Trip Reports

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: DL / Offsite - Residence Inn on Lake Cecil
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Mark and his wife Lane enjoyed a 15th wedding anniversary trip at WDW. They stayed offsite for the first part of the trip and at Dixie Landings for the second. Mark's report is especially interesting because of the summary conclusions about on-site versus off-site and whether or not to use Disney transportation.

Day 1, Sept 18, 1998

Departed SLC on DELTA FLT 2068, only about 35 minutes late, groan, due to some mechnical problems but we were on our way.

This trip coincides with our 15th Wedding anniversary so we left our 14 year old daughter home. I really wish she could come but she was a good sport about it. We’ll have to have a Dole Whip in her honor! Last trip, Dec 97 we had her split the trip, she came down with us and then went home after 4 days. That works out just right, some time together, some time just the two of us.

Lane, my wife was grumbling because even though she is a GOLD MEDALION member she couldn’t upgrade to First Class because they were all full. So we sat in the back in the cattle section. She really travels too much because First Class has spoiled her.

Got into MCO about 30 min late, I guess it was about 11:40pm. Got the car from National with minimum hassel. This was a Ford Taurus on the prepaid plan for 10 days for $284.00. Drove in the pouring rain to the Residence Inn on Lake Cecil (Hwy 192) just right by Kissimmee. Checked into our room which was on the end, last building they said they could move us closer tomorrow.

Day 2, Sept 19, 1998

Got up late, slept in. Dropped our keys off at the front desk and left our luggage in the room. Figured we would go to Animal Kingdom seeing how we had never been there before. We drove over to Animal Kingdom and got there about 10 am. The parking lot wasn’t too crowded. But when we got to the entrance there was a lot of people there. We had to go to guest services because we needed to upgrade our Annual Premium passports to include AK. We did that for a cost of $6.40 each. (Our AP’s expire on 12/04/98). The line at guest services was long, seems that it was Firefighter FREE day and everyone in line that had some kind of badge that said they were EMS personnel got a voucher to get them and I think 4 other people in for free. I believe this was extended as an offer of appreciation for all the people who worked to Florida wildfires earlier this year. Well I guess that made the park a little bit more crowded. It was sunny out and kind of warm. We went into the park and started over towards Camp Mickey and Minnie section. We got in line for Grandma Willow/Pocohantus show. We watched it and it was OK. We then came out and got in the line for the Circle of Life show but it was full. So we headed back out and went to the tree if life. The line for "Tough to be a Bug" show said 25 mins so we got in that. The wait was about 25 mins but you were moving the whole time and it was neat to see all the things carved into the roots and into the trunk of the tree of life. We got into see the show but noticed some of the effects were not working for our show. Hum, I think that HISTA(Honey I Shrunk the Audience) may be better. We left there and went into Africa and caught the train to Conservation Station and wandered around there. We were looking at all the exhibts when I noticed there was a person behind the glass working on a computer. Outside the glass was another cast member available to answer questions. I noticed on the wall there were some buttons. I turned to Lane and said, "Isn’t that neat, that man pushes one of those buttons on the wall and a food pellet comes out and the Lady inside comes over and types on the computer." We both laughed. I still remember those days of those kinds of things at the local amusement park. The one I remember was , you put your money in and a light inside this box/cage came on and the chicken came over and played the piano with its beak and then the light went off and the chicken got some food. Then we noticed that it was pouring rain outside and we had forgotten our poncho’s and our camera. We came out of there and walked back and stopped at the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. I would recommend the BBQ chicken platter. Gee for $7.25 I think, you get a ½ chicken and 2 sides. It was very good. Lane had the BBQ turkey salad that was OK, not as good as the chicken. We left there and the rain was only sprinkling now and we went to Countdown to Extinction which was good. I think the Indian Jones ride at Disneyland is actually better but it was fun. There was only about a 5 min wait and knowing that was abnormally short we did it again. We then walked back to Camp Mickey and seen the Circle of life show which was pretty good. You sit right in the middle of the show so every thing is up close so that makes it kind of fun. It was getting about 5pm so we went back to Africa to ride the Safari ride and it was a NO WAIT walk on! Definitely a good tip to do it late in the day plus it is nice because I think the animals were starting to come out for the afternoon. It was a fun ride as the jeep bounced along. I read in last years Unofficial Guide to WDW that this ride was supposed to be a motion simulator ride, with vehicles kind of like the Countdown to extinction, Hum. Well they weren’t right about that, but then again it was written before the ride was finished. We saw Antelope, Giraffes, Ostriches, Zebras, Elephants and a Big Lion sitting on a Rock looking so magestic! Spoiler….I read somewhere that the rock the Lion is sitting on is Air-conditioned, so no wonder he likes to sit on it! Lane asked the driver some question like how did they get so many animals in so soon…to which he replied "This is Disney!" Yes that answer applies to just about everything! The AK is very nice, very lush with plants/trees everywhere and the free water stations are great. Bring a bottle or something you can fill up and carry with you. After we left the safari ride we thought we would hit Tough to be a bug again and see if was any better. They let us cut in the ropes as it was a walk on and the second time was better. All the effects were working where we sat this time. Again I still think HISTA is better. We left the park at about 7pm which is closing time. We have to go back again to take pictures.

