Trip Reports

Time of Year: Summer
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: YBCR, WL, PO
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Steve and his family made their every-third-year trip this June and July. The report is in a summary style, and covers a lot of details about the parks, restaurants, and resorts. Steve also had a particularly bad experience with the Disney Institute, so if you're considering DI for a future trip, this report can provide you with some valuable information you'll want to consider.

Introduction

Back from our latest (every 3 years) family trip to WDW for a little over a week. Still haven't gotten used to the real world. Writing a report will only make me long to be back, but I think I have a few interesting things to report and discuss, and I definitely owe it to radp (Editor's Note: radp is "rec.arts.disney.parks", a usenet newsgroup.)

This was our second trip since discovering radp, and the second which was planned well in advance. Do not underestimate the power of information and planning. Also, do not underestimate the difficulty you can have in getting accurate information, especially from official sources. Planning is particularly important when visiting "in season", as we did.

Background:

Family consists of me and wife (both mid-40s), with two kids, Alex (14) & Hillary (11). We are 4-time visitors as a family; one additional visit pre-kids for my wife and I in '76.

We visited from 6/24 through 7/2 (8 nights), with 7N/6D LOS passes all around (what a chunk of change that was!).

We flew Delta Express from Newark. On time, uneventful flights both ways. And we lived to tell about it (I say this since there was a heated discussion some months ago predicting certain death for anyone flying Delta Express). Ground transpo by Fla Towncar; JR provided the usual, excellent service. NO rental car for me, thanks.

Due to some comp'ed nights from a previous visit (more on this in later installments), we did a bit of resort hopping. I am a big advocate of resort hopping, but this stretched it a bit. We also wanted to try out one of the "moderate" resorts for the bulk of our stay; we'd always stayed "premium" before. So, our resulting itinerary was:

Port Orleans - 5 nights
Wilderness Lodge - 2 nights (1 comp'ed)
Beach Club - 1 night (comp'ed)
Our general plan was to include the following in our trip:
3 major parks (duh)
Blizzard Beach (first time) and Typhoon Lagoon
Village Marketplace & Pleasure Island (incl. Rainforest Cafe)
A day at Disney Institute
Lots of dining (wife called this trip "Eating our way across WDW")
Time to enjoy our resorts (plus a visit to BoardWalk)
Fantasia mini-golf
With minor exceptions we accomplished all we set out to do.

Rather than write a "standard" trip report, I've decided to post articles discussing certain aspects of the trip. For those who favor a more traditional report, I'll include below a high-level view of our activities (except where specified, breakfast was always something quick from bakery/snack bar at resort).

Tuesday 6/24

Arrive Port Orleans ~12:30PM

Lunch: Sassagoula Floatworks

Magic Kingdom, early/mid afternoon

Dinner: California Grill

Magic Kingdom, mid evening 'til about 11PM

(specifically for BTM Railroad at night with very short wait, and Barnstormer with no wait - was >1 hour in afternoon)

Wednesday 6/25

Studios [Early Entry]

(Hit all 3 rides + Muppets 4D)

Lunch: Pizza Planet

Port Orleans for midday break

Marketplace

Dinner: Rainforest Cafe

Pleasure Island

(Comedy Warehouse & Adventurers Club, only)

Thursday 6/26

Blizzard Beach (My $.02: Tube rides are better here, but Typhoon Lagoon is much better overall)

Lunch: Avalunch (@ BB)

Port Orleans for midday break

EPCOT

Dinner: San Angel Inn

Cappuccino: Fountainview

(Distressed to find that fountain shows are stopped when DJ show is on every night)

Illuminations 25

Friday 6/27

EPCOT [Early Entry]

Lunch: Akershus

Port Orleans for midday break

Studios

Dinner: Hollywood & Vine

Sorcery in the Skies (first time; the best!)

Saturday 6/28

Magic Kingdom [Early Entry]

Lunch: Cosmic Ray's

Port Orleans for midday break

Typhoon Lagoon

Dinner: Bonfamille's

Walk to Dixie Landings

Sunday 6/29

Studios

Hercules Parade

Lunch: Mama Melrose

Check in at Wilderness Lodge

Dinner: Whispering Canyon

Magic Kingdom

Fantasy in the Sky (from Liberty Square - good spot)

SpectroMagic Parade (from castle hub - no crowds)

Monday 6/30

Water Sprites @ Wilderness Lodge

Magic Kingdom

Adventureland Challenge (2x; no wins)

Lunch: El Pirata Y El Perico (as always, not crowded while Pecos Bill's was mobbed)

Remember The Magic Parade

Wilderness Lodge for late afternoon break

Dinner: Artist Point

Electrical Water Pageant

Trip Highlight: Soaking in WL spa watching fireworks at MK with geyser going off behind me. Fellow traveler says: "Does it get any better than this?" I say: "Nope." (This was first of two times a stranger asked me that rhetorical question during this trip.)

