Trip Reports

The reason for this trip began twenty years ago when 2 very young people named Bryant and Cathy got married and settled back to live happily ever after (in a second hand home with green shag carpet and avocado green appliances). Well, happily ever after lasted, oh, about twenty minutes and the same people began to deal with *real* married life including two sons, remodeling and moving into a better home, jobs, family, etc. One day they looked at the calendar and realized that in 1997 they would be celebrating 20 years of marriage. How should they celebrate? A night on the town? A cruise? Jewelry? No, not this duo, only one thing would do: a trip to Walt Disney World! So it is with great pleasure that I share this "oldlywed's trip report". Since we had been before, this trip was focused on the "three r's - rest, relaxation and romance!"

Preparations for the trip started last spring when we made reservations for Coronado Springs. A few weeks later, we decided to change to Wilderness Lodge. On my second call, we got a woods view room at the standard rate (no discounts). We also decided to take the Backstage Magic tour. There was a discount on this but I can't remember if it was Magic Kingdom Club or from the annual pass. Next time we do something like this, I'll space out the reservations better. I ended up having to pay the room deposit and for two backstage magic tours at the same time. Ouch! Then we each chose two restaurants we wanted to try. I chose California Grill and San Angel Inn and Bryant chose Liberty Tree Tavern and Cinderella's Royal Table. We made priority seatings 60 days before the trip. We made arrangements for our sons to stay with their grandmothers, threw some clothes together, grabbed our passes and hit the road!

Monday, October 6 - Driving day, Wilderness Lodge, Planet Hollywood, West Side

It takes us about 11 hours to drive to WDW from our home in N.C. We pulled out at 7:30 a.m. and arrived at Wilderness Lodge (WL) about 6:30 p.m. There's really nothing exciting about driving down I-95 or I-4 until you get past Orlando to the WDW exits, then WOO-HOO, we're at the Wilderness Lodge! All the bellmen were busy so we grabbed a luggage cart and I rolled it in while Bryant parked the van. Big mistake! Bellman inside informed me that visitors couldn't use the carts to bring in their own luggage anymore because of insurance regulations. Huh? Checked in (no wait) with a cast member (CM) in training. We were assigned to room 1034. The room had a king-sized bed, large bath area with a shower instead of a tub. We were facing the Magic Kingdom but couldn't see anything except trees and a small pond outside the room. We were tucked into a corner beside the elevators and the stairs in the back of the building. It did get a little noisy at times but never really bad. WL is one fantastic resort! The atmosphere will take you away from the minute you walk into the lobby. The rocking chairs, the fireplace, the totem poles, the smells from the restaurants... ah!!!

After unpacking, calling home and relaxing for a while, we set out for Planet Hollywood. There was no one else at the bus stop when we got there so we sat and enjoyed a beautiful crescent moon, brilliant stars and very comfortable weather. I honestly think I heard some real crickets too! It was almost disappointing when the bus got there! Planet Hollywood was quite busy when we arrived about 9:45. Hostess said it would probably be a 45-minute wait but it was only about 20. We had a great server, Jennifer, who is a big-time soccer fan and had seen Tampa defeat our new Carolina Hurricanes team. Bryant had beef fajitas and I had a combination of beef and chicken fajitas. Total about $35. It was very good, chicken was better in my opinion. Planet Hollywood was decked out for Halloween with a big inflatable Frankenstein on top and a Dracula character asking trivia questions to diners. A fun place!

Left Planet Hollywood and walked over to the new West Side. Checked out the Virgin record store (huge!) They were getting ready for a Janet Jackson appearance the next night. Nice area with some great looking restaurants, neat shops and a 24 screen movie house. One shop, Magnetron, has all kinds of magnets, my kinda place. There's still some construction going on but I really like the feel of this area. House of Blues is on my list of places to check out in the future. Back to WL for a good night's sleep.

Tuesday, October 7 - Disney Vacation Club, Magic Kingdom, E-Ticket Express

On a previous trip, we had requested info about the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). We had received a video and information package and set up a tour for this trip. After being out late the night before, we wished we had set the time for later in the day. Had breakfast at WL (muffins, fruit, and bought the small refillable mugs for 7.25 each). DVC sent a van to pick us up. The driver, Don, was very friendly and he was accompanied by a CM from Member Services who was learning about DVC. We were told by this CM that Animal Kingdom opening is still on schedule for May and that Test Track will be February or March with a slim chance of November or December. Yeah, right.