Day 3, Sept 20, 1998

Down day due to Business.

I had some things to take care as I combined this trip with a business trip so we slept in, had free continental breakfast and then I dropped Lane off at EPCOT and I had to drive up to SANFORD, about an hours drive North and took care of some things. We then met back at the Rain Forrest Café for a 7pm dinner. The Rain Forrest Café I think has very good food. We have never had anything that doesn’t taste excellent. We started off with the Pieces of Eight which has been renamed but it is an excellent appetizer and one of our favorites. We took half of it back to the Residence and put it in the fridge. Then Lane had the Blackened Meat Loaf and I had the Maya Pastalya which was very good and spicy! I wanted the Rasta Pasta but our server talked me into the Maya Pastalya. It was good. No room for desert. We then wandered around the Marketplace for a bit and then I had a 4:30am wake up call for Monday morning so we headed back to the room.

Day 4, Sept 21, 1998

Down day again.

I had to go back up to SANFORD to do some more business stuff and my wife had to take care of some work for one of her clients, AirTRAN, so she went there. I met her back at AirTRAN in the afternoon. We then came home and changed clothes and went back to EPCOT and did everything in the front. We went through the shops and then seen the Ellen Universe of Energy ride which was pretty good. Seen the soon to be renamed "SOON TO OPEN TEST TRACK" still not open. It was raining so we where in our ponchos We then went over to HISTA which was a walk on. Yes, I think it is better than It's Tough to be a Bug but just my opinion. We then came home.

Day 5, Sept 22, 1998

We checked out of the Residence Inn. TIP: Request a TOP floor at the RI. They are nice places but built like apartments and not hotel’s so if there is a bunch of kids above you bouncing around you’ll think the roof is caving in. I’ve stayed at several and that seems to be the norm. We then drove a very round about way to Dixie Landings. I wouldn’t tell Lane where we were staying on property so it was a surprise up to the last minute when we pulled into Dixie Landings. We check in about 9am and knew our room wasn’t ready so we got Resort ID’s, parked the car and jumped the bus for Magic Kingdom. We went to MK and went right on in, went and did the Tiki birds which was fun, I don’t remember the old show, walked on to Pirates had about a 5 min wait for Splash Mtn. The line for Big Thunder Mtn Railroad was outside so we passed on that. Walked around, checked out the Menu at Liberty Tree Tavern and walked on the Haunted Mansion (5 min wait). Came out of there, looked at the Menu at Cinderella’s Castle and Yes the original Castle looks better than the pink Cakestle! Went over into Tomorrowland, did Alien Encounters (walk on) and then over to Space Mtn (5 min) wait. Boy the Rain sure keeps the crowd down. We also discovered a new favorite place to eat, Tony’s Town Square, right inside the gate. We split a Calzone (which is different each day) and also had a Salad which was served family style. Very good! The dressing on the Salad was very good and I’ve been looking for a good dressing. Knowing this is Disney, I asked our server if I could get the receipt for the Salad Dressing that it was very good. No problem he said and came back and handed me a sheet of paper. The receipt was there but it started off with 10 gallons of Olive Oil, 3 lbs of garlic, 3 gallons of Red Wine Vinegar, etc. I’ll have to see about cutting it down just a little or we’ll have to buy a bigger fridge. We decided to leave early and go back and get checked in to DL then we did some Laundry. We got the room we wanted, 2nd floor in Alligator Bayou, Lodge 14 which is close to the main house and the bus stops. The room was very nice and in good shape, no complaints. Water pressure in the shower was typical hotel but OK. Turbo flush toilets worked just fine. We met one of Lane’s fellow workers for dinner at Boatwright's and it was pretty good. Him and I had the seafood pasta combo and Lane had the prime rib. Wait, she’s not the meat eater in the family but then again... The prime was a little dry and while she order the standard choice + 1 for prime, medium it came out more like med well and dry. Oh well she liked it. The pasta was OK, it had scallops, shrimp and catfish that was all blackened in it. Her co-worker, Gene, asked for extra spicy on his pasta seafood combo and the cooks shut him down cause he only made it through about ½ before crying uncle and saying "well, I asked for it…"

