASMR, MGM is only a short bus ride. This is the one park that I was never at so I was a little apprehensive of what to expect. It was fun just to walk the street at MGM because of the attention to detail, it made you seem like you were in another time and place. Be aware of "spitting" camel and spraying water hydrants! It does seem small though and the pathways to different areas of the park are almost hidden. We spent time at first just trying to find out where things were. We eventually found the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and stayed in line for the next show. Katie was crying however because she knew there was a sea witch in the play. We did get her into the show and although she was scared it wasn't too bad. The special effects were good but the whole thing was pretty loud.

Afterwards we divided up and Grandma and Grandpa went on the great movie ride. We strolled over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. Matthew and Katie enjoyed this a lot. It gave them a chance to play at their own pace. It was larger and more detailed than I had expected. While we were there we got a great picture of Katie riding an ant! How many places can you do that!

We wandered back and by this time it was time for our early lunch reservations at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. We checked in with "Dad" then spent a little time reminiscing in their waiting area. A lot of the decor like the stuff we used to have in the house I grew up in. Grandma and Grandpa were enjoying it. Soon we were called to our table. I had read quite a bit about this place and knew a bit what to expect. We were fortunate to get a great "sister". I wish I could remember her name - I think it was Lynn. She sat right down at the table with us and told our kids to help set the table (which they did). She then took our drink orders but since we all ordered ice cream drinks she didn't want to bring them out before our meal or they would spoil our appetite! When she got back to order our food she scolded me for having my elbows on the table. Already I got yelled at and told what to do by our waitress! Yet it was a lot of fun.

Soon the ice cream drinks and our food came. They were quite good and quite large servings. My wife had pot roast and I had chicken parmigiana. I think Grandma and Grandpa had meatloaf and turkey dinner. Great home style food! Matthew was asked what he wanted and he ordered a bowl of Spaghettios. All of the wonderful good choices and he orders a $5 bowl of Spaghettios! He at it all though and got a clean plate sticker as did everyone except for Katie and my wife Bobbie. When I pointed out that she hadn't eaten her carrots (she hates glazed carrots) our sister got everyone's attention around us and she had them imitate an airplane sound while she "flew in" a piece of carrot to my wife's mouth. The people at the other tables had great fun with this (probably because of the look on my wife's face)! I wasn't sure whether she'd really make her eat it but she did. I could tell she didn't enjoy eating this piece either but went along with it anyway. I, of course, was having a great time watching all of this (you have got to understand our relationship to appreciate how much fun this was)! Getting back to our "sis", Katie hadn't finished all of her food and was upset that she didn't get a clean plate sticker so Bobbie "hid" her food under the table! Our "sister" didn't catch on to this one and Matthew and Katie were all smiles that we pulled over on her! They probably couldn't believe that their mom was their accomplice in this!

All of this was great fun. We got pictures of us and our sister. When we left she had everyone wave and say good-bye to us. It was a memorable experience!

After lunch we caught the Great Movie Ride (had the gangster). This was a little fake but good. Then Bobbie, Grandpa and I went on the Star Tours ride. My wife likes Star Wars and she seemed anxious to go on this. It was pretty intense. I'm glad we all survived. I enjoyed the "feeling of flying" but could have done without the constant sharp jolts. That was an experience I'm glad I did but would only do once as I felt a little queasy. I would have enjoyed a milder flight though. Maybe this is something they could add? My wife enjoyed it more than I thought she would though. I'm sure it was an "interesting" experience for Grandpa. I never quite got his reaction although they later "accidentally" went on Body Wars and he said he liked Star Tours much better!

My kids by now were getting bored since they didn't want to go on any of the rides. We thought we would go and see the Beauty and the Beast Stage show and then leave. Unfortunately a show had just started and it would have been over an hour wait for the next one. We then made what turned out to be a great decision (for us at least). My wife and I separated from Grandma and Grandpa who wanted to see more of the attractions and we went back to the MK with the kids to repeat their favorite rides.

