Trip Reports

Hey gang! As promised, this is my trip report for 7/10 - 7/13/98. Hubby and myself (grad students in our early 20s), and my parents (forty-something Peter Pan types) were on this trip. We’ve been to WDW close to 1000 times, but this was our first foray into staying on property. We live close by and normally just drive in for the day, but it was my birthday weekend, so we decided to try staying on property. This decision was made about a week in advance, so we were really lucky to get reservations. Our original plan was to stay Friday and Saturday nights at Shades of Green (SoG), then we decided to extend through Sunday night at Dixie Landings (DL). Anyway, this report is pretty long.

Friday night (7/10):

Drove up (only about an hour) after my mom got home from work. We met my dad at Shades of Green (he’s a civilian DOD employee and works in Orlando) at about 7 PM. He had already checked in and settled into the room ($109 per night, including extra person charges, based on his pay grade), so we went up and dropped off our stuff, then headed to dinner at the hotel restaurant. Dinner review was mixed. Hubby and I loved it, Mom and Dad rated it as "hot and hearty, but nothing special." We had the buffet ($10.95 per person), which included several different meats, salads, etc. Nothing particularly fancy, but good nonetheless. Desserts got top ratings from everyone (not included in the buffet price). The buffet has a different theme every night.

Next, mom and dad went up to the room to relax, while hubby and I headed to Pleasure Island. Unfortunately, Shades of Green is not a main part of the Disney bus system, so we had to catch a bus to the TTC, then a regular Disney bus to PI. Total commute time to PI was about 40 minutes, including waiting at the bus stops. We have PAPs, so we didn’t need to get in line for tickets, just went straight in. It was about 10:15 by this time, and PI was packed. We headed straight for the Comedy Warehouse, but missed getting into the 10:40 show, so we went to the Adventurer’s Club first, then got in line for the 12:05 Comedy Warehouse show. This gave us a great vantage point to watch PI’s all new New Year’s Eve show, but unfortunately, we hated it. IMHO, the old show was much better. The new one is based on the turn of the millennium, and has a futuristic theme. I’m sorry, but I can’t get into New Year’s Eve 2000 in the middle of July 1998. I think it was too soon to premiere this show. Also, the show itself had a distinctive "Jenny McCarthy flair". That’s great for some people, I suppose, but it didn’t do much for us. Anyway, the Comedy Warehouse was hilarious, as always. There were a few kids at the show, and it was not in any way toned down for them. I personally don’t mind if parents bring kids into PI, although I know a lot of people don’t like it, but if you do, just be prepared that some of the humor is rather risqué. After the show, we went to the Beach Club in time to see the end of Panama’s set, then went back to the hotel. Mannequin’s had a huge line outside the whole time we were there, so we elected to skip it for this trip.

Saturday (7/11):

Backstage Magic Tour. We bought tickets about two weeks in advance for this ($185 per person, or $159 after either AP or MKC discount, I’m not sure which). Anyway, we took the bus to TTC, then a monorail to EPCOT. This was a little tricky, as it was about 7:45 AM when we reached the TTC. It was an Early Entry day for MK, so they were letting people through the gates, but everyone was then being shuttled onto the MK monorails. We had to explain to two different people what we were doing and why we needed to get to EPCOT so early (the tour meets at 8:45 AM), but finally, we were on a monorail and on our way. We were about the only people on the monorail, so we got to ride up front with the driver without a wait.

We reached EPCOT Guest Relations at around 8:25 and met Joseph, who would be our guide for the day. Two other guests on the tour were also there already. While we waited for the other couple that would be joining us, we bought tickets to the Luau at the Polynesian for that evening. The other guests soon arrived, and we were on our way. It was truly amazing. The tours are limited to 15 guests, however, only 8 of us were on that particular one, plus Joseph and our bus driver, Mac. We had an enormous Disney Cruise Line bus to ourselves, with a cooler full of free soft drinks and water. Mac was friendly, and Joseph was terrific. He’s been a marketing manager with the company for seven years, and worked in various positions throughout Disney before that, so he really knows his stuff. I could write a novel about all the things we saw and learned that day, but I don’t want to ruin it for those of you who might want to take the tour, so I’ll give a list of what we saw, with a couple of comments on each:

SPOILER ALERT

EPCOT:

American Adventure - We learned all about how the show is staged and got to see the sets up close. Funniest sighting - Ben Franklin naked. They were doing repairs on the Ben Franklin audio animatronic, so they had his clothes off. Very interesting to see the mechanisms inside.

