Trip Reports

Time of Year: Spring
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: FWH
Accommodations: Fort Wilderness Home
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Paul, Andrea, and Holly McKenna spent nine (9) days at Fort Wilderness. This was a laid-back trip, not rushed at all. A lot of the McKenna's time was spent meeting and greeting other RADP newsgroup users. I enjoyed the report especially because of the critical appraisal of the Fort Wilderness Homes, which I've been considering renting for a future trip.

Since I skipped a trip report on our Jan. 97 trip, I thought I'd better carry through on this one under threat of punishment from other RADP members. ;-)

Here's a quick 'n 'dirty synopsis for those who don't like to wade through lengthy reports:

The Travellers:

Andrea McKenna, 42, TV Station Programmer; Paul McKenna, 38, Computer/Video Graphics Editor; Holly McKenna, 6, 1st grader. Hometown: Pearland, TX. near Houston.

The Resort:

Fort Wilderness Homes; paid $124/nt with the AP discount.

Dates:

May 17, 1997 - May 25, 1997

Weather:

Hot, but not unbearably so, other than one day. Only one afternoon/evening of lasting rain and a ½ hour rainstorm that cleared right up. Temps were cool in the mornings and evenings; mid-80's all days but one, when it was 92..

Crowds:

Epcot, MGM and River Country were average (20 min. wait max.); Magic Kingdom was packed and got worse and worse as the Memorial Day Weekend approached. There was a visible difference in crowd size beginning on Thurs. night. By Sat. night, there were hour-long lines at 11:00 pm!

Food:

We ate breakfast at home every day, and packed our own lunches for at least half of our trip. We decided to do the lunches because it was easier, faster and healthier than eating fast food burgers and fries in the parks every day. BTW, although money was not our primary reason for making our own lunches, we ended up saving $25 for each day we did it. If you add that to what we would have spent on breakfast as well, we saved $45-50 dollars a day, which we spent in some of the better table service restaurants at dinnertime.

Some of the restaurants we chose:

Chef Mickey's, Cape May Cafe, California Grill, Brown Derby, Artist Point. We also kept a 2 ½ gallon bottle of spring water in our fridge and refilled smaller bottles from it to take with us. There's just something unfair about having to pay $2 for a 12 oz. bottle of water, when you can buy 2 & ½ gal. of the same stuff for $2.39 at the grocery store.

Highlight of the trip:

Meeting our RADP friends at last; also finding Tigger3 in our WH on Monday!

Midlight of the trip:

Illuminations 25 has been changed for the better, with the addition of a Classical soundtrack. I heard the dress rehearsal at 6:00 am on May 20. Interesting way to wake up.

Lowlight of the trip:

The transportation at FW is just not good enough (more about that later.) Other resorts' transportation is far superior.

Lowest-of-the-lowlights:

Watching a gate CM at the MK being extremely rude, impatient and sarcastic to an older guest who only (and politely!) wanted to know the best way to get to the Treehouse Villas. I could kick myself for not marching back in to City Hall and writing him up for that. His behavior was completely uncalled for.

Now for the details:

This was trip #13 for me, and turned out to be fairly unlucky for me injury-wise. On Day 3 (Mon. 19th), I hurt my back and hip and could barely walk by the end of the day. On Day 6 (Thur. 23rd) I was stung by a wasp at the FW pool (doh!!!) and then later that night I smacked my toe on the door jam in the dark. (ouch!!) On day 9 (Sun 25th), I smashed my knee on the low overhang at the Beaches and Cream soda fountain counter. (Yow!) Next time, I'm bringing a private nurse along. (any volunteers?) I am happy to report that Horrible Headwound Holly made it through the week without injury, as did Paul, who spent a week of our Jan. 97 trip sick as the proverbial dog. ;-)