Grandma and Grandpa went to both Muppets 3D and the Backstage tour. They especially liked the backstage tour. I was sorry to miss Muppets 3D but after HISTA there was no way I could get my kids into another 3D movie! They then went over to Epcot and saw the Universe of Energy (which they liked) and then somehow accidentally got on Body Wars when they were trying to see "The Making of Me". Their comments about Body Wars were not good. Grandma thought is was violent and pointless. Since they were feeling queasy from Body Wars they didn't go to see "The Making of Me" but went instead to the World Showcase. Since it was night, however, they commented on it been not well lit and they had trouble seeing. They also had hoped to catch more live entertainment in Germany but there wasn't any at night so they were a bit disappointed. They were going to stay for Illuminations 25 but it was Saturday and it didn't start until 10 which they thought was too long of a wait.

Bobbie, the Kids and I took the bus from MGM directly to the TTC and then rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful afternoon. Sunny with the temp in the mid 70's. Since it was Saturday the crowds now were much heavier though.. We went and bought some more film on Main Street and then stopped at the bakery for some cookies. The cookies were large and still warm and although I did have to wait 15 minutes in line for them they hit the spot. As we were walking up mainstreet a CM "crowd control" person spotted our cookies and started chasing me saying that she really loved cookies and asked if we had brought her one. It was all in good fun. I was surprised she singled us out seeing all of the people that had gathered for the afternoon parade. We skipped the afternoon parade since I've always wanted to see the night parade and we were letting the kids lead us now.

We then went on the Grand Prix raceway again at our kids request. The line was 30 minutes this time (vs. 5 the morning we went). It was just as fun though.

We went back then to Toontown country fair and this time the kids did get to spend a lot of time at Donald's boat. They both enjoyed this but got pretty wet! Next we decided to go see what was in the large tent nearby. We were surprised that there were more lines where we could visit characters. Matthew was excited. We decided to go see Mickey's friend as Matthew hadn't seen and was hoping to see Goofy. Sure enough, not only did they get to see Goofy but Pluto and Donald as well. They really liked getting all of the autographs.

We leisurely strolled over to Liberty Square as we were getting hungry and ate at a place that served fried chicken and fish. The fish was a welcome change of pace. Since we were early (it was about 4:30) there weren't too many other people in the restaurant. It was quiet and relaxed. While we were eating Bobbie helped a foreign traveler who lost her bag at the restaurant recover it. Although she couldn't speak any English she expressed her thanks for my wife's assistance quite well :-).

By the time we ate is was starting to get dark out. We decided that the Riverboat looked like fun (plus it was docked right next to us) so we all hopped on for a Riverboat ride. We got some of the best pictures of the trip on this ride especially of the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. As we journeyed on it got darker and all of the lights started coming on. The Frontierland/Liberty Square area of the MK is particularly beautiful at night. I really enjoyed this.

My wife then suggested that I go on BTMR by myself which I gladly obliged. I enjoyed the time by myself during the 30 minute wait and checked out all of the sights I could. BTMR is particularly good at night. I enjoyed the ride immensely. Being alone I got a whole seat to myself which was fun because I am a tall person. My kids had a good time watching me on the ride and watching the geyser. It was now around 6 and I suggested we head back to the entrance of Main Street (as the reports told me I should) to get a spot for the SpectroMagic Parade. We went through Adventureland on the way back and I enjoyed seeing this at night also. Main Street is also incredible at night with all of the lighting.

We found a perfect front row curb right in front of the Welcome Center. I liked this spot because we were on a curve and you could only see the float that was in front of you. It helped to separate the different "theme's" of the parade quite well.

The parade was fantastic. I liked how the music from the floats complemented and added a unique harmony to the overall music in the background on the public speakers. During the parade a bear from the parade came up to Matthew and took the "flashlight sword" that we had bought him and started chasing after a fox with it. Matthew was quite surprised and pleased (the flashlight was returned in case you're wondering) and talked about it for a long time.

