Trip Reports

Preface

2 adults(one with Type-A ninja touring personality-me), 2 children (6 and 2- she'll be 3 in December).

This trip very nearly didn't happen. Since I'm stationed in a Navy helicopter squadron, scheduling a vacation takes some pre-planning. I originally planned this trip back in March 97. Not knowing the first thing about vacationing in WDW, I called for a room reservation in March for early summer. The guy laughed at me and continued laughing as I asked for anything prior to September. After much consultation, my husband and I picked the week prior to Thanksgiving for our trip to avoid crowds (more on that later). Then, the big problem. Our commands annual inspection was moved from the end of October to the same week as our vacation. Being the supervisor of my workcenter, it was rather important that I be there. But since I had another responsible co-worker in the shop, I convinced my seniors that everything was under control and he could handle the inspection while I went on vacation (did THAT take a lot of talking and schmoozing). Since everything hinged on the workcenter being ready for inspection, I was never SURE that I was going until the day of the trip. Boy, did I leave the state fast! Left on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. and didn't look back. We hit Brunswick, GA at 6:00 p.m. This is a nice overnight stop. It has the three elements we look for in an overnight stop: good hotel (Holiday Inn, $45 a night w/military discount), gas station for our credit card: BP, and a nice place to eat (Waffle house, $10 for breakfast for family of four).

Left Brunswick at 8:00 a.m. and hit Shades of Green at WDW at 12:00 p.m. This included one grand tour around the Magic Kingdom parking lot due to a certain individual making a wrong turn. Check-in was swift: 10 minutes for early check-in including safe and refrigerator rental. 10 minutes to buy LOS passes and we're on our way to MK. Hike about 10 minutes to Poly and board monorail. Get off at MK and….walked down Main Street to Cinderella Castle. Like the birthday cake, for one trip. NOT all the time. Walked to carousel. 10 minute wait and away we go! I got my own horse :-).

No one had eaten lunch and we were starving. Walked to Pinocchio's Haus and ordered up a couple of hamburgers, one hot dog and a PB&J sandwich, all with drinks: $23.50.

The park looked crowded for a Sunday, albeit a very nice day weather-wise. Of course I'm not that experienced at what WDW looks like crowded. Since we were so close we went on IASW, 20-minute wait. Youngest one absolutely loved it and the oldest wants to ride it again too. This dropped us off at the entrance to Sky-Way which the oldest had wanted to ride so what a great time! 30 minutes and we're now standing at the entrance to Space Mtn. My 6yo and I decide to ride this. As soon as we stop in the queue, a CM walks up saying SM is down for a while. Thanks to RADP, I know that it's usually back up w/I 20 minutes so we move up as others leave. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the line is moving again. Still a 30 minutes wait to gather nerve to go but we get in and we're on our way. Terrific ride! I rode it in complete darkness in '84 and I think the darkness really adds something to the ride but this was okay too.

By this time, girls are ready to commit mutiny unless they get a nap so it's back to the hotel we go. We complete check-in, again only about 5-10 minutes at 4:30 p.m. and we are now it the best hotel room I have stayed in to date (except maybe a 5-star hotel in Italy). We love this hotel (more under impressions during summary). After a nap, we pack up and head to the Poly for dinner at O'hana's. Not a big hit with the kids but my husband and I loved it. The all you can eat shrimp and steak was a big hit and surprisingly, the grilled turkey tasted just as good if not better. We just managed to catch the Electrical Water Pageant and then back to hotel to sleep.

