Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Winter
• Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
• Resort: WL, CBR
• Accommodations: Standard Room
• Ages Represented in Group: Infant/Toddler, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
• Comments: Cindy and her family (including Cindy's three-year-old son) stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort and Wilderness Lodge during their eleven day trip. Very informative and detailed report.

16-27 January 1997

Greetings to all my friends at the WDW bbs: As promised I will post a day-by-day account of our trip to WDW each day here. (It will allow me to extend the magic just a little bit longer, I'm sure it will bring up some interesting conversation, hopefully it will assist all those who travel to the World in the future and of course I hope that I do not bore anyone).

First I'll have to introduce the "us" part. "us" is me, Cindy, aka fire house woman, mother of toddler, wife and devoted Disney fan. The second part of us is the husband, Mike, loved dearly, but you will really get to know the true Mike after these posts. The third part of us is Christopher, due to turn 3 in March, but "still free" by Disney standards.

Day 1

Okay, Day one of vacation. I am, in my usual state, having been totally stressed trying to make sure 450 firemen are happy so I can leave town for 11 days and yes, finally packed, unslept and yes, even a bit unkempt looking. I get in from work around 12:30 AM, the flight will leave Islip, NY at 7 AM. I send off one last email to my Disney friend Diane before I unplug the computer, shower, change and then lay there in the bed. ….Can't sleep…. You get the idea. Up at 3:30 AM and off to the airport. "Why are we leaving so early, when it only takes an hour to get there?" Well, who knows-we're punctual, we can't sleep and we've been on Disney withdrawal for a whole year. It's 5 AM and the husband has started to videotape us at the airport. He pans around to prove that we are the only ones in the terminal. I'm busy putting on makeup and Chris is spinning around in circles, totally wound up. Okay, 6 AM, we can get on line and check in our bags. Great, but they won't let us to the gate until 6:30 AM. We finally get to the gate and Mike has to have all the film, tapes and assorted gadgets purposely not put through the x-ray machine. They take all the film out of the canisters and inspect it and Mike shoots me a dirty look. (Look, I'm not into dirty looks at 6:30 in the morning-I mutter something about it's for our own safety and I get an even dirtier look.)

We finally board the plane and take off and everything goes swell, except "we" insist on videotaping a portion of this too. Geez, then I gotta hear about the battery light flashing, well, you have to wonder.

Plane lands at Orlando International at approximately 9:30 AM. I realize Sharon was right about those 3 palm trees that you first spot as you land, and have you ever noticed that different smell that Florida has? I rush to the nearest ladies room to jump into shorts and a t-shirt, and we're off to get the bags. We go immediately to the Mears bus stand and Mike makes the necessary arrangements, they accept the coupon that WDW sends with every resort reservation and for $22 each (Chris free) we're all set, including the round-trip fare. BTW-we think Mears is great. We board the bus and off we go. My favorite part of the ride is when I spot the highway sign for "Orange Blossom Trail". Don't know why-just is.

Well, here we are at the Caribbean Beach Resort-it is still beautiful, as I remembered. I love walking in the lobby and seeing those ceiling fans whirling away, thinking it does that 365 days of the year. Well, it's only about 11 AM, and check-in isn't until 3 PM, and if I wasn't so darned fussy, I could probably get a room right away, but I need to make sure it's the exact best room in the whole place. So I tell them I had previously requested non-smoking, double queens and preferably "Barbados". Well, they tell me to check back around 1 or 2, nothing is ready right now, but they give me all the other stuff, the cards, the guide, the maps, etc.

I then go over to guest services, a few things I need to do (suggestions I've read about on the WDW forum..like) I've got to buy some Disney dollars, not to spend, just to have, you know…I pick up and pay for the Mickey Luau tickets that were reserved in July, I ask for a bunch of mini-menus 'cause I just have to see the food first. We already have a bizillion dining reservations and our 5 day world hopper passes, so that doesn't have to be done, but I ask about having our photos taken…nope, new procedure, no photos for the passes. Okay..now while we're chatting I find out that Barbados is having some renovations, did anyone tell me?, no of course not, so we're all off to walk around the property and pick a different room. (next time, I'm just going to ask for the first room that's ready…we've never gotten a "bad" room and I don't know why I insist on being so darned fussy) We decide on Martinique, close to the food and the bus stop, nice pool. Still no rooms, okay, we'll come back later. We walk around again and decide to rent a bike (new this year-and really cool). $12 for a half-hour, we strap Chris to the front, Mike wants to drive, I get to pedal. It takes a nice leisure half-hour to ride around the entire resort and it is really nice. It's warm, the seagulls are singing and I feel like I'm finally home. Oh-and I'm sipping my diet coke in my CB mug-free refils..you know.

Hopefully, you're all still with me. We finally get into our room (#2408) at 3 PM. The husband is complaining…."next time, we do something like go to the parks right when we get off the plane…" I explain, that this is day 1 of 11 and we'll have plenty of time to do the parks. We settle in..I love putting all my clothes in the drawers…it always makes me feel like I belong there.

It's 3:30 PM, and we decide to wander over to the DVM to see the new World of Disney store. We hope the bus and off we go, Chris is really excited to see the train ride at DVM, but Mike and I wonder if he remembers anything of last year's trip. We browse the shops, but Chris doesn't like the Rainforest Café. "Get me outta here, Mommy" and "I don't like the butterflys", so we explore World of Disney, picking out what we'll buy towards the end of the trip. We decide we better hurry off for our dinner reservations for 5:45 at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, and we hop the bus direct to there. Thought that this would be a neat thing to do first night.

We enjoy a nice meal at Mickey's, nothing real gourmet, but Chris eats 3 slices of Goofy pizza and it's all worth it when I see his face light up when he catches his first glimpse of Mickey. Hey - isn't this what it's all about - anyhow? It's also fun watching the monorails speed in and out of the hotel, but I am basically too tired to really think at this point, so I beg Mike to take us back to CB to sleep, but no we gotta do the monorail. We go up to catch this Disney wonder for a quick ride and as we're waiting, I mutter something about being up front..(heard that you could do that - on a post.) Hey, we're in luck, and it is a wonderful way to start off the vacation. (heard later that they get 500 requests a day for rides up-front) Mike's going on and on about "should have had the viewcam", but the battery needed a recharge after the photo shoot session on the plane. We do the complete loop, exit through the Contemporary's star-trekkie looking lobby and board the bus for CB. Gosh, I am really tired.

Day 2

Okay-If you've been following along, this is now day 2 of our trip. (Sure wish I had had a laptop, because something tells me I will forget some of the stuff that happened along the way)

I have planned to get us "up and mickey" for the Early Entry day to Epcot (it's Friday, 1/17/97) The night before I remember to program the wake-up service so that Mickey will call us at 6:15 AM. I love that "Disney Resort" feature and I purposely hand the phone over to Christopher when it rings. I love the look on his little face.