After the parade we moved to the center of Mainstreet and watched Tinkerbell fly to the Castle followed by the fireworks! It was a nice display.

As I was standing there I was thinking about how nice this was and how nice the afternoon turned out. Letting our kids lead the way was that best thing we could have ever done. They did not want to leave the MK that night. My wife and I were overjoyed about this. We had wanted so much for them to feel this way from the start. We realized that Disney World may have been a little overwhelming to them at first, but they eventually adjusted and "caught the magic" so to speak - even if it was at the end our vacation. I wished at this moment we had another day. Oh well, a true Disney type ending anyway!

One of the reports said that after the fireworks your should leave the MK as fast as you can and not look back They are correct in this observation! The amount of people leaving at this time is enormous. Every time we left the MK I had wondered why there were big queues at the bus depot as we had, up to this point, just walked on our bus. I now know why they are there! They have a pretty good system for loading two buses at a time but even still it was slow. Some other type of transportation would have been faster. Not to mention environmentally cleaner!

We got back to the ASMR (met Grandma and Grandpa who somehow arrived back at the same time) and refilled our mugs. I took a brief walk around the resort knowing that this would be our last night. It is quite beautiful at night and peaceful.

Day 5 - Sunday, November 16th

We had our final Mickey wake up call at 6:30. We were going to be traveling a lot today so we decided to go to the food court and have a full breakfast. They have a deal where you can get as many different breakfast items as you want for one set price. Our server encouraged us to take a lot of food. There were no seconds but still this is a good deal. Watched 101 Dalmations while we ate our breakfast. I think we refilled our mugs at least 3 times during this last opportunity. I went for one last stroll around the resort. Grandma and Grandpa has set us up with express checkout the night before so we had an envelope on our door which looked in order and we were off. Grandma and Grandpa had also called Mears the night before to arrange our transpiration back. For some reason they wanted us to leave at 9:00 for an 11:30 flight out. I'm still not sure why. We were plenty early.

I wish Disney had its own transpiration to and from the airport. Bobbie pointed out that there would probably be liability issues with this that Disney probably doesn't want to deal with. It was a ride back but Mears is certainly not Disney.

Had a fairly uneventful but nice ride back actually. Only three items of mention. First our flight was overbooked and they were offering a free nights stay plus a $300 travel voucher. Since it was a beautiful day, I didn't need to be back to work until Wednesday, had only spent 3 days of our 4 day passes and had money left, this was secretly quite tempting. I don't think I could have left my kids though. Had they not been there (or the voucher gone up to $500) I might just have stayed one more day :-).

Second, our kids actually enjoyed the flight back. The weather was nice and they were having fun. Our pilot did comment that we should have stayed there in Florida as it was only 26 degrees and snowing in Detroit.

Third, when we got back to Detroit we were in an area of the terminal that only had travelers to Japan and China. This gave all of us a feel of what it is like to be in a foreign country!

A few final thoughts...

I talked to Grandma and Grandpa after we got home from the MK on Saturday night by the pool. They didn't seem to have as much fun as we did that afternoon (although they enjoyed some things). I felt bad that they didn't. I think we all had looked forward to seeing Disney through our "kids eyes" but a lot of the time our kids eyes were crying, full of fear, or tired. I think Disney had the most appeal for Bobbie and me. As a marketing major, I'm convinced that we at our age are Disney's "target" audience and that this in fact was not just a perception, but how Disney intends it... Or maybe we had just geared our planning more around our likes and not the others with us. This is a valuable lesson that we have learned. It is something that needs to be taken into consideration when planning a trip with others.

We did have many memorable moments. Matthew surprised us when we got back by being so upset that he was not at Disney anymore. Disney is, for the most part, a "magical" place and I'm sure we will return. I am concerned that it is becoming less of a "magical" place as Disney goes after bigger and bigger dollars. Let's hope they not forget what attracts us to this place in the first place!

Paul Bittorf

pbittorf@itis.com

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