Day Two

Up at 6:30 for breakfast at SOG Garden Gallery. The all-you-can-eat buffet is nice but they charge $1.30 for a glass of milk at breakfast, yet when I ordered some that night for room service, the same glass cost only $.50. Seems the buffet is AYCE but all beverages save for coffee are extra. I'm glad children under 3 eat free! Then it's off to MGM. Not an EE day but we arrived at 8:35 and walked on in. First, ToT. The whole family walked in all the way to service elevator. The 6yo was to accompany me on the elevator but chickened out at last minute. I was the only one to drop. Was it ever great!!!!! I can only say one word: KEWL!!! When the 6yo saw that I survived she decided she wanted to go. So we walked out and walked right back on, again with no wait. She did great, even opened her eyes a time or two :-). I bought the picture this time. [Bad experience with package express here; they delivered the picture I bought but somehow the shirt didn't make it to the hotel. I had to call and re-order the shirt. Bravo to SOG for assistance in this]. While waiting at a stand to get a cappucino outside the exit of ToT, we spotted a CM in a suit with a cordless phone talking behind a grove of trees. What's up with this? He was watching the exit. I wonder if they had someone special in there or if they were just monitoring the ride.

Joined my husband who had taken the lil one to see Mickey and get his autograph down the street. We then strolled on over to see Muppet 3-D. What a great show! 3yo didn't like the special effects but the rest of us thought it was a great show. [To all those who may be Aviation Ordnancemen in the Navy like me, they have MK 76 practice bombs (inert) hanging from the ceiling in the pre-staging area. The real Mccoys.] We then hustled BACK over to BatB show. I know this sounds redundant but WHAT A TERRIFIC SHOW. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Of course, BatB was always once of my favorites videos. But the stage play was very well done. Once out of there we walked BACK on over to eat at Pizza Planet. Not the best pizza of course but it was edible and we weren't really there for the pizza anyway. [Special thanks to CM Rosa who helped me carry out the pizza and drinks to my whiny, hungry family w/o me even asking. I'm definitely going to write to WDW to give her a kudo.] While we were playing in the arcade one boy won the jackpot on one game and received over 2,000 tickets. While redeeming our measly(sp) 10 tickets upstairs I saw him carry out a 10" tall stuffed gorilla. Seems like you'd get more than that for 1800 tickets. After finishing our pizza, we strolled over to the SuperStar Television Walk of Fame(?) and sat down on the wall to relax when we realized it was 1 o'clock and we were on the parade route and wasn't this a wonderful spot to see the parade. It turned out to be a great one. The kids got to run around the statuettes and play tag and we got some rest before the parade.

TIP: If you like nuts, try the cinnamon pecans. They are wonderful!

Does anyone have the recipe?!

The Hercules parade was fabulous. I was enjoying it as much as the kids. And Hercules muscles are REAL :-). My 6yo's first autograph was Megara (her favorite Disney character) while on the way to BatB. I thought that was appropriate. Meg was impressed with the autograph books we'd made. I took someone's suggestion on the board and ordered the books early and found as many pictures as we could and then pasted one per page in alphabetical order so they would be easy to find. We also put the stickers we occasionally got on the same pages as the characters. It made for great autograph books.

Finally, the 3yo seemed to be holding up so we went to see VoLM. It was also an excellent show. Ursula scared my youngest when she came out but otherwise we enjoyed it, one and all.

My husband decided to take the 3yo back to the hotel for a nap and the 6yo and I continued on to the Great Movie Ride. She kept asking to ride this all day so we went. It was very enjoyable, especially the items on display from some of the classic films. After the GMR, we thought about trying the ToT again but it was too much for the kid. And the 6yo was pretty tired too. So we hitched a ride on a Disney bus back to the Poly and hitchhiked it back to the hotel from there, spent a little while napping and then everyone was back off to the Contemporary for a CD at Chef Mickey's.

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip 'n Dale were all in attendance and I must say my 3yo hugged each one. I even received a kiss from Minnie when she discovered me sitting at the table by myself while the family was off stalking Pluto. The food was good, too. ;-) Got on the monorail at 8:45 for the ride back to the Poly, again asking to ride in front but it was taken, third time. However, once we stopped at the TTC, I stepped out of the car and asked again and it was a GO! So we did the whole trip around the entire kingdom and got to see the EPCOT fireworks as a plus! If you can do it, ride in the front at night. The view was absolutely beautiful. The moon was low in the sky, the cakestle was lit up and it was a wonderful ride with CM Rufus. Received our co-pilot license when we disembarked. And as an added plus, we got to see them do a maintenance check on the tram. They opened up the side door on the first car and checked the tires. They put 150,000 miles on those tires (they're huge) before they're replaced! With the workouts that they get all day, every day I wonder how long that takes? Went to sleep with wonderful Disney magic dreams!

