Trip Reports

Becky Ashley - December 6-13, 1998 - Beach Club Resort

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: BCR
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Frequent
Comments: This report is a play-by-play of the Ashley family's Christmas time visit to WDW. Becky's report is very detailed, and is a wonderful place to start if you're thinking of going to visit during the Holidays.



December 6 - 13, 1998

Cast of Characters:

Becky: 38, trip planner and Disney enthusiast
Duane: 44, reluctant Disney visitor, but smart enough to go along to keep the peace
Daniel: 13, shares his mother’s enthusiasm for Disney and for life!
Catherine: 10, the "been-there, done-that" child who enjoyed herself despite her efforts not to.
Pre-planning

To make a very, very long story short, I decided in March of 1997 that we should have the Christmas Experience at Disney World. So at that time, I booked room reservations at the Beach Club (a resort where I had always wanted to stay). Previous family trips include March 1994 (5 days at the Polynesian) and March of 1996 (6 days at the Caribbean Beach Club). In November of 1997, I took Daniel and Catherine (without the husband) for 5 days staying at the All Star Music Resort. Anyway, back to the December 1998 trip. After numerous adjustments of vacation types, dates, etc. we ended up with the Magical Holidays package for 8 nights/7 days at the Beach Club. Our package included the Jolly Holidays Dinner Show (JH). Total price was $1676, which breaks down to $189 a night for the Beach Club, and $208 for the dinner show. After much debate I decided on getting 7 day parkhopper passes instead of Length of Stay. This turned out to be a good idea as we only used 6 days and now must go back to use that extra day! Passes were $275.94 w/ MKC discount. For all of our previous trips we had flown out of Philadelphia, but switched to Baltimore/Washington Int’l. Airport which saved us about $200 for the 4 of us. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Philadelphia and about 65 minutes to drive to Baltimore. Well worth the savings. Parking at BWI is very reasonable. $7 a day and the 7th day is free. We flew the new US Airways Metrojet service and did not find it any different than any other US Airways flight. The main difference is that seat assignments are made the day of the flight, but we didn’t have any trouble getting the seats we wanted. Also, since it was a new service the departure time for our flights changed about 6 times between when I bought the tickets and when we left. Bottom line the tickets were $178 per person including taxes. Car rental was through National with the Emerald Club discount. We got a 4 door full size for $145 for the entire week. (It should have been more with all the taxes and airport charges, but they messed up our bill and none of those charges were added - very nice!).

As soon as they became available, I purchased tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) ($114.36) and the VIP dinner package for the Candlelight Processional (CP) with dinner at the Garden Grill Restaurant ($106.85). These were both charged to my American Express (AMEX) at the time they were purchased. I received the tickets for the MVMCP in the mail, but never got anything for the Candlelight Processional so I made sure to keep the copy of my AMEX bill with all my other Disney info. After learning about the 120 day advance reservations for dining I called to make reservations at the following restaurants: Cape May Café, Spoodles (breakfast), Chef Mickey’s, Whispering Canyon Café, Mama Melrose. At 60 days I made reservations for a fishing excursion from the Yacht Club Marina and a dining reservation at Juan and Only’s (which we never used).

We were scheduled to leave on a Sunday and the kids had Friday off for a teacher’s in-service day, so I thought they’d get most of their homework done in those two days before we left (what was I thinking?!) We dropped the dog off at the kennel on Saturday, packed and got ready to go. Duane had to work on Saturday so he had very little time to relax before we left. Around 3:00 a.m. the phone rang - it was my brother-in-law David who was going to house sit for us and take care of the cats. His car had broken down and he had no way to get to our house. No big deal as our neighbors also had a key and I figured our cats would not starve if they had to go a day or two without food - plenty of water in those toilets. Still it was very disconcerting having someone call at that time of night! (In defense of David, he works nights and called at the first opportunity!)

So - on to the trip.

Day 1, Sunday December 6, 85 degrees, sunny

I am up at 6:00 a.m. and slowly wake up the rest of the clan. We shower (separately - not all at the same time!), have breakfast and are on our way by 8:00 a.m. Stopped at the local ATM and drove straight onto the airport. Parked in the satellite parking and took the shuttle to the terminal. Very fast and efficient. The kids and I had taken a practice run on Election day to see how all this worked. At that time, we watched the shuttle route to see where it stopped first so we wouldn’t get stuck watching full buses go by. It worked like a charm. After checking out bags at curbside, we went inside and got our seats at the gate. The computers were down when we first got there but they came right back up. The US Airways ticket agent was very friendly and worked with me to get my seat request. Four seats - two and two with windows. We got rows 3 and 4 which was great. I love not having to wait for everyone to get their stuff out of the overhead compartments to get off a plane! We got a snack - 2 cinabons, soda and coffee ($9.71) and waited for our plane. The flight was full (as always) and we left about 15 minutes late. We arrived in Orlando at 12:55 p.m. (85 degrees and sunny), got our luggage and headed out to the Emerald Isle to pick up our car. The walkway from the terminal to the garage was under construction so we took a very long way around to get the National. Once we got there we were told to pick out any car in the row and bring the tag to the kiosk. There was a mini-van in the row that had just been taken, so we settled for a dark green 4 door Malibu. Very comfortable, but squeaky.

