Trip Reports

Time of Year: Spring
Travel Method: Personal Car
Resort: Offsite, CBR
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie
Comments: The Fellows family visited WDW in April for the very first time. This report is actually the journal that Brenda wrote throughout the trip. It wasn't intended to be published, but it certainly captures a lot of useful information for any family that is traveling with several young children (including a baby).

[ Editor's Note: Walt & Brenda Fellows are friends of ours. I've known Walt & Brenda since my college days, and we've kept in touch over the years. Walt works at the same GM division as I do, so we sometimes cross paths at work, too. In addition, the Fellow's family includes three great kids, Mathew (7), Sarah (4), and Samantha (< 1).

This was Walt & Brenda's first trip to WDW (I'd been telling Walt to go for years, but he wouldn't budge). Strangely enough, they already have plans to return in the Fall of 1998!

Brenda actually wrote this journal as a personal documentation of the trip. I had to twist her arm (not too much) to permit me to add it to the web site. Ratings are on a five point scale (I think). ]

EPCOT

Monday, April 7, 1997

7:30 Days Inn Orlando Lakeside (stayed there first night because of price - with an Orlando Magic Card it was $32/night, and located right off of I-4 three exits from Disney). This is not a bad hotel for the price. Access to the highway was great, traffic not bad.

7:50 Caribbean Beach Resort - requested room assignment, picked up resort hotel ID's, etc.

8:25 Drive van to EPCOT parking lot. Parked in second row of Harvest Section. Great spot!

8:35 Spaceship Earth - the line was not very long (10 min.?). A little evolution included. Great place to feed baby! Rating 4.

9:00 Honey, I Shrunk the Audience - line was about 10 minutes again. Kids did not like this. Rating 3.

9:50 Journey into Imagination - line less than 10 minutes. Sarah loved it. good place to feed baby. Rating 3. (Figment)

10:20 The Image Works - no wait - did not live up to expectations - Rating 2.5.

10:35 Horizons - no wait - good place to feed baby. A little evolution presented. Rating 3.

11:05 Kringla Bakeri (Norway) - Walt wasn't feeling well, stopped to get rolls/coffee. They had a problem with their computer, so they gave us the food for free. Good rolls. Not amazing. Rating 4.

11:25 Maelstrom (Norway) - less than 10 minute wait - We all loved this!!! - Rating 5.

11:45 China - looked around, did Kid Zone activity. Rating 2.5. Next time see performances.

12:20 Germany -Started to look around when it began raining. Bought ponchos for kids, and looked around in toy store. Rating 2.5. See during performances or Character Discovery

12:45 Ran from Germany to El Rio de Tiempo (Mexico)- good place to feed baby. Made lunch more meaningful to kids. Rating 3.5.

1:00 San Angel Inn (reservations at 1:15 pm), had less than 10 minute wait, reservations had been made 60 days prior. GREAT FOOD! Kids loved quesadillas, and watching boats go by. Cost $42. Rating 5.

1:55 Checked out shops in Mexico. Purchased small drum, delivered to room next day.

2:15 Rain stopped, went to Innoventions West not very impressed. Rating 2. Matthew would have loved to spend the day playing games there. Left park about 3:00

**** AFTERNOON BREAK ***. Checked in/ moved in to hotel. Got fridge delivered etc.

I'll take this chance to talk about our hotel/room. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach in room 4522 (Jamaica). This was a great location right next to Parrot Cay Island. The bus stop wasn't super close, but parking was easy, and Port Royale was just across the island. This was important because of the Beverage Club. In the room are travel mugs ($6.95 each) that can be refilled with coffee or pop as many times as you wish during your stay for free. Makes a cheap souvenir. We loved the hotel, and the location. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a hot tub, and a full kitchen/laundry. The location of the hotel also gave us easy access to MGM and EPCOT. Overall Hotel Rating: 4.5

6:00 Returned to EPCOT in van. Learned trick - go around the cones to parking available in early morning. The parking is much closer, and lots of spots are open right in front.

6:35 The American Adventure -had about a 25 minute wait, only because we had to wait for the next performance. Voices of Liberty preshow was FANTASTIC. The performance was a good place to feed the baby. Rating 5.

