Trip Reports

Arrival / Thanksgiving Day

We drove overnight from N.C., I-26 to I-95 and I-4. Arrived at Dixie Landings at 6am on Thanksgiving morning. The lobby looked lovely and was festively decorated. Checked in early and were offered a smokers' room in building 15, close to everything. We were tired and checked it out. Strong odor… back to check-in. Got new ID's. We picked up our tickets for the Hoop Dee Doo at Guest Services and asked about the chances of a last minute MK character Breakfast. We were told, after a phone call, (at 7:25am) that there was a spot available for a party of 7 at 7:45am at Cindy's Royal Table and if we got there before 8:30am, we'd have a good chance of getting seated.

We waited with a crowd through 2 full busses at the main Dixie Landings bus stop until the 3rd bus had more than a handful of space. This was only a 15 minute wait and there was a 4th (empty) bus right behind to help people going to MK for EE, but we were antsy. Disney seemed to be doing their best to get people there.

Once at MK, we entered along with a huge mob of people, got to the Castle/cake and were told there was no availability at all and "hasn't been." Disappointed and incredibly tired, we double-backed down Main Street to Tony's Town Square. That's when we noticed the neat "toys" decorating the huge MK Christmas tree. Tony's was wonderful. Why had we never done this before? We were seated right away at the far back and it was so restful and pretty. We watched those big crowds march past the front windows from the comfort of a decent, long breakfast with good coffee (yes, it was good) and delicious cinnamon rolls. It was exactly what we needed, after our drive. Tried calling Dixie Landings but no luck yet on a no-smoking room.

It was 9:15am. We rode the WDW RR train over to Splash Mountain. Just riding this put me in a great mood. I looked at Deane and we both sang, "We're goin' to Disney World!" Seeing the 45 minute wait at Splash Mountain, we skipped it in favor of a 20 minute wait on Big Thunder Mountain RR. The CM's there had everyone in line singing "When You're Happy And You Know It…" It was turning into such a fun morning. People in the lines were really friendly, too. Spoke with an interesting lady wearing a T-shirt from the C.I.A. (her employer).

Next we went through Haunted Mansion. I like the updates, making it a bit more macabre. Remember to "move up and fill in all available spaces, folks" in those wide queue areas.

Made another call to Dixie Landings: Yippee, a room was free. On the way out of MK, I remembered our Matthew telling me one recent evening that he had wished for one of those colorful swirl lollipops at WDW, which they'd sometimes asked for and we'd never gotten, so he'd said a little prayer (Isn't that a 6 year old for ya?). So we got them and the 3 kids were in kiddie sugar heaven, heading back to Dixie Landings. We checked-in to a nice room in building 26. The location was fair: A bit of a long walk to the food court, reasonably close to the parking lot and a quiet pool, with a nearby crossover to Ol' Man Island. We shared a quick, healthy snack at the food court. Nap time! We slept well. Showered and refreshed, we were getting ready to head back out when we noticed that one of the sinks drained very slowly. We called and within minutes, someone showed up to remove the blockage.

We took the bus to the Disney Studios and transferred to a boat. We showed up a few minutes early for 5:15 priority seating at the Beach Club's Cape May Buffet. Were seated immediately and had an absolutely fantastic meal! We will go back! The cold salads bar had delicious grilled veggies, among the many wonderful choices. Deane liked all the hot seafood dishes. I really enjoyed all the traditional Thanksgiving foods, especially the mushroom stuffing (2nds for me!). The kids liked the salads, cheeses, cornbread, rolls, turkey and potatoes, even though there was no child's buffet that night. Desserts were interesting but mostly looked better than they tasted (except the fudgie nut things and the macadamia squares - yum). Stuffed, we headed for the Disney Studios. We all really love boat transportation at WDW. We would take it over a bus *any* day!

At the Disney Studios, we watched some street performers. Stephanie wanted to go to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, but the tip board said 1 hour wait. We walked over to New York Street for the Osborne Light display. Wowie! We knew it would be dazzling, but the "motion" of the lights made it a sight to be seen! It's hard to explain. With all the beautiful music, Stephanie said it looked like we were walking through Heaven at the entry (many Angels lit up overhead, wings "flapping" with shifting light lines). Beautiful.