We get to the gate around 7:20 and wait until they spring us in at 7:30. It's a little crazy when we go through the gate and we get all the way to Spaceship Earth and Mike informs me that the CM's never took the tickets. I get into this debate with him, about whether or not they went through the scanner realizing that I hadn't been paying attention and I guess with the stroller and all, we just got in. I'm feeling really rotten and guilty right about now and wondering if we should go back and fess up-like I'm thinking, the last day of vacation when we go to use the 5th day on the World Hopper Pass lightning is going to strike us. Well, once again, Mike is shooting me that look and saying "Come on, with all the money we're spending here", so I decide just to continue on and guiltily accept it as some weird form of "disney magic". (Wondering if anyone has any similar stories.-I don't imagine this happens too often.)

We go off to our pre-planned priority seating at the Garden Grill at the Land pavilion in Epcot for the character breakfast. We did this last year-food was and still is good and it's another fun way to begin our WDW adventure. We get our straw hats and get seated in this wonderful circular moving restaurant. It's 7:30 and Dale is the first one to visit us, but we screw up and call him Chip, he's not happy about this, pointing to his teeth and his nose-hey for two old folks with a toddler, this is not easy remember all the character names, not to mention how to spell them and pronounce them-(with every new movie, there's at least 5 more new ones to learn)-well anyhow, we're having breakfast: eggs, sausage, grits, ham, potatoes (my favorite) and danish, juice, coffee, etc. Enjoying all the sounds and the almost-private breakfast (you really don't see the other diners in this very unique place) Mike shoots another 10 minutes of video, at least, and I take a few photos. First stop is The Circle of Life, it looks as if the first show is coming on and there is no wait. This goes very well, we all enjoy it, but it's loud and we both comment on how we had forgotten about everything seeming so loud. Chris tells us that he doesn't like the hyenas and sort of fusses, but we discuss the show and he seems okay with it all.

Next stop is "Honey, I shrunk the Audience" because Mike's afraid it will become too crowded later and I've been promising him for a year that I won't chicken out this time, I'll actually do it. I worry about it being too intense for Chris as there is a sign and the little warning icon on the guide map, but we're going to do it. Well, Mike told me about the mice, but he forgot to tell us about everything else. Christopher insisted on wearing the glasses and became petrified at the immediate loudness of the show (I always forget how loud everything at WDW seems to me when we first arrive-too busy living rurally, I guess) So we get out of that and I'm glad, I did enjoy it, but I was very focused on how Chris was doing, which wasn't well. A lot of things went over his head last year as he wasn't quite 2, but now almost 3 the fear stuff is kicking in big time.

Next we head to Journey Into Imagination (another one of my favorites-I love the paper room) and we try to calm Chris down. We tell him it won't be scary, and of course we lied, because we have both forgotten the segment about the imagination of nightmares. Oh, darn, well, we blew it and it may be a rough start. He seems okay and we just try to tell him everything is make-believe. I start to think that hopefully I'm not terrorizing my toddler, so I tell Mike that we have to do some outside things before we go on anymore dark rides. So we head over to Innoventions, not because I HAVE to email my Disney friends at msn, but just because it is one of my ever-changing favorite spots. I walk in and come face to face with a gigantic sign that says Email anyone! Ha-what luck. I type off a letter to Diane and grin as I feel I accomplished something already. I look at the new computers, Chris tries out the paint programs, and Mike is playing with some virtual reality air travel game. I get a Disney/IBM person to help give me info on the Thinkpads and Mike shoots video of Alex-Tronic. (Gosh-how do they do that-amazing.) We get ready to leave and I think, well maybe one more email, so I type out another little note to Andy. (You all would have gotten one, if I could have remembered everyone's address, as I didn't have to wait on line and the CM didn't look too busy)

Next we head over to Wonders of Life, but I realize that all we can really do is the Ana-comical players and some of the hands-on items, as the others would just about do Chris in. Mike shoots about 10 minutes of video of the eyeglasses, and I wonder if this is some sort of retreat back to his hippie days with that endless staring into the psychedelic spinnings. (Does Alice in WL appear to be shrinking, Mike?)

At this point, I'm getting antsy for the World Showcase, so we head left-not because everybody suggests going left, but because Mexico is my absolute favorite country in Epcot. I still wonder why no additional countries have been added, and think it's a shame that there aren't any new ones. I walk in and soak up that wonderful Mexican aura, buying a few trinkets along the way. We're off to take the boat ride, another one of my favorites and Chris is starting to finally enjoy himself. Once again, the viewcam is out and I have to hear about the battery light blinking.

Next stop is the American pavilion and we decide it would be a good time to eat. We garner a few burgers and sit inside, as it has been kind of cold all day. We finish up and then I get to spend 30 minutes in the restroom with Chris. I tried so hard before we left NY to teach the potty thing, talking up "Wouldn't it be nice to tell Winnie the Pooh, that you wear W the P underwear, and you've said bye-bye to the diapers", well no luck, so we gotta deal with this time-consuming pit stop. Ugh. But as we're heading out, the Mickey/Minnie America show has just begun. I get a great spot up front to the left of the stage and actually have Chip posing for my camera. After the show, I immediately head to the Funnel Cake stand and woof down one. Powered sugar all over me, you gotta love it. Next stop, I'm actually not sure what country it was but there are model trains running through a wonderful set-up. This must be new as Chris is a total train-head and we can't imagine having missed it last year. He insists on spending at least 45 minutes on the bridge watching the trains and I get to listen to Mike complain that the viewcam battery is dead, and I think, Oh-well if we weren't shooting all that psychedelic stuff we'd have juice.

I suppose it's about 3 now, and we decide that although we have reservations at Morocco for dinner at 7, we're just not going to make it. We decide to head out and stop by Ellen's Energy Adventure to see this new show. It is very crowded and we wait on line for at least 15 minutes, we get to watch the pre-show and Chris is quite interested because Bill Nye is in the show too, but then the CM makes a comment about the rest of the attraction being too intense for little ones, and I utter "ut-oh", but we push on into the large auditorium to sit in those wonderful huge cars. Chris is now loudly expressing "Get me outta here" and a few people turn around. Mike and I look at each other, and decide that this isn't going to work, so we exit the theater while 1000 people are still trying to get seats. I can't stand fighting traffic. Ugh.

We decide to do Spaceship Earth and call it a productive day at Epcot. On our way out, I stop by Guest Relations to cancel our Morocco dinner reservation. I notice that he says okay, but doesn't do anything in the computer, so I wonder if he has truly cancelled the reservation, or if they don't bother. (Anyone know about this?)

We decide to go over to the DVM so that I can buy a few things in the Gourmet store (like that huge Mickey teacup for my double coffee at home each morning and those cute Winnie the Pooh S and P shakers) and while we're there we pick up salads and a turkey sandwich to share back at our CB room. It's about 6 PM, and we are whipped. We shower, eat and sit up watching all the Disney channels on our TV. I call Mickey again for wake up at 6:30 AM. Good night Mickey Mouse, we love you.