Living Seas - We went backstage to one of the manatee areas, and got to see one up close, enjoying his breakfast (lettuce). Then we saw the kitchen, where all of the food is prepared for the animals, and learned lots of fun facts such as how much it costs to feed a manatee per day. We also learned about some of the theming, and why things are done the way they are, as far as colors, curves, thickness of glass, etc.

Body Wars - Not too exciting. Apparently, you normally get to watch one of the simulators run, but the ride was down when we were there

MGM:

Rockin’ Roller Coaster - We got to see the progress that is being made, learn the storyline behind the ride, things like that. Only got to see it from the bus, though, since it is a hard hat area right now.

Feature Animation - Definitely one of the highlights. This is a brand new building with extremely tight security. Only people with a reason to be there are allowed inside. We had a drawing lesson (we drew Goofy) followed by a cel-painting class, both with animators who are on staff there.

Lunch at Mama Melrose - This was included in the tour price. We had a back room to ourselves and were joined by a Streetmosphere character. She was the stereotypical grandmother/great-aunt type, really nosy and really funny. Lunch was all you can eat, served family style. After lunch, "Lucille" joined us on the bus, where she dropped out of character and told us all about what it’s like to be a performer at Disney.

Costume Shop - This is one of the stops on the regular Catastrophe Canyon tram tour, but we got to actually go inside. We each got a swatch from a character costume to take home, and learned a lot about how the costumes are created.

Central Shops - Where every set, prop, ride vehicle, etc., is manufactured. We got to see a lot of things in progress, including the cars for the Buzz Lightyear ride that is replacing Delta DreamFlight. And yes, it is true, the Toad’s days are numbered. We saw prototypes for the Hunny Pot vehicles that will replace him.

Magic Kingdom:

Parade Staging Area - We saw the Spectromagic floats (not too impressive in daylight), and the tarp where large, bulky costumes are laid out for performers to step into. Also, it is true that the Main Street Electrical Parade will be making a comeback, although it may only be for a one season encore. We saw some of the floats from that as well.

Tunnels - Not real impressive at all, actually, but interesting nonetheless. Hubby and I had been in them before, when we worked for Disney, but dad kept asking, "So I’m really in the tunnels? This is really it?" We made a brief stop at the wig shop, where we learned the price tag on some of the character wigs and what materials they are made from. Funniest sighting - the Queen of Hearts, minus her head, walking down the hall. She’s actually played by a rather beefy guy.

Computer Command Center - The heart of the MK. This is where they control absolutely every ride, show, and attraction. We also stopped in the Parade Control Room, where we met the guy who was single-handedly responsible for keeping the timing right, all the audio effects, etc. for the 3 PM parade (which was going on at that time).

3:00 Parade - We went onstage for this, to a great viewing location on Main Street, in order to see how all of the individual elements combine into the total sensory experience.

END OF SPOILERS

Finally, we re-boarded the bus back to EPCOT. Total time for the tour was about seven hours. It was fantastic, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take it again, as I hear it’s always slightly different. Apparently, they’re planning to add Animal Kingdom sometime this winter. Joseph explained that they want it to be fully operational and running smoothly before they start adding backstage guests to the mix.

We popped into EPCOT for a short while immediately after the tour. Mom and Dad rode Spaceship Earth, while hubby and I played around on some of the games at the exit. We then did Ellen’s Energy Adventure, which none of us had been on before. It was great!!!! Much better than the old show, IMHO. Unfortunately, a torrential downpour started while we were inside. We had planned to stop back by the hotel to drop off the stuff we had accumulated throughout the day, then hit Disney Quest before the Luau. However, we ended up stuck at EPCOT for a couple of hours, as the monorail beam had been hit by lightning and monorails were not running. We spent most of the time under Spaceship Earth, where we were relatively dry and could watch the monorail situation. Finally, we did catch a monorail, but it was too late to go to Disney Quest and still make it to the Luau.

So we went back to Shades of Green and dried off, then hung out in the hotel bar. We split a couple of orders of absolutely fabulous Fried Ravioli while we watched the rain and debated whether the Luau would be canceled. The rain finally stopped around 8:30, leaving us an hour to get over to the Polynesian. We missed the 8:40 bus, and had to wait for the 9:00. Then, it took FOREVER to walk to the Luau Cove from the TTC. For those of you who have never been to the Luau, be forewarned that the Luau Cove is on the far side of the Polynesian, which is a huge property. The paths through the Polynesian to the Cove are meandering and scenic, probably beautiful on a nice, dry night when you’re not in a hurry. However, they also tend to collect large puddles after a rainstorm. It was not the most pleasant walk we’ve ever taken. We did get there on time, though. Overall, the quality of the food was excellent, but there was some feeling that the food choices were "stuck in the 1970s", so to speak. It struck us as an Americanized version of Polynesian cooking, from the days before international cuisine became popular. For example, rather than being served fresh exotic fruit, we were given pineapple cake (with a slight freezerburned taste) for dessert. The entertainment was mixed. The show was longer than we realized (right at two hours), and most of it was excellent. However, we thought that the "fashion show" and the dance numbers from the 1930s could have been dropped, thereby shortening the show and making it run more smoothly. The fire dancer is a must-see, though. Price was $38 per person, including dinner, dessert, and drinks, but not gratuity.