Tuesday 7/1

Disney Institute - Dropped off kids for "Show Biz Magic" (adult's DI plans were thwarted by poor registration process at DI - more later)

EPCOT (adults only)

Lunch: Yakatori House

Disney Institute - pick up kids

Check in at Beach Club

EPCOT (everyone - many passport pages left to fill in)

Dinner: Flying Fish (best meal of the trip)

Fantasia Gardens mini-golf (encountered many stupid/rude/inconsiderate people here resulting in a 2 hour round. More on this later.)

Wednesday 7/2

Breakfast: Cape May/Goofy's Character Bkfast

Mid-morning break, incl. Stormalong Bay (2nd place I

was asked "Does it get any better than this?")

Visit to Boardwalk

4-person bike (those hills!!)

Late Lunch: ESPN Club

Depart ~5:30PM

Dining Experiences

Although my Introduction posting stated all the places we ate throughout our trip (the trip my wife dubbed "Eating Our Way Across WDW"), here I'll provide some details of those experiences.

This will be presented in chronological order, skipping some fast food places which need no special mention, or that were mentioned in prior installments.

California Grill (dinner): We scheduled dinner here for the middle of an afternoon/evening visit to MK, on our first day of the trip. It proved to be a convenient hop via monorail from MK to The Contemporary. We arrived early, but after a very short wait we were seated. I was concerned (and raised those concerns here) about how kid-friendly this (and other "nicer") WDW restaurants would be. We took the kids here and they were right at home; many kids of all ages. I only felt sorry for the few couples, probably looking for a more sedate and/or romantic dinner. This place is lively and loud, and I imagine it's this way regardless of the number of youngsters in attendance. That's just the way it seems, especially with the kitchen right in the middle of things. Service was casual but professional, and (as with all WDW restaurants we experienced) quick (sometimes too much so). The food was excellent all around and we finished it all off with the famous Chocolate Wave. Wow, was that yummy. And it fed 2.5 of us. Definitely one of my top 3 WDW restaurants.
Pizza Planet (lunch): The obvious draw here is the name. The reality doesn't match the expectation (although that had been tempered by what I read here). Passable pizza and salads, surrounded by too many tempting opportunities to throw money into various electronic games. If pizza is what you want, this place is just fine. But, there are better alternatives in this very park. Read on (Hint: Mama Melrose).
Rainforest Cafe (dinner): Pulling up to the DVM in the boat from Port Orleans gives you quite a view of this place. The wait was what I expected; at 5PM we obtained a 7PM seating. So we set off to explore the DVM and the new World of Disney. We were seated a bit earlier than our assigned time (good thing we returned to the restaurant a bit early!). I guess I expected more from the interior of this place. Sure, it's unique, but I was somewhat underwhelmed. Service was a bit too friendly (you know what I mean). The server was pushing this bruschetta appetizer, and I went for it based on the slow service reports I've heard about this place. Well, but for one exception service, again, was too fast. Our entries came while we were still working on the appetizer. But, a child's pasta came covered with parmesan cheese; not advertised on the menu, and not acceptable to my daughter. It took way too long for a replacement to appear (with one or two puzzled visits from the server: "Oh, it's not here yet?"). We tried the Mojo Ribs and a Seafood pasta. Both, were very good. Overall, a good, fun experience, but not a must-do. Next time we'll try Planet Hollywood (or one of the zillions of new West Side eateries that'll be open by then).
San Angel Inn (dinner): Always wanted to try this place, and this was our first chance. Since we knew the kids didn't want to join us, we got them some fast food in Future World and left them on their own in Innoventions. The fact that Mexico is adjacent to Future World was quite convenient. This was about the only place we waited for our priority seating - about 20 minutes. The setting, once inside, is quite nice, but it is a bit crowded. We were very close to the couple sitting adjacent to us so private conversation was difficult. We followed the advice found here and went for the specialties, as opposed to the standard combo plates. The food was very good, and the service (guess what) was very fast. Everything was obviously prepared fresh with very fresh ingredients. And the Dos Equis on tap was a treat. We left here stuffed, but skipped coffee. Our meeting place was to be near the central hub of Future World so we headed to the Fountainview for some capuccino. We sat outside with a nice view of the fountain and waited.... and waited... but that dang DJ never stopped blasting the dance tunes, and the fountain show never happened during the 30 minutes we sat there. But, sipping capuccino, relaxing as the people flew by, was a nice end to a great dinner nonetheless.
Akershus (lunch): I had never considered eating here until I read so much about it in radp. I enjoyed it tremendously. The only complaint I have is that I ate too much, and would have eaten more, except that doesn't work too well at lunchtime. We had priority seating but I was surprised how empty the place was. Service was excellent, and our server went overboard in trying to satisfy one of the younger members of our party with something not on the Koldtbord (did I get that right?). The variety of items (fish, meats, salads, etc..) was great and the quality was high. I recommend this place highly, but the rest of my gang would probably choose not to return; their culinary tastes and mine often differ, and this is one good example.
Hollywood & Vine (dinner): This was a pleasant surprise for a fast-food option. We all chose what we wanted, cafeteria style, and sat on the outside patio enjoying the passing throngs. A plus here was that the picky eater only wanted a hot dog this evening and I was able to hop over to a nearby vendor and get that while the other half of our party got the rest of our dinner. Sitting outside there was no problem with the fact that we brought in "outside" food. For something a cut above standard fast-food fare, give this place a try.
Cosmic Ray's (lunch): This is a nice addition to Tomorrowland's fast-food options. Although the place was packed, we were served quickly and, due to its large size, finding a table near the entertainment was easy. One warning: The size of some of the servings is huge. One of the hoagies could easily feed two, which we discovered only after receiving the food. Everything was tasty, and seemed to be made with pretty good ingredients. And the "show" added a nice touch to an otherwise standard lunch, but our first real break on an early-entry day that began several hours earlier (!).
