Trip Reports

Dates of trip: 9/20-10/1/97

The cast:

Chris, 35, software engineer. Second visit to WDW (’95).
Diana, 34, homemaker. Third trip to WDW (’88, ’95).
Karen, 4, pre-schooler. Second trip to WDW (’95)
Background: This was our second family trip to Orlando, but the first one devoted exclusively to WDW. The first trip was in 1995, when Karen was 2 ½ . We spent part of that vacation at Cocoa Beach, and 3 nights at the Grand Floridian. Now that Karen was older and would enjoy more than just the Magic Kingdom, we originally planned to spend 7 nights at the Polynesian in October. When we discovered through reading rec.arts.disney.parks that the Fall Fantasy rates are even better before October 1, we re-booked for 9 nights in September for less than the 7 nights in October, including length-of-stay passes. It was quite hot (90 degrees plus) for nearly all the trip, and it rained 2 days. Since we were on the Fall Fantasy plan, daily breakfast was included. We had a character breakfast each morning, for 2 reasons: we felt we got the biggest bang for our (essentially free) buck that way, and we knew Karen would thoroughly enjoy all that time with the characters. It proved to be a good decision.

Saturday, 9/20

We flew from Columbus, Ohio, to Orlando on Delta Express, arriving on-time at 2:15. After collecting our luggage, we caught the shuttle bus to the Alamo rental location. I chose Alamo because they offered us the best rate by more than $200, and my husband has the Quicksilver card that eliminates waiting in the long lines. (Unless you have the Quicksilver card, which is easy to obtain, be prepared to wait in long lines.) I had researched the rental car rates on the net, and reserved the car from Alamo on-line. A couple weeks later, I found Alamo offered a $99 per week deal, so I canceled the original reservation and re-reserved for the lower rate. However, Alamo still charged us the first rate, so I emailed Alamo’s customer service department, telling them of the problem, giving them the reservation and cancellation numbers. I received a reply in about 2 days telling me that in the interest of customer good will, they would be crediting our charge for $42. However, we were charged the original higher rate because in their system, the original reservation was never canceled and a new one was never made. Interesting, considering I had print-outs of the reservations and cancellation. Plus, I had gone back to their website days after making the second reservation to check both confirmation numbers, and the original reservation was no longer valid. Go figure. What matters is Alamo refunded our money, but I sure don’t buy their explanation!

We checked into the Howard Johnson Park Inn and Suites on Palm Parkway (not far from Goodings) and went to Downtown Disney. We went to the Rainforest Café about 4:20 and were told we had a 30 minute wait. We browsed the gift shop while waiting, picking up a monarch butterfly finger puppet for Karen. Almost exactly at 4:50, we hear "Diana, Safari of 3, your adventure is about to begin. Please approach the elephant." After being taken to 2 different waiting areas, we were seated in the Gorilla Room. The rainforest decor is beautifully done, but it could stand to have a bit more light. It was difficult to read the menus, and the waitress offered her flashlight because she knew it was too dark to see. I ordered the Amazon Burger with Cheddar, Chris ordered it with Swiss and Karen had the 3 Amigos hot dog kids meal. We also split the Pita Quesadilla appetizer. The portions were more than generous, so we ended up with way too much food for the 3 of us to eat. Next time, I would split an entree with Chris. The food was quite good; my only complaint would be that the caramelized onions on the burgers are too sweet.

Next we went to the World of Disney to pick up an autograph book for Karen. It was an absolute nuthouse, packed with people. We found the autograph book, plus 2 chunky pens for the characters to sign with and a Duchess the cat (from the Aristocats) stuffed toy. After waiting quite awhile in line, we checked out using our MKC discount. Chris and Karen were dropped off back at the hotel, and I went to Goodings to pick up some bottled water and juice boxes. If you have the opportunity to do this, I strongly suggest it. 6-16 ounce bottles of Zephyrhill water (the same brand sold by Disney) were $2.89 at Goodings; a 24 ounce bottle is $2.50 in the parks. Goodings was a very nice store, and was quite convenient to where we were staying.

Sunday, 9/21

We were up at 7. We ate the breakfast buffet in the restaurant, where Karen ate free. After checking out, we drove to the Polynesian, arriving about 8 AM. There was no one waiting in line, so I walked right up to the counter and checked in. Our room wasn’t ready yet, of course, so they locked up our luggage, gave us our tickets, set up our room-charge account, and we were on our way to the monorail station. After arriving at the Magic Kingdom, we went to wait for the rope drop outside Liberty Square. We went first to Splash Mountain, which Karen was finally tall enough to ride. Since this is my favorite ride, I was quite happy that she would be able to ride this now, and looking forward to going on this at least once with Karen each day we were in the MK. Unfortunately, the big drop scared the stuffing out of her, so much so that each time we got in a line the rest of the day, she asked if there was a big drop coming up. ("No, dear, this is a line for a restaurant".) We headed back to Fantasyland, and rode the Carrousel, which was a walk-on. We got to the Tea Cups in time to see Tweedle Dum and the Queen of Hearts finishing up their ride in the cups. After Karen and I rode the Cups, Karen got her first autographs from them, as well as the Mad Hatter.