Day 1: Saturday, May 17

We arrived at MCO at 10:30 am on 5/17, collected our luggage, and went to find the Alamo Mystery Tour Bus to the off-site car rental. Attention MCO big-wigs: Your signage STINKS!!! Nowhere is there a sign indicating where one should get rental car shuttles. One poor lady tried to get on at the departure point when we were coming back to the airport! I knew where I was going and I still had trouble; I can't imagine what it must be like for a non-English speaking visitor. Got to Alamo and there were huge crowds at the main terminal. Our bus by-passed it (woo hoo!!!) and went to the International Terminal which had much smaller lines. After about a 20 minute wait, a very nice lady helped me upgrade my car from a Geo Metro (shoehorn, anyone?) to a Geo Prizm. The Prizm was bigger, but we still had to put luggage in the back seat with Holly. It was also no-frills-no electric locks or windows, which turned out to be a really big pain. Also, the car had apparently been previously driven by Smokey the Bear. Yuck! Even my totebag and jacket smell like smoke now. Next time, I'll go with my usual agency-National. The pennies we saved were not worth the aggravation and the cheesy, smokey car.

Arrived at FW at about noon. A wonderful CM granted our request for loop 2700 or 2800 with a WH at the end of loop 2800. Great for travelling on foot to the bus stop or leaving the loop by car, but a loooonng drive around the one-way loop on the way home.

I was happy to see that the WH's had been renovated since our last stay in 1994. The panelling and wallpaper had been replaced, as had the upholstery and floors. Put our stuff away and headed out for some lunch and a trip to Goodings for supplies; back in time to go over to the MK for the evening. We took the bus to Pioneer Hall and then transferred to a MK launch at the docks.

This is why I don't like staying at FW. There are no direct buses to anywhere but Blizzard Beach (HUH??) You always have to transfer to a boat or go to the dreaded TTC and catch other transport. Excuse me, but if I'm paying for a premium resort (reg. price on a WH is $215 - 245/nt!) then I think I should get the same direct transportation that the other resorts get, you know? if I'm staying in a Disney resort, my dainty feet should never have to touch ground at the TTC unless I'm going to Epcot by monorail! We ended up driving everywhere but the MK, because the TTC transfers were such a pain. Bottom line: Unless the transportation is improved markedly, we probably won't stay here again until we buy that Class C Motorhome. ;-) It's really a shame, because otherwise FW is such a great place. There's so much to do there; there's wildlife galore, a beach, campfires, whispering pines...why do they ruin it by making it so darn hard to get around? You have to take a bus to get to the restaurants, for heaven's sake! If you make the mistake of trying to leave the Trail's End when a Hoop-de-doo show lets out or a boat arrives, you could wait an eternity for your bus back to the other side of the campground. Plus, there's a complicated Internal and External bus service that most people can never figure out. If you get on the wrong bus, heaven help you getting back. Luckily I had my trusty map from Jeff Spencer's site which I had color-coded beforehand, so we knew where we were going and just how to get there (although even when you know the routes, the bus service is still grossly inadequate.) Others were not at all as fortunate, I'm afraid, and many people often got on the wrong buses. They do rent golf carts, but they're $15 a day, which is more than I was paying for my rental car! It just shouldn't be this hard!!

But, as usual, I digress. We went over to the MK and noted that it was pretty well packed. We rode a few things, like TTA, and Take Flight, saw Timekeeper and then decided to go back to FW for dinner and to hang out. We had been up since 3 am CDT, so we were pretty tired.

Day 2: Sunday, May 18

Got up late-ish and went to Epcot. Finally got to see the Jammitors perform-it was worth the wait! Poked around Futureworld all day, and ate our lunch on one of the walkways to Odyssey under a big tree.

We were scheduled to meet Michele and Caleb Warner & Family for dinner at Chef Mickey's at 5:00, so we went back to FW to freshen up. When we arrived for dinner, the guard at the Contemporary practically interrogated us at the gate. He wanted to know what we were doing there, where we were staying, what time our PS was, what name was it under, etc. Good thing he didn't ask what the PS # was, because I had left it back at FW. He finally seemed satisfied and let us in.

At Chef Mickey's I checked with the hostess to see if the rest of our party had arrived. "What do they look like?" she asked. "I don't know-I've never met them." I replied. The hostess acted like it was the most normal thing in the world to have dinner with people you didn't know. Too many RADP meets, maybe??