Day Three

Today we go the EPCOT early entry. But, we don't make it there until 8:30 anyway so we start off with Spaceship Earth. Very entertaining ride, even the kids liked it. Saw the Jammitors on the way in. Very kewl. Picked up a couple of passports for the kids and then went on to HiSTA. Maybe because I had read so much about it, I don't know but I didn't enjoy it as much as the Muppet Show. But my family enjoyed it. 3yo got scared of the snake and I had read enough to know to pick my feet up during the mice scene, but I didn't let the family in on it. 6yo had her feet up anyway and 3yo was in my lap so only husband got to experience it but it was worth it. :-)

Went to JII and enjoyed the show. Kids were getting restless towards the end but we ended up getting a Figment doll from gift shop and although they didn't advertise it, we asked for a Figment sticker since Figment wasn't around (couldn't sign?) for autographs. I love Disney Magic. We put sticker of Figment page of autograph book. Walked over to the Land Pavilion and rode the Living with the Land boat ride. It was very good, but the wait was already 25 minutes and it was only 10:30. The 3yo was starting to get cranky and the 6yo seemed pretty tired too. In addition, since we only ate a muffin for breakfast and we couldn't eat lunch until the WS opened (PS for San Angel Inn at 12:00) everyone was starting to get hungry and cranky. After LwtL, we started heading over to the WS and happened to catch the omnibus with characters. Saw Belle, Beast, Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, Perla, Suzie, Donald, Pooh, Goofy, and a few more that I can't remember. Since we had Mickey and Minnie's autograph we headed over to Perla, Suzie, and Cinderella. Took pictures, got autographs and started heading away from mob scene to Mexico. Walked right into San Angel Inn even though we were early. Enjoyed a fine lunch there although kids didn't like it, got the passports stamped.

So now the kids were getting really tired and I hoped they would be able to make it at least to the American Adventure. I had heard so much about it that I wanted to see the show. We strolled over to Norway and all we did was get the passports stamped. Then at China we did the same thing. Although I did get a nice look at the Town hall there. The intricacy of the artwork on the hall was amazing. Finally, in Germany the 3yo had dozed off and we found someone sitting at the Kidstation there. They had a graham cracker cookie house with many children's nametags pasted to it. So the 6yo sat down to make a nametag and color a picture they had there. 3yo wakes up and decides to color as well. After about 15 minutes we announced that it was time to go. Now we have nuclear meltdown! Since we were so close to ferryboat we took it back across lagoon and strolled on out EPCOT. This clashed severely with my type-A personality and see everything at all costs desires this day. "Rant mode on." At 1:00 p.m. we were already leaving and I missed more than half the countries but there's a lot to be said for giving the kids a break. But I was not a happy camper about it. "Rant mode off."

We arrived at the hotel and the weather was so warm (75) that we figured it was the only chance this week to swim. 3yo went to sleep and 6yo and I strolled to pool. She swam while I rested and read a little. Hung around the room for a little bit, 6yo took a nap and then our Fairy Godmother arrived promptly at 5:55. Hubby and I went to MK for E-ticket night! Of the nine rides and attractions open that night, the only one we did not ride was Alien Encounter and that was by choice. The park still seemed pretty busy however, there were no waits in line. TIP: If you decide to do E-ticket express, eat before going to MK. Two reasons: 1. There are some food places open, but it's all like chips, popcorn, ice cream and cokes. No real food (there were turkey legs). 2. It can take a lot out of your riding time.

We went directly from one attraction to another and finished up the last one promptly at 10 p.m. (closing time). We also saw Brer Bear, Brer Fox, Mickey and Minnie right outside of BTMR and got their autographs for the kids. Thanks to everyone for the tip on when to raise your hands on Splash MTN. It made for a great picture! We left MK reluctantly and went in search of food. We made it all the way by monorail to the Poly and sat down at the Coral Island Café. Hubby had onion soup appetizer which was excellent and I had the Caesar salad, very good. For the entrees, I had angel hair pasta with tomatoes, basil, and grilled shrimp (7 of 10) and hubby had ? Both were very tasty and I finished about every bite of dinner including a dinner roll.