Bonfamille's (dinner): Here's another night where the kids got what they wanted at the Sassagoula Floatworks (plus $$$ for the arcade) while the adults dined alone. Interesting note: When we mentioned our plans to the CM taking our priority seating request (earlier that evening) she mentioned that we could have anything we wanted brought into Bonfamille's from the Floatworks for the kids. We opted to dine alone (what a surprise!). When we returned our priority seating could not be found; we were seated immediately anyway. This is a solidly moderate restaurant, with good, hearty food, but certainly not at the upper echelon (but it isn't trying to be). We were seated next to a doorway/windows looking into a very small enclosed garden. That added a lot to the feel of the place. Our server was very nice and helpful, but maybe could've steered me away from my particular pair of food choices. I started with a cup of gumbo (very good) and ordered shrimp etoufee for my entree. The problem was that both featured a deep brown sauce, which seemed redundant for two courses in a row. My wife started with some hot wings (also very nice), and had the jambalya for her entree. The jambalaya, while tasty, was somewhat disappointing. Lots of rice with too little of other ingredients. Bottom line: As I said above, a good solid choice for a hearty, tasty dinner. Would probably return if I'm lodging in the area. Next time we'll have to try a breakfast here; I hear good things about that.
Mama Melrose (lunch): A hidden treasure among WDW eateries. Why do people not go here in numbers equal to other, worse choices? My guess: Bad location. I must admit, this was not our first choice, but that a.m. it was all that was available for lunch that day. So, we returned (we were there once before on our last visit), and I was even more impressed with the overall quality of the experience. Friendly, fast (!) service with a very family-like feel. I had a specialty pizza and it was excellent. My wife had the bottomless pasta bowl; it must be, since she couldn't empty it (I suppose you can request refills, but you get so much the first time...). Highly recommended for a moderate-priced, delicious lunch break. Beats Pizza Planet easily for pizza, although not for speed.
Whispering Canyon Cafe (dinner): We ate here for breakfast last time, and the level of entertainment was nowhere near what we experienced this time around for dinner. Warning: Not knowing any better, we allowed ourselves to be seated in the back of the restaurant, behind partitions that kept you and about a dozen other tables out of the main action. But, the performance we received (especially from our server, Lucy Lips) was almost overwhelming. She sat down with us and basically did her best to annoy and embarass us as much as possible. Again, special attention was given to the picky eater who got her own special dinner while the rest of us pigged out on the skillet-full of goodies. Lots of fun, and tasty smoked and grilled foods. My son asked for Ketchup, not knowing he was in for a surprise, but we only ended up with 3 or 4 bottles. Pretty funny anyway. An experience I recommend to anyone, especially if you're staying the the Lodge. Otherwise, if you can eat in only one WL restaurant, it has to be Artist Point (see below).
El Pirata Y El Perico (lunch): Another hidden treasure among WDW fast-food eateries. Three years ago we took a tip from Birnbaum (I think) and tried this place as opposed to the adjacent fast-food spot (Pecos Bill's). This is *still* a great tip. This particular day the lines at Pecos Bill's were ridiculously long (I'd estimate a 30 min wait to place order and get food; unless you found the "hidden" counter - see below). Although the menu differs quite a bit, with some overlap, the lines at El Pirata were almost non-existent. We got some chili, taco salad, hot dogs, but, our picky eater really wanted some fries, so, being the good dad, I said I'd go 'round the corner to Pecos Bill's and see what I could do. I bypassed the long lines and just kept walking clockwise around the place until I came to the last counter, tucked behind a wall separating it from the rest of the counter area, right next to exit from Country Bears. Here the line was very short and I snagged those fries in just a few minutes. Moral of the story: Skip Pecos Bill's and head for El Pirata... or just keep looking for a short line. I guess it's the same old phenomenon you see all over WDW: People are afraid to get on a line that is too short 'cause they think it can't be a "real" line. We saw this on many rides and a few times zoomed past people waiting in the "other" line.
Artist Point (dinner): After our first visit three years ago, this was a "must do" for our return. Again, we set the kids up with dinner at Roaring Forks and $$$ for the arcade, and headed over to Artist Point. (Aside for families with younger kids: Drop the kids at the Cubs Den while you're eating. They get a good buffet dinner and fun entertainment, including a visit from some wildlife from Discovery Island. We did that last time.) Last time we sat in the smaller area near the front entry. I was determined to get a seat in the main room with views of the mural and the great outdoors. Initially we were seated at a table away from the windows and right near the kitchen door. I asked if we could move to a table by the window, which was just being cleared, and we were accomodated. Peering through the stained glass at the lodge's courtyard was a wonderful view. Although I wouldn't hesitate to bring kids to any WDW eatery (except for V&A's, I guess - never been), I was glad to be without them this night. The restaurant is very quiet and relaxing, and the service was very attentive. We started by sharing an assortment of sausage (elk & rabbit/cherry) and a Caesar salad with duck. The elk sausage was very good and we felt very courageous to have eaten it. I moved on to the famous salmon served on a smoking cedar plank - yummy! A wonderful experience all around. Another of my top three.
A weird anecdote: A party of six or eight came in after us. I don't know how to put this nicely, but their demeanor and attire distinguished them from the rest of the patrons. While everyone else seemed to have gone to some effort to clean up before dinner, this group looked as if they just popped in from a long day of activity, dressed way more casually than anyone else. Don't get me wrong. One of the things I like about WDW restaurants is that you can visit almost any one of them regardless of your age or attire. But, let me proceed. The food served them were items nowhere on the menu. Propriety kept me from walking over and getting a good look (!) but most of the plates seemed to be filled with burgers, etc. I was surprised and confused by this (maybe I should've asked the server), but certainly not jealous. Anyone know what's up with that? Did they walk in without looking at the menu first and then complained about the selection? Do they know something I don't? Artist Point doesn't even serve lunch, so it couldn't have been a lunch menu they ordered from. Any idea?