Michele and family arrived right behind us and Katharine and Patrick and Holly all ran to each other like they had known each other forever. Strange and wonderful powers lurk on the Internet... Katharine and Holly were like two peas in a pod! Patrick is a sweet little guy who tried his best to keep up with the big kids. ;-) Jane and Larry Jukes arrived next with Laurel and Nicholas, and we were finally seated at a big table by a window overlooking the MK. We had a great meal and everybody had a great time dancing and swinging our napkins around; Mickey and Minnie came around for pix and Goofy made cupcakes for us in the lobby. If you're expecting a nice quiet dinner at Chef Mickey's , you might want to switch your reservations. ;-)

After dinner, Caleb, Katharine, Paul, Holly and I all went over to the campfire sing-along/marshmallow roast/movie at FW. The movie was BATB (one of my favorites.) but the girls spent most of the time under the bleachers playing in the dirt (figures, doesn't it?) Caleb and Paul talked computer stuff all night and I was the only one watching the movie! Later we said our goodbyes, as the Warners were leaving the next day.

Day 3: Monday, May 19

I woke up with a pain in my hip and back, which grew worse as the day wore on.

We went to MGM and did HOND show, Star Tours, Muppets, HISTK, and the Great Movie ride. I can't rave enough about the HOND show. I bet I've seen it 6 times already, and it still blows me away!

By 4:00, it had begun to rain, so we put on our ponchos and walked (well, I hobbled...) over to the ToT to see if the rain had chased out the crowds, but it was still a 30 minute wait. By this time, all I wanted was to lay down and get the pressure off my back, so we went back to FW for a short nap.

Upon returning, we found a package on our table which was plastered with Tigger stickers and had a San Diego return address. We ripped it open and low and behold, our own Tigger (Laura Gilbreath) had mailed herself to us!! We dragged that Tigger everywhere and took photos of her so she'd know what a good time she was having! What a cool surprise!!

I felt a bit better after my nap, so we went to the WL for dinner. Originally, we had wanted to go to Whispering Canyon, but there was an hour wait. We went to Artist Point instead, which had no waiting time. By the time the food came, I was in too much pain to eat much and ended up taking most of it home. We had some pretty ho-hum to poor service there, as well. I expected a bit better from this place! The server's assistant was far more competent and attentive than the server was. The food wasn't bad, not great, but edible. Don't really need to go back there again, all things considered.

Day 4: Tuesday, May 20 (RADP meet day!!!)

Woke up at 6:00 to the sound of fireworks. At first, I was a bit confused, then came to my senses and realized it was the dress rehearsal for the new and improved Illuminations 25.

Spent the morning in Epcot at Innoventions and Spaceship Earth and what-not. Sent a RADP post from the ATT Worldnet display (did you see it?) Had lunch at the Electric Umbrella and I then I rested my back while Paul and Holly explored the HOND interactive stuff.

Finally the appointed RADP time arrived and we were off to the Fountainview for our first official meet. We were greeted with hugs and kisses from Barb and the Mystery Guest, Debbie Wills! What a great surprise!! I can't remember everyone who was there, but let's see: Dr. Don & Wife, Barb (gardenia/mermaid), Debbie Wills, Kenny Cottrell, Mike and Judy Tuchman, Chris Caines, Jenny and Alex Doskey, Sam Ault, newly-weds Kanga(Nikki) and Roo(Steve Bratton) on their Hunny-moon! and several others who will have to forgive me for being high on Ibuprofen and forgetting names.

After the official pic (in which I look like a baseball cap with sunglasses, thank-you-very-much! ;-( ) Barb had to rush Deb back to the airport. I lamented that I wanted to spend more than 15 minutes with them, and made plans to meet up with Barb later in the week, then off they went. Most of the others drifted off too, but several of us stayed behind (for 2 hours!) lingering over Cappuccino and silly conversation. This happy little band consisted of Mike, Judy, a friend of theirs (John?), Alex, Jenny, Kenny, Sam, Paul, Holly and Me. After Mike, Judy and Friend left, the rest of us stuck around until 5:30. We made plans to meet Alex and Jenny at their BW Villa for the Epcot fireworks later, and went to make plans for dinner.

On a whim, we decided to see if we could get Holly a place at the Sandcastle Club (we could!!) and eat at the Cape May. We moved the car from Epcot to the Beach Club, and had a nice dinner at the Cape May.