We went to bed that night with elaborate plans to be at MGM for Early Entry Sunday, stay half the day, then go to Disney Quest, which we hadn’t yet made it to. We should have known better, having gotten very little sleep Friday night, then being up late Saturday. Also, the idea was brewing to go ahead and stay Sunday night.

Sunday morning (7/12):

My 22nd birthday, by the way. Three of us awoke around 7 AM, but hubby was still dead to the world. Dad had checked into adding another night at Shades of Green the night before, but it was booked solid. So we called CRO to check on availability at other properties. For that night, for the four of us, we were quoted the following prices: All Star (Sports or Music) - $104, Dixie Landings - $174, Wilderness Lodge - $???, Contemporary (Garden View) - $2??, Contemporary (Tower) - $350. We decided on the All Star Music, since the plan was to use the room only as a place to sleep that night and to keep our stuff. So we awakened my husband, packed up, drove both cars all the way down to the All Star, and went inside. Mom and I were aghast. We hated the place. I know some people love it, but we’ve never been much for Vegas-style accommodations. Thirty foot tall maracas outside are just not our cup of tea, not to mention the extremely bright red walls with line drawings of pretty much everyone who has ever recorded a song that covered the lobby. Dad and hubby loved the place, so we tried to hang in to see our room. But when we were told that we couldn’t see a room until 3:00 (too late to go elsewhere) we put our foot down. Fortunately, the desk clerks were very understanding, and switched our ressie to Dixie Landings. But somehow, in the time it took us to drive directly down to DL, the ressie had been completely lost from their computer. The good news is, the problem was resolved within a few minutes, and they subtracted the extra person charges to compensate. So the room price became $156 including tax. My mother and I were much happier with this arrangement.

Dixie Landings was definitely more to our liking, and even dad and hubby admitted that it was a great place. We stayed in Magnolia Bend, which is themed after the great Mississippi plantation homes of the 19th century. Rooms are smaller than at SoG, but we had plenty of space. The entire resort has the feel of a small Louisiana town, down to Fulton’s General Store (the main gift shop at the hotel). A big advantage for those who want some time away from the kids, there is a main pool (crowded and noisy) as well as five quiet pools (almost deserted) throughout the property. We had not packed swimsuits, so we did not try out the pools, but they looked very nice.

By this time, it was about 10 AM, we were starving, and we had lunch ressies at the Prime Time in MGM for 11:30. So we called and postponed our ressies till 3:30, then headed to Boatwright’s. This was the first time we had eaten there, and it was fabulous. My dad told the waitress it was my birthday, and they brought me a whole cake with my name on it Remembering the advice of some of the people on this board, I had the banana stuffed French toast. It was incredible!! Excellent recommendation, everybody. Total price was around $60 for the four of us.

Finally made it to MGM (so much for the Early Entry idea). We saw the Beauty and the Beast show, Great Movie Ride, and Backstage Pass to 101 Dalmatians before lunch at the Prime Time. This was one of the best meals I have ever had. For those of you who haven’t been there, the idea is that it’s the 1950s, the waitstaff are your brothers and sisters, Mom’s in the kitchen making lunch, and Granny (92 years old and arthritic) is responsible for the shakes and ice cream dishes. We were seated in a small room with four tables, three of which including ours were occupied. Scott, our waiter, was a lot of fun. Then this really annoying family came in and sat at the fourth table, grumbled about everything, and ended up stalking out muttering about how they can’t believe they were treated so badly (Scott made the mistake of joking around with them like he did with all of us). So Scott distributed their untouched milkshakes and the meal went on. I couldn’t finish my sandwich (portions are huge), so Scott cut off a sizable chunk and told me I had to eat that. When he left the room, I wrapped it in a napkin and put it on his bussing tray. Of course, when he came back, he didn’t believe I had eaten it that quickly, so he went on a search of the dining room. He finally found it, then walked out, pretending to be mad. He came back with a birthday cupcake for me, said, "Well, you hid your dinner, so you obviously don’t want dessert," sat down at an empty table, and began eating my cupcake!!!!! I have honestly never laughed so hard in my life. He did of course bring out a new one for me a few minutes later, along with a nice birthday card that he had signed. It was terrific!!!