[Aside regarding Roaring Forks: We breakfasted and snacked here often, and found the food to be good, service OK. Late one evening, after the lobby coffee bar had closed, I wanted to get a hot chocolate. My only source was Roaring Forks. The line was longer than I'd ever seen it and I would have had to wait a long time just for a beverage. I walked up to a cashier with hopes that there's a way to bypass the line for my purpose. After taking much longer than it should have, I got his attention and asked if I had to wait just for a beverage - which, for those who don't know, is self-served, after you pay. He responded something like "That's right, you have to wait" but in the rudest tone of voice possible. I'm sorry I didn't get his name, but I did walk out with a very bad feeling. Stuff like this can just ruin the magic.]

Yakatori House (lunch): I'm only mentioning this place because it was less than I expected. The food was bland and pretty uninteresting. I also had a hard time getting understandable explanations of some menu items. If you're looking for some quick Japanese food, it's OK. Nuff said.
Flying Fish (dinner): Ah. The culinary highlight of the trip, and it was great that it came on our last full day. The service was exceptional, with the server able to provide a great deal of detail about the menu items. Something I didn't mention earlier was my love of beer, and I was very pleased to find many interesting brews at the various dining establishments we visited (not to mention that little Moroccan beer I picked up at the "roadside" stand in EPCOT). So, I was impressed that here they served a brew called "Flying Fish"! Imagine my surprise when the server told me that this beer is available only here and near where it's brewed...New Jersey (my home state) and Pennsylvania. The crab cake appetizer was sublime. What I'd call asian-style with two amazing sauces. I had the ribs for an entree, but this was like no ribs you'll have anywhere else. Although this was also a lively place with an open kitchen (much like the California Grill), I found the overall ambience less hectic. Number one on my list.
Cape May / Goofy's Character Breakfast: Goofy, Donald and Chip & Dale entertained as we stuffed ourselves at the Cape May buffet. For our last morning we decided to sleep in a bit and take in a big breakfast. Nothing much to say except that this was a very satisfying breakfast with something for everyone. Luckily our plan for the balance of the a.m. was to relax at Stormalong Bay and let all that food digest. The characters each made a single visit to our table and we had a lot of fun goofing around with them. Chip & Dale put on a neat little show for us involving the throwing of furniture and other physical shenanigans.
ESPN Club (late lunch): Our last meal before departing for MCO and the flight home. Maybe it was because of the unusual time we chose to eat (~3PM), but our welcome upon arrival was poor. We were told that we should go find a table of our liking in the main room (the one with the bar). We wandered about on our own, but could only find those small, high tables with stools. Not a very inviting prospect. So we went back to the host station and complained. They mumbled something about not having enough staff, and, if we "really wanted" we could take a table in the other room (I forget what they call it - the one with the giant TV screen). But, once we were seated there, the room started filling up and service was just fine (?). The food was good with very large portions, but the salads and burgers were just OK. I think they're trying to do something a little creative here with what is basically "bar cuisine", but I don't think they quite hit the target. The place itself is fun, with all the TVs, sports info and memorabilia. But, among all the baseball, soccer, and other "fringe" sports being shown, couldn't they have put Wimbledon (which was in late rounds at the time) on just one screen? The Mens Room alone had several screens; you won't miss a thing no matter what you're doing in there (!). My advice: Stop in for a drink and look around. But, if you're up for a sandwich and you're at the Boardwalk, you won't be disappointed.
Resort Experiences