Day 3

So…you're probably getting to know us just a little bit better. It is now Day 3 and Saturday, January 18-the day of the Truck Race at WDW. It is COLD!!!! And we wonder why we decided on January and all Mike talks about is coming in November or December next time. We dial weather on our CB phone and we listen to freeze warnings and a high of 48 degrees. Yikes-what are we going to wear?

It's our day to go to the Magic Kingdom, Early Entry and we have reservations at the Crystal Palace-breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. We hop on the bus at about 7:15 and by the time we get to the MK, the gates are open. We go through (making sure they scan our tickets, this time) and venture up Main Street. My first site of Cinderella's Castle and "Yuck" escapes from my lips. "What did they do to my beautiful castle?" Meanwhile, Mike is exclaiming how much he likes it. (Even the bus driver later that day tells me disgustedly how he'll have to look at it until January of 1998.)

We wait on "the cattle line" to get into the Crystal Palace (I guess everyone had priority seating for the same time as us-actually this is the only time in 11 days that we experience anything of a crowded wait to get into a restaurant.) It's packed inside and Tigger is the first one to come to our table. (He's my favorite.) We once again shot tons of video and photos. Mike and I take shifts going to the buffet and when Mike returns he tells me that he wonders if anyone thought that he was putting food from the buffet into the viewcam container. (Long story-but I'll go through it-Mike is a bit of a Rube Goldberg-a constant inventor of sorts, and before we leave, he takes a piece of my tupperware and chops it up so that the viewcam will fit snuggly and safely into this container which is inside a large fanny pack. He realizes when he gets back that the viewcam is on the table and he's been walking around the buffet with the fanny pack open with this empty tupperware container-If you're not laughing by now, you won't, nevermind, and I'll go on with the rest of the day.)

After breakfast, we head over to the Legend of the Lion King, we all really enjoy this and decide to go over and do "It's a small world". One of my favorites, as it reminds me of the World's Fair in NY in 64. (By the way, I was only 3 at the time, so I don't remember-was the ride the same in NY, with the water and the boats and all?) Chris loves this ride and continues to sing it during the entire trip. Next Chris and I ride the "Teacups", another one of my absolute favorites, but not Mike's (he complains how it makes him off-balance.) He decides to do the "Grand Prix Raceway" with Chris, and I sit this one out.

Next we decide to go to Mickey's Toontown Fair (new this year) and we ride the Barnstormer. Well….It's all on video to prove it, but I have to close my eyes and scream and hold on to Chris the entire ride, while I'm thinking "and this is for toddlers?" At the end of the ride, Chris is asking to go again and I'm screaming "No, No, Never". Chris and Mike go again two more times.

I decide we've done too much and I haven't shopped yet, so we head into the large gift shop in Toontown. Christopher picks out "Nala", although I call it a "Baby Simba" and we decide to have Disney ship it to our room at the CB (a very nice Disney guest feature). Mike informs me that Chris wants to go see the "Babes", and I realize he's talking about the "Hall of Fame" where you have your choice of three lines, "Villians", "Princesses" and "Mickey's Friends". Not too long of a wait, and we get photos with Cinderella, Snow White and ?(sorry, don't remember). This is a nice feature that Disney has added, I guess at times the lines could be long, but it gives those families who don't "do the breakfasts" to still have some personal time with the characters. After that, we get on the other line to see Mickey and Friends and wonder why and who would want to see the Villains.

We decide it is definitely time to sit down, so we hop the wonderful Walt Disney World Railroad (another favorite, and I have Diane's wonderful photo of the RR as my wallpaper on my desktop-and yes, I did get permission J) We don't take the Grand Circle Tour, but we get off in Frontierland, because I've always wanted to see the Diamond Horseshoe Revue. We have to wait for one set to finish before we get seats for the next show, but it's worth it, and we get the balcony seat right over the stage. The guitar-playing fella is a real comedian and the dancing girls are very professional. (We are constantly amazed that nothing at Disney seems "cheesy". We have a few snacks, after Mike waits on a very long line. After this we go over to see the Hall of Presidents, having only seen this back in 1983 I had forgotten how nice this attraction is and it's very enjoyable because Christopher also decides its a good time for a nap.

After walking around Frontierland, we decide to walk through the Castle and I immediately get the sense that I must touch the slipper. (which of course I do, even getting Mike and Chris involved) We wander over to Tomorrowland and ride the TTA. (This is another one of my favorites and realize that they must have added track to this ride prior to 1996.) It's now about 2 PM, (wow-we've done a lot already) and Mike wants to get on top of the Train Station on Main Street for a good view "cam" of the parade. We get there around 2:30 and forget it-Main Street is totally mobbed. We opt for standing in front of the Welcome Center and I go off to get a wonderfully hot cup of Cappuccino (it is still real cold) We enjoy the "Remember the Magic" parade for as much as we can with not having good seats, being cold and not being able to see over heads. I say I need to call it a day and go back to the CB. Mike agrees and we head back.

We rest up, as I've made reservations at Alfredo's in Italy at Epcot.

Our reservations are for 8 PM, so we head over about 7:30 and arrive just in time. What an unusual place, I immediately like the ambiance, although it doesn't appear as intimate as I had imagined. Mike opens his menu and makes a face. The first thing I think of he's not happy about the prices, but when he tells me he'll just have spaghetti, I realize that he doesn't like the menu selections. He immediately goes into this thing about "I knew I wasn't going to like the place when I saw all those photographs on the wall in the hall". I don't know about this guy. I cook 365 days of the year and he never complains about my cooking, but he is your basic "meat and potatoes" kinda guy. I ask him to "live out on a limb every once in a while" and he shoots me another dirty look. The waiter comes, I order Linguine with pesto and Mike orders Spaghetti. Oh, well, I try. Toward the end of our meal, we realize fireworks are going off and it must be Illuminations. We exit Alfredos and wow-is it cold-Mike hands me gloves and off we go. We decide to just "walk" as the show is going on, because Chris is not too keen on Fireworks and it's cold-I just want to get someplace warm. We get back to CB we comment on what a full day it has been and are thankful we don't have to get up early the next day. When I say my prayers that night I realize how fortunate we really are. Good night.

Day 4

Well, it's day 4 of our 11 day trip, and we're just beginning to relax and enjoy ourselves. I am a planner…and I must have an itinerary of all the "must do's" before we leave home, so I had pre-planned some "off" days. It's Sunday, January 19 and a planned "off" day. It is still cold….oh why, oh why…did we decide on Florida in January. I constantly tell Mike that by the end of the week, I'll be complaining I'm hot. (I'm one of those 72 degree girls-anything above or below-I complain.)