After lunch, we headed to Disney Quest (finally). Hubby and I bought $20 tickets (which gave us 90 units), and mom and dad bought $7 tickets each (20 units). This is the lowest priced ticket. They stayed long enough to look around, but decided it wasn’t for them, so they left to shop for work clothes (they had to work the next day, and had been planning to be home that night, so they hadn’t brought anything for work). Hubby and I hung around for awhile, played some 1980s games, and things like that. Mom and dad met us back at DQ around 9:30 PM, and we went ahead and went back to the hotel. We intended to eat at the DL food court, but I had been running a headache all evening, and by the time we got back, it had developed into being pretty sick. So they picked up carryout from the food court and brought it back to the room for me.

Monday (7/13):

Mom and Dad were up bright and early for work (poor them). Hubby and I lounged around in the room until about 10:30 AM, then had breakfast at Boatwright’s and took the boat to Downtown Disney. This is a lot of fun. It cruises past the Disney Institute (great photo ops of the Treehouse Villas and some of the other buildings), as well as making a stop at Port Orleans (the dragon slide in the PO pool looks extremely cool, we’ll have to try it out sometime). The only downside is that the boat landing at Downtown Disney is at the far end of the Marketplace, and we were headed to West Side. We had a bunch of units left on our DQ cards, plus mom and dad had given us their unused cards from the day before, so we wanted to spend them.

One note on how the DQ system works. Your individual card is only good for admission for one day, but the points are good for a year. But in order to use the points, you have to turn in your old card(s) when you buy your new one, so the points can be transferred in the computer system to your new card. Also, if someone gives you their unused card, you have to use it the day it was issued, as they will not transfer someone else’s points to your new card. They say this is because of fraud, and possible sale of unused cards on the black market. I think it’s a little excessive, but that’s how it is. None of this is posted on signs or explained, so we had to go through a lot of hassle trying to find out how it worked. Other than that, the day was great. Virtual Jungle Cruise was our absolute favorite ride at DQ. It’s a Virtual Reality ride, where you sit in a large raft (holds up to 4 people) and paddle around. The idea is that you’ve been sent back to the Jurassic Era, and you can explore at your leisure. Wherever you paddle, that’s where you go. When you go over a waterfall or hit rapids, you are actually hit with a spray of water. The Cheesecake Factory was great, and relatively inexpensive food. Around 4:00 PM, we took the bus back to DL to meet my parents, and we headed out to Gainesville.

Observations

It was a wonderful trip. So many good things happened, it’s almost indescribable. We had never stayed on property before (living an hour away, we never saw the point), but now we understand why people do it. One heads-up I would like to give, though, is about Shades of Green. It’s a perfectly nice hotel, but it feels more like staying just off property. Some of their regulations are kind of screwy, like the fact that they don’t accept debit cards to establish room charge privileges. We found this out the first night, when we charged dinner at the hotel restaurant back to our room, then got a call a half hour later informing us that we had to come settle the bill at the front desk, as we were not "authorized for charging privileges". Also, even assuming you use a regular credit card and get charging privileges, your ID can only be used to charge things at SoG. By contrast, at DL, we established charging privileges on our debit card without a problem, and were able to charge things all over property back to our room.

The bus system at SoG is also lacking. To get anywhere, you have to take their bus to the TTC, then transfer to an actual Disney bus to get where you’re going. At DL, we took direct buses to most places. On the upside, the SoG bus drivers are among the nicest people I’ve met. One girl loved to tell jokes during the journey.

SoG does have an extremely full service Guest Relations, though. They sell discounted tickets to places like Universal and Sea World, as well as Stars and Stripes Passes, which are available only to SoG guests and are basically cheaper LOS passes. And of course, like any Disney property Guest Relations, they can make dining ressies and give park info.

I guess the best way to describe SoG is a hybrid. In some ways, it’s definitely Disney, in other ways, it seems more military. I think for people who are actively in service, it’s a nice way to get an affordable room on property (rates start at $55 a night for the lowest pay grade, extra person charges only apply to those over 18) to bring the family to Disney. In our case, though, we were in the second highest pay grade, so for four adults, the room cost the same as the All Star, and not much less than the moderates. However, the rooms at SoG are MUCH larger than those at DL, so if space is a factor, SoG is a good choice. I think in the future, we’ll stick to the moderates (maybe a deluxe every once in a great while <g>).

Sorry this turned out so long. I hope it helped somebody out there, it sure was fun to write If anybody has any questions about anything, feel free to e-mail me.

Lisa and Jason Burkhardt

fnfurter@aol.com

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