Port Orleans

This was our first stay at a moderate resort; always did premium before. Was really curious to see if the value was as good as everyone says. My verdict: It's an excellent value, especially among the WDW resort choices. But, I sure did miss the feeling you get at the premiums. Is it worth the extra $50-100 to get that feeling? I guess for me the answer is "yes". I'd rather do what it takes to save up the extra $$$ and do premiums. Just my opinion. Anything wrong with PO? No! Read on.

I called PO a couple of days before arrival to request some room preferences. We arrived to find that my preference for Bldg 5, upper floor, not pool-side turned into Bldg 5, ground floor, near the pool. To compound things we had a trainee checking us in. She had the cheery part down pat, but she didn't know what she was doing. We finally settled for Bldg 7, 3rd floor, garden view. The room location was fine; beautiful view of our tree-lined "street". Not as close to the action as other buildings, but nothing is very far at PO. All hell broke loose when we asked for LOS passes for more than our PO stay. Suffice it to say that we hit ID#12 before we were done.

Architecture is beautiful, although on a less grand scale than the premiums. But, the landscaping is as beautiful and well maintained as anyplace in WDW - magnificent. Pool was better than I expected; Disney has the cool-pool thing down pat!

I was surprised at the small size and single-threaded ordering scheme at the Floatworks. Everyone calls this a food court, so I expected something more like what I found later in the week at Dixie Landings. PO's is not what I call a food court (which implies a variety of separate ordering stations for different foods); this is more a fast food place with a bakery on the side. Nevertheless, we ate here a few times and found the food to be uniformly good. More on PO dining in a separate "Musing".

Bad experience with boat to DVM/PI. We took the boat over one evening for dinner at The Rainforest and an evening at PI. The ride over was fine; very picturesque and fast enough. After a late night with very achy feet, we plodded all the way back to the boat dock to find a sign saying that boat service ws suspended due to bad weather. It had rained briefly much earlier in the evening. It was now clear and calm. I was pissed. We could have gone directly to the PI bus stop rather than walk all the way here. Now we had to walk yet more to catch a DVM bus. Arrrggh.

Special memories I have of our stay are the early morning walks I took, three of the five morings, when we were using Early Entry. My son and I were awakened by Mickey at 5:45, washed up quickly and threw on some clothes, and left by 6:00 on our mission to secure breakfast for the family from the bakery. Walking the streets of PO at that hour is amazingly peaceful. Very quiet, very few people out. Some gardeners out vacuuming the sidewalks (!) and working the land. Walking around what we came to call "our frog fountain". Bagels, donuts, beignets, croissants with coffee, juice, milk. At the bus stop by 7:00. Perfect plan, except for the one morning we *just* missed a Studio bus; the extra 20 minutes 'til the next one resuted in a 35 minute wait at Tower of Terror. What can you do?! EE is still the way to go if you really do it EARLY. In this case we stil made out fine with the rest of that EE morning.

Dixie Landings

No, we didn't stay here. We walked over from PO one evening. I really liked the look of this place, more so than PO, but it's so HUGE. That's the one thing that would make it hard for me to decide to stay here. But, the food court here is excellent. Amazing variety of items. More of what I expected at PO, if not in size, at least in design.

Very nice walk along the river. In fact I spent a few solo moments recharging while sitting along the banks near our PO room.