We then jumped the boat about 9pm and road it over to Pleasure Island, very nice boat ride and one of the fastest boats in Disney that I have every been on. It is a pontoon style boat and holds about 30 people. It was dark but I’m sure it would be even nicer in the daylight. Take the boat ride even if your not staying at DL or Port Orleans. We hopped around PI and did the Comedy Warehouse which is always fun. Walked all the way through the West End and then rode the bus back to DL and got in bed about 12:30am.

Day 6, Sept 23, 1998

Woke up early this morning about 6:30am and Lane was still sleeping so I worked on my trip report and let her sleep in another hour or so. We left the room about 8:00am and caught the BUS to MGM. We went into MGM and headed straight for TOT (Tower of Terror). We walked right on and figured we'd better ride again so we went around again. We did run into a home town celebrity. Lane said "That lady looks like someone from Utah" I asked her if she was from Utah and she said "yes, are you?", "Yes" I said. It was the local news station anchor lady. Not bad you come 1900 miles and run into someone you recognize. We bought new TOT t-shirts. We were wearing the ones from last year. We always get comments on our TOT shirts. I asked a cast member if everything was cleared up from the accident and he said "YES". Another note, once you're in the boiler room and you walk down the walkway to where you either go straight for the elevators on the Left or you make a right turn and go to the two elevators on the Right. From that point the straight path is about 21 steps and the one where you turn right is about 33 steps. So both lines being equal go straight. We then went from there to our favorite show, Hunchback of Notre Dame. It is a very good show! A lot of good talent and they have very good voices! We then headed out and were to meet a co-worker (Scott Wattum) in Japan in Epcot at 2pm. We wanted to eat at the Biergarden in Germany so we went there about noon and had lunch. It was very good and then proceeded to meet Scott and his wife Lisa in the lounge above Japan. Scott and I had exchanged some e-mail regarding Disney so it was good to meet in person. Actually I’m sure we had run into each other when we both worked in Colorado Springs for Digital. We then left and continued around World Showcase and looped around the top and came back down through Mexico and around. We then came back to the room. It was extremely warm and humid today. There were plenty of clouds and a couple of drops of rain but nothing that required ponchos. We had dinner at the food court at DL. They have good hand battered onion rings.

I’m trying to get a feel for which would be better Disney transportation or Rental Car. The bus is nice once your on it and moving, it’s the waiting that is the pain. Plus this morning we had to stand the whole way to MGM because it was full. We are going to hit a water park in the morning and we’ll see how that goes by driving.

Day 7, Sept 24, 1998

Got up and headed to Typhoon Lagoon, got there about 5 mins after opening which was good. Went immediately to find a place to call home base and got a spot with plenty of shade. Dropped our stuff of and headed for the slides. We rode both tube slides and then went and rode the 3 body slides. Came back through and played in the wave pool. If you go to about the 4-5 foot deep area and time it just right when you jump up the wave will take you for a nice ride and you won’t get "rolled" in the process. We then left there and went back and showered about 1pm. We drove offsite to the Golden China restaurant for lunch. It is on H-192 just west of I-4. We then drove to MGM in the afternoon and walked on to the Indy show. We then went to the Making of Armageddon even though we hadn’t seen the movie. It was good. We then rode TOT one time (10 min wait). We then drove to Pleasure Island to see a movie. We always try to go see a movie because the theaters are nice and they all have Stadium seating. I’ll never go to a MALL theater again! We got our tickets for the movie but we hadn’t had time to eat. TIP: If you are staying on Disney property show your room key and they will give you a discount. They were $4.75 instead of $7.50, good TIP!. The guy at the movie said you could take stuff in to the movie so we ran up the sidewalk (5 mins) to McDonalds and grabbed some dinner and brought it back into the Movie and finished just about the time the previews started. The movie was Armageddon which was very good. Got home about 11pm.