We decide to do laundry (ick) at the guest laundry near the pool. I can't believe some mother is letting their kids swim. It must be 40 degrees and I think they must be from Alaska. We do the wash and just hang out in the room until noon, but I can tell Mike and Chris are getting itchy to do something. At around 1 PM we head over to the DVMP and do some shopping. We love those slip-on canvas shoes with Mickey for Chris (tired of tying laces) and we buy some pooh socks, a Simba (because Nala needs a buddy) a "25" license plate for Chris' fort and postcards for all my msn friends.<g> We decide to take the bus from the DVMP to the Boardwalk and walk from the BW over to the Beach Club, then over to the Yacht Club and then to the Dolphin. Mike insists on walking through the pool area, which is nice, but people are swimming, I'm dressed for the cold and I feel as though we're walking through their living room. We are not too impressed with the Boardwalk. (Just not our scene.) We do like the Beach and Yacht clubs, especially the pool areas, of which there are many, and entertain the thought of these resorts for a future trip. The Dolphin and the Swan are nice, but once again, just not our taste.

At 2:30 PM we decide to start making our way over to the Polynesian for our 4:30 reservation for Mickey's Luau. We can't decide which way or how to go and I've left our transportation guide in the room at CB. We spot a boat, and decide to wait for that, but after waiting 15 minutes, the CM tells us we would have to walk through Epcot, then take the monorail to the Poly. We hadn't planned on this method of using our park-hopper pass on an "off" day, so we venture off to the bus stop.

We board the bus at about 3PM we get on a bus from the Dolphin to the MK, where we can hop on the monorail to get to the Poly. BIG MISTAKE!! This is the only time that we've ever had a long bus ride, and we find out that it's got something to do with the Truck Race at the Indy Track. The parking lot at the Indy Track emptied at 3 PM and we get stuck in a HUGE traffic jam. It ends up taking us 1 hour and 10 minutes to get from the Dolphin to the MK. It takes us 2 minutes to get to the Poly. Good thing we started early for Mickey's Luau.

We get to the Poly and this is another resort that I would consider staying at in the future. I like the lobby and the layout of the resort. It has a wonderful Tropical feel and all the Palm trees make you feel like you're in the islands.

We get seated at the Luau RIGHT UP FRONT. Mike shoots me a "good" look and tells me how I did really good with this one. I secretly wonder if it's because I bought the tickets in July or if it was just "disney magic" happening again. A huge and very delicious tray of fruit is on the table, and the main course consists of ribs (very good), chicken, corn, sweet potatoes and grilled veggies and rice. Surprisingly very good. (We didn't know what to expect and found the food at the Hoop-dee-doo, which we had done last year, to be not that good.) Mike videotapes most of the show and Christopher remains glued in his chair. This was a big hit and a wonderful thing to do on an "off" day.

Dessert is brought out, what I would call "Cruise Ship style", (where all the waiters and waitresses parade around the tables). The dessert is a white cake with fruit sauce and I woof down 2 huge pieces of cake and 3 cups of very good coffee.

We ride the monorail "up front" on the way back and decide it was another GREAT day in the World.

Day 5

Well, it's day 5 of our trip and we realize time is going fast, we're almost ½ way through. It's Early Entry day at the Magic Kingdom, but we decide to "buck" the trend and do MGM. I had read somewhere that MGM does not get crowded on Sundays and Mondays. (I forget, of course, that it happens to be Martin Luther King day and most of the schools are closed.) We enter the gates at MGM exactly at 9 AM and Mike makes a mad dash to ride TOT. In fact, he's so fast, they haven't opened the ride yet. He's the first one on line, and very happy, because I made him miss this attraction last year. (Big story-I won't go into it.)

The first thing after TOT is Muppet 4D, Chris is really excited about this, but has some second doubts when he sees the 3D glasses. (Probably having flashbacks to "Honey, I shrunk the…) We reassure him it will be okay and he absolutely LOVES the show. Afterward we discover Pizza Planet and Chris gets excited when he sees the "Alien Rocketship" and he wants to play it. We explain it's just for show. (Why didn't they just make it to work?)

The next attraction we hit is the "Honey…Playground". This is another big hit with Chris and he slides out of that Kodak film canister about 25 times. (I wonder if Kodak had to pay for the advertising?) He likes this place so much, he throws a temper tantrum when we tell him we have to move on.

We go early for the Hunchback of Notre Dame show getting good seats up front to the left of the stage. What a terrific show-once again, Broadway quality. Everything Disney does is just so spectacular.

After the show, we decide to head over to the 101 Dalmations exhibit and notice that the park is getting very crowded. Oh well, so much for my theory. The wait is at least 20 minutes, but well worth it. It almost made me what to go see the movie. (Hesitated going as I thought it may be "too adult" for Chris.)

Next we're off to get a good seat for the 1 PM Toy Story parade (another one of my favorites). Mike holds a spot and I wait on line for 30 minutes for a coke and popcorn. (This is an area that could use some improvement.) The parade is great, but the crowds are not. Everyone wants to have a good seat, it's crowded and a lot of folks start getting testy. I imagine what it must be like when it's 95 degrees in the summer.

After the parade we decide to go see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

This was one of our favorites last year and we enjoy the lazers and special effects. Chris is a little timid about the thunderstorm scene. (In fact, we notice that thunder and lightening seem to be prevalent in a lot of the shows this year, last year we noticed that it was smoke effects.) The show is of course wonderful!

Next off to see the Magic of Disney Animation, having missed this last year, I pushed to do it this year, although Mike wanted to skip it. The preshow lecture? consists of jamming 100 people in a room that should occupy about 50. I'm not happy about stuff like this, but after the beginning this turns out to be a "well-worth-it" attraction. Seeing the animation process as it happens is exciting and the film before the studio tour is great.

I guess it's around 3 or so now and we decide to head over to Epcot, as I have made reservations at the Coral Reef for dinner at 7. We're early when we get there, so we decide to do Horizons. We decide that this is ready for an update. We do Living with the Land, another favorite of mine, but Mike says it could be skipped. Next off to "Food Rocks". This is a cute show, although it was very loud. We're still early for our dinner reservation at Coral Reef so we decide to do the Living Seas. We decide that the preshow film needs a good update. I think it was the same in 1983 and it just seemed "old" to me. The rest of the attraction is good and Chris enjoys the elevator ride down to see the fish tanks, although we both think that the tanks look dirty.

We enter the Coral Reef restaurant and it's packed. I tell them that we're here and we wait..and wait..and wait. It seems like hours, but I'm sure it was about 15 minutes. While we're waiting we overhear a guy ask how the food was to someone coming out. The guy reports on what he and his wife had, but he says the food wasn't that good. Mike goes and grabs a menu and we see that the prices are a bit over moderate. We're all very hungry, but we are definitely not into paying high prices for food that's not good, so we decide to make a gracious exit. On the way out, Mike tells me he thought the restaurant smelled funny, like dead fish and I agree. He also comments on how that guy cleared out a few other patrons and we have a good laugh.

I tell Mike what I really feel like is some Mexican food and I'm even willing to try the little food stand across from Mexico. We do and I get the combination plate of which I really like. Mike orders a burrito and says it's okay. (Actually Mexico is my favorite pavilion and I guess the only reason why I didn't make a reservation there, is because we ate there last year and I wanted to try some new places.)