Took the south exit and headed to Disney World (WDW). An uneventful drive, but I did end up on a road that hadn’t existed last year. I can’t remember the name of it, but it runs behind the Aruba, Jamaica buildings of the Caribbean Beach Resort and comes out on Lake Buena Vista Drive right by the Reedy Creek Fire Hall. I imagine that eventually the trees will grow in and you won’t be able to see the road from the CBR, but I would be very unhappy if I got a room there and could see a road with traffic. One of the best things about the resorts at WDW is how they are isolated from the "real world." We found our way to the Beach Club (the long way following the signs - it took a day or two to remember that the WDW signs are designed to move traffic, not to show the shortest way from place to place). We arrived at the Beach Club (BC) at 2:10 p.m. and proceeded to check-in. Lisa checked us in and assured me that all of my room requests had been met (4th floor, Epcot end, facing Epcot, day bed, fridge). Lisa put our 7 day park hopper passes onto our room cards. We asked for express check-out, late check-out (1 p.m.) and got 2 Amex fanny packs (which we never used). We also got our vouchers for the Jolly Holidays dinner show, but still nothing for the Candlelight Processional. I asked Lisa (our check-in cast member- CM) about this and she looked it up on the computer and we were there as the Asley’s (close enough). She told us to go to guest services the day before and they would give us our badges. The vouchers for the JH dinner show had to be taken to guest services the day before to be exchanged for tickets. So many things to remember! We also got a free copy of the 1998 Birnbaum Disney Book. I already had the 1999 book, but hey, it was free so we took it anyway. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we stowed the rest of our personal baggage (all those backpacks) and went in search of food. We got the last available table at Beaches and Cream and had a great lunch. Gladys, our server, was wonderful. Catherine had the kid’s cheeseburger, Daniel had the kid’s hot dog (his dietary staple) and Duane and I both had a single with cheese. Catherine and I both got the fruit instead of fries. I was trying to start out at least partially healthy (alas, this would not last long). The kids had root beer floats which they enjoyed. The burgers were as good as everyone says they are. Total for lunch was $30.64. We checked on our room a few more times, walked around, checked out the lobby of the Yacht Club. Their tree had nautical ornaments, and they had a small mock-up of a general store that you could look into. It had a model train running around the top of the store and a lot of detail. There was even an electrical meter on the "rear" of the store. Very Disney. There’s also a display in the Yacht Club that resembles the bridge of a ship with a wheel and other instruments. The kids thought it was neat. By 4:15 p.m. our room was still not ready and I was getting a little pissy. The kids were desperate to get into Stormalong Bay. Lisa finally walked all the way to the room and came back and told us that it had been ready all along. The housekeeping staff apparently has to input something into a computer that shows when rooms are cleaned, and nobody had bothered to do it. So, off we went to the room, and as soon as we got there I realized I had made a tactical error. I had requested 4th floor facing Epcot thinking that the 4th floor was the top floor. Well, the wing of the Beach Club that directly faces the World Showcase is only 3 floors. So we were in a room with a view of Spaceship Earth and Journey into Imagination Pavilion and the parking lot. Also, I somehow forgot to request a non-smoking room and the room we ended up in was a smoking room. It smelled really bad. I wasn’t sure what to do at this point. We sent the kids off to Stormalong Bay and took a few minutes to ourselves to relax. We had the room sprayed with a de-smoking air freshener, and it still stunk very badly, so I decided it was time to try to change rooms even though we had already unpacked and settled in. Down to the front desk I went to discuss room options with cast member Kevin. He checked and re-checked the computer and nothing was available that I wanted. He offered me a non-smoking room that was in an even less than favorable parking lot location, and I was finally getting ready to settle for where we were or even ask if they had anything available at a higher price. Just then, Kevin asked me to wait a minute and disappeared into the back room. It was starting to feel like buying a car when the salesman goes upstairs to talk to the manager to see what he can offer. When he came back out he checked the computer again and offered me a first floor room at the Epcot end and then said, "Wait one second," and punched a few more keys. And there it was - Room 3520 - right where I had wanted to be the whole time! I was psyched and Kevin became my all time hero CM! I wrote a very nice note to the management about him. Kevin explained to me that there were 60 rooms booked for a convention and they were marked "do not move" in the computer. He had to go in the back to get the manager’s permission to unblock a room for us. What a guy!

We went and fished the kids out of the pool, hiked back to our room to get our stuff and realized that our room keys were for our new room and we couldn’t get back into our old room. Doh! We called down to the front desk and a CM came and let us in our old room. We threw our stuff into our suitcases and made the move. We were now very happy campers. The room was actually a little smaller, but it didn’t stink! Lots of pine trees out back, and no parking lot. Both rooms had the little tables with checkerboards on them and in some brochures there were pictures of kids playing checkers. When I asked the bellhop about this, he said that he had never seen any checkers anywhere. I guess you’re supposed to bring them if you want to play! Another little bothersome thing - the remote controls for the TV were the el cheapo ones that didn’t have numbers on them. So if you wanted to change the channels you had to go through all the channels. I just think it’s ridiculous to stay at a premium resort and get a $1.95 remote control for the TV. Our first room had the remote with the numbers on it, so when we had the cheap one in our next room I asked about it and was told that they didn’t buy those kind anymore.

After about 5 minutes of relaxing, we headed down to the Cape May Café for dinner. It was very, very good. We had eaten here before and it was as good as we remembered. I ate tons of clams, some beef tips, and more desserts than I should have. The kids had mini hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and rice krispie treats. The kids went back to the room while Duane and I had coffee and more desserts. It is so nice to have the kids old enough to go off on there own so that we can have some time to ourselves. After dinner, we took the outside route back to our room. A very nice walk. We watched the Vikings beat up on the Bears and had lights out by 10:00 a.m. We watched Illuminations through the pine trees. We have a very good view of the fireworks and they play the Christmas music until at least 11:00 p.m. Very relaxing.

Monday December 7 (Delaware Day!), 85 degrees, sunny

Mickey wake up call at 5:30 a.m. I agree with those who say that Mickey is voice activated. It’s only music until you say something and then Mickey speaks. We knew that Daniel had begun to snore (takes after his mom!), but we had no idea how bad it was. He snored loudly all night long. Both Duane and I had a really hard time sleeping. (It didn’t get much better all week.) Catherine slept through the whole night. We had a coffee maker in our room, and had brought our own coffee so I made morning coffee. We had brought along our Caribbean Beach Club mugs from our 1996 trip. I had intended to buy refillable mugs at the Beach Club, but we never did. The mugs that they had in the room were just souvenir mugs ($3.99) and not the ones for the refillable program. The mugs for the refillable program had to be bought at Hurricane Hanna’s for $6.99, and they weren’t Yacht and Beach Club mugs - they just had some Christmas motif on them. Anyway, I made the coffee and then realized that there wasn’t any cream or sugar in the room so I walked down to Beaches and Cream to get some. I had thought the Beaches and Cream opened at 6:00 a.m., but they didn’t open until 6:30 a.m. The kind people setting up for breakfast saw me and took pity on me and let me come in to get sugar and cream. I made sure to take enough to last for a few days!