We finally traipsed back to the room at 11:20. Total bill for Fairy Godmother was $44.00 and I gave her a $6.00 tip to make it an even $50.00. Entirely worth it after the morning and with the E-ticket express. I can't recommend it enough. Especially since we found out 2 days later they had closed CBJ for refurbishment for the holidays and wouldn't re-open until the day after we left!

Day Four

Woke up late and decided to take it easy today. Today was NASA space shuttle launch day. Leisurely ate breakfast at hotel restaurant and then casually drove to KSC. Arrived there at 11:00 a.m. TIP: If you wish to tour the space center, do not go on a launch day. It took a fully 30 minutes to order food (which tasted terrible), they do not wrap things to go, and it made me long for Disney's efficiency. The launch was scheduled for 2:46 p.m. and we had a car pass for the causeway ( I think everyone did) so we took the food with us, parked, and ate it on the causeway. We waited for almost 3 hours until launch and not much is going on until the final few minutes but we brought stuff to keep us occupied. They have speaker set up so you can listen in on the conversation between control and the shuttle but so little was said that you know they had a private channel set up for them to really converse.

The launch was incredible. It's a lot of trouble for so little show but what a show! If you have the opportunity, do it! I read someone's TR where she stated that it took 3 hours to get back to WDW after the launch and you know what folks; it's true! Got back at 6:00 p.m. and decided to stop at McD's for dinner since we were trying to hurry to make the FW campfire by 7:00 p.m. I think we would have made it. When I called to check on it though, they told they had canceled it until further notice because of the mosquito scare. So we just stayed around the hotel, washed some clothes and went to bed early for EE to Mk the next morning!

Day Five

EE at MK. I got up early (as usual) at 5:30 a.m. to start getting ready. I learned long ago that I had to start one hour before everyone else whenever we went somewhere. Got dressed, woke family, ate a muffin, and it's off to MK. Arrived by monorail at 7:30 exactly. We started at Fantasyland with the biggies: Dumbo (cute), Cinderella's Carousel (it's a carousel), Teacups (6yo thought she would make me sick, she almost did), and the GrandPrix Speedway (for toddlers). I had some misgivings about going to MTWR next with a 3yo but she wanted to try it (she'll try anything) so away we went fully prepared to leave if she was the least bit afraid. While standing in line someone came about 10 people behind us with a screaming 3yo. He did not want to ride MTWR at all! I felt sorry for him because he was crying and screaming "I don't want to ride this!" If that were my child, I would have left the line. (Type-A personality has problem leaving PARK, not ride). I don't know what ever became of him but my girls enjoyed the ride. 3yo was a little shook at the very end but came away unscathed. Nothing in particular, just the dark.

We decided we had seen and done a lot for one hour so we took a break outside of Mickey's Toontown Fair to await the opening. We thought they had opened it earlier because we saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy standing around with some people but a CM told us they were filming there earlier. DOWNER: I hate seeing commercials with 2 or 3 characters just standing around waiting for some cute youngun to run up and hug him because it just isn't like that. I detested standing around like some horrible vacation mom trying to make sure people didn't run over my girls while trying to get to see Mickey but it just about came down to that quite a bit. End of tirade.

While waiting we did get to see the Mad Hatter by the Tea Cups and got his autograph. Then it's off to Mickey and Minnie's house and to ride the BarnStormer. LAUGH: My husband detests roller coasters. I persuaded him to ride SM with me on E-ticket night and he hated it. I later convinced him to ride BTMR with me. Had I known the extent of his terror, I would not have shown him the unofficial guide which said this was a mild roller coaster. He came off shaking in terror and barely able to stand. I would have laughed at him except that the AstroOrbiter did the same to me!