Time for our boys' favorite, Star Tours. Always a hit! Then, we just had time for the last showing (at 8pm, closing time) of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We hadn't seen it in a year and a half. With Steph's recently rekindled interest, it was a must-see and we thoroughly enjoyed all the effects. With a packed house, everyone played nice - not a single person took a flash photo! We were seated in the 3rd row and could see the fuzziest outlines of an occasional puppeteer. They really do an amazing job with this show.

We wandered out and got onto a packed bus for Dixie Landings, standing. We had considered finishing out the evening with IllumiNations. Even with what little we actually did in the parks, it was a long day for us. We'd had a great time. We decided to wrap up the day and were in bed before 10pm...

Fri / Sat / Sun - Resort Time

Each of these days, we slept in until about 9am. When we got up on Friday, we had breakfast in our room at Dixie Landings (cereal and pop tarts), and drove to the Contemporary Resort. What an awful, *Awful* silvery mess they have out front, posing as a Christmas tree. <blech!> And there's no tree (that I saw) inside! - disappointing. We rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian and gawked for a while in the lobby at the stunning, Victorian Christmas tree and gingerbread house, complete with furniture inside. Looking up at the tree from the base reminded me of a scene in The Nutcracker Ballet, where the tree grows huge, and the toys become life-size.

Then, back at the Contemporary, the kids played in the arcade and "beat us" at air hockey (it's the little things!). We picked up some lunch at the Food N Fun Center and rented a pontoon boat. We circled Discovery Island and explored Seven Seas Lagoon, while eating lunch. The boat doesn't go very fast at all, but it was fun.

We were thrilled to find out that there were great Cast Member discounts on some of the boat rentals. Deane took out a sailboat for a couple hours and had a blast. I took the kids back to our room for my swimsuit. We rode the boat to Port Orleans and spend a couple hours at the "Serpent Slide" pool. They loved it. I liked the slide. The hot tub is a bit removed from the pool area, behind the pool bar. After an hour or so, we had ice cream and opted to check out the main pool at Dixie Landings. The return boat was full, so rather than wait 30 minutes for the next one, we went to the bus stop and took the next park's bus back to Dixie Landings and headed out onto Ol' Man Island.

Well, it was wonderful, too. The kids were divided with which pool they liked more. The pool theme at Port Orleans won and the slide at Dixie Landings won. Deane caught up with us, beaming, at the pool. He'd enjoyed the sailboat and was looking forward to more time out there. I liked the Dixie Landings pool, in that I could see the kids from the hot tub (you know where we were!). Pools closed at 5pm.

As a side note, we each got at least one mosquito bite and Matthew got a few, while staying at Dixie Landings. I couldn't believe it! The bus stop near our room was down a wooded path and I think this was where we noticed the skeeters.

We showered and went to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. Several times that day, our David had gotten bumps, scrapes and bruises. By the evening, he was feeling that "this isn't a nice day for me." On the bus in Fort Wilderness, we passed the fun Christmas lights and decorations at the Meadows Trading Post - no reaction from David. When we got to the 7:15pm show (center, balcony, good view, limited interaction), he was hungry and not a happy camper. He wasn't as thrilled as Matthew at being allowed to stand on his chair while an actor announced their 7th birthday. With the corny jokes, David would turn and look at me with this jaded, young face and roll his eyes. Well, by half way through, they got him! He couldn't help himself. He just giggled and laughed along with the rest of us. It was delightful.

As an aside, the kids were allowed to get a plate (and a bucket) of spaghetti at the start of the meal, which pleased them more than the standard meal. We thought the show was great fun, the food was fairly good and we'd do it again, though not often due to the ridiculously high price.

Saturday, we checked out after breakfast at the food court. And who did I see in the lobby, but Doug! …Doug from the radp meet last April at the Contemporary! He's so sweet… we chatted and he helped a newer Cast Member get our cash credit balance transferred onto our next ressie at the Boardwalk. He's still not on-line and said hello to all.

We drove to the Boardwalk - boy, was I excited to stay there! I had gotten a somewhat last minute Cast Member discount on a studio with daybed, which enabled us to afford the room within our trip budget. The lobby was all decked out with a lovely tree and draped with huge "evergreen" swags covered with shiny, old-fashioned glass ornaments.