We strolled over to the BW to Alex and Jenny's and had a great time with them until way after 11:00. The BW is immense! They were in #3001, so we figured, oh good, right next to the elevator. Wrong! It was as far down the BW as you could get, right next to The Attic. I asked if they used people-movers and trams to get guests to their rooms. What a trek! Boardwalk is not an inexpensive resort, and I couldn't imagine paying that much money only to be forced to drag my weary body and that of a sleepy 6 year old such a distance at the end of a full day at Epcot! Does Disney love torturing people?! One benefit of staying at FW is that you park right outside your door.

Day 5: Wednesday, May 21

Got up late-ish again and went over to Epcot. By noon, it was a broiling 92 degrees and Holly was beginning to go into meltdown since she had been up so late the night before. I decided to take her back to FW for a swim and a nap while Paul stayed at Epcot.

We made plans to meet back at the MK since we had dinner plans with Alex and Jenny at the California Grill. At 5:30, Holly and I took the launch over to the MK, since I didn't think the Contemporary's guard would let me park there at 5:30 for an 8:40 PS time, after our first interrogation at the CR. Met Paul at the appointed place and rode a few rides until 8:15, when we began our walk over to the CR. On the way, we stopped to visit our brick, which is in the walkway to the CR in front of the MK.

At the CA Grill, we were given a table with a wonderful view of the MK. The food was excellent, though the service was a bit leisurely. The jovial mood of the servers made up for the slowness, however, and besides we were all stalling so we could see the MK fireworks anyway. ;-) I would have to say that this was the best meal I have ever had anywhere on WDW property. Everything was done to perfection; even dessert. Just as dessert arrived, the MK fireworks started. Alex, Paul and Holly went out to the observation deck to see them while Jenny and I stayed inside at the table to watch.

After we paid the bill, we all took the monorail to the dreaded TTC to transfer to our respective resorts. We actually wanted to stay longer, but couldn't trust Disney transportation to get us back to our rooms before sunrise. The next day, I remembered that there is a launch between FW and the CR, but it may not have been running that late at night anyway.

Day 6: Thursday, May 22

This is the only day we got up for early entry to any of the parks. We decided we had better do a least one EE day at the MK or we'd never get to ride anything in Fantasyland or the Mountains which always have long queues, and the Memorial Day crowds were beginning to arrive.

The wonderful FW transportation (sarcasm!) made us 10 minutes late for the rope drop and Dumbo already had a 30 min. line when we arrived. This caused us to coin a new English word: Ridiculosity. Ridiculosity is the amount of time it takes for a 30 minute queue to form at Dumbo during ee. Skipped Dumbo (which didn't bother Holly in the least, woo-hoo!) and did PP, IASW, SW, Toad, Teacups, carousel all before the 9:00 rope drop for the rest of the park.

Zipped over to Liberty Square to do HM, then FL to do Splash and BTMRR. Swung around to Pirates, then Tiki birds. about 10 seconds into the Tiki show, it was apparent that something was out of sync, so they cleared the room. Holly was disappointed, this is one of her favorite attractions. Personally, I like to nap in the cool, dark room. ;-) (Actually, Paul thought it was funny that they told us to come back later, explain what happened, and they would let us in without a wait...since we just walked in anyway!). Somewhere in there we also rode Space Mtn. with a 15 min. line.

By 1:00pm, we decided to to leave and go back to FW for lunch at the pool and a nap. We had been at the pool about an hour when the Terrible Wasp Incident occurred. I spotted a wasp in the pool and went to "swoosh" it away from Holly, when it grabbed the tip of my left index finger and wouldn't let go. I drop-kicked the tenacious insect to the other side of FW (die insect, die!!!) but by then I had been stung. My finger swelled up and you could see it throbbing! The lifeguard gave me an ice pack and some kind of green liquid to apply that supposedly takes out the sting, but didn't. The ice pack was the only thing that worked.

It started to rain, so we ran back to the WH, but the rain stopped and the sun came out as soon as we were inside. (d'oh!) On a whim, I put some toothpaste on the sting, and voila, it made it feel much better. Must have been the baking soda.

After a nap, we went to the Crossroads for a quick dinner and then over to the BW to park our car. (tip: always use the valet service here. The BW parking lot is huge and it will save you a lot of walking. Valet service is free for Disney Resort guests, but don't forget to tip!).