After showers and a quick breakfast of nutri-grain bars and poptarts we were off to the bus stop by 6:45 a.m. to go to the Animal Kingdom. Our plan for the morning was to see the highlights at the Animal Kingdom and to go back later in the week to explore the nooks and crannies. The bus came in 5 minutes and we were off. We stopped at the Boardwalk and the bus driver had to try to explain to two non-English speaking Asian women that we were going to Animal Kingdom not Magic Kingdom. They really wanted our bus to go to the Magic Kingdom, but our bus driver could not be swayed! I can only imagine some of the situations that the bus drivers have to handle. The rest of the week, every time we said what park we were going to our daughter would say, "Magic Kingdom?" Just one of those silly Disney moments. The Animal Kingdom was wonderful. We stopped and took some pictures of the Tree of Life lighted by the sunrise. We then headed straight for the Kilimanjaro Safari (KS) and walked right on. We saw the wildebeests, cheetahs, giraffes, warthogs, elephants, okapis and the lion and lioness. It was quite impressive. Nobody in our "car" paid much attention to the poacher storyline. We finished the Safari by 8:00 a.m. and headed over to It’s Tough to Be a Bug (ITTBAB). We walked right in with no wait. We tried to walk slowly through the queue so we could see all of the different carvings in the Tree of Life, but it is really hard to move into "slow" mode while at WDW!. I enjoyed the movie posters in the lobby, but we didn’t get to see them for very long because the movie was ready to start. The movie was lots of fun, but as others have commented, the picture did seem fuzzier to me than other 3D films. I really felt all the effects very strongly. I did entomology lab work for 8 years so had a special interest in the bugs! After the movie we headed over to Dinoland and walked right into Countdown to Extinction (CTX) with no wait. (The major problem with seeing all of these attractions with no wait is that we seem to have lost our tolerance to wait in any line. Any time we would walk up to an attraction with a 10 minute or more wait time we’d be like um…we’ll come back later. Spoiled rotten!) CTX was enjoyed by all. I thought the story didn’t really hang together well, but I was really impressed with the dinosaurs. The ride is very jerky. We rode in the back seat and that may have made it more jerky. Later in the week we rode in the front seats and I did not think that it was quite as bad. 9:00 a.m. and time for a snack break. We stopped at the Dino Trailer in Dinoland and had bagels, apple muffins, lemonade (in a souvenir cup) and coffee. Duane thought the coffee here was excellent. I wonder if they use different varieties of coffee around WDW or if it just tastes better sometimes than others. Total for snacks was $11.35. We sat on benches in the warm morning sun and enjoyed our snacks. After our snack we headed over to Camp Mickey Minnie. The kids got pictures and autographs with Safari Pluto and Goofy. After bathroom breaks we got into line around 9:40 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. Festival of the Lion King Show. The show was great. I know a lot of people compare it with the Hunchback show or Beauty and the Beast, but I can’t rate it in comparison to those because I think it is a very different show and stands on it’s own. The 4 people who start the show are extremely talented and entertaining. We were in the Lion Section. Catherine had reached her saturation point before the show started and was convinced that she was not going to enjoy it. I was kind of disappointed in this as the Lion King is her all time favorite Disney movie. I think she did enjoy it, but you would never get her to admit it. The monkeys were very good gymnasts with very nice gymnast butts! (Sorry if that offends anyone, but it certainly added to my enjoyment of the show!) After the show we meandered through the Oasis on our way out. Our kids really enjoyed all of the animals while Duane and I enjoyed the diverse plant life. I have a botany degree and both my husband and I are avid plant people. Someday we will have to be sure to have a horticultural tour of the Animal Kingdom. We stopped at the gift shop by the entrance and then caught the bus back to the Beach Club. Our first impressions of the Animal Kingdom were great. I truly appreciated the amazing theming, the plants, and the attractions. I can’t wait to go back and see Asia when it is completed.

After our return to the Beach Club, we spent some time at Stormalong Bay and had lunch at Hurricane Hanna’s around 1:00 p.m. Duane and I shared a turkey wrap that was very good. It came with fruit. We added fries for the kids and an iced tea - total was $8.33. I also had a delicious frozen drink whose name escapes me. It was dark rum, Malibu rum and peach daiquiri with a Jose cuervo "floater" on top. Yummy! Around 2:30 we went back to the room for a self-imposed nap so that we could handle Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) later in the day. Around 4:30 p.m. we drove to the Contemporary for our dinner at Chef Mickey’s. We had really enjoyed this meal the last time we ate here in 1996. It was kind of a disappointment this year. The food was not as good, and the "entertainment" seemed more forced than I remembered. We sat in the small room in the "front" of the restaurant which may also have made it seem less lively. We realized that for us two buffets on back to back nights was not a good idea. We just don’t eat that much! We were visited by Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Total for the meal was $69.22 + tip which included two Coronas. Many times during this trip we were only charged a child price for our son Daniel who is 13. He is small and certainly doesn’t eat adult portions, so I wasn’t about to point out this oversight to any of the servers. We ate at Spoodles twice and once they charged Daniel as a child and the other time as an adult!

After our meal we headed up to the monorail station. I always get lost trying to find the monorail in the Contemporary. I have to remember to take the escalator not the elevator! It appears that they are building an elevator from the 4th floor to the monorail. I guess it’s for handicap access. We sat in the front of the monorail and rode to the Polynesian to see the Christmas decorations. Nothing special there, but we did see the Kona Kafe. The kids don’t really remember staying at the Poly (1994), but they do remember the pool! We left the Poly and stopped at the Grand Floridian. As others have said, this hotel looks great for Christmas. The tree is really magnificent. It is so tall - some of the mirrors they use for decoration are bigger than ones I have over our dressers at home. They had a small band playing Christmas songs. We stopped to admire the Gingerbread Display. While we were here I realized that I hadn’t brought an extra roll of film (I had about twelve rolls back at our hotel!) so I shelled out $9.35 for one roll of film! (Note - I never used the roll of film and was able to return it at the Beach Club gift shop later in the week - I knew I saved all of the receipts for some reason other than trip reports!) We left the Grand Floridian and monorailed to the Magic Kingdom for the MVMCP. They had a band playing at the front entrance and the CMs were trying to get people to sing Christmas songs. They opened the gates around 7:25 p.m. We walked through the snow on Main Street and headed back towards Splash Mountain, we stopped in Frontierland to get our Christmas picture taken. Catherine, the grinch, refused to wear her Christmas hat. (We received the picture about 10 days after returning home - not a very high quality picture. We all looked o.k., but there was a huge glare spot in the back of the picture.) After our picture, we headed straight to Splash Mountain and rode 2 times without having to get off. I think this was Duane’s first time on Splash at night and he really liked it except that he got one of the wet seats which didn’t make him too happy. The kids and I had ridden at E ticket last November so it wasn’t new to us to ride at night. It was really neat to come out at the top and see the "colored" Cinderella’s castle. We bought our picture from the second time around. ($10.55, delivered to our room on Wednesday) It was just the 4 of us in the log. Daniel in front, then Duane and I and Catherine behind us. All 4 of us had our hands in the air (finally!) Duane and Catherine didn’t want to put their hands in the air, but I finally convinced them that there is plenty of time to put their hands back on after the picture is taken. I almost always duck down at the bottom to keep from getting wet. Especially at night! By the way, I was worried about how cold it might be this night. Last year in November when we went to e-ticket night we had to wear sweatshirts and jackets. Not to worry, this year we were wearing jeans and short sleeve shirts. We didn’t need our sweatshirts until later in the evening and never wore jackets! After Splash, we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and decided once was enough. Next we stopped in Frontierland and got our cookies and hot chocolate. They were serving them in the restaurant next to the Country Bears (Pecos Bills Cafe). The kids requested extra marshmallows and they got tons of them! We were seated at a small bench outside and when I went in to get extra cookies, a lady and her kid plopped down on the bench. Duane said the lady was practically sitting in his lap. We encountered this kind of behavior several times during our trip. Some people just don’t seem to have personal boundaries. It is really bizarre! Walked over to the Haunted Mansion and went right through. Catherine was not quite as freaked out by the "pop-up" spooks as she had been in previous years. I thought that there were some new parts, particularly the day-glo stuff like the spider webs, but maybe I just didn’t remember it! The kids think its very amusing that I know (and recite quietly) most of the spoken parts of this attraction. My husband is impressed that I know all the shortcuts (i.e. Hidden entrances to the next area). We walked on to Fantasyland in hopes of riding the Skyway, but it was closed. I despair of ever getting on this attraction. It is always either closed or has a 45 minute wait time!