By now it was almost 10, so we went to get in line for Ariel’s Grotto. Karen is a big Little Mermaid fan, especially because Ariel has red hair like Karen does. Karen had specifically asked to see Ariel the first day, and wore her Ariel shorts outfit for this occasion. We waited 20 minutes in the hot sun (why don’t they put some shade over that waiting area?), but it was well worth the wait just to see how much Karen enjoyed this. Karen is rather shy, and she was hesitant about approaching most of the characters for the first few days of the trip. Ariel was the exception, perhaps because she seemed more familiar to Karen. When her turn came, Karen hopped right up on the rock next to Ariel and handed her the autograph book. They chatted for several moments, compared hair color, and then Karen gave her a hug and a kiss and we were on our way with the most beautifully written and illustrated autograph of the trip. ("To Princess Karen. Love & Fishes, Ariel", with drawings of fish, King Triton’s trident and water bubbles.) Next we walked on to Small World, followed by a 10 minute wait for the Skyway to Tomorrowland. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority was next. This is a nice relaxing way to take a little break and just sit back and enjoy the scenery. I’m surprised it’s not more popular than it is. We decided it was time for lunch, so we tried Cosmic Ray’s. I’ve read conflicting reports about the food here, but we liked it. (That was true with each eating establishment we tried: absolutely no complaints about the food, except we were sometimes given too much at Character Breakfasts and felt badly that we were wasting the food. More on that later.) Chris and I had cheeseburgers and grapes, and Karen had the kids’ chicken nuggets and fries.

Feeling refreshed after a break and some food, we thought it was time to go to Toontown to visit the Hall of Fame we’ve read so much about. I was disappointed to see they no longer had a villains line. Now its 100 Acre Woods (Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore), Mickey’s Pals (Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and sometimes Donald) and Fairy Tale Friends (apparently everybody else). Karen got autographs from and pictures with Snow White and the Fairy Godmother (we skipped the Mad Hatter, whom we had seen earlier at the Tea Cups). We took the train back to Main Street so we could take the monorail back to the Polynesian to see if our room was ready (it was, 2902 in Oahu). After our luggage was delivered (very quickly), we unpacked, swam in the pool and relaxed. I went to the lobby to pick up our Hoop De Doo tickets for Monday, and to purchase 1 E-Ticket Express Ticket for Monday night and another for Thursday. About 5, we boarded a monorail to the Contemporary for our 5:30 priority seating. Even though we were early and it was busy, we were seated in 5 minutes. We liked this restaurant in 1995 (I can’t recall it’s name then) when it was located between the stores right beneath the monorail, but they no longer seem to have the variety on the buffets now that they did then. We got autographs and pictures from Chip, Dale, Minnie and Goofy, but for some strange reason Mickey would walk past our table, wave at Karen and keep going. We never got a picture or autograph from this Mickey, although we saw him giving autographs and posing for pictures at other tables.

Stuffed from the buffets, we returned to the MK. We had a10 minute wait for the Jungle Cruise. Have they decided to eliminate most of the old, bad jokes we’ve become accustomed to on this ride? Our skipper told a completely different set of jokes, with a very badly timed delivery and a monotone voice. Karen still enjoyed the animals, but Chris and I found this cruise boring. We went next to Pirates, which was always a walk-on every time we stopped by. Karen and I rode the Carrousel while Chris took pictures. At least, I intended to ride next to Karen. While I was buckling Karen onto the horse, another woman sat her 4 kids on the horses next to Karen. Never mind that there were several other completely empty rows of horses, for some reason she had to take up the horse I was intending to ride. The line for Dumbo finally appeared to be reasonable, so Chris took Karen while I shopped, bought a glowing rose for Karen and rode Snow White. 20 minutes and 1 ride on Dumbo later, it was just about time for the Spectro Magic parade. We headed through the Castle and found a spot reasonably close to the curb. I personally like this one better than the Main Street Electrical Parade, but Chris likes the MSEP music better. We take the monorail back to the Polynesian just in time to watch the MK fireworks from beach, then watched the lagoon pageant. After a great first day, we turn in for the night. Our room had 2 beds and a day bed that was just right for Karen.

Monday, 9/22

Today was early entry day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived at 7:40 and headed straight to Dumbo, which had a wait of less than 10 minutes. We then walked on to the Carrousel, Peter Pan, the Tea Cups and Snow White, waited 10 minutes for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and headed to the castle to check in 15 minutes early for our 8:50 priority seating for Cinderella’s Royal Table. The Fairy Godmother was greeting visitors in the lobby. At 8:50 on the dot, "the Royal Stassen family" was called to breakfast. I know Cinderella’s Royal Table has its share of detractors, but the 3 of us thoroughly enjoyed this breakfast, and found the food to be scrumptious. The atmosphere is pure Disney. We had fruit and muffins on the table. Karen was given a waffle, eggs and bacon, and Chris and I had eggs, cream cheese stuffed french toast, potatoes bacon and sausage. The characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Belle and Peter Pan. Peter Pan was especially good. The little girl at the next table got so excited to see him that she fell out of her booster seat. Peter never missed a beat, telling her she mustn’t try to fly without pixie dust. (Piece of advice: if you want to eat breakfast here, it is a must to call 60 days out for your priority seating. I heard someone try to just walk up and be seated, and they were told there was no way to fit them in. I called exactly 60 days in advance at 2 PM eastern time, and they only had one time slot left for our party size.)

After breakfast, we decided to try Karen out on Big Thunder Mountain. We were in the front seat, and although Karen said she liked the ride, she didn’t want to go on anything else. We decided to head to Epcot, so we jumped on the train at Frontierland, grabbed a monorail and set off for Epcot. The line on Spaceship Earth appeared to be about 15 minutes, so we went to Journey into Imagination, which Karen enjoyed the first time we were here in 1995. The line appeared long because it was out the door, but once inside the building it was a very brief wait. Apparently we got there just as Honey I Shrunk the Audience let out. We decided next to go to Horizons, which had been closed during our 1995 visit. Absolutely no one in line. While entering the building, we were told, "This is a ride, not an exhibit". I wonder why there is any confusion about this? We enjoyed this ride, especially the Space Shuttle taking off. It was quite hot, so we took a break for soda and water. Since it was now past 11, we bought a passport and headed to the World Showcase. We started with Mexico, riding Rio del Tiempo, and then found a place to get the passport stamped in one of the shops. Our next stop was Norway, where we rode Maelstrom (a walk-on), but skipped the movie afterward. We visited China and Germany to get the passport stamped. Since it was now almost unbearably hot, and we had the Hoop De Doo that evening, Chris decided to take Karen back to the room to nap while I continued on to collect all the passport stamps.