7:50 Wanted to get decent spot for Illuminations. The "secret park" was being used for a party, so we tried to get a spot in the patio area between UK and France. Unfortunately, we were on the second level and there was a speaker pole blocking our view for many of the fireworks. The laser effects were easily visible. If we go here in the future, get on the lowest level. Spots were all taken here before 8:00. While I waited, Walt got food from the Potato Wagon in UK. Rating 2.5 Illuminations rating 5!

9:? Left UK with the rest of the crowd. Took probably 25 minutes to get to car. International Gateway would be a great help, but we could never figure out how to get there.

EPCOT Early Entry

Tuesday, April 8, 1997

7:15 Left hotel room. Took van to EPCOT parking lot. Parked in front row of Harvest section again.

7:35 The Living Seas - the only one of early entry activities we had not already done. Very disappointing. Definite Evolutionary influence, both in film, and exhibits. Kids liked looking at the second level observation deck, but this is worth much less time than we spent. No wait though. Rating 2.5.

8:50 Got in crowd stationed at innoventions to head for Wonders of Life. Most of Crowd headed for Wonders of Life or Universe of Energy. They let us in at 9:00.

9:00 Body Wars - Waited about 15 minutes. Matthew liked this, Walt and I both felt sick. Did baby swap. Definitely not worth it. Rating 1.5

9:30 Cranium Command - we all liked this equally. Waited about 10 minutes. Ok to feed baby here, but not as good as other theater presentations. Rating 3.5.

10:10 Character Discovery - went to World showcase plaza. Pluto, Tigger, Jasmine, Belle, Beast, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Snow White, Dopey, Chip, Dale, were all there. If we do this again, BE THERE before 10 am when the characters get there. Lines for signatures were too long by the time we were there. This was the only time we saw Snow White, Dopey, and Jasmine. A definite must stop for kids wanting autographs. Rating 5.

10:40 The Circle of Life - Waited about 15 minutes. Cute because of Lion King characters. Decent film. Good place to feed baby. Rating 3.5

11:10 Left EPCOT for PM Break.

11:30 Went to World of Disney at Village Marketplace. Spent a lot of time (like 1.5 hours) looking for souvenir. Huge selection. The bad part was that I forgot my Magic Kingdom Card. The Cast Member at the front door made it sound like that wasn't a problem. I could simply return with the receipts another day, and they could credit my account with the difference. WRONG!!! This little mix up cost us about 2.5 hours during the next 3 days. Lesson: If you forget your MKC card, leave and come back another day!

***** PM BREAK *****

Magic Kingdom

3:30 Headed for the bus stop. Waited about 10 minutes. Took bus to Magic Kingdom. Bus seemed nice, but according to the poster at the bus stop we could have waited up to 45 minutes for a bus. Add that to the 20 minute ride to MK, and it could have taken us over an hour to get there. WOW. We didn't have a problem this time. But I wonder if we could next time.

4:00 Once in MK, we headed straight for the Toontown Fair, and Barnstormer - Walt and Matthew went. The wait for was about 25 minutes. The ride was slightly bumpy, but generally a mild rollercoaster. Rating 3.5. Toontown was a ZOO. The whole place was so busy that it was hard to find room to maneuver the stroller!

Sarah and I went through Minnie's House in the same 25 minutes. Minnie was NOT there to sign autographs, and it was difficult to enjoy looking at the house when we only had 1 foot space on each side of our body! Cute place for pictures of girls, but unless it's nearly empty, skip it. Rating 2.

4:45 Toontown Hall of Fame - There were 3 lines here for autographs and pictures. 1 line for villains, one for Mickey and friends, and one for princesses. The idea is a good one, you get in the line that is most important to you, and people are let in a room at the end (about 20 people at a time) and allowed to spend as much time as needed with the characters (2 or 3 characters per room). You don't know who you are getting until you get there, though. The lines for villains and princesses were reasonable (Matt went in Villains which had Cruella DeVil, The Sheriff of Nottingham, and The Big Bad Wolf, Sarah chose princesses which had Pocahontus and Belle). The line for the main Disney Characters was RIDICULOUS. Everywhere we saw Mickey the entire trip the lines were huge. It was nice to know we were going to Chef Mickey's on our last day. In fact, I would suggest to anyone interested in Character signatures that the best way to get them is at Character meals. You get much more individual attention, and you don't have to wait in line to get it!