Onward we marched to Tomorrowland and tried to see Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at 9:15 p.m., but it was already full so we opted for Buzz Lightyear. Just a note - typically at seated attractions, the CMs ask people to move down the rows a few minutes before the performance to fit in the later arrivals. They did not do this at this show and there were plenty of 1 or 2 people gaps that could have made room for us. (rant mode off). Buzz was fun - Duane and I got points, but the kids didn’t get any. Daniel got a few on later trips, but Catherine never did manage to get the hang of it (and she is an expert playstation, computer game whiz!) After Buzz, we went on Space Mountain (1 time for the adults, 2 times for the kids). One of our catch phrases from last year was the "in the future, packages will be sent large distances on beams of light" that was heard during the exit of Space Mountain, and we noticed that this year they changed the wording (but I don’t remember exactly how). We went over to the Tomorrowland bridge to see the fireworks. We had a great view of Tinkerbell, but a lousy view of the fireworks. They did have the extra "holiday finale" where the fireworks go off all around the perimeter of the park. Very cool, but I wish we had been in our "regular" spot in Frontierland for the fireworks. After the fireworks, we caught Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was a cute show, but long - almost a half hour. It was now around 10:45 p.m. and everyone had reached their park limit, and were getting mean and nasty (including me!) We tried a little popcorn and soda snack, but it didn’t help. Duane and Catherine needed to go home and sleep. (Duane works a very early shift and usually goes to bed around 8:30 p.m. and Catherine is a 9:00 p.m. bedtimer so we were really pushing it at this point). Dan would have stuck it out for my sake, but I decided just to give it up and retreat to the hotel. I always advise people that when at Disney you should go by the "most tired" denominator theory which is that you judge your family’s endurance by the member who has the least because if one person becomes miserable you will all be miserable! (Boy is that a run-on sentence or what?) Well, I was extremely disappointed that we were going to miss the Christmas parade as well as the other Christmas shows, but we did get to do a large number of attractions with absolutely no wait. There were still tickets left for Thursday’s MVMCP, so I thought we might do that if everyone wanted to. I knew when I was planning our itinerary that planning the earliest morning (Animal Kingdom) with the latest night (MVMCP) was probably stupid, but I did it anyway. Will I ever learn to trust my intuition? Honestly though, I don’t know if we would have been up to staying out until 1:00 a.m. any night of our trip. We are just not late night people!

We took the monorail back to the Contemporary, got our car and (unintentionally) took the long way back to the Beach Club. I always get turned around leaving the Contemporary and end up driving past Fort Wilderness, Port Orleans and Dixie Landings. (I still have never driven through Port Orleans or Dixie Landings - maybe next trip). I dropped everyone off at the front door, parked the car and we all promptly went to bed.

Tuesday, December 8, 84 degrees and sunny

Balcony notes from the Beach Club:

It is really amusing watching and listening to the surreys from the Boardwalk. From our balcony we can watch as people come over the bridge from the Boardwalk to the Beach Club and as they turn left the "road" goes downhill and people are flying and ringing their bells like crazy! I think most of them are taken by surprise at the slope!

We hear a lot of the live entertainment from the World Showcase. Particularly the Japanese Drummers. I think they have the most frequent play schedule and we hear every show when we’re in our room. From the balcony we can also hear (though not as well) British Invasion, Off-Kilter and the World Showcase Brass. On the negative side, we also could hear the constant construction going on. Apparently they are working on some sort of millennium exhibit between Canada and the U.K. They are also "pile driving" in the World Showcase Lagoon. Also, there is a lot of truck traffic during the day "behind" the World Showcase.

On to Tuesday. A sleep in day. I headed out to Goodings around 9:30 a.m. and stocked up on essentials - cereal, milk, lunchmeat, bread, fruit, soda and beer. Spent around $63.00. I got back around 10:30 a.m. and everyone was up and about. After some cereal, we all headed over to Epcot. I absolutely love being able to walk into World Showcase. It was one of the main reasons I chose the Beach Club and it was really a great advantage. My kids who had previously barely tolerated World Showcase really enjoyed it this year. Catherine decided it was her favorite park this trip! We stopped in Canada and saw "Oh Canada" for our first time ever. It was an okay movie, but they seemed to focus very heavily on the cities. After the film we introduced Duane to beaver tails. The kids split a cinnamon and sugar one and Duane and I split a cinnamon and apple. It was delicious! Duane was suitably impressed. After our snack, the kids got autographs from the Sheriff of Nottingham in the U.K. and we got a family picture with him. Then they got autographs and pics with Perla (from Cinderella) in France. There was a short wait for the movie, so we moved on. We checked out the goods at the Boulangarie, but didn’t get anything due to our recent beaver tail snack. Maybe next time. On our way out of France, we ran into the World Class Brass. What a fun bunch of guys. They insisted that we get a family photo with them. Daniel got to be the honorary plunger holder. I have no idea what the significance is of the plunger, but Daniel looks very official holding it. We chatted with the guys for a while and found out that one of them used to live in a neighborhood right next to the one we lived in 5 years ago. All together now … it really is a small world! Onward around World Showcase. Stopped to get pics and autographs from Jafar at Morocco. One of the best characters of the trip. He had great attitude! Wandered through the shops in Morocco and then stopped in Japan to see the Matsuriza drummers (so that’s who's been making all that noise!) While we were watching the drummers, Miyuki, a Japanese woman who makes candy "sculptures" came out. Dan and Catherine got right up front and each got a candy. If you have children try to see this woman work. The candy she creates is absolutely beautiful. She starts with a white taffy like substance and depending on which animal one chooses she adds dye to the "taffy" and then shapes it into a ball on a stick. From there she uses her fingers and sometimes a small clipper to create many different animals. The final touch is some painting to highlight features. The candy then dries for a few minutes, gets bagged and then given to the lucky child. The candy becomes very hard. Be warned that this is a first come, first serve operation and she only makes about 7 animals at each performance. Make sure to tell your kids ahead of time that they may not get chosen so they won’t be disappointed if they don’t get one. There were lots of very disappointed kids who did not manage to snag a candy sculpture. Daniel got a blue cat and Catherine got a green dragon with a tail that swirled down the stick. The swan and the flamingo she made were especially intricate and beautiful. I asked her later in the week about the shelf life of the candy. She told me that in the plastic bag they were good for 1 to 2 weeks, but refrigerated they would stay good for up to a year. Our candy was eaten upon our return home as it came out in several pieces after the plane trip. (BTW, the candy is free) We headed back to the hotel around 2:45 p.m.