DVC tour (Old Key West) was very informative and extremely low-pressured. I kept waiting for the line "what will it take to put you in this program today?" but we never got it. The info was simply laid out and given to us to bring home to think about. The salesperson never acted bored, rushed or disinterested. We really like the idea of DVC and liked Old Key West but we aren't ready to commit yet. Gotta save some money first!

Don dropped us off back at WL. Ate lunch at Roaring Forks (chicken tenders, steak sandwich) then headed off to the dock to catch the Magic Kingdom boat. We rode a few rides and walked around to FrontierLand to see the Remember the Magic parade. Crowds were a bit heavier than I had expected. The parade is okay, nothing great. It was nice that the audience got a chance to participate with the characters. Caught a few more rides and ate cheeseburgers at Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland. We went around to the side of the castle at fireworks time to watch Tinkerbell fly. This was something we had never seen before and we loved it! There had been a little bit of rain earlier in the evening but as fireworks time got closer, the clouds started going away and the moon and stars came out. Snuggled close to Bryant, enjoyed the show with a big smile on my face. Got absolutely sappy when a mother and daughter started dancing at the end of the fireworks show. Best part of all was that we didn't have to leave after the fireworks because it was time for ....

E-TICKET EXPRESS!! We bought our tickets that morning ($10) and redeemed them for wristbands after 4:00 p.m. (Also cancelled our California Grill seating for this) When the park closed, only those people with wristbands could go on the open attractions for the next 3 hours! We really think that there weren't more than 1,000 people in the park. We hit Timekeeper for the first time ever (very good!) and Alien Encounter (only half full and still scary). Skipped Space Mountain and Astro Orbiters. Rode Haunted Mansion twice, waiting about 5 minutes the second time around. Literally walked on to Big Thunder, Splash Mountain (some people stayed in the boats for a second ride) and Pirates of the Caribbean. People were having a wonderful time. It was almost eerie to see so few people in the park. Definitely take advantage of this if you can. I think the requirements are staying at a Disney resort and having a multiple-day pass. Boats to WL stopped running at regular closing so we caught monorail to Transportation/Ticket Center and bus back to WL.

Wednesday, October 8 - Backstage Magic, Epcot

Got up early enough to eat muffins and fruit and be at the bus stop by 8:00. We were to be at Epcot Guest Relations by 8:45 for the backstage magic tour. This wasn't early entry day for Epcot and we were just a little nervous that the bus might not get us there on time. No problem, bus pulled up at 8:05 and we were at Guest Relations by 8:20. At 8:45 a young CM named Laura came out and passed out name tags and gathered the group to begin the tour. She is definitely the most enthusiastic Disney employee I have ever seen! Not being a morning person, I found this just a tad annoying at first and thought she would fizzle out by noon. She was just as dynamic when we finished at 4:15 as she was at 8:45. At the end of the tour, she let us know that this had been her first tour! Her trainer, Mollie, accompanied us on the tour and gave Laura rave reviews.

Laura led us to a small bus driven by Bert who has been with WDW transportation for 25 years. They provided a cooler with soft drinks and water. We went around to the back of Epcot, passing the Test Track which goes over the employee parking lot! (If you look at the guidemap, it looks like a wooded area) First stop was The American Adventure where we saw how the audio animatronic figures appeared on stage. Next we went to The Living Seas and met a CM who showed us the back of the manatee pool and the kitchen where all the "fish food" is prepared. Our last stop at Epcot was at Body Wars where we all squeezed into a very small space to watch the ride from the outside. Now I know why my stomach hates this ride!

Back to the bus and on to MGM. Our first stop was to meet an artist, Tom, who taught us to draw Goofy and Pumba. Yeah, right. No one in our group got a job offer! Next we drove past part of the backstage ride. The Osborne Christmas lights are already being put up. The new Goosebumps attraction was having its grand opening as we rode by. We've got a 9 year-old who is really excited about this attraction! Now it was lunch time at Mama Melrose's. Yum... We had two big tables in the back of the restaurant and had a family style meal with several different items. Dessert was a sampler platter that our entire table couldn't eat! This was our first time eating at Mama Melrose's and we'll definitely go back. We were entertained through the entire meal by two of MGM's street characters, Sylvia and Luigi. (We later learned that Luigi was a bonus, it's usually just one character) They were a hoot and stayed in character for the entire time we were there. When we left, "Sylvia" got on the bus with us and came out of character to talk about her background and how she got this job. She was great! Our last stop at MGM was back at animation to try our hands at painting cels with expert direction from CM Scott. Everyone got a paint kit to take home to finish our cels. After about 30 minutes, we left for the Magic Kingdom.