After getting the Italy stamp, I listened to the Voices of Liberty (absolutely outstanding; don’t miss them) inside the US pavilion while waiting for the American Adventure to start. I then continued getting the passport stamped, stopping for a Mickey ice cream sandwich, which hit the spot. It’s very thick, about an inch, and frozen solid. I about broke a tooth. Got an autograph from Suzy Mouse (from Cinderella; the only time we saw any of the mice) at the International Gateway.

Comments about the passport: While it does make a nice keepsake, it does have drawbacks. First, we forgot to write down the translations of what the CMs wrote in each country (although we can understand America, the UK and Canada J ). Secondly, it is a pain at times to find out just where to get it stamped. In some cases, you had to go into a shop. In others, it was at the "Kidcot" stops outside. If they want to promote this passport, why don’t they make it easy, and have stamps available at every register, or give you a list of where to find the stamps in each country? While it’s fun to get the passport filled out, it is not enjoyable to have to be a detective to figure where to get the next stamp. About half the CMs I encountered were clearly weary of filling out the passports, too. And last, the stickers they give you to complete the book are pretty, but difficult to remove from the backing. All in all, I would get a passport again, but be advised it does take some work to complete it.

On the way out of Epcot, I noticed Spaceship Earth was a walk-on, so I rode it before leaving. I then took the monorail back to the TTC, and walked back to our room. Our building, Oahu, was perfect, and I think we would request it again for our next visit. It was about halfway between the monorail stop in the Ceremonial House and the one at the TTC.

Because we’ve read it’s tricky to get to the Hoop De Doo via Disney transportation, we drove to the parking lot at Fort Wilderness and hopped the bus to Pioneer Hall. We arrived there about 4:45. The corniness began with a Barney Fife lookalike who was checking everyone in. (If I hear "Howdy" one more time…) We were given table 212 in the balcony (we made our reservations in June); we thought the seats were very good, and gave us a better view than we would have had downstairs, as we could see virtually the entire Hall without swiveling in our seats. I know Hoop De Doo has its detractors, too, but the food was great here, especially the bread and honey butter. (I’d have been happy just with that all evening.) Everything was tasty and prepared to our liking. The entertainment was outstanding as well. All in all a good experience, although we still felt it was a bit overpriced. We decided to cancel our reservations for Mickey’s Tropical Luau for Thursday, as we felt one $100 dinner show for the trip was plenty. Plus, we decided we wanted less structure in our vacation. We returned to the Polynesian, where we discovered an apparently stolen, cut open suitcase in the parking lot. Chris brought it to the attention of the Poly staff, then got on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom for his E-Ticket Express night.

Diana and Karen went to a gift shop and purchased a bikini/lei/hula skirt combo for Karen for $28, then went to the beach to watch the MK fireworks and the lagoon pageant again. Excellent view from the Polynesian. It is much more enjoyable to watch them from the beach than fight the crowds in the Magic Kingdom.

Tuesday, 9/23

This was early entry day for Epcot. We arrived at 8 AM, and walked right on to Spaceship Earth. We discovered this ride rarely had long waits, and the few times it did, checking back a short time later once again resulted in walking right on. We then went to the Living Seas, which was much less busy than we remember it ever being. It was especially enjoyable to watch the Manatees. It’s so sad to see the scars on their sides from boat propellers, especially when you realize these manatees are the lucky ones. Since Karen loves the Lion King, we went to the Land to watch the Circle of Life; we only had to wait 11 minutes until the next showing. We then went and waited 10 minutes for Food Rocks. This was okay, a bit on the loud side, but I prefer the old Kitchen Kabaret. We decided to visit Figment once again, and rode Journey into Imagination. After 10 minutes in Image Works, we went back to the Land pavilion to check in at 10:30 for our 11 AM priority seating. We were given a beeper, as there was quite a crowd waiting. We were seated shortly before 11. The characters were Mickey, Minnie and Chip & Dale. I was disappointed that the Garden Grill is no longer giving straw hats at breakfast. This was the first "family style breakfast" we had on the trip, and it seems as if they don’t try to scale down the portions for smaller parties. Karen usually eats like a bird, so we really only needed enough food for 2. But we were given the same amount as the family of 4 next to us, and felt badly when we left some behind. We had fresh strawberries, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, sausage gravy, grits, eggs, potatoes, ham and sausage patties. Wonderful food once again.

Karen was tired, so Chris took her back to the Polynesian while I shopped at World Showcase. I found several Christmas presents; the World Showcase is a place where you can find many unique items, if you have the time to look. After taking the boat from Morocco back to Future World, I grabbed a monorail back to the TTC and walked to our room.

We all took much needed naps, showered, and went to Captain Cook’s for dinner. We split 2 cheeseburgers and fries among the 3 of us. When we arrived at the monorail station, no one was waiting except us when the monorail arrived. We were able to ride in the front, and were given our monorail co-pilots licenses without having to ask for them. Since we hadn’t yet been to the Haunted Mansion, that was the first stop for the evening, with a brief wait for the next stretch room. We rode the Carrousel while heading to Toontown, as we were planning to take Karen on the Barnstormer. Karen decided at the absolute last minute that she didn’t want to ride after all, so we went to Minnie’s house. Really cute, but it was impossible to see anything in the kitchen because of the large number of kids already there. We decided instead to ride the Tea Cups, then Karen and I split another of those luscious Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches, which was $2 here but $1.75 at Epcot (why?). We decided to try Splash Mountain again, hoping to get a good family picture (the first one wasn’t so hot). It took some convincing to get Karen back on, and we asked the CM if we could be in front, as we weren’t sure Karen would ever go again (she didn’t). Fortunately, the picture turned out really well. We boarded the train in Frontierland, got off at Main Street and returned to the Polynesian in time to catch the fireworks and lagoon show, then into bed.