At 3:30 p.m. we headed to MGM for our 4 p.m. priority seating at Mama Melrose. We took the very slow boat from the BC to MGM. They stop at the Swan and Dolphin before going to MGM. There is no bus service from the Beach Club to MGM so later in the week we went by car instead of by boat. We finally got to Mama Melrose around 4:25. It was very empty. When we first looked at the menu, we were very suprised at the lack of Italian entrees, and the choices that were on the menu did not seem very exciting. The kids were disappointed that they no longer got to "make" their own pizzas like they had last year. Our meal was not getting off to a great start. Nonetheless, Duane ordered the ahi tuna, I had lobster bisque (soup of the day), and the kids had pizza. We also had a bruschetta appetizer. Our meal turned out to be absolutely delicious. Total for dinner was $44.79. This was probably our best meal of the whole trip. We did have a weird experience here with our server. She was very friendly, but somehow we got into a conversation about "things not being like the good old days" and she made some highly inappropriate remarks about homosexuals especially considering our kids were sitting there. Duane and I were really perplexed by the whole thing, but just kind of shrugged it off. After dinner we hiked over to Fantasmic! We got there around 5:30 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. show. It was very busy. When we entered the theater we had the choice to right or left and I chose left and we ended up in the Hades section (second to the last section). I think if we had gone to the right we would have had better seats. The first pre-show entertainment was a comic who I thought was very entertaining. He had us all do the wave using the flash on our cameras. Very cool effect. For the last fifteen minutes before the show they had jugglers who could only be seen and heard by the people in the center section (Mickey). I thought this was kind of exclusionary. Maybe they figured that since the people in the center section had been seated the longest that they deserved more pre-show. Anyway, they should come up with something better to keep the audience occupied. As for the show, it was o.k. - certainly not as spectacular as I had expected. The volume was ridiculously loud. And I don’t understand why they had so much emphasis on Pocahontas. I don’t think of Governor Radcliffe as one of Disney’s major villains. After the show we headed back to see the Osborne Lights. It was snowing on New York Street. We got our 3D glasses that turned the lights into angels - way cool. We had fun wearing those glasses as our plane was landing on the flight home. After meandering through the display we left the park and took the slow boat back to the Beach Club. Duane and I watched Illuminations from the balcony and then it was off to dreamland. Oh, while at MGM we found the rope by Indiana Jones that says "Do not pull this rope" Very cool effects - be sure to try this out if you find it.

Quotes of the day:

As we were leaving Fantasmic we overhead the following from a woman looking over her shoulder toward the Tower of Terror "Is that a hotel?"

A woman behind me at Fantasmic: "We spent all day today at MGM, yesterday we spent all day at Disney World." (um, did she mean Magic Kingdom?)

Wednesday, December 9, 85 degrees, very warm, sunny

Today was a great Disney Day. Overall the most satisfying day of our trip. We were up at 6:00 a.m. to prepare for our 7:00 a.m. fishing trip. This was my "surprise" outing for my husband. We did keep it kind of a surprise until dinner the night before. I don’t think Duane knew what to expect, but it turned out to be a wonderful family experience. Our guide was Robert, a transplanted Buffalo, NY native. He told us that one of his son’s had asthma and every time they went to Florida in the winter his son’s asthma would get better and he finally decided that they should just move there. Lucky for him the company he worked for was able to transfer him. Now he only works for Disney as a fishing guide for the trips from the Yacht Club Marina. What a great job that must be! During our trip we also found out that his son had played baseball at Florida State. Baseball is a big part of our life so he and my husband had a lot to talk about. We fished on the World Showcase Lagoon. I got some great pictures of the countries and Spaceship Earth with the sun coming up. There was a lot of construction going on for the millennium celebration but it didn’t seem to interfere with our fishing. We also got to watch the crew that cleans up the fireworks debris from the night before and another crew who re-loads the fireworks for the next night. It's amazing to me how many different jobs there are at Disney. As for the fishing, Daniel and I each caught one fish, Duane caught two and Catherine caught eight. I was thrilled for Catherine, but wish that Daniel and Duane had had more luck. Robert kept us out on the lagoon until 9:30 a.m. so we got an extra half hour. The excursion was $148.40 with tax and included the guide, poles, artificial bait and coffee, juice and sodas. I gave Robert a $20.00 tip. I think on our next trip we’ll try one of the fishing excursions on Bay Lake or maybe just pole fishing in the canals at Fort Wilderness.

After our fishing excursion, we had breakfast at Spoodles. We had priority seating for 10:00 a.m., but I called and changed it to 10:30 a.m. It was a great time to go because it wasn’t very crowded. The breakfast was excellent. It is a buffet that includes all the regular items as well as some delicious specialties. Duane liked the Mediterranean vegetable frittata and I liked the breakfast pizza. The coffee comes in those humongous mugs and we drank a lot of it. You can also order french toast, pancakes and several other items that are included in the buffet. Total was $37.95. I thought that this was the best breakfast we’ve ever had at Disney.

Around noon we headed over to Epcot to check our Future World. First we stopped at the UK to get pictures and autographs with Tigger. I think there was a character at the UK every time we stopped there. One thing we did not do on this trip was stop to see any of the special "Holiday" presentation at any of the countries. We just never seem to hit it at the right time. Once in Future World we walked through Innoventions East and then onto Innoventions West after stopping to watch the Epbots. We played around in the AT&T area and sent some Internet postcards. Once Duane and the kids found the Sega games I knew they would be occupied for hours. While they played I managed to catch a show by the Future Corps. I had never seem them before and really enjoyed their music. I also stopped and watched a fountain show. After I dragged the husband and kids out of Innoventions we stopped at Ice Station Cool and yes, I made everyone try the Beverly, and no, nobody liked it. Duane liked the vegetable drink. I liked the apple drink. The kids could have stayed in here for a while. On our way back into World Showcase we stopped and watched the Mickey and Gang Christmas show at the Showcase Plaza. After the show the kids got pictures and autographs from Chip, Dale, Baloo Bear, and Eeyore. Next we headed over to Mexico and rode Rio de Tiempo for our first time ever. Duane thought that this was a cheesy attraction that would be offensive to Mexicans. It is a little outdated, but some of it was neat. Daniel got autograph and pictures with Caballero Donald. Catherine didn’t want to. There were a couple of semi-obnoxious ladies here who kept saying it was Daffy. Wrong park ladies. We walked around the Lagoon and checked out the train outside of Germany. We stopped at Japan and tried our first Kaki Goris (one strawberry and one rainbow). We watched the drummers while enjoying our snack. We seem to like these guys (and girls). They did some different "songs" then they had the day before. On to France to get pictures and autographs with Quasimodo and then onto the U.K. for the same with Piglet. We bought Catherine a $3.00 derringer in Canada and then headed back to the room. We sent the kids off to the arcade while Duane and I enjoyed some non-kid time. It is great to have the kids old enough to go out on their own do that we can have some time to ourselves. The kids went to see Belle in the lobby of the Beach Club at 6:30 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m. we boarded our bus and were on our way to the Jolly Holidays Dinner Show at the Contemporary. They hired Mears buses that picked us up at the front door of the hotel. I guess they don’t have enough buses in the Disney fleet for special occasions like this or maybe it’s just cheaper to contract it out. We had a fun time at the show. We sat with a couple from New Jersey and a family (mother, 2 daughters and a son-in-law) from Pittsburgh who were Jolly Holiday veterans. The dinner started with salad, raw veggies, breads, and white and red wine. Dinner included turkey (not very good), pork (o.k.) and ham (very good), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies and cranberry sauce. Dessert was a large selection of assorted pastries and truffles. All-in-all the dinner was much better than I had anticipated based on reports that I had read from previous years. The show was pretty good. It’s based on a husband, wife, little boy and mother-in-law celebrating the Christmas holiday with lots of song and dance numbers with cast members and characters. I expected more audience participation but I guess with the large number of people that would be rather impractical. They did have video cameras set up around the room, and were putting people’s pictures up on video screens. They also picked one child in the audience to give a present to. She was at the table next to us and got a snow globe. I think that some of the dancer’s in the show were also in Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Magic Kingdom. The show ended around 10:00 p.m. and we got bussed right back to our resort. A very nice ending to a great day.