There is a whole world behind the Magic Kingdom. I knew it must be there but now I've seen it and it is truly amazing! We went to the warehouse where Spectromagic floats are kept and looked inside Ursula to see where the driver and the character sit. Costumes were being laid out for the Remember the Magic parade. Also saw some of the Halloween floats and props, and rode by the Christmas warehouse. Next stop was in a huge building where all the painting, metal work, construction and other services occur. The center of the building is an assembly line where tram cars were being assembled. Drove by one of several laundry services. Trivia fact shared with us: if you run your home washer and dryer 24 hours a day for an entire year, you won't do as much laundry as WDW does in one day! Yikes! On to the famous utilidors. Saw where CMs check out costumes and walked through one of the costume storage areas. Went to the computer center and saw how the parade is controlled from a small room in the back. The monitor showed where every float was at the time. Once the parade starts, it's all automatic. There's one CM sitting in the room just in case there's a breakdown. Took a long walk and climbed up stairs and came out on Main Street in time to catch the parade as it came up the street. Then back to the bus to end the tour back at Epcot.

I would recommend the backstage magic tour for anyone who's been to WDW several times and wants to get a closer look at the action "behind the magic". If this had been my first trip, I don't think I could have stood being out of the parks all day. But I give it high marks and have to commend the wealth of knowledge the CMs shared with us.

We had priority seating for 6:45 at San Angel Inn and were seated at 7:00. Very romantic, quiet atmosphere (well except for the five kids at the next table). I had a strawberry margarita (realllly good) and the Plato Mexicano platter (chicken enchilada, beef tacos, chile rellenos, beans and rice). Bryant had the chicken enchiladas. The food was good but probably no better than the local Mexican restaurants around here. Cost was around $38.

After seeing the American Adventure backstage, we decide to catch the show for the first time. Waited for about 10 minutes then had a lovely preshow by the Voices of Liberty. Boy, if I could sing like that... The show was good but I spent more time watching the audio-animatronics move. Maybe I shouldn't have gone backstage! It was almost time for Illuminations and we were running out of steam so we took a slow walk back to the bus stop. We just took in the sights and sounds of Bryant's favorite park, stopping to watch the fountains perform and the little (and big) kids trying to step on the lights in the sidewalk. Another good night's sleep.

Thursday, October 9 - Back to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, MGM, Meeting Old Friends

Finally! A day without somewhere to be early, zzzzzzz, slept til 8:30. Took our time getting to breakfast in the lobby and were amazed at how many people were there. We had been getting out ahead of the crowds. Caught the bus over to Epcot. Skipped Spaceship Earth because of a long line and strolled past the dancing fountain over to Horizons. A walk-on and a classic. I guess if there's a benefit of Test Track being delayed, it's that Horizons has stayed open. Next stop was Universe of Energy. Pre-show was just beginning as we walked in. Another good show. Since we had lunch plans at Magic Kingdom, we started heading for the gate. Spaceship Earth had a shorter line so we went on. Of course, it never fails, we get up to the top, the car turns backwards (for your descent back to earth) and we come to a stop and I have a flash of fear that we'll be stuck here and miss lunch! After a few minutes, we were moving again and off to the Magic Kingdom.

We had 1:00 seating at Liberty Tree Tavern. It was packed and we waited about 20 minutes. Sat in the John Paul Jones room by a window looking out where the Liberty Bell usually lives. (We had seen it in one of the shops being refurbished when we were on the backstage tour). A very pleasant restaurant. We got hot rolls with apple butter and honey marg-a-rine as our server called it! Bryant got the pot roast and I got the turkey. The servings are huge! I had three large slices of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and a cauliflower-carrot dish. Bryant's plate was full too with the pot roast, mashed potatoes and the same vegetable mixture that I had. A nice relaxed place with good ordinary food.

After waddling out of the restaurant, we strolled over to the Frontierland railroad station and rode to the front of the park. We took the boat back to WL, then caught a bus to MGM. We had planned to try to catch Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid but couldn't hit either at a good time. So we just consoled ourselves by seeing Hunchback of Notre Dame (our very favorite show). Got in line early and got great seats beside the center aisle. Matt the Juggler put on his usual superb show. Heck, I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time and this guy is juggling nine balls and talking at the same time! The show was just as good as ever. After the show, I shook hands with the actor playing Quasimodo and thanked him for a great performance. The audience was very enthusiastic. We had plans to meet friends for dinner so we started back toward the exit. Stopped by the animation store and tried to get in to the animation tour but didn't have time.