Day 8, Sept 25, 1998

Breakfast at Boatwrights, Crazy Cajun Bannanna stuffed french toast. Don’t know if it is the exact same as at the Poly but it was OK. Went to Blizzard beach, found our home base and then headed for the rides. We rode the 3 Storm Trooper slides with the inside, enclosed tube ride being the best. Did some other slides, went back to our chairs, read some and then headed back to the room to shower. Both days both waterparks were NOT crowded at all, but either go first thing or later in the day. Went from there back to AK, so we could take some pictures. Had lunch at Flame Tree BBQ where we split a chicken platter and a basket of fries. Can you tell we liked the place. Plus if you split lunch and just get water or share a drink you can save quite a bit of money. We then went to countdown to extinction again which was a walk on, Did the free flying bird show. At the bird show I found a Hidden Mickey which I don’t think has been reported. I’ll have to check. If your facing the stage there is a portion of the wall that is rounded like a turret and in 2 places on the turret there are bricks that go around the turret that are different than the others. On the faces of each one of these bricks there is Mickey ears. We then went into Africa and did the safari ride, twice, first time the driver wasn’t very good in their role, so we went again and it was a lot better. We got on the first time at 5pm and it was a walk on, second time same thing. If you don’t see any animals when you go around, go around again because I was surprised how much they had moved. The giraffes were very active both times. We then did the walking tour(take a right turn when you come off the safari ride and it was very neat. It is simply amazing that the park has only been open since April 1998 and it looks so lush and there is so much vegetation. Left the park at closing and we had dinner ressies at Oliva’s at OKW. It was OK, nothing special. Boy I don’t like paying $20.00 for an entrée and have it be just OK. We then went from there to the Boardwalk. Last trip we stayed at the Boardwalk and it was December. Let me tell you, the wind was blowing most of the time, right off the water I might add and you could have swore you were in Atlantic City in December. It was very cold. This time it was nice and warm, lots of people wandering around. It was fun. We walked up to the bridge that leads to EPCOT and the Beach Club and watched the fireworks from Illuminations. We then walked over to the Beach Club and toured around there.

Day 9, Sept 26th 1998

Last day at Disney, sniff…..sniff……. We typically spend our last day by going to every park. Well we were getting worn out so we missed that a little. We got up and went to MGM and headed straight for TOT and rode it and asked to sit in front so we could get our picture to add to our collection. We even got one of the nice frames for it. We then went from there and went to MK and had lunch at Tony’s again. Yup you guessed it, split a Calzone and then split just a side salad and with water the bill was $12.00. Not bad for 2 people for lunch. Besides we had to save room for a Dole Whip! We then went to go ride BTMRR, because we missed that the first time. Well the line was long so we figured we would just skip it. We went and got a Dole Whip and Lane being the adventurous type we waited for the Adventureland challenge. We did that, it was a little tough, we were tired and didn’t really have the energy but did it anyway. We didn’t find the Idol, but we followed the instructions and got all the clues. Some other family had the idol but they didn’t follow the instructions and were lacking some of the important things you had to collect along the way. Col. Wayne McSwagger announced us as the winners and gave us our prize, A Head of the Line Pass for any ride! Of course we headed for BTMRR, we went in the exit and reported to the cast member and behind us was a party of 9. What are they doing here??? Then I noticed one of them was in an electric cart. Ahhhhhhh…. They put us on the train and earlier in the week I wondered if they run BTMRR when it rains, well to answer that, we came off the ride soaked! It started to rain when we were loading. Then there was a big jam up getting out the exit cause of the party of nine and a bunch of other people who thought it would be better to stand in the exit than to go out in the rain…Some people…. Then we got out of the ride and the guy riding in the electric cart stops and gets out and hands it to another person in the party and says "Here you drive this now….." Ahh Haaa! That’s how it works, get you and a bunch of your friends, chip in and rent a cart or a wheelchair and then go to the head of the line with our entourage and you all get to ride first with no waiting. That’s WRONG!

We then left MK and decided to go to Downtown Disney and finish up our souvenir shopping and go home and start packing. Lane got us all packed up. We had made ressies for Cape May Café in the Beach Club for a 9:20pm dinner and we got there about 9:00 and they sat us. I figured for our last meal it was going to be a nice one and it was. Got home about 10:30pm, set a wake up call for Mickey for 0500 and went to sleep.

Day 10, Sept 27th, 1998

Got up at 0500….Yawn and loaded the last stuff in the car and headed for the airport, dropped off the rental car and got on the Delta fight home…..Sigh….It’s over! Till next time!