*Note - Writing a trip report had an unexpected bonus. I was comparing my written trip report with the 6 rolls of film that I had from the trip when I realized that there was a gap in my pictures. It turns out that I had one roll of film tucked in a suitcase that had never gotten to the developer! If I hadn’t written a trip report I never would have realized that these pictures were missing! (They were the pictures that corresponded with the day above)

Thursday, December 10, Sun and clouds with a few sprinkles, 80 degrees

Up and off to MGM by 8:45 a.m. This time we drove and it was much more efficient than the boat. We did the rope drop at Sunset Boulevard. The CMs were the ushers from Tower of Terror(TOT). They were very entertaining and easily convinced the crowd that we had to WALK behind them to the TOT. We got on the first elevator of the day at the Tower of Terror. Catherine finally went on for her first time. No fuss and no hesitation. I was so glad because I knew she would enjoy it, and she did. I did the seat belt seat. It was very strange and fun. We got off and went right back on again with Daniel getting the seat belt seat. In both pictures, Dan and I had our hands up in the air while Duane and Catherine are holding on for dear like. We’ve never bought a TOT picture and didn’t this trip either. After our early morning TOT adventure, we stopped at Starring Rolls for a snack. 2 cheese danish, a raisin bagel, double chunk chocolate chip cookie and assorted beverages ($12.66). Newly restored from our snack we headed off to see Muppets 3D, but decided to catch the first showing of the Hunchback of Notre Dame Show (my favorite). We got seats on the aisle, but too close to the stage. I would have enjoyed it more if we were a row or two back. The show was excellent as always. Duane hadn’t seen it before and he liked it as well. Matt did the preshow with a few different tricks than last year. Quasimodo, Esmarelda and Clopin were the same actors as last year. Frollo was new and not very good, but he wasn’t last year either. I guess it’s hard to get an older actor to perform. The confetti is not bell shaped anymore and they don’t have an audience member introduce the show. I guess that was just special for the 25th anniversary. After the show we left the kids at the Honey I Shrunk the Playground and went in search of some cashews for Duane. How wonderful it felt to walk around a park without the kids. They have been quite a handful this year. They have been into full-fledged sibling rivalry lately and as much as I’d hoped that they would let it go for the trip, it was not to be! After making a full circle around the park we found the cashews at a stand right next to the playground. We rounded up the kids and headed out towards the front of the park. Stopped and got autographs and pictures with Mulan and Shang in front of the Great Movie Ride and then went into the ride and experienced the Western side. I can’t remember the last time we got the gangster side. After our ride we headed towards the exit and checked the board for wait times. The Tower of Terror had a 5 minute wait listed so we decided to go for it, and walked right on. Some nasty man was dragging his extremely nervous and upset son onto the ride. He was probably around 10 or 11 years old, but he was obviously not psychologically ready to go on this ride. The dad was saying things like "Your sister goes on this ride, why can’t you?" Don’t these people have any interest in their children’s self-esteem. I had a few not-so-nice things to say to the dad. It took Catherine 3 years to decide that she was ready to go on this ride, but we never ever pressured her to do it. We just showed her the "service" elevator and said "See you downstairs." After the fall, the kid looked extremely freaked out! Leaving the park we stopped to watch a Streetmosphere skit - The audition for the "City of Strangers" movie. It was very amusing and the guy picked from the crowd did a great job. Poor Duane is always scared to death that he is going to get chosen for something.

Drove back to the Beach Club and had sandwiches in our room for lunch. Duane and the kids swam while I did laundry. Every load of laundry had to go through 2 cycles in the dryer before it was dry - made for very expensive laundry. I enjoyed another of those lovely frozen concoctions and took pictures of the family in the pool. I can see why they are closing Stormalong Bay in January for rehab. It really looks dull and dingy in some places.

After a brief rest, we drove over to the Wilderness Lodge for our 6 p.m. priority seating at the Whispering Canyon Café. We first ate here during our trip in 1996 and had a waiter named Crazy Legs who Daniel still talks about all the time. He was hilarious. Alas, this year’s visit would prove to be our biggest disappointment of the trip (mealwise). At the front desk, I requested one of their best (i.e. Most hokey) CM’s and instead we ended up with a trainee who did absolutely nothing. The server in the section next to ours was much more animated, but it didn’t do us any good. The food was also extremely nasty. Everything had way too much smoky flavor. We had liked the food the last time we were here - I don’t know what they’ve done to it in the last 2 years. I ordered a tall honey lager beer and while it was good I did not expect it to cost $9.00! Duane and I had the bbq skillet for $21 a piece and the kids had kid’s meals that were $5.95 and did not include their drinks. The total for this meal including tip was over $100.00! We probably could have eaten at Artists’ Point or the California Grill for that price! I don’t know why they did away with the silly names for the servers and all of the other fun stuff. Another example of Disney "fixing" something that wasn’t broken.

After dinner we bought an Eeyore t-shirt for Catherine at the gift shop in the Wilderness Lodge. The Christmas decorations at the Wilderness Lodge are beautiful. The tree is very tall and has lots of "natural" type ornaments. We drove back to the Beach Club and the kids stayed in the room while Duane and I went to Epcot by ourselves. What a luxury! Duane bought some incense and an incense burner in Morocco. The incense we bought was called "Jamaican air" and there was another one called "African Wind" which my kids thought was hysterical. We stopped in France and watched the film. I really liked it. I thought it was better than the Canadian film. Where we live there are a lot of houses built by the DuPont’s and watching the film I could really tell where they had gotten the ideas for their houses. We watched Illuminations from the railing by the U.K. It was better than the 25th anniversary show, but still not as good as the original. We walked back to the Beach Club, watched ER and then went to bed after requesting a 7 a.m. wake up call.

Note: Our housekeeping was less than ideal during this trip. We asked for and never received a "privacy" sign and it seemed as if our housekeeper was always lurking outside our door waiting for us to leave. One day we didn’t get new supplies even though it was obvious we needed some. There was also little attempt to arrange the kids various creatures. Last year at All Star Music we had excellent housekeeping and they were very creative with all the stuffed animals. I certainly expected better housekeeping at a deluxe resort than we had at the "budget" resort.