So when the Barn Stormer ride came up, I graciously granted him repreive from the ride but he rode anyway because he wanted to ride it with his girls (everybody now: awwww!). It scared him. We had just enough time for a restroom break to get to the train to ride to Town hall and walk to Crystal Palace for PS for breakfast. What a show. There were people waiting everywhere! I think this is a very popular CB and unless you had priority seating, you were waiting for a while. As it was, we arrived just in time and had to wait for about 15 minutes to get seated. Just missed Tigger as we sat down and then stood in line to see Pooh. This was the moment I was waiting for. I had planned this whole trip just dying to see my 3yo hug Pooh and it was worth every problem with work, every moment spent researching and reading up for the trip, and every penny spent to see her hug her favorite character like she would never stop. Excuse me a moment........tears ebbing........I'm okay now.

Eeyore came by twice and finally Tigger made his way around again. Even hubby got picture with Tigger and with Pooh!

On our way now to CBJ when we noticed Timon, Jasmine, Aladdin, Baloo, Rafiki, and King Louie just over the bridge signing. Unfortunately, they had just closed for a few minutes for character swap and while the rest were back, Aladdin and Jasmine were not. So we got their signatures and King Louie's picture (he can't sign) and headed on. As I mentioned in Day three CBJ was closed for refurbishment and 6yo was dying to see HM. At 12:00 p.m. there was about a 5-minute wait to get in, incredible! We even took the 3yo (I told she'd try anything). We warned them both but in we all went. Shook them up a little but not much at all. I covered 3yo up with my jacket and held her close to me but the only time she flinched was when the spooks popped up out of the ground. Found the ring on the ground outside of the mansion and spent some time putting the girls in the shackles outside. Girls were getting pretty tired so we caught the train in Frontierland and rode it all the way back to Main Street, picked up my GOH badge and lithograph and then back to hotel for swim and a nap. Nap ended pretty late for us and it was 6 o'clock before we were under way again. This time it was off to Downtown Disney and hopefully the Rainforest Café. Since we had never been there we didn't know where to park and parked all the way on the westside. The name should have been a warning. We walked the entire way around to Rainforest, got there at 7:30 to discover a 2 HOUR AND 35 MINUTE WAIT. Folks, if the food is that good, then by all means go for it. But I have yet to find food so good that I will wait that long to eat.

We walked back around and hit the Disney Store (or rather it hit us).

The Magic Kingdom Club card came in handy that night, I can tell you. One of the best things we picked up was the 25th Anniversary book. My husband and I both read it on the drive home and found it to be a wonderful souvenir.

We knew we couldn't get past the Lego Store w/o the kids playing for a while so we stopped and they enjoyed themselves immensely and we got a well-deserved rest. Finally, it was about 8:30 p.m. and we still hadn't eaten. We managed to talk the kids out of there and headed on over to Denny's for some food. We were kinda tired so we didn't taste too much of it. Took kids home and to bed.

Day Six

This was our last full day at WDW. Sad, sad day. We woke up slow and ate a leisurely breakfast in the room before tackling some last minute sights. On today's schedule was Discovery Island, some shopping, or Blizzard beach. We threw all that out and spent the day at MK. Got to MK around 9:10 a.m. and took the train to Frontierland. There we split up. Being the brave, courageous one I took the oldest daughter to the mountains while my hubby took 3yo to Toontown Fair. That turned out to be a good plan. My daughter and I rode Splash Mountain first, got the picture. We loved it. It seemed to me to be a little more terrifying in the daytime than at night, because I could SEE where we were heading. Once off the ride we saw Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit signing autographs. Unfortunately we had left the autograph book with hubby so I ran over to the souvenir cart and picked up a pen and postcard and had them sign the postcard.

We then walked onto BTMR with a 10-minute wait, rode it, and rode it again with a 15-minute wait. We finished these rides up by 10:15 and since we had a PS at Liberty Tree Tavern we didn't want to leave the area. So we walked around and hit the shop at PotC. She didn't want to ride but we picked up some Xmas gifts in the shop. We did ride the Jungle Cruise. Our CM was Mike and he did a good job with the gags but the gags need to be better. We enjoyed the ride though and even bought a token outside of JC to play with the motorized boats. One dollar for 30 seconds! I was embarrassed to admit I was taken. We strolled out of there to find Captain Hook and Mr. Smee signing autographs. Again I had to go run and find a postcard for them to sign.