We decide to exit the park before the fireworks show, as it isn't Chris' thing and we are really beat. We go back to the CB and realize that we have to pack up our stuff. In the morning I'll be off to the Disney Institute and Mike and Chris have decided to do Typhoon Lagoon. (The weather has warmed up considerably.) I make arrangements for our luggage to be delivered to the Wilderness Lodge in the morning and for my transportation to the DI. We are a little melancholy when we go to bed, realizing that ½ the trip is gone and that it went so fast. Good night, Caribbean Beach

Day 6

Day 6 of what is turning out to be a great trip. It's 8 AM and I'm off to the Disney Institute. I've made arrangements to get transportation over there through Bell Services at CB. It's our last day there, and the bags will be picked up and transported to WL at 9:30AM. As it has warmed up, Mike has decided to take Chris over to Typhoon Lagoon. CB arranges to have a "checker cab" pick me up and bring me to DI-no charge. (I am very impressed by this.)

I arrive at the DI and it is very nice-of course (what did I expect?) I register ($49) for the Lifestyles:Computersesktop Publishing class (having made a reservation 2 weeks prior). It's only abou 8:10 AM, and the class doesn't start until 9 AM, so I strike up a conversation with another guy waiting for the class too. David, from New Hampshire, really nice guy and staying at the Lodge, too. I ask him about Artist Pointe and he has had dinner there and really liked it. Good, we have reservations for tonight. Hope Mike will like it.

The class begins and David and I decide to sit next to each other. There are only 8 students, 1 teacher and a teacher-helper. Good student ratio. The class starts out with a light lecture explaining that we'll be using Windows 95 (Yeah!) and Publisher 97 (Double Yeah-although I use 95). After the lecture, we design a business card based on the disney character we have selected earlier. Of course I was Tigger, and decided 'she' would be an exercise instructor-cute eh? We spend a good hour doing the designing thing and learning all the tips and tricks of Publisher 97. David and I are giving encouragement as we go along. (Nice guy). Next we're asked what we would like to work on "solo". I decide since I'll have a Newsletter deadline due 4 days after we return, I better think business and do a newsletter. (Actually, at this point I'm thrilled, because prior-I had been stumbling around with this software-I'm one of those-"show me" people.) You know-Show me once, I've learned it forever, Make me read it, forget it. Our teacher explains that beginning in March, the DI is adding 2 more classes to the Lifestyles category. A class in Internet exploring and another 2-part Photo/Computer class. Morning class will be actual photo-taking, afternoon class will be using Adobe Photo Deluxe on the Computers. Back to this class, not that I wanted to have to think about Firehouse stuff while on vacation, I dig my heels in. (BTW, I finished the newsletter yesterday-real cool for my first attempt-those Firemen WILL be impressed!)

I had told Mike that I would check us into WL sometime around 2:30 or 3 and meet him then. It's 12 noon and the class is over. I decide to go do a little shopping at the DVMP, so I get directions - turns out that I can walk there - 15-20 minute walk-real nice-warm day. I'm happy!! My optimum temperature.

I buy the Lion King CD, the Aristicats CD, 4 "on sale" 100 acre wood" related clothing items (for ME!), a stuffed Eeyore and a few other gifts for relatives back home. It's still only about 1PM (I shop fast!) so I decide to take myself to the Rainforest Café for lunch. (In my mind, thinking that if Chris wasn't into the butterflies and snakes, he's not going to like the thunderstorm that goes off every 22 minutes. There's a 15 minute wait for a table, and they keep calling out "Smith your Safari of 6 is ready", "Jones, your Safari of 8 is ready", etc. and I think…oh, please don't broadcast "Caprise your Safari of 1 is ready".No, whew they don't-well good, they just say, "Caprise, your Safari is ready". I order Rasta Pasta, because I've seen it mentioned on the bbs. It comes in a bowl big enough for me to share with 2 other people. But it's delicious and I eat at least ½. The waitress is very chatty and I come to find out we'll be getting a RC on Long Island this summer. Cool.

After lunch, I take the bus to the WL, and I walk in the front door of the hotel. WOWZA!

Man, they didn't tell me it was going to be THIS BEAUTIFUL. Breathtaking. I immediately smile, knowing how impressed Mike will be. I get us checked in and get our room #-can't wait. Up to the 4th floor….walk….down the hall…turn right…..walk down the hall…and keep walking…wow, this is a long walk I think…Open the door and immediately run to the window. WOWZA..we're on the lake (I had been worried that we would get a view of the parking lot-although we had a woodsview.) Room#4001-overlooking the boat launch. BEAUTIFUL-and we can even see the geyser from the balcony. And the bathroom-good it's big too. Uh-oh where's the minibar. (One thing I did miss that the CB has.)

The phone rings and they ask me to stay in the room, the husband is coming up. Having had called for the bags, I wonder what's taking so long. Husband comes in, all he can say is "You done good, girl". He and Chris go on and on about Typhoon Lagoon and how I just gotta go there. The luggage finally arrives, and the bellhop tells us that he couldn't find it, had to call CB. Oh well, it's here.

We decide to spend the rest of the day walking around and exploring the Lodge. This is the most beautiful place I have ever stayed. (Second favorite now, is the Marriot Marquis in NYC.)

We eat at Artist Pointe that night for dinner. I decide, having had the Rasta Pasta at 1, to just get salad, soup and appetizer. I try to convince Mike to have something different, but he orders the Smoked Pork Chops. (Meanwhile, I'm thinking-he better like this.) We decide to get Chris Mac and Cheese off the children's menu (yes-I was surprised they had a children's menu, too). We both order the Crab Bisque soup and agree that it's the best "seafood" soup we've ever had (and we eat a lot of seafood soup out here on the Island). My "Satay Sampler" comes and it is also delish. Mike's pork chops come and he immediately makes a face. (Oh-please husband don't embarrass me in this 4 star restaurant). But he tells the waiter that the chops aren't cooked enough. (and I don't think I've ever seen Mike do this), but he asks to have them thrown back on the grill. OHMYGOD, I think. Chris decides now he'll stand in his chair and starts to get itchy. Oh-well, so much for trying. The waiter comes back with 2 new chops-grilled. Mike seems better about this.(and he's impressed that he didn't get the same meat back.)

(I think what the problem here was that "smoked" meat gets that pink tinge to it, and Mike prefers my extra thin dried out (almost jerky) quality chops.) My house salad comes and that is also devine, I haven't had a good meal like this in a long time. Mike tells me not to take him to any more fancy rests in WDW. I ask the waiter what type of meat was on the Satay Sampler (it also had salmon) and he informs me it was venison. Gosh, this was good. Mike now proceeds to whisper to Chris to tell Mommy that she ate Bambi. (Geez-I give up!)

Enough is enough-I grab my "Wilderness Lodge" mug and get my "free" refil of decaf and it's up to the room. Mike tries to videotape the "Dragon water parade" (What is this thing called, anyway?) but it's a little far-out and the zoom won't cooperate. It's off to bed and I wonder if the geyser goes off every hour during the night. (Found out later, the geyser's hours are from 7 AM until 10 PM.) Good night WL, I love you.