5:15 Hall of the Presidents (Liberty Square)- The wait was about 20 minutes (only because that was the length of time to the next presentation.) We all enjoyed this. Good place to feed the baby. Rating 4.

6:00 Pirates of the Caribbean - wait 30 minutes - the line is a little deceiving. It looks shorter than it is. Once you are inside, the ride is still a long way away. This was one of Walt's favorites. Rating 4.

7:00 Jungle Cruise - wait 25 minutes - again a deceiving line. The Que. winds all over, and just when you think you are reaching the end, you see the line is still massive. This was NOT worth a 25 minute wait. It's cute, and the smaller the kid the more they will like it. Rating 3.

8:00 Sleepy Hollow Refreshments - we went here to sit at the rail to stake out spots for the SpectroMagic Parade. There is no food available here, and you have to walk a long way to get any, but the positioning for parades is SUPERB! There are tables and stools right next to a rail near the bridge to Liberty Square. Since no one can stand on the bridge, you are guaranteed a good view, and you don't have to stand against a rope! This is not, however a good place to view the fireworks. The trees partially block your view.

9:00 SpectroMagic Parade - AMAZING - the best parade I have ever seen in my life! - Rating 5.

9:30 Fantasy in the Sky - these fireworks were set off in Fantasyland behind Cinderella Castle. They were undoubtedly very good, but from our position it was difficult to tell. Rating 4. It took a long time to get to the bus after the fireworks, probably 40 minutes. The buses were very efficient, though. We only waited for a bus about 15 minutes at the stop.

Disney/MGM Early Entry

Wednesday, April 9, 1997

7:15 Left the hotel, and drove the van to MGM parking lot. It was about a 10 minute drive, and parking was easy and close.

7:35 Star Tours - the wait was about 10 minutes. This was Matthew's favorite attraction. Walt seemed to like it too. Sarah and I checked out the Endor Vendor shop while the guys were inside, and took pictures of the props outside. Rating 5.

8:00 The Great Movie Ride - wait 5 minutes. Another good place to feed the baby. Rating 3.5.

8:45 The Voyage of the Little Mermaid - the next show wasn't until 9:30, but the Tower of Terror was the only other attraction open before 9, and we didn't think we wanted to go on that, so we waited. The show didn't actually start until 9:45, and it ended up being a solid hour of no room to move around. The show was fantastic, but next time I think I would go to the second show rather than put up with the line. Rating 5.

10:30 Muppet Vision 4-D - We tried to make the 10:30 Indiana Jones show, but because Little Mermaid started late, we didn't make it, so we went to Muppet Vision. Wait about 5 minutes before preshow. This was the only place we came upon a grumpy cast member. I changed the baby's diaper on a blanket during the pre-show. I asked an elderly lady cast member where I could find a trash can to which she answered "I don't know, you'll just have to carry it around till you find one. The show's going to start any minute, and if you leave you'll miss it." Walt discovered there was a can right in the room we were standing in, and when he told me, the lady yelled out, "You can't put that in there, it'll stink up the whole room!" We were very embarrassed. I didn't have the chance to explain to the woman that it wasn't that type of diaper. She promptly left the room. It didn't matter anyway. For the only time during our stay, Samantha decided to throw a fit, and I had to take her out of the show to calm her. Rating 3.5

11:00 Indiana Jones Epic Spectacular - wait 30 minutes, only because the next show started at 11:30. This show was amazing. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a pre-show like those we saw in the afternoon. Rating 4.5.

*****PM Break*****

We had originally planned to go to MK again this afternoon, but we were impressed with MGM, and not thrilled with the idea of re-entering the MK crowds, so we cancelled our reservations at the Plaza Restaurant, and made 3:30 reservations for the Soundstage Character Lunch. (Matthew's favorite Disney Characters are Aladdin and Genie)

3:00 Left our room and drove the van to MGM. Again, no parking problems, got a spot in the front row.