6yo was getting hungry by then and we barely did make it for the 11:30 PS. Of course, it wasn't that busy. Lunch at LTT is not a character event so it's not crowded. I liked that. I also liked the lunch. The restaurant is beautiful. The rest of our family joined us and we were seated in the Paul Revere room. I enjoyed a terrific lunch of Virginia ham and cheese rolled in a biscuit with potato salad. I did have the crab cake appetizer and my husband had the French onion soup. We found all of it to be very delicious and we are looking forward to eating there again when we return.

Hubby and 3yo had enjoyed a non-crowded morning in MTTF. Even got her picture taken with Mickey this time. Rode the teacups and saw White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts. She got White Rabbit's autograph but wouldn't go near the Queen of Hearts. Hubby said she spent 20 minutes just playing in Minnie's kitchen (she loves tea party: cups, saucers, spoons, etc.).

We decided to split up again after lunch and swapped kids. The 6yo wanted to ride AstroOrbitor, which is the one ride I will not do again. So the hubby took her and I took the 3yo. We strolled down Main Street hitting a couple of shops on the way and picking up gifts for family and friends before we headed to the monorail. Ran across a black runner snake obviously very intent on hitting the MK for his sightseeing tour. Got back to SOG by 2:00 p.m. and kid asleep by 2:30. 6yo and hubby rode AstroOrbitor and TTA (twice) and went through Haunted Mansion one more time. They really enjoyed the TTA. Then they joined us at the hotel. I took the 6yo to swim while 3yo and hubby slept. We hit the door at 5:30 p.m. determined to make the most of our last day here. Kids could sleep late tomorrow. Went back to MK for parade and fireworks. We arrived at 5:45 and climbed to balcony of RR station. There was already one line of people against the balustrade but we found a table there where the kids could stand if necessary. I worked my way thru the crowds and managed to pick up a couple of turnovers at the MS bakery (wonderful) and a couple of bags of cotton candy for the girls. We sat down and munched for the last few minutes before the parade began and then.........

The parade. What can I say. Spectromagic is a beautiful parade. The peacock was my favorite. 3yo stood on the table while I held on to her and she just jumped up and down everytime she saw a new float appear. She really enjoyed it. The next morning she told me to wait until dark and then go see parade. This was the one thing in MK that didn't overwhelm her. Finally, parade is over and we are starving. The only thing that looked open was Tony's Town Square Restaurant. Am I ever glad we saw it.

We walked right into Tony's and was seated. The only complaint was the service was kind of slow. Otherwise, everything else was fabulous. Husband got the spaghetti and meatballs, 6yo got a cheese pizza, and I ordered the chicken with spinach sauce and roasted vegetables. FABULOUS! I even requested the spinach sauce recipe (in which they could give me the ingredients but the recipe called for 100 servings so experimentation is in order). We ate all that and ordered dessert. Apple crumb cheesecake, tiramisu (sp), and triple chocolate cake. All were wonderful when topped off with cappucino. Total bill with MKC discount plus tip: $60.00. The best money paid for a meal at WDW. We wanted to see Illuminations 25 but by this time it's 8:45 p.m. so instead of taking the monorail, we took the truck and figured we could see it from the parking lot. 9 p.m. rolled around and no fireworks. I then remembered it was Friday and the park was open until 10 p.m. So we took the tram in and walked right onto Spaceship Earth. Enjoyed it again. Strolled over the sidewalk lights and watched the kids play. Got a few pictures of the dancing Fountain at night. What a beautiful sight! Much better at night.