On the way to Epcot, we stopped to watch the BW Buskers and noted that one of them was Steve the Juggler (of razor-sharp ping-pong ball fame) from MGM's HOND pre-show.

We were scheduled to meet Alex and Jenny by the Braille map at the Int'l Gateway at 8:15 so we could view the new and improved Illuminations 25 together. I was so pleased to note that I25 now has more emphasis on Classical music and includes one of my faves from the movie in France. (Is it Debussy?) The show still doesn't make much sense, but it's better than it was. It doesn't depend as much on the mist screens to carry it, which is a vast improvement. In the first version, if you couldn't see the mist screens, (which at least ½ of the viewers could not!) then you missed half the show. The new show places far less importance on them. Thanks for listening to us, WDW! Also, the aerial fireworks are more spread out throughout the show.

After I25, we all went over to the BW to wait for Alex who ran back to Futureworld for some last-minute video-taping of the lighted sidewalks. When he arrived, we walked over to Fantasia Mini-Golf for a most amusing round of golf. While there, I had to wonder why, with 2 or 3 mini courses and about 100 guests playing while we there, there was only one bathroom per gender? Hello? The bathroom line was longer than most Epcot lines!

We had a hilarious time on the course, with both Holly and Jenny scoring holes-in-one. I'm afraid the good-golf gene skipped me, plus I was playing with a Wasp-related Injury, so I don't think the LPGA has a career waiting for me. The course is very cute, particularly the 16th and 17the holes. I won't ruin the surprise for anyone planning to play there in the near future.

Alex walked us back to the valet stand at the BW, and en route, we were stopped by a family who wanted to know what our RADP buttons meant. When we explained, they asked if we knew Mike and Judy Tuchman! Everybody sing: It's a small world, after all...

Day 7: Friday, May 23

Went back over to MK this morning to see Tiki Birds. Luckily they were working ok today, or Holly's day would have been ruined, I'm afraid.

Most everything was packed with Memorial Day revellers and the park was getting worse by the minute.

We went to Tony's for lunch, and then Paul and Holly stayed at the MK while I went over to Epcot to try to find Barb, who had left me a phone message that she would be at Epcot all day Friday. My plan was to check out the fountain, since it's her favorite. On a whim, I decided to ride Spaceship Earth first, and lo and behold, who was coming in the disabled guests' entrance while I was coming out? We decided this was serendipitous; kismet, good karma, whatever.

Anyway, I waited by the fountain while Barb and her friend rode SE, then we all headed toward the Wonders of Life pavilion to see Cranium Command and ride Body Wars. After that we chatted on a bench for awhile and then I had to leave to get back to FW because we had other RADP guests arriving at 6:00.

I took the monorail to the TTC, and then noted that the signage telling resort guests where to find their buses is virtually non-existent. I followed the sound of buses and ended up in the right place, but shouldn't it be made clearer? So many people were wandering from bus to bus asking the driver where was this or that bus stop for their resort or park. I asked the driver why signage wasn't better and clearer, and she insisted it was just fine! If it was fine, why were all of these people asking directions, then? CMs: Please remember, when you work somewhere, you KNOW where you are and where you're going. Guests, many of whom are here for the first time, do not. WDW is a huge place with a complicated tranportation system. The TTC is a disorganized mess, and I will continue to avoid it in the future, if I can at all help it. On this particular day, the TTC was swamped with dozens of middle school groups all trying to get to their buses, which made it an even uglier scene than usual.

When I finally made it back to the Settlement Depot, it was chaos there as well. By the time I got back to my WH, at 6:15, Paul and Holly, Sue, Molly and Gary Nurczyk had already left for the Trail's End without me, which, of course is back at the Settlement Depot, where I had just been! D'oh!!!

I waited almost 20 minutes for a bus back to SD, and they were almost finished eating by the time I arrived. Did I mention that I hate the FW transportation system?

After dinner, Sue, Gary and Molly went back to the ASM to recoup from their trip and Paul and Holly and I went over to the petting zoo and then to the beach, where we watched the MK fireworks and the Electrical Water Pageant.