3:15 Soundstage Restaurant - waited about 5 minutes to be seated. The food here was nothing to brag about. There was lots of it, and lots the kids would normally eat, but they were too enamored with watching the characters at first to eat much. We spent about an hour here. The cast members were very friendly, and the Aladdin was especially gracious. This is definitely the way to meet the Characters. Present were Aladdin, Genie, Meeko, Belle, and Quasimodo. This is a MKC restaurant, so we got 10% off, too. Rating 3. Really only worth it if your kids love Aladdin.

4:30 Animation Tour - wait 15 minutes. This was interesting for the adults and educational for the kids, but not a knock-your-socks-off kind of thing. There were some amazing statistics presented, but I think once you've heard them, you know the tour. Rating 3. The film part at the end is a good place to feed a baby. Walt may have rated it higher. While we were waiting inside I saw Baloo (and many other Characters) out in the courtyard. If I had know it would be the only time we'd see him, I would have take the kids out. After the tour we took a potty break, and spent quite a bit of time in the shop that sells cells. Great shop!

6:00 Backlot Tour - no wait - interesting, but probably not worth a repeat. Rating 2.5.

6:45 Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground - no wait - the kids loved it, but it's a great place to lose them! Fortunately, the Cast Member at the gate is trained to look for lost children, and instantly pages you if your child looks even slightly frightened. (Yes we had it happen...twice) This is a great place for pictures of the kids, and to let them blow off steam if they have any left after walking the parks!

7:15 Muppet Vision 4-D - Yes we went back. I didn't get to see if the first time, and I love the Muppets! This time we walked right in.

7:40 Since the park was scheduled to close at 8pm, and we had and we needed a break, we decided to head back to the hotel. We spent the evening on Parrot Cay Island, and at the pool. Note: I had read on the internet that you can watch the EPCOT fireworks from the pool at Caribbean Beach. They were right. Obviously, you can't see the laser effects, but the fireworks were very nice. This was also the night that I tried to straighten out our little mess at World of Disney. It cost me a chance to get to bed at a reasonable hour...The marketplace was open until 11pm.

We talked about our plans for the next day. We had originally planned to go to Magic Kingdom for the entire last day; but upon realizing that the crowds made MK unbearable, and unanimously deciding that MGM was our favorite park thus far, we decided to go to all three parks on our last day. This was a stroke of genius, and made a great Grand Finale to the whole vacation.

Magic Kingdom Early Entry

Thursday, April 10, 1997

7:15 Left the hotel in our van headed for the Contemporary Resort. I had intended to leave by 7 am, I am not sure that would have been soon enough! By the time we parked at the Contemporary, got on the monorail, and got off at Magic Kingdom it was 8:05...so much for early entry! Fortunately, we still got a lot done. The kids enjoyed the monorail ride, and the lines in Fantasyland were practically non-existant.

8:10 Mad Tea Party - this was a GREAT surprise, 4 of the Alice in Wonderland Characters were there: Alice, The Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum. When we arrived, they were riding in the tea cups. When the ride was over, the Queen chased Alice out of the area. Alice lost her, and The Queen signed autographs on one side, while Alice did the hokey pokey with kids on the other side. We got autographs and pictures with all 4 characters before we went on the ride and the kids LOVED IT! I would only give the ride a Rating 3, but the characters made it a not to be missed experience!

8:35 Tomorrowland Speedway/ Cinderella's Golden Carousel - Walt took Matt to the Speedway, while the girls and I went on the Carousel. It was a good choice. Matt loved driving the cars, and Sarah and Samantha both loved the horses. (Walt nearly got whiplash - the speedway is not intended for adults!) Speedway Rating 3. Carousel Rating 3. (the kids would rate them higher)

8:45 Snow White's Adventure - not my kind of ride. Sarah loved it, but I felt sick! It does a lot of s curves - I think Sarah would have been sick, too, if it lasted much longer. Rating 2. (she would have rated it higher.) She would have been scared, but she had her mini flashlight along, which helped. This tip (which I also got from the internet) helped in a lot of "scary" parts of rides. Any time it was dark, I got her little flashlight out of her backpack, and she could "control" the darkness.