Day 7

Day 7 of the Trip, Wednesday, January 22. We've decided to do an Early Entry at MGM and get up about 6 AM so we're not late. We board the bus and it's still dark out. (Actually I did get a beautiful photograph of the sunrise at MGM.) The weather has cooperated and the forecast is for upper 70's.

Having had reservations at the Soundstage, we head over there first. This was one of our favorite character breakfasts last year. (Pochahontas & John Smith) This year we're very pleased to see the characters from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. (Having seen the show on Monday, this is a treat.) But it also includes the Genie and Meeko. The food is buffet style and very good. (I love the french toast sticks.)

After breakfast we decide to do the Great Movie Ride. (One of my favorites!) I explain to Chris that there will be men shooting guns at each other, but that it's only make believe. He really enjoys the ride, with the exception of that particular scene, the Alien scene (which sort of goes over his head- we pointed out other things while the Alien was coming out.) and we were in the back of the 2nd car when the Wizard of Oz witch appeared. My only complaint about this attraction is that the movie clips at the end go too fast. I love seeing those clips, and they are 3 across, so you have to be quick.

Chris is pestering to go over to the "Honey….playground", so we spend a good ½ hour going down the Kodak film slide at least 2 dozen times. Mike decides to take a quick ride on Star Tours by himself.

I really want to see the Beauty and the Beast show (having also saw this last year, too). It is just as wonderful as I remember. Disney does these shows so well. We get good seats and I love the music.

We decide that we've done what we wanted at MGM for our trip, so we head over to the Magic Kingdom.

We stroll up Main Street, so that we can walk through the Castle. I must touch the slipper again, (while I'm there.) We do the Carousel, the Tea Party (even Mike does the tea cups, but then spends the next hour complaining about how old he is getting and that he can't do the cups anymore-gee-he can do TOT, but not the cups?) We do Grand Prix (and I go this time, too) and the Barnstormer (but, not me) We walk through Mickey's House and ride the WDW Railroad over to Frontierland.

We decide to do Tom Sawyer's Island, as we've never done this before. They load us on the rafts (did I say load, I should have said STUFFED.) The island was interesting, but I would skip it if you had limited time in the MK. I did get some great shots of Thunder Mountain Railroad from the Island.

Mike and I can't remember, but we think we've never been on the Jungle Cruise either, so we decide to do this. We round the first bend and the boat engine dies. Now, knowing Disney attractions, I figure this is all part of it. The captain says the boat died and he has to shoot the cap gun. He shoots this 3 times and it is loud (Chris does not like this at all.) We sit and wait, everyone kinda looks at each other, still in disbelief at what's going on. The Captain decides to shoot the gun again. At this point I have my doubts about what is and isn't part of the ride. Another boat pulls up behind us and says that help is on the way. (Yeah, right, I think, this is part of it too.) Well, we sit and wait..and wait.. finally a boat comes in front of us, so now we're 3 boats and the Captain just starts up his schpeal about the attraction, like nothing's happened. Actually I only believed the whole thing when we rounded the corner to get off the boat and there were 4 or 5 very dressed-up CM's helping us off the boat and asking if we wanted to experience the ride again, we could be on the very next boat. Hmm, guess it was true….the engine died.

After our episode with the Jungle Cruise we head over to Swiss Family Treehouse (our first time for this too). This is kinda neat, and we enjoy watching Chris walk through the entire attraction. We're both happy (he's getting heavy and neither of us can stand carrying him sometimes.)

After all this, we decide to go back to Fantasyland. We ride Dumbo, after a 15 minute wait (Why don't they just put in 2 Dumbo rides, for goodness sake.) Next to "It's a small world." (A Special request from Chris.)

Before we know it, it's 5:30 and time to search out a seat for Spectro Magic.

It's a wonderful show and Mike is mad that the batteries are dead, but vies to come back before we leave, so that he can tape it.

After the parade, we head back to the Wilderness Lodge, relax a little, but I plan to be in the lobby at 8:30 for the Animal Show. One of the CM's from Discovery Island has come over with a screech owl and a king constrictor. This is interesting and she has a huge audience of children.

Well, we're exhausted from a long day of "Disney Magic". Tomorrow is a planned off day, we'll do our Character Breakfast at Artist Point and I've planned to do the Wilderness Lodge Tour with Chris, so that Mike can get over to Typhoon Lagoon and do the Kowabunga. (Wait, did I say "off" day) Tomorrow, my friends…..

Day 8

Day 8 of our trip. I've pre-planned another "off" day (but watch out-we do a lot on our "off" days).

We have advance reservations to do the Character Breakfast at Artist Pointe restaurant at the Lodge. Yum…pancakes…Chris and my favorite. It's Pocahontas, John Smith, The Governor and Meeko. Chris loves Meeko, but I have to tell The Governor to bypass our table. While we're eating, David (my friend from the Disney Institute comes in with his folks). I ask him how he's enjoying his trip and he says, "Oh, I'm hanging in there". Mike and I laugh about this, because it seems like he really doesn't want to be with his parents, and his Dad begins making special requests of the waitress, specifically how he wants his eggs cooked, etc. Later on, Mike imitates him by saying, "And I only want Pocahontas to come to the table". We have a good laugh about.

By the way, Have you ever noticed that when you're down in Disney you sometimes keep running into the same people over and over again. It was so funny this year, because we kept running into a couple and their 2 children who flew down on the plane with us, and I kept running into David, and Mike kept seeing the same boy at Typhoon Lagoon and River Country.

After breakfast Mike wants to take off for Typhoon Lagoon and do the Cowwa-Bunga (not being able to do this when he was there Tuesday with Chris, he's quite excited.) I agree to meet him around 12 or so over at Typhoon, because he says it's really great and I just have to see the place. Chris and I decide to hang out in the Lobby (The most gorgeous hotel lobby I think I've ever seen.-The Grand Floridian is grand, but in my book…….) We've decided to do the Tour of the Lodge, and I'm hoping that Chris will cooperate. This begins around 9:30 AM and the tour guide takes one look at me and says..well, it's boring for the little ones and I don't want to hold anyone against their will. I ask him if it's okay if things don't go well, to just "bail out" ½ way. It's a 2&1/2 hour tour and I think Chris might be okay for this. (As some of you know-I've mentioned that he seems to be the exception to the rule, I can even bring him to work with me.)

The tour begins in the Lobby and the guide explains about the wood both real and man-made, the stone fireplace (all man-made) and the totem poles and the buffalo chandeliers (which by the way cost $13,000 each - there are 4 and weigh 1500 lbs each). The guide takes us outside to view some of the trees and plants. It is interesting that you can not see a palm tree from anyplace on the Lodge property (Hmm..). The most fascinating part of the tour is his explanation of the water, the small water pool in the lobby and then how it drifts out of the building, down the falls and seemingly into the swimming pools, but there are exchange points through-out this "water journey" and most of the water is recaptured, along with the water from the geyser. I comment on the sidewalk, as I notice that they are the same as the ones at the Disney Institute and the explanation is so that the walks have traction and that the design is done on purpose.