Friday, December 11, Low 80’s, sun and clouds

Picked up the receiver for our 7 a.m. wake-up call and dropped it right back into the receiver. We got up at a very leisurely pace, showered, had cereal and headed over to the bus stop. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 10:00 a.m. This was probably the latest we have ever gotten to any theme park! No more Disney Commando mode for us. We headed towards Adventureland and visited the Swiss Family Treehouse and the new Tikibirds. We had never been to either of these attractions, so I can’t compare them to their "original" versions. I enjoyed walking through the tree house even though there wasn’t much to it. I always liked the Disney movie so that’s probably why I liked it. The tiki birds were o.k., but I don’t think we’ll have to do it again. Next we went through Pirates of the Caribbean for tradition sake. I like to embarrass my kids by singing the Pirates song very loudly and most likely very off key! Daniel bought a $3.00 derringer (similar to Catherine’s, but all black) in the Pirate’s gift shop. (Not sure what the significance of both my kids buying guns is - guess it’s cause we don’t have any real ones!) Next we stopped in at the Country Bear Christmas Jamboree. Not real exciting for any of us. We still have never seen the regular show. We headed over to the Columbia Harbor House so I could finally try some of the clam chowder in a bread bowl. Duane and I both had the chowder, fries and 2 sodas (total $14.05). The chowder was great. Dan had a hot dog and Catherine had grapes from carts outside in Liberty Square.

After lunch we tried to catch a ride on the skyway, but the wait was 30 minutes. Someday I will get to go on this attraction! We turned around and boarded the Walt Disney World Railroad in Frontierland and got off in Toontown. It was very crowded so we quickly moved through and took the back walkway to Tomorrowland. Once there, we did Buzz again. Duane got over 200,000 points, but the kids could still not get the hang of it. Leaving Tomorrowland, we wandered down Main Street stopping to watch the Dapper Dan’s (another first for us!). Catherine was not feeling well, so she and Duane took a bus back to the Beach Club. Daniel and I hopped on the monorail from the Magic Kingdom to the Ticket and Transportation Center and onto Epcot. I’m glad we did this as it was the only opportunity we had to see the entrance to Epcot. They had a beautiful large bed of white bedding plants and four large Christmas trees made out of red poinsettias. After entering Epcot, we stopped and watched a little bit of the Future Corps, then headed back toward World Showcase and caught a bit of the Mickey and friends show at the Showcase Plaza. We made the now traditional stop in the U.K. and got pictures and autographs with Mr. Smee. Daniel got a special autograph for Catherine that said "Get well!" Every once in awhile my kids manage to suprise me with their thoughtfulness towards each other! We returned to the Beach Club to find Duane asleep and Catherine watching T.V. (Who was the one that really needed to take the bus???) Catherine, Daniel and I went to Beaches and Cream and had the No Way Jose which is chocolate and vanilla ice cream with peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, chocolate and peanut butter chips. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect amount for the three of us. ($6.31) Returned to the room and rested.

After brief relaxation and showers, we headed out to our 6 p.m. priority seating at the Garden Grill. This dinner was part of our Candlelight Processional VIP package. When we got to the restaurant it was obvious that the majority of people eating there that night were there as part of the package. We had a very pleasant dining experience. The food was very good. The kids liked the macaroni and cheese, chicken strips and fries. I ate lots of the chicken. The apple crisp with cinnamon raisin ice cream was delicious. The characters were all very friendly and we saw them many times. After dinner, we walked quickly back towards the American Pavilion for the 8:00 p.m. Candlelight Processional show. We were seated in the center of the audience about half way to the back. Not really great seats, but we did get there late. I was really wondering if it had been worth it to pay the money for the VIP package versus waiting in line early and getting in for free. Later in the trip I saw people lining up at 3:00 p.m. for the 5:00 p.m. show. I guess it’s worth it to me to spend some extra money instead of standing in line for 2 hours! James McDaniel from "NYPD Blue" was scheduled to be our narrator, but instead we had Cindy Williams. Catherine watches "Laverne and Shirley" on Nick at Nite so she though it was totally cool that Cindy was our narrator. As for the show, it was very enjoyable. Most of the Christmas shows are Disney are secular so it was a nice change to here religious songs. For those who aren’t familiar with the Candlelight Processional, it is a narrated version of the biblical Christmas story with appropriate songs interlaced throughout. The singers included the Disney choir, the Voices of Liberty (who regularly sing at the American Adventure), and high school choruses. An orchestra and 6 trumpeters were also part of the show. The singing and the instrumental parts were both excellent. Catherine slept through a lot of it, but the rest of us really enjoyed it. After the show we walked back towards the United Kingdom. I enjoyed a Bass Draft while we watched Illuminations (Thanks Allison!). After the show, we walked backed to the Beach Club, watched "Homicide" and went to bed.

Saturday 12/12

Ack, our last full day! How does it always get here so fast? Another late morning. We have become very sluglike. Drove to the Animal Kingdom and got there around 10:00 a.m. It was much more crowded than the previous Monday (of course it was three hours later also!). We went on Countdown to Extinction with no wait. We sat in the front seat this time and when the last dinosaur "breathed" on us Duane’s hat flew off. It was very funny! The picture was still lousy so we didn’t even think about buying it. I doesn’t seem that Disney has been able to find another picture opportunity that is as good as Splash Mountain. After CTX, we let the kids wander around the Boneyard while we had coffee and muffins from the Dino Trailer. After our snack, we walked around the park passing the entrance to Asia. The theming that is already done looks really great. Something to look forward to on our next trip. Daniel got a Mickey Ice Cream and we headed onward to the Pangani Trail. I thought the Pangani trail was really, really great. I think it is one of the best attractions in the Animal Kingdom. We saw okapis, dik-diks, meerkats, birds, fish, hippos, and the gorillas. The displays throughout the trail were excellent. Be sure to poke around in the various buildings. So many people just walked right through and missed all sorts of interesting stuff. In one building there is a large wooden desk in the middle of the room. The drawers contain many different exhibits. After finishing the trail, Duane got a frozen chocolate covered banana. Catherine had seen a marshmallow treat earlier so we had to walk back around to Dinoland to find the treat. It was marshmallows dipped in chocolate with sprinkles on a Mickey straw. After everyone was happy with their snacks, we made our way out of the park. We stopped at the gift shop (Beastly Bazaar) and Daniel got a safari Tigger and Catherine got a Safari Pluto ($12.00 each). We headed back to the Beach Club and had lunch in our room.