Wilderness Lodge

What can I say? This is my place! I just love this resort. We returned for two nights since we had been given one free night due to problems on our last trip. To economize a bit (since we had to pay full price for our second night) we requested a woods view. Obviously, due to our status as a returning guest who had problems last time, we were upgraded to a courtyard room, fifth floor, near the main bldg. A beautiful room location. We also got the bunk beds, as promised - again, due to our "special status".

There is not much I can add to what has been written here regarding this resort. The architecture and overall theming is perfect. Don't get me started.

Beach Club

Last night of our vacation is one night at the Beach Club. This was also a comp'ed night (for the same reason as above). We hadn't planned on doing this 8th night at BC originally; one night *anywhere* didn't seem to make sense. But, after booking the rest of our trip we asked ourselves: "We don't know when we'll be returning next, why not just tack on this one night at BC for free and hit EPCOT and Boardwalk on the days surrounding this one night?" So, that's what we did.

Our "special status" served us well here. At check-in we were given a special package of literature (definitely not the standard set of stuff), and then were asked to wait - the manager would like to meet us! Out he comes, tells us to let him know if there's anything he can do for us, yadda yadda yadda... Our room was on the top floor, overlooking Cresent Lake beyond a garden area (not the pool), facing the Boardwalk. Clearly a big $$$ room location. On the table was a straw beach hat filled with fresh fruit and a hand-written note from the boss of the guy who greeted us earlier. Nice treatment. Too bad it's just for one night!

This is my wife's favorite resort. Another beautiful place with a great location. We made good use of our proximity with EPCOT during our short stay, and made two visits to the Boardwalk for dining, biking, exploring and used this as our access point to Fantasia mini-golf. Spent a few hours one a.m. in the "pool". Another place were I was asked by a complete stranger: "does it get any better than this?" The other was soaking in the WL hot tub, watching the MK fireworks while the geyser is shooting off just behind me.

Fantasia Gardens

Walked from our resort-du-jour, The Beach Club, arriving at the course at about 9PM. We took everyone's advice to go there at night.

Overall Experience: Good, not great. Details follow. It was the one time I felt "outside" of WDW, being across that main road from the Dolphin (or was it the Swan?) with traffic flowing all night.

After a long day of touring, the walk from The Beach Club was a little too much for all of us. A good alternative is needed. This was the *only* time we all felt this way during our trip.
Although the theming is excellent, with some neat surprises at some holes, I was a little underwhelmed. I think it has something to do with the fact that we have a couple of very nice mini-golf courses near home, one of which I think is superior to FG at half the cost. Plus, "golfers" here seem to understand the rules and/or common courtesy. Read on...
On the score card as well as posted around the course are signs with the basic rules, e.g.: Max swings per golfer (5 or 6?); allow small parties to play through; etc... It appeared that many groups were either unaware of the rules or chose to ignore them. But, even then, common courtesy should tell you that if your kid is spending 5 minutes on a hole and there are several parties queued up after you, make the kid STOP. As a result of this we got stuck in a painful situation. At one hole the line was so bad that a few parties, who were behind us, skipped the hole. Then, just a hole or two later, there we were queued up *behind* the people who passed us. Even after making several loud comments about this, no one offered to let us get back in our original position. So, what did we do? We skipped the next hole and passed the crowd. It took 2 hours for us to complete 17 holes. A low point of the trip.
The holes are too easy, once you get near the cup. Yes, I understand the concept of making it easy for the kids, but this was not well executed. The young kids who were having trouble, were having trouble getting near the cup. Many of the holes were quite difficult, except for the "final" shot. So, average to good golfers who were able to get near the hole saw their ball get magically sucked into the 2-foot-diameter vortex surrounding each hole.
A highlight was watching the 9:50 Studios fireworks from FG.
Bottom Line: Don't think I'll do it again, and would recommend it only for those who do not have access to good mini-golf at home, or who really want to see the Disney theming (which was less than I expected). If you go, be prepared for rude golfers, and please use common courtesy if there is a queue up behind you.

Disney Institute Blues

Months before our trip we planned on being day visitors at Disney Institute, and we were very excited by that prospect. We gathered all the info we could, and began using the DI FaxBack system to see what classes were being offered on the days we had available for a visit. Every few weeks we requested a Fax of the schedule and watched with anticipation as classes were added and (oh no) as classes filled up.

As insurance against any problems we signed the kids up for Show Biz Magic through the Wonders of WDW program, which can be done much farther in advance than the DI day visitor 2-week limit. And here's where things begin to get confusing. For most (all?) of the childrens programs you can register either thru DI as a day or regular guest, or thru CRO as part of the Wonders program. The class itself now departs from DI (unlike prior years where you dropped the kids in a specified major park). The Wonders literature says, as it always did, that kids need theme park admission for the day; DI literature does not say that. Since (as you will see) we ultimately used this registration for our kids, we made sure they had theme park admission for that day. Turned out they didn't need it! If we had known that we could've restructured our week and saved a bundle on one wasted day of admissions.