Wednesday, 9/24

This was early entry day at MGM. We drove to MGM and parked in the first row, arriving at 7:35. We went directly to the Tower of Terror and waited only 5 minute before boarding our elevator. We had 1 short drop and 2 full drops. (Apparently the Tower is designed in such a way that the number and length of drops can be changed, so you never know what you’re going to get.) We bought the picture, as Karen wasted no time telling us she would not go again. We crisscrossed back over to Star Tours, and waited briefly before going in. Next we went to the Great Movie Ride, which was my favorite ride at MGM. We had to wait long enough that we saw the pre-show clips all the way through twice. Once done here, it was a little after 9 AM, so we got in line for the next showing of Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This was Karen’s favorite part of MGM, and it is an entertaining show. We were seated in the third row from the front, just a couple seats in from the right as you’re facing the stage. Seats towards the middle would be better. A really enjoyable show, except for the lady next to me who sang (badly) along with "Under the Sea" rather loudly. It was here that it first occurred to me that people do not quiet down to listen to the announcements that CMs make prior to the shows. I could barely hear what was being said over the dull rumble of everyone else talking, and I was just 15 feet away.

After the show, we shopped at the gift shop next to the Little Mermaid show (convenient how Disney rides and shows let out either directly into or right next to a gift shop or cart J ), where Karen spent some of her Disney dollars on Ariel shoes. Slowly it dawned on us that the huge line we saw across the way was for the Soundstage, where we had an 11 AM priority seating. Even though it was 10:10, we hopped in line and checked in early. We were finally seated at 10:50; this would be our longest wait of the trip. While eating our food (this is a buffet restaurant), we heard a CM explaining to another guest that it wasn’t usually that bad, but it was worse today because of early entry. We saw Aladdin,, Esmeralda, Genie, Meeko and Quasimodo. We finished about noon, and decided to call it a day at MGM. We drove back to the Poly, and Chris and Karen relaxed in the room while I did the laundry.

I had no problem getting a free washer, and 2 free dryers when I arrived. Total cost was $3.00. (I had brought pre-measured amounts of powdered detergent and all-fabric bleach with me in ziploc bags, as well as Bounce fabric softener sheets and packets of Shout stain treatment wipes. This is much more cost effective than paying $1 for a 1-load box of Tide or Downey, and took up virtually no room in the suitcase.) While in the laundry room, I picked up an interesting tidbit from a lady from Canada. Seems she and her family were on the ground floor of the Maori building. One of her children left the sliding door to the patio cracked while they were at the parks. When they returned, her 16 year-old son discovered a baby snake curled up next to the toilet. Her husband removed the snake, which they believed was a garter snake. The Poly offered to move them to a different (presumably higher up) room, but they declined. Instead, the Poly sent a complimentary fruit and cheese basket to their room.

After some much-needed naps, we took the monorail to Epcot. We ate dinner at the Sunshine Food Fair in the lower level of the Land pavilion. I had the ham & cheese sandwich, Chris had the chicken salad sandwich, and Karen had the "Mick-e-roni" and cheese kids’ meal. We also split a wonderful brownie. (The brownie is on the menu at several of the food stands, but the Cheese and Pasta booth gives it to you in a plastic container, which makes it easier to carry with you for later. The bakery booth, however, will only give you a bag for the brownie, which will not protect the brownie if, like me, you want to put it in your backpack.) We then rode the Living with the Land Ride with a 10 minute wait. Then back at Karen’s request to Journey into Imagination (walk-on), Honey I Shrunk the Audience (walked right into the pre-show for the next showing) and then over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure. We had to wait 11 minutes for the next show to begin. The new storyline with Ellen and the Jeopardy game is more interesting than the older version, although I’m still puzzled as to why Einstein never scores any points. It was about 8 PM by this time, so Chris and Karen went back to Ellen’s Energy Adventure while I went on Body Wars. Since I’d read this ride can cause nausea, I wanted to go on it before taking Karen. Body Wars seemed to throw you around more than Star Tours. My feeling was, if you aren’t tall enough to plant your feet firmly on the floor, you’re going to get thrown around in your seat like a sack of potatoes. I enjoyed the ride, but I don’t understand why one might get nauseous on this ride. I met up with Chris and Karen, and headed back to the Poly for the night, where (say it with me now) we watched the fireworks and lagoon pageant. It is a beautiful view from the beach; you can even see Tinkerbell’s lit wings as she flies from the castle to Tomorrowland.

Thursday, 9/25

Early entry day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived at 7:35, and went directly to Dumbo. Chris and Karen walked right on, and I hopped in line myself, waiting about 2 more rides before taking Karen again. We then walked right on to the Carrousel, Snow White, Peter Pan and Small World (this ride never had more than about a 2 boat wait any time we stopped by). Chris and Karen went back on Small World, while I went back to Peter Pan (my favorite Fantasyland ride). The line for Peter Pan went from walk-on to 10 minute wait while I was on the ride. We then waited 10 minutes for Mr. Toad, followed by a spin on the Tea Cups. The rope had dropped early for Toontown, so we went to the Judge’s Tent and waited about 2 minutes before being ushered into the room with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. We got in line for Mickey’s Pals, where we found Goofy, Pluto and Minnie. We only needed Pluto. It was getting close to our 9:45 priority seating at Chef Mickey’s, so we boarded the train to Main Street and took the monorail to the Contemporary, where we checked in at 9:35. We were seated at 9:50. Since we had seen all these characters before, we didn’t wait for all of them to get to our table after we finished eating. Only Minnie and Chip made it before we left. We got on the monorail for the Polynesian, as this was Ladybug Release day. We arrived about 10:50, and were directed out behind the Great Ceremonial House, where we found the small Ladybug van. In a short time, Dr. L. Bug arrived with his boxes of ladybugs, and about 25 kids appeared out of the woodwork. Each of us (mostly kids and a few adults) received a matchbox full of ladybugs to release on to the plants. Afterwards, we received stickers, and the kids were each given personalized certificates.