After lunch, Catherine and I went over to Epcot. At the American Adventure, Catherine got her picture taken with Dale and I got my picture taken with Minnie in her Christmas finery. We stopped and took some pictures of the model trains at Germany and then headed over to China to watch the Pu Yang acrobats. They were very talented, but it looked as if they were in need of some new outfits. After the show we wandered back towards the International Gateway. Saw Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco, but Catherine didn’t want to stop and get pictures. I got a Rainbow Kaki-Gori while Catherine waited to get another candy from Miyuki. This time she got a frog. Miyuki told me that the candy stays good for 1 to 2 weeks in a sealed plastic bag and for one year in the refrigerator. After successfully getting her candy, we stopped by the United Kingdom. Tigger and Eeyore were there, but for once there were lines waiting for them so we decided not to stay. I stopped and got a Bass Ale at a cart next to the Rose and Crown. The Bass Ale is only $5.50 and they are not allowed to take tips. I tried to tip several times and the CM insisted that he couldn’t accept it. Ale in hand, we headed back to the Beach Club. It was really nice to spend a short interlude alone with my daughter.

Around 5:00 p.m. we headed off to the Magic Kingdom by bus. The park was fairly crowded which I had expected since the park was open until 11:00 p.m. tonight and it was the only night this week that they were having Spectromagic. We headed back towards Liberty Square, stopping at a few shops on Main Street hunting for the elusive Christmas Tigger with no luck. I had tried to call World of Disney and the Christmas Chalet earlier in the day to see if they had a Christmas Tigger, but I hadn’t been able to get through. Our first stop in Liberty Square was the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe where we finally found a Christmas Tigger. So, of course, we had to buy him for Daniel as well as a Christmas Eeyore for Catherine. ($22 each plus tax) The Tigger has a "boinging" tail and Eeyore has a detachable Velcro tail. Two very happy children and a large bag to carry around the rest of the night!

Next stop was Colombia Harbor House for dinner. I had the clam chowder (again!), Duane had the Captain’s special (fish, chicken, fries and drink), Catherine had kids meal macaroni and cheese and Daniel had the kid’s meal balony and cheese. ($19.70) After dinner, we walked around a bit and then stopped to do Alien Encounter. Duane got the "spotlight" seat. He wouldn’t even have realized it if I hadn’t pointed it out to him. For some reason I got a lot more water "spit" on me than any one else. I guess I must have looked yummy to that alien. Onto Buzz again where once again the kids got no points. Oh well, at least by now they weren’t upset about it. Next we went and waited in our longest line of the whole trip. We had never gone on the Tomorrowland Speedway so we decided to give it a try. We waited in line for about 10 minutes. It could have been much longer, but I noticed that the only had 3 of the 4 tracks running. When the line split, people were going about 50:50 to the left and right lane. The left line goes to the inside track and the right line goes to the outside track. I noticed that the outside track had both lanes running and the inside track only had one lane running, so I made a dash for the right lane and we saved a lot of time in line. I rode with Catherine and Duane was Daniel’s passenger. This ride would have been a lot more fun if we weren’t surrounded by testosterone crazed teenagers playing games. They really fouled up the timing of the whole ride. Well, at least that’s another attraction that we’ve done and won’t need to repeat on some future trip.

After the speedway we headed over to Fantasyland where Dan and Catherine went on the Teacups and I tried to take pictures of them while they spun. Catherine, Eyeore and I went on Small World. Daniel and Duane would have nothing to do with it! Next we wandered over to Liberty Square for popcorn, sodas and the fireworks. I really think this is one of the best places to see the fireworks! Duane and I both noticed that there is nowhere to get coffee later at night at the Magic Kingdom. Epcot and the Animal Kingdom both have plenty of places to get coffee, but it was nowhere to be found at the Magic Kingdom after 9:00 p.m. After the fireworks, we headed for Main Street and at the last minute decided to stay to see Spectromagic. We got curbside seats in the vicinity of the Crystal Palace next to a friendly Brazilian family on one side and a mother and kids on the other. Everything was fine until about 10 minutes before the parade when some dunce daddy decided he could wedge his stroller between us and the family next to us. This in itself would not have been too bad, but right when the parade started his wife shows up and pushes her way in, standing up and taking pictures. Duane was kneeling behind the kids and me, so he ended up with this lady’s behind right in his face. He finally asked her to move back, which she grudgingly did. The parade was good as always. I can’t wait to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, but I will always have the best memories of Spectromagic. After the parade we found our bus and made our way back to the Beach Club.

Sunday, December 13

Going home day. The express check-out was under the door when I got up. Everything looked okay and we spent less than I had anticipated. We weren’t charged for any local phone calls. I don’t know if that was a mistake or if it’s a benefit of staying at a premium resort. I packed up our clothes and then we headed over to Spoodles for breakfast. It was as good as the first time but we did not have the same appetite as we had after our fishing excursion. We told our server how much we enjoyed the breakfast and he told us that the management was thinking of changing it to a menu only breakfast. He told us that they had great feedback on the current set up, so why would they think of changing it. I told him that I had heard really good reviews of the restaurant for dinner before they changed the menu, and he said the same thing. If people really like a restaurant why does Disney insist on changing it?

After breakfast, we laid around by the lake, but it was cloudy and windy so we didn’t stay out there for long. After having our bags picked up we said our good-byes to the Beach Club and were on our way. We stopped at the Disney Marketplace. Daniel bought a few small toys at the Lego Store and then we stopped at the World of Disney. Catherine wanted a white Disney hat that I thought was too expensive, but Dad gave in and we bought it for her. ($20.00) She does look really cool in it. Daniel got a Donald Duck attitude T-Shirt. I actually came home without a souvenir! After leaving the Marketplace, we stopped at Jungle Jim’s at Crossroads for lunch before heading to the airport for our flight home.

National car rental tried desperately to make us miss our plane, but thankfully were unsuccessful. Apparently when we had picked up our car the handheld system wasn’t working so I had to go wait in line to settle my bill. There were about 6 people in line and only 2 people working at the counter. Everyone in line had some sort of difficulty with their bill! When I finally got to the counter the girl had no idea how to "fix" my bill. After some long minutes ticking by, she finally got the computer to do something and it spit out a bill for about $250.00. I said sorry no way - I was quoted a rate of $145. So she went back to work and some magic happened and I was only charged $145 on my AMEX. It should have been $145 plus all of the assorted taxes and surcharges, so I really made out okay. The flight home was uneventful and we were back in Baltimore by 6:00 p.m. and home by 7:30 p.m.

All in all, a wonderful trip. Can’t wait for the next one! (Some time in 2000)

Highlights:

Kevin getting us a great room
Fishing excursion
Beaver tails in Canada
Dinner at Mama Melrose
Miyuki (Japanese candymaker)
Animal Kingdom
Lowlights:

Pushy people
Missing the RADP Christmas meet
Housekeeping at the Beach Club
Dinner at Whispering Canyon Café
Missing the Christmas Parade at MVMCP
Missing Hall of Presidents, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Skyway
Becky Ashley

__________________
You just read a trip report that was originally published in our MousePlanet Trip Reports column.

Reader-submitted trip reports have always been an extremely popular feature here at MousePlanet. In order to improve the search functionality and shorten the time from when you submit a trip report and the report gets published, you can now post your trip reports directly to our Trip Report forums. The forums are moderated, but reports should become available for reading very quickly.