Our calendar was marked with the date of our visit minus 2 weeks; the earliest we can call to register as day visitors. The day before that I requested the latest FaxBack schedule and we sat down that night to select the classes we wanted. As an aside: Let me say that choosing one day's worth of classes for a family of four with varying ages and interests is not easy. Don't misunderstand. We did not attempt to decide on common classes; but we hoped to be able to have roughly equivalent schedules. I didn't, for example, want our 11 year old to be alone for a couple of hours in the afternoon after her class ended, waiting for the rest of the family. Nevertheless, we came up with a schedule. Then the trouble began.

The next morning at 8a.m. we began calling DI. For the next 2.5 hours all we got was a cryptic recording and then a request to speak our name and enter our phone number. Nothing indicated explicitly that we should expect a call back, and even the message greeting us was unclear as to what was going on. We left at least three such messages over the course of the morning, and then gave up. We also tried to call thru CRO. They cheerfully connected us to the very same destination, with the same wierd answering system. When a day or two passed we assumed that our experience with DI was over, and I figured that if they can't handle guest registration properly I don't want to even deal with them at all. Five days later, on a Saturday, I get a call from DI. The women acts as if she's doing me a favor. She noticed that a colleague who had been out for a few days had some messages waiting. She asked her boss if it was OK to return this person's calls. And we were one of those calls. What the heck kind of system is this? You have a time-sensitive registration process, but you allow potential customers to leave messages with someone who may not return your call for days. And then when you are called you're treated as if you should be thankful that you were called. At this point she was ready to take my registration requests, but I was ready to explode. I told her to forget the whole thing.

I took the opportunity to ask her some questions I had and she did her best to answer them rudely. Example: I asked about transportation from my resort to DI for the kids' Wonders class. She said that if we were registered thru DI we could get complimentary taxi service, but since we didn't register that way we couldn't. I argued that that was ridiculous; we're paying the same price and staying on site. Bottom line: we simply went to bell services at our resort, and again at DI for the return, and were cheerfully provided taxi service from/to our resort.

Bottom Line: The kids had a great time in Show Biz Magic. The adults ended up having a fine day, all alone exploring EPCOT's World Showcase (hidden treasure: the guided tour thru Morocco, followed by a nice Moroccan beer!) I'll consider trying DI again if they ever get their act together - no wonder they're doing so poorly. We could've saved big $$$ if we knew the kids didn't need passes for that day.

I wrote a letter to DI. Some weeks later I received a generic WDW postcard saying they got my letter and will respond asap.

Disney Institute Blues - UPDATE

.... I finally got a full response a couple of days ago.

The letter was the usual apologetic stuff. Sorry this happened; it shouldn't have happened; it'll never happen again; we're making changes to ensure that this doesn't happen.... In many cases the letter was non-responsive to my particular problem: e.g., seemingly in response to my complaints about the trouble we had getting through to register, I was told that they've doubled their FAXback lines. In fact, the FAXback service was excellent. I never had a problem with that service.

Then, [although I may be reading more into it than I should] the letter stated that they "...couldn't find any record of my resort registration" in a somewhat accusatory tone. The reservations were made in my wife's name, but we share the same, uncommon, last name. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find our reservation. They had the dates of our visit and a unique last name. Anyway, the reason stated for this was that they wanted to credit me for the money we lost by purchasing park admissions for that day. So, since they couldn't find the ressie, they sent me four one-day park hoppers. I wonder what they would have done if they found my ressie?

I feel that this gesture on their part was more than appropriate for the trouble we encountered. But, I still have a bad feeling about this. I'm concerned that mgmt at DI still doesn't understand what our problem was, and that DI will ultimately fail if they don't get their act together.

Moral: There are two. 1) If you had a problem during a visit, write a letter. We're now 2-for-2 in getting compensated for WDW trip problems. 2) Disney Institute better get on the ball before they lose too much business.

Miscellany

Let the miscellany begin!