The bus trip back to our WH seemed like a surreal nightmare. We arrived at the bus stop just as a MK launch arrived, and 2 private parties finished up at River Country and the Backyard BBQ. It's quite possible that a Hoop-de-doo show had just let out as well, but at this point there were way too many people to tell who had come from where. There were masses of people milling around waiting for buses, and of course, no one but Paul and I were sure which bus to take to get where we were going. Every time a new bus would pull up, the crowd would surge toward it desperate to get aboard no matter where it was going! It seriously reminded me of the evacuation of Saigon. This is insane. There has to be a better way to get people around than that. It was bad enough to cause us to vow to NEVER stay at FW again unless it was a last resort (no pun intended.)

Day 8: Saturday, May 24

Got up early, and Sue and Gary came over and left Molly with us while they went running.

When they returned, we all wanted to get to River Country for the 10:00 am opening, and walked to the bus stop to wait....and wait...and wait...and wait for an Internal bus. After 3 or 4 external Crockett buses went by empty, we were getting a bit impatient. Finally, after 20 minutes went by, a Chip bus arrived. I asked the driver why it took so long for the internal bus when several empty external buses had gone by already. He replied that only ONE internal bus was running at that time of day and it was a 20-25 minute round trip! Hello? What about guests who wish to get to the restaurants at Pioneer Hall for breakfast? What about guests who want to get to the dock for the MK launch for EE? What about guests who want to go to River Country at opening time? That was the last straw! Keep in mind that you CANNOT drive to any of these places; you must take a bus, ride a bike or drive your golfcart. Golfcarts would be great idea except they have to be reserved about a hundred years in advance and they cost $15/day which is more than my rental car cost. One of my patented "I am not a crackpot" complaint letters is forthcoming, so Guest Services, be preprared!

We finally arrived at RC about a half hour later than planned. RC is much smaller than I had imagined. TL and BB are huge by comparison. There's not much to do there other than a couple of slides and a tube ride, but it is kind of "homey" and quaint.

Gary and Sue left pretty early so Molly could nap, and we spent the rest of the day playing on the beach, which in retrospect, we could have done for free right next door at FW's beach. Live and learn. BTW, don't eat the food at RC. I had a putrid barbecue pork sandwich, and everything came with cole slaw (wonderful idea: cole slaw rapidly turning rancid in 95 degree weather!)

We left at about 1:00 for a nap, which we really needed after fighting with the FW bus service yet again.

We all met up at the Neverland Club at 4:00 pm to drop off Holly and Molly so we could have a grown-up's night out. We drove one car over to MGM, where we rode the TZToT.

We browsed in the jewelry shop and then went on to dinner at the Brown Derby. After some delicious appetizers, the main course arrived. Everybody else ordered the filet mignon, while I stupidly ordered the roast chicken.The chicken was EXACTLY the same Disney Gener-a-chicken served at Cosmic Ray's, the ASM food court, etc. It even had the same BBQ sauce on it. I was so disappointed, and told the manager so when he came around to ask how everything was. It wasn't that it was inedible; it's just that at the BD one expects something a bit more than foodcourt chicken. When the check arrived, he had kindly taken the chicken off our bill, no questions asked, and BTW, I never expected this! I just wanted him to know that it was disappointing. (remember: "I am not a crackpot." ;-) ) I had the grapefruit cake for dessert, so that brought back my faith in the BD's kitchen. We will definitely be back, just won't be ordering the chicken. ;-) Our service wasn't bad, although not great, but a couple at a table across from us (with a different waitperson) left after waiting quite a while without having their order taken. Despite the manager's pleas that their order could be taken "in less than 5 seconds", the couple refused to return.

Afterwards, Paul and I went upstairs to see the Catwalk Bar, at Sam's suggestion. Cool place, but kinda wierd to have a bar overlooking a kid's character restaurant (the Soundstage.) The BD and the Soundstage share a kitchen, which could explain the chicken thing.

After dinner, we drove back to the Poly and parked the car; jumped on the monorail and headed over to the MK to have some fun. Unfortunately, everyone else in the state of FL shared the same idea and it was too packed to do anything. Sue and Paul went to do Alien Encounter while Gary and I waited on a bench near the big globe, and chatted about how glad we were that we were AP holders. We saw so many exhausted parents dragging cranky kids from one hour-long line to the next hour-long line so they could take a 30 second ride! We were glad that if we missed something, we could come back another time. We felt sorry for those "trip-of-a-lifetime" guests who only had one shot to do everything and found these massive crowds. We literally could not ride anything due to the long lines, so Gary and Sue gave up around 9:00 and went back to the ASM.