We relaxed briefly in our room, then walked to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot. I spotted a cart of Ty Beanie Babies from the monorail by the Land pavilion, so I headed there to check them out while Chris and Karen went back to see the dinosaurs at Universe of Energy. There are indeed Beanie Babies at WDW. This was the first I saw any during the trip, but I saw them in the following places for the remainder of the trip: the cart between the Land and Journey into Imagination, Trader Jack’s in the Polynesian, the cart by the Haunted Mansion, a shop in Frontierland, and the Mercantile at the Wilderness Lodge. There were tons of Beanies, but each place had the same selection; I saw the same 8 styles over and over again. I bought a few for a friend (you could buy 2 of each style), and shopped the World Showcase again. Chris and Karen saw Cranium Command and poked around the exhibits in the Wonders of Life Pavilion. We met up again in France, where Karen spent some more Disney Dollars on a personalized parasol that is hand-painted for you as you watch. It turned out to be a prophetic purchase, as it began to sprinkle just as the artist was finishing (the rain wouldn’t hurt the paint, but the parasol couldn’t be closed for 20 minutes, so we had to kill some time before getting on the monorail). We headed back to Future World, but the skies opened up as we reached the Canada pavilion. We waited there, relatively dry, under an overhang of the Trading Post for about 5 minutes, until the rain let up. (We couldn’t take the parasol inside, although that was a moot point, since the shop was already crammed full of people escaping the rain.) We were back at the Polynesian by 2 for showers and naps.

We had dinner at the Coral Isle Café. Cream of Mushroom soup and Caesar salad with shrimp chips for Chris, the Big Kahuna Burger and Waffle Fries for Karen and me. We returned to the Magic Kingdom about 5:40. This was E-Ticket night for me, so we stopped by City Hall to get my green polka dot wristband.

Chris and Karen saw the country Bear Jamboree while I went to the Welcome Center for our Guest of Honor Badges. People were already (at 6:30) staking out spots for the 8 PM parade, so Chris found a spot at the end of Main Street by the Emporium. Karen and I took the train from Main Street to Toontown, where we checked the lines at the Hall of Fame (too long) and wanted to get personalized pink Mouse Ears for Karen at the Sewing Circle. We were told we’d have to go to Geiger’s Counter in Tomorrowland to get the name put on. (Why call it Sewing Circle if they do no sewing?) We found Geiger’s Counter and got the name added, then hurried to the Carrousel, where we got on after a 5 minute wait. Next to Small World, which was a walk-on, then back to the Carrousel one last time, after another 5 minute wait. It was now 7:45, so after a potty stop, I deposited Karen with Chris on Main Street for the parade. I then left to start my evening on my own.

I headed to Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents, arriving at 8. The shows are at quarter past and quarter till the hour, so I had a 15 minute wait. No problem finding a seat; there were maybe 25 people at this show. I won a dime by answering a trivia question (what president is on the dime? Franklin Roosevelt). Nice show, although I didn’t care for Maya Angelou’s presentation (she didn’t always speak as clearly and as forcefully as the material demanded). I caught the end of Spectro Magic going by and headed for the Haunted Mansion. I went twice, with only a brief wait for the next available stretch room. It was now just after 9, and the E-Ticket Express had officially begun. I watched the end of the fireworks, then I headed to Splash Mountain, where they dutifully checked for wristbands. After the first ride (I was with a family of 5), we were allowed to stay in our log and go again. After trip 2, I had to take a brief potty break (all that water…), then I had to go all the way back to the entrance at the top of the hill to get back on (I don’t see why you couldn’t just go back on at the entrance into the building, which is what they were letting you do the night Chris was there during E-Ticket Express). I was allowed to ride 3 times in a row without getting out of the log; I was in the front seat and had the log to myself. I finally got out after ride 5 to check out, and buy, my picture. By now it was 10:35. It is heavenly being in the park with virtually no one else there. I did some shopping at Pirate’s Bazaar, Main Street Bakery and the Emporium before catching the monorail to the Poly. It was 11:15 when I arrived back at the room. I would highly recommend the E-Ticket Express. It is amazing how much more you notice on each ride when you don’t feel rushed, and it’s quiet. This was the high point of the trip for me.

Friday, 9/26

This was early entry day at Epcot. We planned to sleep in (early entry seems to be unnecessary for Epcot), but we were awake by 7:45 courtesy of some discourteous neighbors. We took our time getting ready, and arrived at Epcot by regular opening time. We went first to (you guessed it) Figment’s ride, which was a slight wait because Honey I Shrunk the Audience just let out. We played in Image Works for awhile because it was pouring when we finished Figment’s ride. Once the rain let up, we went to Innoventions, sent some email and played with some exhibits. At 10:15, we decided to go 45 minutes early to check in for our 11 AM seating at the Garden Grill. Although it wasn’t nearly as busy today, we were still given a beeper, and were seated at 10:40. In 30 minutes time, we saw Minnie, Chip and Mickey twice apiece, and Dale once. Dale "borrowed" a Tigger backpack from the table before us, and wore it for about 10 tables before returning it to the owner, stopping at each table to turn and wave to the person it belonged to. We bought a brownie at the Sunshine Food Fair, then caught a bus to MGM.

We arrived around noon. Skies looked very gloomy. We went to Muppet-Vision 3-D, and waited only 3 minutes until the next show. Chris wanted to go to the Animation Tour, so Karen and I shopped, purchasing an Ewok and a Christmas present for Chris. We had some ice cream while waiting for the rain to stop, then caught a bus back to the Poly for naps.