Another little "Disney" touch is the animal footprints in the sidewalks. We loved this.

The guide takes us down to the Roaring Forks (this is the quick food counter service spot at the Lodge and Mike will tell you it was my only "I do not like this" part of the Lodge. I had to go there a lot for my free refils, but I felt as if I was down in the dungeon-it was very noisy, because the game room was across the hall.) The guide fetches some saltines while we're all wondering what's going on. He takes us down to the boat pier and starts feeding the fish. My goodness, they are like piranhas almost jumping out of the water and this, of course, is the highlight of the tour for Christopher.

After the fish feed, the Guide takes us to the 7th floor and then up onto the roof. Boy, I'm glad that I decided to do this. The view is breathtaking, and I can't believe how everything (MK, Indy track, GF, Poly, even Epcot) seem so close when you're up so high. The guide even pointed out where they are building Animal Kingdom. This is about the end of the tour and the guide (sorry, I can't remember his name) comments on how good Christopher has behaved throughout the tour. (My back is breaking although, lugging him up and down the stairs and all over the lodge.J)

We're off to Typhoon Lagoon. I have the stroller and a giant bag with all our gear. It's hot and I'm really glad about that. Chris falls asleep on the bus and if you've ever carried a toddler while they're out, they double their weight. I need help getting off the bus with all the stuff and I just get him in the stroller when he wakes up. Well, so what we're on vacation. My impression of Typhoon Lagoon is "cool" place. I like the lay-out and having been told where to go by Mike, we immediately head over to the kiddie section. There's a tube ride especially for the little ones. The lifeguards swear that the tubes won't tip over and well….Chris has to do this at least 6 or 7 times. Mike is nowhere to be found. I told him 12:15 or so, it's 12:45 and he's not around. Chris and I hang out near the beach area in the toddler section while we wait for Dad, who finally shows up at 1. All he can talk about is how black and blue his backside is going to be from doing the Cowwa-Bunga. I'm hungry, so I go to get some food. (Big mistake, everyone is hungry too, and it's a double line for one cashier-another little Disney "loop" trick). Actually this was the pits, I think I was in line for well over 30 minutes and it was the only place in the park to get a hamburger or a hot dog. The place was very crowded, possibly because of the great weather.

Well, we have our fill by 4 PM and we're off to the Lodge, rest up a bit and then we decide to try to walk from the Lodge to the Fort Wilderness Campground. One person tells us it's about a mile and another tells us it's about 3 miles. (I would guess closer to three.) When we get there it's dark, and we're so glad that it wasn't a 5 mile walk. The purpose for going over there was to see the "Sing-A-Long" with Chip and Dale. This is neat too, Chris enjoys another opportunity to meet with the characters and the songs are fun to sing. They have all the kids do the hokey-pokey and this keeps me laughing.

We walk back through the Campsites to catch a bus to the Lodge, and we talk about possibly camping there in the future, and when our next trip might be. (You can tell we're getting to the end, when we start talking next time.J)

Well, it's been another beautiful day in Disney. Good night all.

Day 9

Day 9 of the Trip. Mike and I are both starting to realize that our wonderful vacation is almost coming to an end. We talk a lot about next time…and well, we have to do that one last time, tomorrow.

We're up at 6:30 because we have another..yes, another Character Breakfast to do. This one is for 1900 Park at the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins and Friends.

We decide to hop on the boat outside WL to get to the MK and from there we'll board the monorail to GF. We're waiting on the dock with another couple, for what seems like a long time. There is a (what I think) is a cleaning person there, and I ask about the boat. He asks me what day it is and we all figure out that it's not EE day at MK, so the boat won't start running until 8:30 or so. He asks where we're going, and the other couple say they have reservations at King Stephans. He asks us to all meet him out front of the Lodge. He'll take all of us over to the GF and MK. Wow-now that's service and from a cleaning person, no less We all hop in the WL Van and start gabbing. Well, it seems this other couple lives about 20 minutes away from us on Long Island, they're in the seafood business, so we talk about all the people we know. I ask "the cleaning guy" what he does when he's not driving lost people around WDW. He responds that he's the night manager for the Lodge and that he too, grew up on Long Island. Geez-it's a small world.

So we get dropped off at GF-wowza, again, this is a really fine hotel.

1900 Park is much bigger than I expected and I had expected this to have similar characters to King Stephans, but it doesn't - Mary, Chip, Dale, Minnie and Goofy. (I wonder if perhaps Mickey called in sick J) The buffet is fantastic and I eat about 2 lbs of the pineapple.

Next we're off to catch the boat back to WL, because I had planned to do Discovery Island today. We board the boat from the WL to DI, very nice. Hmmm…I wouldn't mind having a little island like this for a nice chuck of real estate..I think. Minus the alligators, tho.

Mike and I agree this was a good idea and spend about 3 hours walking around and seeing the birds, alligators, a reptile show and more birds. We decide to go back to Fort Wilderness, so that we can do River Country. On the way, we get sidetracked because Chris wants to ride in the water sprite. Mike and Chris go off in the water sprite. $18 for ½ hour, but Mike thinks it was worth it having gone all the way from Fort Wilderness to the Grand Floridian. Gee..We're all over the World again…today.

After this, we wander over to River Country. Another water park done very well by Disney. We run into Mike's little friend from Typhoon Lagoon and have a great laugh about that. We "do" RC until about 4 or so. I'm beat having done too much walking on DI. We have dinner reservations at Cape May Café at the Beach/Yacht Clubs and I don't want to miss this seafood buffet.

On our way over on the bus, we chat with other folks that are going to the same buffet, they say it's really good fun, and I just cross my fingers hoping that Mike will like it. I had actually hesitating making the reservations there, because we get so much fresh seafood up here. Well, it's delicious. This was the best dinner meal that we had during the whole trip. I loved the fried shrimp and the ribs. Mike raved about the clams and kept saying "We'll have to do this again". Good….finally he's happy!!

After dinner we walk from the Beach Club over to the Boardwalk and buy the funny shoe laces I had seen earlier in the week. It's really a nice evening, warm and lots of people are out.

We board the bus at the Boardwalk for MK, so that we can transfer at MK to WL. (This is the only-not so great part about the transportation-you can't go Resort to Resort)

But, all in all, it's a quick trip. We get to the room and crash. Good night.

Day 10

Day 10 of our wonderful journey It's EE day at the Magic Kingdom so we hop on the first boat at 7:15 and we're on our way. It's the scheduled day of the Indy Race (Saturday, January 25) and I know I want to stay in the park all day (to avoid the track traffic.) One thing I forgot to mention was the noise of the racing that could be heard most of Thursday and Friday, which at times disturbed the peace and serenity anytime we were outside of the WL.