Comments, Observations and Tips:

Mark Lane
Animal Kingdom:
Best Ride: Safari Ride
Best Food: Chicken at Flame Tree BBQ
Best Tip: Do your rides after about 5pm
MGM Studios:

Best Ride: Tower of Terror (only 5 trips on TOT!!! This time)
Best Show: Huntchback
Best Food: Foot Long at Rosie’s Red Hots
Best Tip: Hit TOT very first or Last
Magic Kingdom:

Best Ride: BTMRR
Best Food: Calzone at Tony's!!!
Best Snack: DOLE WHIP!!!!
Best Tip: Go Early or Go Late
EPCOT:

Best Ride: HISTA
Best Food: Biergarden in Germany
Best Tip: Go Later in the Day
Animal Kingdom:
Best Ride: Safari Ride
Best Food: Simba Ice Cream Bar
Best Tip: Do your rides after about 5pm
MGM Studios:

Best Ride: Tower of Terror
Best Show: Huntchback
Best Food: Foot Long at Rosie’s Red Hotse
Best Tip: Do Indy in the Morning
Magic Kingdom:

Best Ride: Undecided
Best Food: TONY’S!!!
Best Snack: DOLE WHIP!!!!
Best Tip: Skip the Kiddy Section
EPCOT:

Best Ride: HISTA
Best Food: Zikkey Taki, OY!
Best Tip: Do Front at Night
On-Site or Off-Site ?

We were trying to determine if staying off property versus on property was better. We stayed at the Residence Inn at Lake Cecil on H-192 about 5 mins away from Disney and it was $79.00/night with a Stay 4 nights get one free special. The RI was nice but again can be noisy so try to get a TOP FLOOR room. The free breakfast in the morning was kind of a zoo with people going everywhere, but it was OK and it was FREE. We always went about 8:30am which I’m sure was prime time. The room is nice with a full kitchen and a couch and chair so we where able to have snacks in the fridge and re-heat leftovers in the the micro nuker. That is a big plus.

The let down, you were still another 5 mins from Disney and as you see we went back to our room at least once during the afternoon and that was nice. And it was NOT DISNEY and there was no MAGIC. There was a Disney info channel on the TV but that was about it.

At Dixie Landings you were ON PROPERTY!!!! I think that is worth something. Everything is so nice.

One observation is that anywhere on Disney just look at things, look at how much thought time and effort they put into everything. They don’t just throw up a fast food snack bar with little tables, it is all themed so well.

At DL we had a good rate of $84.00/night on the Annual Passport holders special, so that being a wash, I would stay on Property in a heartbeat. I think that you get your best money/value at a Moderate resort. We’ve stayed at 2 premiums (Beach Club and Board Walk) and unless you get them at a very good rate I just don’t think they’re worth it. Plus with no food court food is going to cost you more and will take more time if you go to the full sit down resturants. I have never stayed at a VALUE property like All STAR SPORTS or the others so don’t know fully how those are. Out of the Moderates we’ve stayed at, CBR and DL I like DL the best so far. CBR is spread out so far. Plus this was nice because at DL we did some research and found a tip to stay in Alligator Bayou at a lodge that is close to the bus and Main bldgs. That is either 14, 15 or 18. It worked out nice.

Drive yourself or Take Disney Transportation ?

Another thing we were trying to figure out is Drive yourself or Take Disney transportation. We had a rental car the entire time this time and we rode the bus a couple of times. I think our decision is rental car. Of course our decision is based upon off peak season so things are not as crowded and that may either hurt or help the Disney transport (off peak vs. less busses, etc) Plus I also had a navigator that would give me directions and the National Map had a good park map on it. So we would get up and drive to each park, again it being off season I think the longest we waited was about 2 mins to get into MK one morning during prime time. The parking lots were not full by any means so it was easy to park and grab the tram and get dropped off closer than the bus stops.

My complaint with Disney Transport is you have to wait to get picked up, both coming and going. The bus stops are sometimes a hike from the park entrance (EPCOT) and then if they are full and you have to take another bus (DOWNTOWN DISNEY) then you get to wait extra long. Overall I liked the car and as an annual passport holder and if you stay on Disney property parking is free.

One disadvantage would be sometimes we would want to go to MK and then say go from there to MGM and then back to the room. With Disney transport you could pretty much go anywhere from anywhere. Granted it may take you 1 extra transfer. With the Car you had to go get your car and drive it to where you wanted to go.

Another tip at MK, don’t drive to MK. Think about it...it is one of the hardest parks to get to by car. If you go right to the MK you park at TTC and either take the ferry or the monorail and they get backed up if your during rush hour. If you go to the Contemporary or the Poly then you have to do the Monorail and again get backed up. Maybe for MK use the Disney transport from the Hotel or drive to another park and take the bus from there. Plus with a rental car your not having to rely or pay for transport to/from the Airport and use someone like Mears. You can take what you’ll spend on Mears which can be expensive and apply that to the rental car.

Mark Antry

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