It was pouring down rain, so we decided to skip the parks for the rest of the day. We had dinner at a Sizzler, then went to Downtown Disney. We bought some robot-painted shirts at Studio M, although I was a little disappointed in the man waiting on us. I wanted to buy myself a shirt with Ariel on it, but he told me Ariel was a little girls character and I should get Nala instead, to go with the Simba shirt Chris was getting. I stupidly went along with his suggestion, even though I was frustrated that he didn’t just take my order without giving me a hard time.

Saturday, 9/27

EE day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived at 7:35. Karen was able to ride Dumbo 4 times in a row because Chris would take her on while I got in line for the next ride, and then he did the same while I was on it with Karen. Then we went on Mr. Toad, Snow White, Peter Pan and Small World (all walk-ons). Chris and Karen went on Small World again while I rode Peter Pan 3 times in a row. It was pouring down rain at this point, and the rain really cut down on the crowds for the entire day. Time for the rope drop between Fantasyland and Liberty Square, so we headed to the Haunted Mansion, in the first stretch room of the day. Next we headed to Splash Mountain, where Chris and I switched off. While Karen and I were waiting for Chris, Karen played in the little playground area underneath the railroad, near the exit of Splash Mountain. Karen was waiting her turn to go down the slide behind a small girl I would guess to be around 3. The little girl turned around, saw Karen waiting behind her, and slugged her! Karen just walked away from her, but the part that bugged me was, the little girl’s mother saw her hit Karen, and only said, "Come on, Allison, let’s go somewhere else."

Next we took a quick trip on Pirates, then headed for the launch to Wilderness Lodge for our 11 AM priority seating at Artist Point. We checked in at 10:45 and were seated immediately. Characters were Pocahontas, John Smith, and Meeko, with Governor Ratcliffe showing up later. This was the best breakfast so far in terms of atmosphere and character interaction. The dining room was only half full; I don’t know if it is always this way, or if the weather had an effect. We were served eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, cheese blintz with berry sauce, pancakes and muffins (including corn muffins with whole kernels of corn). The characters here were very good. Since attendance was low, Pocahontas made several stops at our table, at one point giving Karen a big kiss on the cheek that left her with a big lipstick mark the rest of the day. John Smith came over and said, "Well, I can see Pocahontas has already been here." Meeko also clowned around with another man’s fanny pack and windbreaker, and wandered around with muffins in his ears.

Chris left for Downtown Disney while Karen and I caught the launch back to the Magic Kingdom, after filling a pouch with polished rocks at the mercantile. We took the train to Toontown and were told Donald might be in Mickey’s Pals. We took a chance, and 5 minutes later, we saw Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. When we exited, we asked about the Fairy Tale Friends and found out Cruella De Vil was there. After getting her autograph and a picture, as well as Belle for the third time, we got the monorail back to the Poly, after getting a brownie at the Main Street Bakery. (The best brownies are at the Sunshine Food Fair in the Land Pavilion at Epcot.)

We met up with Chris at the hotel, where we took showers, then caught a bus to MGM. We saw the last Beauty and the Beast show of the day; it was outstanding. The doves at the end are a nice touch. We then checked in at 4:35 for our 5 PM priority seating at the Prime Time Café and were seated in 5 minutes. Our server was Cody, who gave us a hard time about whether we washed our hands or not, grilling us about the type and color of the soap. I couldn’t remember; when you’re helping a small child in the bathroom, who pays attention to what kind and color soap there is? Karen ordered the kid’s hot dog, while Chris and I split the Buffalo Chicken Tenders and Nachos appetizers. Between the 3 of us, we cleaned all our plates (the chicken was wonderful), so I ordered Smores. They were good, but I was sure I’d be in a diabetic coma when I finished them. Actually, I don’t know that I would order them again; they needed more chocolate and a lot less marshmallows. I think there were 16 full-size marshmallows; the graham crackers seemed stale. After getting a bus back to the Poly, Karen and I headed to Downtown Disney. I discovered that the Magic Kingdom Club discount works at all stores in Downtown Disney, not just the World of Disney. The World of Disney was busy but not as bad as the night before. Karen picked out a light purple pointed princess hat for her Halloween costume. We then went to Eurospain and found some beautiful crystal butterflies. I could have spent a long time in this store, but it was getting late. Then off to Goodings for some bottled water, and back to the Poly with minutes to spare for the fireworks and the electrical pageant.

Sunday, 9/28

This was EE day at MGM. We slept in until about 8:30 (either we had new neighbors, or we were getting used to them). We originally had an 8:15 priority seating for Chef Mickey’s but changed it on Saturday for a 10:30 seating at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. When I first started making the priority seating arrangements in July and August, I was told that Park Fare wasn’t included in the Fall Fantasy breakfasts. When we checked into the Poly, we were given a listing of the breakfasts covered, and Park Fare was included. We decided at the last minute to try Park Fare, and the earliest opening they had for a party of 3 was 10:30. We took the monorail over, and checked in at 10:05. Were seated at 10:30. The characters were Bert, Mary Poppins, Minnie, Pluto, and Alice in Wonderland. The buffet was very good, probably the best buffet we encountered, including made-to-order omelets. It was an absolute madhouse waiting to be seated when we left, with wall-to-wall people in the waiting area. My pet peeve about Disney restaurants: If they aren’t going to give you a beeper when it’s crowded (they didn’t here), then at least get some sort of microphone so we can hear which party is being called. It was nearly impossible to hear the CMs here and at the Soundstage because of the drone of everyone talking amongst themselves. To their credit, they did write down what I was wearing, so the CM walked over to me and asked for me, but there still must be a better way.