8:55 Line between Fantasy Land/Liberty Square - We decided to make a b-line for Big Thunder Mountain. I had heard that this was the mildest of the rollercoasters, and I though Matthew might like it. EVERYONE headed for Splash Mountain or BTM! Most people ran! We walked as fast as a 7 year-old's legs could take us. Sarah was in the stroller, and Sam was in the front carrier.

9:03 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - 15 minute wait - Sarah (who has a HUGE problem with motion sickness and was barely 40 inches tall) insisted on going on this ride with the boys. Although it was against my better judgment, I decided to let her go. Not only did she not get sick, she loved it. I seriously underestimated what the kids could handle. If I had known Sarah would love BTM, we would have gone to Splash Mountain first, but by the time we left BTM the wait at SM was 35 minutes. We checked back after our next stop, but it was 45 minutes. Rating 4.

9:35 Country Bear Jamboree - wait 15 minutes - We all agree that this was the dumbest, biggest waist of time we encountered during our stay at WDW! Chuck E Cheese's at home has shows as good as this, and it's not Country and Western music! I guess if you like C&W this would not be as bad, but I highly dislike it! Rating 1.

10:05 It's a Small World - we wanted to go to Legend of the Lion King, but the next show was 20 minutes away, and the show lasts about 30 minutes. We would have missed our reservations. We walked right on to this ride, and although it is definitely not a ride for adults, this was worthwhile. Samantha LOVED it. This was the only time during the trip, where Samantha just seemed entranced by an attraction. The older 2 were only slightly amused. Rating 2.5.

10:30 25 Anniversary Welcome Center - we decided to wind up our time in Magic Kingdom by getting our poster, and learning about the Animal Kingdom opening next spring. Sounds like a great future trip!

10:55 We took the monorail back to the Contemporary Resort for our 11:15 "Priority Seating" at Chef Mickey's.

11:05 Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast - chalk it up to great planning, this worked perfectly! We were all hungry, and needed a break. The crowds at MK were just getting unbearable again, and we were seated immediately! This was a fantastic meal, and the characters were much more entertaining than at the Soundstage. Goofy surprised diners by honking his horn at them, every 20 minutes all of the waiters would do a dance to "celebrate" (although I never quite figured out what we were celebrating), and Chip, Dale, Mickey and Minney came to our tables for pictures/autographs etc. One little girl brought Chip and Dale a bag of peanuts for which they sandwiched her in an excited hug. This was well worth the money! Rating 5.

12:00 We looked around in the Contemporary for a while, then drove our van back to the hotel for our

***** PM Break ***** The Kids and Walt went swimming etc, while Samantha and I took a much needed nap.

3:15 Left the hotel headed for MGM Studios.

3:30 Beauty and the Beast - this was the last show of the day and didn't start till 4pm, but at 3:35 they let us sit down for a pre-show interview with Dick Van Patten ("Eight is Enough") it was a FANTASTIC NOT TO BE MISSED AT ALL COSTS show! Rating 5.

4:30 Tower of Terror - remember how I said I underestimated Matthew (our 7 year old)? He went on this with Walt, and was fine! They liked it, but not a lot. Rating 3.5. The wait was less than 20 minutes.

While the boys dropped in the elevator. Sarah, Samantha, and I hung out in the animation courtyard getting character signatures and pictures. We saw Tigger, Beast, and Sarah's favorite character, Cinderella. Mickey, Goofy,Pluto, Chip, and Dale were also there. Great place to see characters, but you have to wait in unorganized lines, and people are not always courteous. We waited for 20 minutes to see Cinderella. We were next in line when she announced she was leaving. We had to follow her to get the autograph. Sarah would have been devastated! Next trip we will schedule a Once Upon a Time character breakfast so that we get to spend some time with Cinderella.

5:30 Hunchback of Notredame - again the show was not scheduled to start until 5, but we were seated at 5:35, and treated to an amazing preshow by the best juggler/comedian I've ever seen. The juggler alone was worth the price of admission to the park that day! The show itself was outstanding! The guy who played Quasimodo had an amazing singing voice. Another FANTASTIC NOT TO BE MISSED AT ALL COSTS show! Rating 5.

6:30 The Making of Evita - There was only a 5 minute wait, and we didn't have much time, so we decided to see this. Sounds like an interesting film, but the tour was so-so. Rating 2.5.

7:00 We left MGM headed for EPCOT.