Again, only a smokers' room was available. As much as we wanted to get settled in (it was drizzling out), our sons have allergies and asthma so, besides the aesthetics, this doesn't work for us. The desk Cast Member had blackened out our assigned room on our account page. Being curious, we figured out the room number anyway and wandered down the halls to get an idea. It was parking lot view.

Well, when I saw how nice the views were on the other sides/halls, I reeeeally wanted to switch. So, back we went to the front desk. This Cast Member, Liz from Annapolis, was so kind. She spoke with a manager for us. There was to be a charge for the upgrade for the Saturday night, but we could waive it for the following 2 nights. We were tickled! (Well, mostly I was and Deane humored me.)

We took the kids out to the main pool and we all tried out that big clown-faced Keister Coaster slide. Wheeeee! <Think Snow White's voice> "Oooo, that was fun!" You can even ride up on the walls around the last bend if you lie back on the way down. This was a definite hit! So was that hot tub… perfectly located near the stairs to the slide. We got lunch from the pool side bar and played while waiting for our room. What a pretty resort this is!

Our room was on the 5th floor, over-looking the themed pool area, the water way and the Swan Resort. When we got there, the kids loved it that we could see the slide and watch the boats going past. <sigh> I didn't want to leave! (By the next day, we extended our stay an extra night, to 4 nights.) We showered and got ready to go to dinner.

Saturday evening, we had a delicious supper at the Swan's Gulliver's Grill (would've been pricey w/o a coupon). Afterward, we brought the kids to the Harbor Club at the Boardwalk for a few hours. Deane and I enjoyed our time together and explored the Boardwalk clubs. We spent a little people-watching time on the porch off the Belle Vue Lounge, really liked it there. We went over to see Holiday Illuminations in Epcot at closing. Afterward, we got an ale at Rose and Crown Pub (last call) and strolled up to the archway/canopy of lights connecting to Future World… Disney sure does do lights! Just as the wondrous fountain dances to music, that archway dances to Christmas classics. Amazing and beautiful! It brought tears to my eyes.

At the end of a fun, romantic evening, we made our way back to the kids and up to our room. It was terrific to be able to get them back to our room so easily, no car ride or bus transfers. I love that resort!

Sunday, we just enjoyed the resorts. Deane had wanted to rent a sailboat again on Bay Lake but, the weather wasn't cooperating. We spent an hour taking the kids for turns in a water sprite while the land-locked parent/kids shot hoops near the contemporary marina. It was a bit chilly and still fun.

Sunday evening was the radp meet and dinner at the Wilderness Lodge. I went to the first part with Stephanie while Matt and Dave napped. Deane brought them later, in time for supper at Whispering Canyon. The meet was fun as usual. The WL lobby is among WDW's most beautiful anyway, and with the holiday trimmings, it was even more stunning. We departed right after dinner, to get a good night's rest before MK Early Entry in the morning. On leaving, we noticed the way the white lights were strung in the evergreen trees in the parking lot: The lights followed the natural lines of the tree branches, perfectly complementing the resort theme... of course! Final part, next...

Mon / Tues / Departure

We got up early for EE at the MK. After a quick mini-breakfast in our room, we got onto a waiting bus at the Boardwalk bus stop! What great timing! We arrived at 7:35 and walked onto Space Mountain, left line. The second go-round, we waited about 10 minutes, right line. It seemed to me that the right line led to a slightly rougher ride - I don't know if it was the track or the car but I sat in the same (5th) seat both times.

Next, the kids walked onto the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Then we all rode Peter Pan, a family favorite. It was chilly out and I couldn't find a counter open with hot cocoa until we were on our way to Splash Mountain. We got yummy muffins, coffee and cocoa at the turkey leg stand, which we had while waiting 10 minutes at Splash. That ride is wonderful! Matthew bent forward and tucked his head under the grip-bar area (front seat) during the final ascent before the drop. The grip-bar was across the back of his neck. We pulled him into his seat just before the drop. He loved the ride but had had last-minute jitters. :o( Then the kids all wanted to do it again! When we got out, the wait was 45 minutes, out into the garden area - no way.

Pirates of the Caribbean was next. The left queue seems physically shorter to us. Is it? Also, has there always been fog in the very first area after the drop, on the left? We had never noticed this before. Yo ho, yo ho…

We stopped in at the Liberty Tree Tavern to see about lunch. We had priority seating for supper and wanted to switch. We were given 12:15pm. We lined up for the Christmas version of Country Bear Jamboree. We loved it! I think it's much better than the regular version. Time to repeat the Haunted Mansion. Love it!