We took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The turnstiles were packed (it was a beautiful day after 2 days of rain, so everyone must have been going to the MK), so we turned around and got on the monorail to the TTC to change for the monorail to Epcot. We rode the boat across the lagoon to Morocco to see Aladdin and Jasmine at 12:40. Afterwards, Chris and Karen headed back to Future World while I took what I thought was probably the last shopping trip through the World Showcase. I found a beautiful a silk scarf in China for a Christmas present, as well as some flower earrings for me in Norway. I also found a US flag pin at the American Pavilion for Karen; all the shops were out of them the past few days. Chris and Karen had to wait for an unexplained reason about 20 minutes at Journey into Imagination; then they went to Universe of Energy. I went to the Met Life pavilion to see the Making of Me (cute and probably appropriate for ages 5 up) and sign up for the free souvenir. I was slightly annoyed here because they had 4 or 5 phones to use to sign up for the souvenir, and some mother was letting her children use all the phones at once, even though she saw that I was waiting. After meeting up again, we grabbed the monorail to the Poly, where after a short break, we had dinner at Captain Cooks (cheeseburger and fries for Chris and Karen, chicken tenders for me). I ended up with a free banana. The tenders come with fries or a piece of fruit. I ordered the fruit, but the CM taking the order thought I didn’t want anything but the chicken (even though I said chicken tenders and a banana when I ordered). Because it was his mistake, he gave me the banana free. I couldn’t believe the price difference: $6.25 with fruit, 4.20 without. $2.05 for a banana?

We decided to take the monorail to Magic Kingdom. We hadn’t seen the Legend of the Lion King yet, so we went there after getting more badges at the Welcome Center. We walked into the lobby for the next show. I noticed the continuation of a bothersome trend here: people were constantly talking over CMs, preshows, and even the shows themselves. I enjoy this show, but my enjoyment was diminished because I had to listen closely to hear the dialogue over people talking in the audience. We went the Carrousel, waited 5 minutes for the next ride, then had a walk-on at Small World. We returned to the Haunted Mansion, where we walked directly into a stretch room. After a brief shopping stop, we went to Pirates for our last ride of the day. We fought the crowds to get out, leaving about 5 minutes before Spectro Magic.

Monday, 9/29

Another EE day at Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the gates at 7:30. No one was let in until close to 7:40. Karen rode Dumbo twice, once with Chris and then with me. The line had quickly gotten prohibitively long (the first time in 4 EE days that happened before regular park opening), so we went to Mr. Toad, the Tea Cups (twice, without having to get out), Snow White, the Carrousel, Peter Pan and Small World, all of which were walk-ons. We went to the rope drop at Liberty Square, where I rode Splash Mountain for the last time after a 15 minute wait. Chris and Karen saw the Country Bear Jamboree and the Pirates during this time. We left to catch the launch to Wilderness Lodge for breakfast at Artist Point. We were seated immediately at 10:40; again, it was only about half full.

Chris left to check on a delivery that should have arrived on Sunday, and Karen and I took our time finishing breakfast, then shopped at the Mercantile in the Lodge. That is a wonderful little gift shop. They have some of the most beautiful and reasonably priced stuffed animals I have seen. Karen bought a Bald Eagle, and I bought an absolutely huge cute moose for $19. (I expected it to be at least $35 due to its size and detail, and was quite pleasantly surprised when I saw the price sticker. My sister later saw the exact same moose in a store in Ohio for $44.) Karen and I returned to the Poly by getting on the bus for MGM. (This bus runs a loop of MGM-Wilderness Lodge-Polynesian-Grand Floridian, so it was a convenient way to get back to our hotel) The driver jokingly scolded me for hitchhiking when we got off.

We took a break and swam, then returned to the Magic Kingdom. Absolutely the worst lines and crowds of our visit, and we had no idea why it was so bad the last couple of days. We never saw lines of more of 15 minutes anywhere at any of the 3 parks until today. Splash Mountain was about an hour wait. We took a train to Toontown, where we went to the Hall of Fame and asked who was in the Fairy Tale Friends line. Always before, the CM was happy to tell me who they thought was in there. This time, the CM refused to give me any idea who would be in there. I said that whenever I asked before, I was always told who might be in there, but he was no help, saying, "Well, I can’t tell you because they change all the time, so I have no way of knowing who is in there". I said we were specifically interested in Sleeping Beauty, as she was the last princess we needed. He pulled out a list and said she wasn’t scheduled to be there at all today. We decided to go ahead and take a look anyway. We were ushered back almost immediately (Fairy Tale Friends almost always has the shortest line), and who did we find? Esmeralda, Pocahontas ….and Sleeping Beauty! I was really annoyed with this CM. We then took the Skyway to Fantasyland, and had an early dinner at Pecos Bills (cheeseburger and grapes, hot dog and grapes, chili cheese fries, and a wonderful peanut butter cup brownie - if you like peanut butter cups, you will love this!). Here we had an unsettling experience: Karen and I sat at a table while waiting for Chris to get the food. A group of 4 middle-Eastern (judging from their clothes) people sat at the remaining 4 seats at our table and just stared at us. It was very nerve-wracking (Karen was near tears because the man next to her was staring at her constantly), so I said something to Karen about seeing if Daddy had the food yet, and we moved. Chris headed back to the room, as he had developed a bad blister, and Karen and I went to the exit to Splash Mountain to see Brer Fox and Brer Bear. We decided to check Ariel, but it was way too hot to stand in the sun that long to see her. They need to get some shade back in that area. We saw Dopey at the Character Festival, then went to Toontown to visit the Fairy Tale Friends again and saw the same 3 princesses. We took train to Main Street, arriving just in time to see the flag lowering ceremony. Very neat: they play the Star Spangled Banner and release doves. We bought popcorn and fed some to the birds before going back to the Poly.

The Polynesian has lots of ducks and birds, so Karen and I took the popcorn and some pretzels to the beach and fed the ducks. It was lots of fun, and those ducks are little heathens when it comes to begging for food. We watched the fireworks and the lagoon show for (sigh) the last time and turned in for our last night at the Polynesian. Is it really almost over, so soon?