7:30 Staked out a bench against the lagoon rail near Canada for Illuminations. I know it doesn't start 'till 9, but all of the good places were taken on Monday before 8pm. We were wise to get our spot this early. I had to keep people from taking Walt and Sarah's spot while they were gone.

7:45 O' Canada - Walt and Sarah went to this while Matt, Sam, and I staked out our spot. You have to stand for this 360 degree film so small children have a hard time seeing. Walt held Sarah, but he turned around so much he got her motion sick. Rating 2.5 with kids. Without them, probably higher.

8:30 Potato Wagon in United Kingdom - this is the second time we got potatoes here. They are fine, but nothing special. It's just that they are the only fast food available near where we were waiting to watch Illuminations. While I was gone getting potatoes, some kids climbed up on the rocks in front of our position, blocking our view. After waiting for an hour, you are not too happy when someone allows there children to do things like this. Fortunately, we didn't have to try to solve the problem, a Cast Member walked up and informed the children that they were not supposed to climb over the railing and on to the rocks.

9:00 Illuminations - Fantastic as usual. The laser effects on the fountains were not visible from this perspective. I should have checked in the Unofficial Guide! Fortunately, the overall experience was not greatly hampered by this. There is only one small part where it was noticeably missing. The view otherwise was great, and we could sit or stand as we chose. We had many people standing right up against our bodies behind us, which was annoying, but they quickly moved at the end of the performance. Getting out of the park, while tedious was not particularly bad.

9:45 Centarium - We stopped at this large souvenir trap on the way out to get a few last minute items. We ended up with a CD of music from the parks with the Illuminations music on it, and a book about the first 25 years of WDW. Both are GREAT and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

10:30 Caribbean Beach - our last night. We left at about 10:30 the next morning after sleeping in for a change.

Conclusions:

Overall, our vacation was exhausting. Getting up at 5:45am and to bed at about 11pm with less than a 1 hr nap, is not enough for me. It was worth it, though. This is the perfect vacation. Something for everyone: Characters for the kids, education for the adults, rides and shows for whole family, and a full body work out for the parent who carries a baby, pushes a stroller, and walks many miles a day!!!

Tips worth remembering for future trips:

1) The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is worth its weight in gold. It has much more detailed information than the other guides we read, and while Birnbaums is cute and describes the attractions better, the Unofficial Guide is much better at helping plan the total vacation from start to finish. I will never go to WDW without this book.

2) Water bottles are a must. We each had our own, and we saved a ton by not stopping at concession stands. Fanny packs with water bottles for everyone are THE way to go.

3) Make restaurant priority seating arrangements ASAP. We were always seated immediately, and always had great tables. This is especially important if YOU want to be able to choose the time you eat. Late lunches or late breakfasts are the way to go. Dinners are the most expensive, and your body doesn't have the time to work them off!

4) The little flashlight in Sarah's backpack was great to keep her from getting scared, and also great for finding dropped items during parades and fireworks.

5) The characters appreciate having a fat pen to write with. They usually do a better job because they can grab the pen better.

6) There are tons of places to feed a baby at WDW. While I am sure the baby centers are nice, we never needed one. I changed diapers in the stroller, and fed her in the dark during various attractions. I saw other mothers who were not so discreet. One bottle a day was enough to fill in when a convenient spot was not around.

7) Planning ahead is THE KEY to a WDW vacation during busy seasons. The longest wait we ever had was 30 minutes. We saw a lot, though not all we wanted to. And we never had kids complaining about waiting. In fact the only complaints we ever got were about trying to make them walk too far or too fast.

Pick out spots to watch fireworks and parades long before they say in the books. You can get great seats, but you have to be willing to do it more than an hour ahead of time.

8) In the future, plan on having a break day for at least every 3 days in the parks. Four consecutive days of early entry is too much - especially with a baby waking you up at night! If we had had 1 more day, we would have enjoyed ourselves much more, been more rested and ready for the trip home, and would have had a chance to really utilize the facilities at the hotel. Ideal parkhopper vacation: 2 days parks, 1 day break, 2 days parks. Maybe with annual passes, a half-day break would be enough. I have the feeling we will find out this fall.

Brenda Fellows

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