Back to WL and into our van for the first time since Monday! Our only off-site experience, we drove west on I-4 to meet some good Floridian friends for dinner. Since we had a huge lunch, we sure weren't hungry but gave it a good shot anyway. It was wonderful to see these friends. They joked that they were glad to see us because it gave them a chance to have dinner without their kids! I recommended a few days at WL. Interesting note: the only mosquitoes I saw while we were in Florida were outside this restaurant. Never saw a single one on Disney property. They must do a heavy spraying job while we're sleeping! Had talked about going to World of Disney but it was too late by the time we got back to the hotel. Thought about packing but nah, we can do that in the morning.

Friday, October 10 - Last day, Breakfast at the castle, Shopping

The dreaded last day! Got up early to pack, almost leaving a drawer of clothes, the battery charger and the camera. Maybe we should have packed last night... Hauled all our stuff to the van, checked out and went to the boat dock to go to Magic Kingdom. We had a 8:55 seating at Cinderella's Royal Table. This has been Bryant's dream since his first trip in 1987. Everytime we go, it's "I sure would like to eat there." So finally, we were going to eat in the castle! (us and a whole lot of other people) Had a rather long wait but finally got called and were seated by a window overlooking the carousel and Dumbo ride. Started the meal with fresh fruit and a basket of muffins and croissants. Server brought coffee and orange juice and explanations about how the characters would come around and he would bring food and if we wanted more, just say so. Characters were very good at working around the room. We met and had pictures made with Peter Pan, Cinderella, Snow White, Belle and the *oh-so-handsome* Prince Charming. Food comes pre-plated with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a yummy potato casserole and fantastic french toast. It looked like the kids were getting waffles instead of the french toast. We enjoyed a very leisurely meal and put off leaving as long as we could because we knew when we left the castle, we would be leaving.

We took a very slow walk back down Main Street, soaking up the magic (gotta get enough to last a few days). We were beginning to miss our boys and really felt it when we saw a group of marching band students gathered on Main Street. We're die-hard band parents and this got us talking about wouldn't it be fun if our son's marching band could come here. My first WDW trip was with my high school band back in the dark ages of 1974. Had hoped to get back to MGM for the shows we missed but decided to go to World of Disney to pick up some goodies for the boys (and us too). Our 9-year old had sent us off with two specific missions: buy the purple and green Mickey shaped ink pens and find out when the Lego Store will open. So we boated back to WL and went through a maze of busses and finally got to the Disney Marketplace almost an hour later. There was the cutest little boy running through the fountains. Now we're really missing our kids!

We walked for a while through Marketplace and Pleasure Island. Checked out the Lego store where workers were really going at it. There's some great Lego creations outside the store, a dragon in the lake, a dinosaur, Lego men on the roof. Alert!! There's also a McDonalds going in beside the Lego store. AAACKKK! The last place I want to go in real life has suddenly become the last place I want to go in WDW! Deep breaths, I'll be alright. I know other people like McDonalds and that's okay, just not for me. Too many happy meals when my kids were younger! Went to World of Disney, found the required ink pens, some shirts, magnets (my refrigerator looks like a WDW magnet museum) a couple of pins. I had to replace my 25th anniversary pin because I left it on my cap and wore it into the ocean. Rust doesn't look good even on Disney stuff. Strolled back to the bus stop, did the bus-relay thing back to WL (I never could figure out whether to get on Boone or Crockett), refilled our mugs one more time, snapped a few photos and hit the road. Observations: All the CMs we encountered were friendly and helpful.

Maybe we were just lucky on this trip, but everything went very smooth. Buses were good for the most part. It's a little complicated to get to the Marketplace from WL before 4:00. We ran into one family who hadn't been able to find a way to Magic Kingdom from Fort Wilderness in time to make their 8:00 seating at the castle.

Saw no mosquitoes on WDW property but pool closed at 6:30. We did see people in the pool after that time. Saw several rabbits and squirrels and a black snake on the sidewalk behind WL.

Conclusions: We know a lot of people who get married and go to WDW for their honeymoons. We couldn't have done this 20 years ago, having no money or inclination. There have been some good trips to WDW with our kids and other family but this is my favorite so far. (Isn't the last trip always the best?) The "three r's" were all met. We rested, we relaxed, we romanced. Best of all, I got a good dose of magic which I was really needing. There's a feeling I have when I'm at WDW that just doesn't happen everywhere! Ah, life is good!

Any questions? Email me and I'll be glad to answer if I can!

Cathy Bock

bbock@mail.rdu.bellsouth.net

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