Tuesday, 9/30

Last day. EE Epcot. 8 am priority seating at Ohana’s. Up at 7, finished last minute packing, and called the front desk to get our bags picked up and stored until we left later in the day. The bags were gone by 7:30 so we relaxed and read the paper until 7:50. We watched ducks swimming in the pool on our way to Ohana’s. We arrived before 8 and were seated immediately. Minnie, Goofy and Chip and Dale were all dressed in Polynesian garb. The menu included pineapple bread, eggs, sausage, ham, biscuits, potatoes and fruit. Minnie noticed Karen’s autograph book was fairly full, so she flipped through it, saw the previous Minnie autograph and wrote, "Aloha Karen! Nice to see you again. Minnie." We finished with all the characters in time to make the monorail to the MK by 9 am. We went straight to Fantasyland, arriving as the rope dropped. Despite heading straight to Dumbo, there was still a 10 minute wait. We rode Mr. Toad, Snow White, and Peter Pan, then returned to Tea Cups. This was the only time we saw the White Rabbit, so we made sure to get his autograph. We were able to ride the Tea Cups twice without getting off. We went back to Small World, then waited for Ariel’s Grotto to open; we were third in line to see her. Karen played in the fountains while waiting for Chris to get new camera batteries. We headed back to the Character Festival, saw Max and got pictures with Chip and Dale. I was wearing a Chip and Dale shirt; we saw Chip & Dale twice today, but only the Dales ever noticed my shirt, and both times, Dale got quite excited, giving me the thumbs up and hugging me. We rode the Carrousel, then watched Merlin. Merlin is quite the entertainer! We watched some of Disneymania from Cinderella’s wishing well, then got lunch (2 cheeseburgers, fries and grapes) from Cosmic Ray’s. After checking out the Character Festival one more time, we headed out of the park.

We rode the monorail to Epcot. Chris and Karen went on Universe of Energy while I took one last look in the shops in the United Kingdom, where I finally bought that miniature teapot I’d been eyeing the whole trip. All 3 of us went on Journey into Imagination, then took a last ride on Spaceship Earth. The ride stopped twice; the second time, we stopped as the seats were turning backwards, right next to the speaker that continuously said "Attention travelers…" Very annoying; too bad that announcement doesn’t stop when the cars do. We took the Monorail back to the Polynesian, collected our bags and headed to the Comfort Inn at the Florida Mall. Big, big letdown after the Polynesian. We had dinner at Denny’s, then spent a good deal of time trying to pack all our souvenirs more efficiently in the suitcases. One tip: We have a set of 4 suitcases that nest together. We were able to fly down with the largest suitcase empty (by putting the next largest bag inside the largest).

Chris’ notes:

The souvenir soft-drink mug (free refills for length of stay, $9) is probably not worthwhile… unless you are pinching pennies, you drink a lot of soda, you are staying for at least a week, you plan on spending a fair amount of time near your hotel, and you don’t mind walking a couple of minutes to get a drink. On our ten-day stay, drinking about two sodas at the hotel per day, I saved only about $10 over what I would have spent at the vending machines near our room… and probably walked more than five extra miles to do it! (The Oahu building was about a quarter-mile round-trip to Captain Cook’s; most rooms probably were closer than that, but there were also some that were further away.)
The hotel rooms seem to be poorly soundproofed. There was a door to an adjacent room that had a big (almost a full inch) gap underneath; it let a lot of sound through. (Eventually we covered the gap with a rolled-up towel. It helped some, but still were kept up late or awakened early by various inconsiderate neighbors.) I don’t recall the Grand Floridian being nearly as bad (we were there two years ago at a similar time of the year).
It is possible to stay in the park long enough to see the Spectro-Magic parade and then get back to the Polynesian in time to see the fireworks and Seven Seas Lagoon light show… but it may be more hassle than it is worth. You have to sit near the very end of Main Street (where the parade starts), which (even during a non-busy day) required camping out more than an hour in advance. Then you have to beat the crowds to the monorail and race to the beach. We got onto the first monorail after the parade and reached the beach almost exactly 45 minutes after the start of the parade. (There’s not much margin for error on days when the fireworks start 45 minutes after the parade begins; it’s fairly easy to make it on days when there’s a full hour between them.) After trying that once, we just settled for watching either Spectro-Magic or the lagoon show (but not both) each day.
The animation tour at MGM Studios was pretty good. It was billed as a "45-minute walking tour" in the park’s guide map; Diana and Karen thought that sounded like too much walking, so they didn’t attend. However, most of the time is spent sitting or standing; the total walking distance was probably less than 100 yards. Sitting parts: (1) a short film on the animation process at the beginning of the tour (a hilarious story with Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams); (2) a short session (and question period) with a Disney animator in the middle of the tour; (3) a short collection of famous clips from Disney movies at the end of the tour. When walking though the "fishbowl" – the place where you actually see the Disney animators working, behind soundproof glass walls – you get to stand and watch some clips from an upcoming feature. (When we were there, Mulan was in progress, and the clips were quite interesting.)
"Studio M" at Downtown Disney (adjacent to the big Disney store) sells some very pretty computer-painted T-shirts. They stick a blank T-shirt into the machine, the robot arm airbrushes a picture of a Disney character and some text. There seemed to be a big crowd at the counter (and a fairly large backlog of orders) every time we were there. You can wait for your shirt to be painted and pick it up, or you can have it sent to your hotel room. Our shirts got lost on the way to our hotel room ("Studio M" said their records showed the shirts as delivered to the hotel, the hotel said they never received a package for us), but they were quite gracious about correcting the problem (made another set of shirts and had them shipped to our home address at no cost). Even if you don’t want to buy one of these fairly expensive (~$30) shirts, it’s fun to watch the robots painting away – the paint-changing process by itself is fairly interesting – if you end up in the area. They had three painting robots constantly busy when we were there. (They said there was another similar operation at the Magic Kingdom, but we never saw anything like that there.)
All in all, we had a great time, but we’re not sure when our next trip will be!

Diana Stassen

diana@stassen.com

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