Got to lunch at the Liberty Tree and were seated shortly. Nice atmosphere. We were pleasantly surprised with the good food. The breads/spreads and our two soups were excellent, we shared a chicken and pasta dish that was very good (and which they kindly divided onto two plates before serving). The kids *ate* most of their respective meals, with sherbet desserts. We shared a yummy Boston Cream Cake/Pie. I expect we'll make a definite return there for lunch.

After lunch we wandered out of the park by way of the candy store on Main St. (kids' goodies for later). At the Contemporary, Deane rented a sailboat. I took the kids on the bus to the Disney Studios, intending to go to our resort boat. The kids wanted to try for the T.Z. Tower of Terror so, we went in. The wait was only 5 minutes. Fantastic. Stephanie and David were really up for it. Matthew wasn't sure and wanted my arm around him the whole time, as well as advance warning for when the drop was coming. After it was done, he looked up at me and said, "Aw, Mommy, I can handle that!!! It was fun!" Back to the boat dock and we rode to the Boardwalk. Deane met up with us in our room as the kids were settling down for a little rest and TV.

We ate a simple supper in our room and rode the boat to Epcot. In France, we watched a Living Statue with a huge crowd around her - very funny and worth a detour to see! As Stephanie tried to walk away from her, she was "detained" by her ponytail. :o) We took the Friendship to Canada and walked out to Spaceship Earth for a walk-on. This ride never gets "old" to us. We just had time for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, another Epcot favorite.

Exiting, we headed for World Showcase. Illuminations was beginning. We got to a refreshment booth near Canada, where the kids could see and watched the rest. Afterward, the kids wanted to go back and play on the swirly lighted sidewalks near the Fountainview Café. So we did. We also got yummy chocolate mousse and fruit-filled croissants and coffee. After a half hour of the sidewalks and the fountain, we made our way back to the lighted canopy/archway. The kids were fascinated and we all danced to our favorite Christmas songs under the lights.

I guess we stayed too long :o) because we missed the last boat back to our resort. So we walked. It was a beautiful night on that beautiful lake. <sigh> It was so nice to enjoy the late evening.

In the morning, we slept until 10am, ate in our room and hung around the resort. At 11:30am, a DVC van picked us up. Deane had never seen Old Key West and we toured. We both loved it! Once back at the Boardwalk, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, sliding, playing and relaxing in the hot tub.

We showered and walked to the Dolphin for supper at the Coral Café. We had the buffet and the kids had children's meals. The food was tasty but, it seemed too heavy to me. Also, the prime rib was too rare and bloody, which I didn't realize until I got back to our table (the lighting was dim in the service area). We were nicely surprised that the tab came to ~$51. After our coupon (yes, we had two, thanks to a kind radp'er), we paid the $3 tax and $9 tip. I'm not sure I'd return without a coupon, though.

Walking back to our room, we stopped to get Stephanie a hair wrap. We also watched wax-dip hand sculptures being made - interesting and a bit eerie. We were able to see the Epcot fireworks above the roofline of the Boardwalk Inn, from a bench on the Boardwalk in front of the Villas. We stopped briefly at the DVC Sales Center to look at the Boardwalk's 1- and 2-bedroom units. Then we went to the Community Hall, by the Boardwalk Villas Resort's quiet pool. The boys played Nintendo and Steph sat with us while we talked and relaxed. The rocking chairs on the water side porch looked like a great place to watch the Disney Studios fireworks in high season. Bedtime.

Tuesday… ah, sad Tuesday. Time to pack it in, get the car from the valet, and drive home. I must admit that just knowing that we'd be back as future DVC members took away much of the sting. I still cried a bit, as we drove out of the resort. We stopped at the World of Disney Store to find oversized, hooded sweatshirts we liked.

On our way home, we stopped in the Hilton Head, S.C. area to visit the Disney Catalog Outlet Store. We found some terrific buys on clothes and watches, Christmas gifts for our parents and kids. I could have spent much more than we did… and probably should have! Between the prices and my Cast Member discount, the savings were 40-60% off, on everything we chose. It still managed to add up quickly.

If you're still with me, I hope you enjoyed this report. Feel free to write and/or comment.

Lisa B. Potter

potter@a-o.com

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