We decide that we must do the Country Bear Jamboree. I have probably seen this at least a dozen times, but we always go back. What amazes me is…I saw this in 1976, so for 21 years x 365 days a year….can you imagine the wear and tear on those poor bears. What continues to amaze Mike and I is that all that goes on at Disney goes on every day of the year, forever and ever. It's a good feeling to know that.

Next we're off to Fantasyland, but Mike decides to do the Haunted Mansion.

The last time we did this was in 1983, but I decide to skip it because of Chrisopher. Mike says it's still cool and off we go to Fantasyland.

We do all our favorites, the Carousel, Small World (for the 3rd time-this trip) and the Teacups (still my favorite-wish it wasn't such a short spin). We see Ariel's Grotto, but the line is kinda long for Ariel, so we skip that. On the way to Tomorrowland, we see Eeyore at the Fantasyland Character Festival (this is a new spot, in front of where 20,000 leagues used to be). It is also mobbed and a CM is getting carried away with bossing everyone about. Geez…then why did you let so many people in at once. We get to take photos with Eeyore and Tigger, but Pooh is too busy, so we skip over Pooh. Chris isn't happy about this, but "tough nuggies"-it's too crowded.

We ride the Speedway and Mike goes behind me, I ask him to pleeeease not bump me when we get to the end of the race, Chris rides with me, and as we're getting out at the end, my car lurches forward after being bumped in the rear. I turn around and Mike throws his hands up-someone had bumped him! Oh well, that's the only part of the ride I don't like.

We do Take Flight and after that I beg to ride on the TTA again and Mike relents. Christopher loves this ride and so do I Mike decides to take Chris on the Astro-orbiter while I look at all the people eating those huge Turkey drumsticks. It's starting to look really bad, like the sky is going to open up and pour. I tell him that I want to get out of the park, he makes a face and tells me that he has the ponchos. (you know, the Yellow mickey ones, that everyone has). I tell him, no way, let's get outta here. He dawdles, but as soon as we get under the canvas to wait for the WL boat, it starts pouring and I mean totally drenching rain and wind. Hey, not bad I think, we're on our 10th day and the first sign of rain.

We go back to the Lodge, and all crash. Chris and I take a nap and Mike listens to his walkman on the patio. (Like I say, It's a rough life, but someone's gotta live it!)

We decide to just hang for the rest of the night and we do the Whispering Canyon Café for dinner. (I'm a bit disappointed, because I had very much wanted to do Marrakesh in Morocco for dinner at least once on this trip.) But, the Canyon Café is a cool place, I love interactive stuff. Unfortunately Mike just wants to eat, so he doesn't find any humor in the shenanigans. I encourage Chris to do the horsey-ride around the dining room and he thinks this is a blast. Everyone is cheering him, because he's the youngest and in (don't tell him) last place, but he loves the attention.

After dinner we walk around the Lodge and discuss what a wonderful place, but we realize that we should go up and pack up the suitcases. I almost want to cry, but I keep thinking that we still will have one full day in the parks, because our flight doesn't leave until 9 PM the next day. Good night, WL, it's been great.

Day 11

Day 11 of the trip. (Our last day L) We are all very sad. Chris tells me he misses his locomotive (We bought him a Lionel set for Xmas) and I realize that this is the first time that he mentions "home". So, it must be time to leave. I miss my pussycat and pray that he has had an okay time at the Vet's. We pack up the last of our things, making sure to take the soap and shampoo and call bell services to come get the bags.

Mike wants to do the MK today, but I say…gee, we were there yesterday, I mean I can just ride the carousel so much. I tell him I want to go to Epcot and do the countries, we kinda get in a little argument and I just keep begging. So I get my way. We ride the monorail from the MK to Epcot "up-front" one last time and get right into the World Showcase at 11 AM.

Our first stop is Canada, and although Mike and I had seen the film in 1983, we do it again. Great choice, we both agree. He is now happy that I chose Epcot and telling me he had forgot the movie was so wonderful.

We decide to move on and the show at France is just about to begin when we get there. Having never seen this and being someone in a good "movie" frame of mind, we do this too. Good choice, a wonderful film, great music. Actually I didn't realize France had so many mountains, snow, etc. Beautiful country.

Next we stop at the American Adventure and we're just on time to see this show. Well, we are so glad that we did this too. The audio-animatronics in this show are wonderful and I wonder how they get Ben Franklin to walk up those stairs. Even this show holds Chris' attention. We both agree that this is one of the best shows in Disney. Actually we're surprised that we don't hear more about it. Getting a bit melancholy now, I decide I must have one last Funnel Cake to tie me over until the next trip to WDW. Those things are delicious.

We decide to head over to the MK one last time, but we do Horizons, Food Rocks and Living with the Land before leaving Epcot.

We get to the MK just in time to rush up Main Street for the parade. The park seems the least crowded that it's been and we get a great view of the parade floats coming over the bridge from Frontierland. After the parade we ride Small World (one last time), and I must ride the Carousel again. (There's an old saying that you add a year to your life everytime you ride a Carousel. I believe that!!) It's about 5:30 and we know that Mears is coming to pick us up at WL at 6:30. While I'm riding the carousel, I start to cry. I am such a big baby. (Actually tearing up as I write this.) Oh, Disney World, I love you. I realize that I'm such a fortunate person and thank God, for giving me the opportunity to appreciate these wonderful times in my life. He's been very good to me, to us…we're just really happy. Mike gives me a big hug when he realizes what's going on. (I wonder if anyone else goes through this at the final moments of departure.)

I decide that I must touch the slipper again. I immediately rush in the castle, touch quick, think of all my Themeparks friends and suddenly I'm happy again. I know I'll be back, maybe not soon, but I'll be back. I try to absorb that wonderful Disney feeling and I wish that I could carry the Magic around with me all the time. Gee, maybe I can…..

The trouble starts no sooner than we have left the ground. US Air can't put us in seats together and I could just scream. What do you mean? I bought the tickets in July. What about my child?? Long story, and we do end up sitting together, and don't worry, US Air will be getting a little love letter from me. So much for making the Magic last all year. We arrive in NY and it's cold, very cold. Too cold. We arrive home and I can't stay awake. Chris and I climb into bed with our clothes on and fall fast asleep.

Day 12

Day 1 of the "Us" being back home to the land of true reality. Suitcases need to be unpacked, at least 7 loads of wash need to be done, over 30 phone messages, over 100 email messages, mail and papers piled up like we were in Europe for 2 months, the cat has to be picked up at the Vet's and…I decide to ask Mike to hook up the second phone line. Big mistake. Not only does this take 3 phone calls to Nynex, but Mike and I end up in a big argument about it and I secretly wish I had just paid the $60 to have Nynex do all the work! I also realize that after being in that pristine, clean Disney environment for so long, suddenly the house looks shabby.

It takes us at least 3 days to level off and realize that this is life. Even Chris seems out of sorts, having had our full attention for 11 days and I swear that I'll never get caught up with all my firemen.J but….you know what….we'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I'm happy to report that the next trip is being planned for December 1998, and we're hoping to connect with The Gathering at G5!!

Cindy

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