Finally, we reached the opening to WS. Since it was already quite crowded and we didn't figure to get a better spot, we took a place beside the nutmobile against the back rail of the garden area. We saw the fireworks just fine from there while enjoying some cinnamon pecans (gotta get that recipe). Absolutely not to be missed. We oohed and aahed during the whole show. Then joined the onslaught to the parking lot. Even with the mass exodus, there was no waiting in line to leave (if you were willing to walk to your vehicle and ours was not that far away). While leaving we looked over at MGM and finally realized those fireworks were for Sorcery in the Sky. Didn't remember those until too late. They were great! If I could do it again I'd do Sorcery before Illuminations.

Kids were about to pass out so we took them back to motel for sleep. Next day. Packed up and left. No magic in that. It was a terrific ending to a fabulous vacation that we hope to do again in 99. See ya then.

Summary and Impressions

Waiting in Line. I think Disney has defined efficiency in moving large groups of people in one direction. From the rides to the food courts I was very impressed with it all.
Courtesy. People seem to leave their manners at home when on vacation. Since this is my first real vacation other than going to visit relatives I hope this isn't common but I had grown adults running in front of my kids w/o even an "excuse me" when they tripped them up or stepped on them. I did my best but was sometimes stressed with others. And these were not adults from other countries, either.
Shades of Green hotel. The service we received at SOG was nothing short of fabulous. From the reception to housekeeping we were coddled. I will definitely stay here again. The closeness to the Poly and the monorail are a plus and we caught the monorail there so often I felt Poly was like a second home.
Crowds. There were more than I expected. I know this is the 25th anniversary and all but does it make that much of a difference? If the crowds are this bad now, I cannot imagine summertime. How can anyone do anything in WDW in the summer? I will NEVER go in summer if this is any indication.
Weather. We were blessed with mid-60 and mid-70 weather all week. Cool in the mornings but perfect for touring after 9:00 a.m. It was nice to get another chance to swim before winter set in, too.
Mosquitoes. Which leads us to mosquitoes. While swimming I did get bitten by one, but it's been over a week and no symptoms yet, so.....
Autograph books. Many of the characters were impressed the way we had glued pictures from the net onto each page of the book for the individual signatures. TIP: if you wish to do this, find out first which characters are unable to sign the book. For those characters who were unable to sign, we put pictures of the character with the girls on that page.
E-ticket Express. Well worth the $70. (50 for fairy godmother, 20 for tickets.) Although I believe this is the third month of E-ticket Express, some CM's still aren't aware of the schedule. The eatery right below AstroOrbitor that serves turkey legs closed at 7 when it was one of the eateries listed as being open. We watched them turn some customers away and then a "suit" came and talked to the CM behind the counter and miraculously, it was open again. Also, only two or three CM's seemed to be in a good mood this night. Most seemed tired and some even downright nasty about the whole thing. Is the extra 3 hours not figured into their schedules?
Christmas. Many places were already putting up decorations for Xmas.
The Contemporary had their Xmas tree up and lit by the time we left. The CBJ had shut down for a few days in order to get the bears ready (kids missed show). I was really upset about this, as you can tell if you read all of the TR posts.
Horror. Now don't everyone go off the deep end and start flaming me but I was surprised at the number of shows/attractions that had some kind of scary aspect to them. Not that I mind so much because I personally love scary stuff but I had to be careful allowing the 3yo on rides like Snow White. And I couldn't get out of taking her to HM but she didn't want to do it again. But it seemed just about every show/attraction had some scary aspect to it.
Smells. I know this was covered extensively in one of the threads but let me say this: You can't understand it until you smell it. Definitely one of the better sensation tricks.
Sounds. This goes in hand with smells. Disney does a great job of coordinating sounds/music to different scenery and NOT overlapping them. Even my husband pointed out these two things.
Finally. Finale. Whatever. Until this trip I had never really understood all the love of Disney abounding on RADP. The first time I went in 84 still remains a blur. But I can tell you now, my hubby and I are already at odds as when to return. I say two years (gotta save) and he says four (gotta save more) hoping to compromise at three (NEVER). I wish to thank everyone here for putting up with all my questions, inane and ane :-)
Have a wonderful Disney day!

Mary Ferguson

mferg@erols.com

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