Fireworks: We were never able to catch "Sorcery in the Sky" at the Studios until this trip. So, it was a priority for me to ensure that we did so. Boy, am I glad we did. IMHO, this is the best fireworks show in WDW. Not only that, even during a busy week in June we were able to snag a picnic table near the ice cream shop across from the GMR, shortly before showtime, and watch the show from there, munching on our ice cream.
Number 2 is "Fantasy in the Sky" at MK. A great show, but did not include some of the unique and exciting elements of "Sorcery...". The neat thing that we did here was to view the show from Frontierland, near Liberty Square, looking over the lake towards the riverboat. Sure, you don't get the castle in the foreground, but on a busy night it's a great place to get away from the crowds. Plus, the reflections off the water are pretty cool.
Last, and least, was "Illuminations 25" (version 2). Contrary to many posts, I didn't think it was *that* bad. Not as good as I remembered the original "Illuminations", but you have to admit that the mist screen stuff - if you have a good viewing angle - is pretty neat. Our only problem here was dealing with a couple of members of a large family who were attempting to save a large viewing area for family members who were not there yet. I'm talking about two people trying to "rope off" space for several. We did our best to snag some of that space without getting beat up.
Brazilians: We encountered several groups of Brazilians (some large, some small, some teens, some other ages). Even given my heightened awareness (thanks to radp), we did not observe any "bad behavior" on the part of any of them. Of course, we may have just been lucky. Perhaps they're getting the message.
RADP pin: My RADP pin was constantly displayed on our family backpack. So, wherever we went it was clearly visible. Other than strange looks from some people, we made no contact with other RADP-ers. I was disappointed, but not too surprised. A word of warning: The pin does not stand up too well to rain. We got caught in some downpours and the pin, by the end of the trip, was beginning to suffer. But, it sure was worth the price, easily.
Random Park Notes:

Big Thunder Mountain at Night: I've always wanted to do this ever since I read Birnbaum's recommendation many years ago. I thought it was great, and significantly different from a daytime trip. Highly recommended.
Jungle Cruise at Night: Another first for us. As always, the success of the trip relies on the talents of the driver. Ours was very good, but the novelty of the nighttime experience was what did it for me.
Tommorowland at Night: (Do you sense a theme here?) But seriously, this *has* to be seen after dark. The view as you walk from the castle hub is very cool.
Tower of Terror: There's something unbelievable about rushing to this ride, very early in the morning, just after breakfast! It's been three years since I last rode it and I think the way they tightened up the presentation is excellent, and the double drop is just what was needed - of course, more drops would be fine!
Ellen's Buy The Book: This was a true oasis (in every sense) amidst a sea of humanity (am I mixing my metaphors?). No really. A very hot and crowded early afternoon, but inside the shop it was cool, calm and relatively uncrowded. Spent a little while sipping a yummy frozen capuccino drink and browsing through the books. (Almost bought some Mickey capucinno cups here, but ended up getting some "real" ones in "Italy".) Check it out, but don't tell anybody else, OK?
Tour of "Morocco": This was an unexpected pleasure. We just stumbled upon it one day and managed to join the other 4 or 5 in the group before they departed. We received descriptions of the cultural significance of the various designs and structures in the pavillion, as well as detailed information about the artistry and craftsmanship behind the hand-painted ceilings and mosaic tile walls and floors. The tour also visited the small museum where many items were described, and questions answered. It lasted about 40 minutes, shorter than usual due to a light rain. The experience allowed me to look at this pavillion as if looking at it for the first time. It also caused me to look more deeply at other structures in World Showcase; a rewarding pursuit.
Great Britain/"Secret" Garden: Not talking about the Illuminations viewing spot, but the large garden behind the pavillion. Well it was pretty secret to me! Again, thanks to radp, I seeked this out as well as the "British Invasion" band playing there. The garden was a very pleasant respite from the hubbub "out front", plus the band was excellent. These were talented musicians performing the music of the era very skillfully.
Canada: That morning (well, it's really too long of a story, so here's the gist), we were in the middle of a hotel swap, and were without the kids, and had to get from Future World to the Beach Club, but World Showcase hadn't opened yet. At the WS ropes we told the CM we needed access to the back gate and were told to just go on ahead. After check-in at BC we re-entered at about 10:40, 20 minutes before WS opens. We proceeded to just stroll through GB towards Canada. We could see the "common folk" standing at the ropes, as we just continued on up the steps into Canada. It felt special to be walking along the rocky structures, down by the waterfalls, along the row of shops just getting ready to open, with no other guests around. The few CMs who passed just smiled or otherwise greeted us, but didn't seem concerned that we were in before opening. After the rope drop and the mob neared the entrance to the theatre we just got up from our bench and got on the front of the line. We hadn't seen the film for many years and I was very impressed. I didn't recall how neat an experience it was. Another highly recommended attraction. And, to top it all off we were there on Canada Day (7/1). The first people into "Canada" on Canada Day - pretty cool!
And some brief notes:

Adventureland challenge - played twice; lost both times. Lots of fun.
Space Mountain - I loved the new, lighter appearance. It's not just the lights, but there's stuff to see. A big surprise for me.
Ellen's Energy Crisis - I liked this update a lot. I never even came close to falling asleep (as before).
OK. That's enough. I'm definitely getting into the rambling mode.

I hope you enjoyed this style of trip report, and the entire series of my "Musings". I enjoy writing them, and hope that they'll help someone in the future with their vacation plans.

Steve Marcovici

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