We said our goodbyes, since Paul and I were leaving the next evening and we might not be able to get together again before that time. Paul and I rode TTA and hung out waiting for the fireworks over by the 20K lagoon. Had a wonderful unobstructed view, sitting down (!) by the railing while the masses crowded Main St. to watch. After the fireworks, the lines were still too long to do anything, so we caught the train back to Main St. and took the monorail over to the Poly to pick up Holly and the car.

Day 9: Sunday, May 25

Got up and started packing, cleaning out the refrigerator, etc. We let Holly sleep as long as she could because she would have a very long day ahead of her. I kept checking the doorknob of the WH for our express check-out and finally called the front desk at 10:00 to ask it's whereabouts. Turns out they leave it on your car now. "So, what if it rains, or a big wind comes by, or a peacock eats it, " I'm thinking to myself. Oh, well, whatever...

We packed up the car and said our final goodbyes to FW (except the buses; we snubbed them!) and headed out to find some lunch. We decided on Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club, and arrived just ahead of the lunchtime crowd. Had a good meal and fabulous service from a CM named Ozzie. For dessert, we decided to splurge for our last day and have a Mud Slide sundae. This huge concoction consisted of a big brownie, hot fudge, vanilla ice cream, more hot fudge, chocolate syrup, whipped cream (don't go there, Jack!) more chocolate syrup sloshing over the sides, a cherry and oreo mouse-ears. The 3 of us could not finish it, though Holly gave it a good try.

After lunch, it was off to Epcot for one last tour of World Showcase and to see some of the things we missed earlier in the week. For some reason (huge crowds at the MK, perhaps?) EC was our park-of-choice this trip. Last Jan., it was MK. Caught the acrobats at China; the drummers at Japan (pretty hard to avoid, considering they do their 10 minute show about every 15 min, I think.) We missed the Tam Tam African Drummers on this trip, unfortunately. In Jan. their performance was interrupted by rain, and we've never been able to catch them again. Hope they're still there in Nov.

We ate dinner at 5:00 at Japan's Yaki-tori, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We'll definitely return here again. At 6:30 we started to make our way back to the BC to collect our car and drive back to MCO for our 9:30 flight home. Just short of the Int'l Gateway, we ran into Sue and Gary (another serendipitous event, Barb?) so we were able to visit with them for a minute and say goodbye. Then it was away to the Greeneway (the best route from WDW to MCO and vice-versa,) the Alamo terminal and onto the plane for home.

The Summation

This was a more laid-back trip for us than others have been. We didn't log as much park time as other trips, either, probably due to the huge MK crowds. We didn't see any parades this time (no loss on the Recycle the Magic parade; once was enough,) and only saw I25 once in it's entirety. I don't think we missed anything that we regret, though I could have done with more than one ride each on TZToT, Splash and Space mtns. and I wish I could see HOND about a hundred times over. This was a more people-oriented trip, which found us spending lots of time with our wonderful RADP friends instead of standing in long, hot lines.

What we would do differently: We would not stay at FW again without a golfcart. We would not order the chicken at the BD. We would not rent from Alamo. I would run back to City Hall and report that rude and nasty CM. We would save our money at River Country and go to the beach.

What we would do the same: Fly again instead of our usual 2 day drive. Stay on-site. Eat at the California Grill. Take our time. Get a room with a kitchen. Make our own breakfast and lunch. Bring our own stroller. Carry our own bottled water. Let Holly have lots of downtime and rest, plus good old playtime with other kids. And finally, attend any and all RADP meets occurring during our future trips.

What we wish for on our next trip: That the MK 25th hype will stop so we can enjoy this park again. That the transportation system improves at FW and the TTC. That Darth Vader ousts the Energizer Bunny from his former home at the end of Star Tours. That Coronado Springs is as nice as it looks. That the Dec. RADP meet has as many great people as the May 20 one did.

Any questions? Then please gather all personal belongings, help small children by the hand and exit to your left. The belt is moving at the same speed as your car.

Andrea McKenna

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