Trip Reports

Anne Bevilacqua Campbell - November 14-26, 1998 - Coronado Springs, Port Orleans, Grand Floridian

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: GFRS, PO, CSR
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie
Comments: Anne and Drew combined a business trip with a slightly belated honeymoon. Frequent Disneyland visitors, the couple has had only old (pre-1990ish) experience at WDW. In fact, Drew hadn't been to WDW since 1974! The report is in play-by-play mode, and covers a lot of detail. My favorite aspect of the report is the detailed meal descriptions including California Grill and Victoria & Alberts.

Introduction

Welcome to my rather epic trip report! Here's a brief introduction so you know what you're in for.

The players: Anne, 23, and Drew, 32, newlyweds on our (slightly belated) honeymoon.
WDW experience: I had been to WDW four times before, in 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1990. Drew had only been once, and that was in about 1974. We've both visited Disneyland frequently, though.
Resorts: Coronado Springs, 11/14-11/18 (a business trip for me) Port Orleans, 11/18-11/25 Grand Floridian, 11/25-11/26
Passes: Regular Annual Passes, our first time using them.
Modes of travel: Air, Mears and Tiffany Town Car.
Day 1 of 13: November 14, 1998

I got up at 3:30 (!) to catch the shuttle at 4:45. My flights were smooth & both landed a little early. The time on the plane went much more quickly than I expected!

I took the 'monorail' to the terminal (love that Disney Voice) and found my Town Car driver, Brian, with no problem. He was a charming fellow from the UK, a very safe driver, and he took me for a quick stop at Publix before going on to Coronado Springs. I was staying there to attend a conference called TechLearn for a few days before the real honeymoon began.

I saw a snowy egret in a bog almost as soon as we hit WDW property. I took this as a good sign, since they're one of my favorite animals and I always seem to see them when I'm about to have a good day.

Check-in was fairly quick, which surprised me a bit since I was arriving along with 1800 other people for the conference! I requested a water-view room close to the main building. At first, the CM wanted to put me way out in Ranchos, but he found me a spot in Casitas 5.

A nice Bell Services guy schlepped all my bags and drove me in a golf cart to my room, giving me a good overview of the resort along the way. When I told him I had a Priority Seating at the California Grill, he checked to see if he could take time out to drive me over to the Contemporary. His boss said no, it was too busy, but he was kind enough to drive me to the bus stop in his cart.

CS was BEAUTIFUL! The lake was gorgeous and my room was charming, decorated in earth tones and quite spacious. I was completely blown away by the way the buildings of the three guest areas (Casitas, Ranchos and Cabanas) harmonized with the main buildings, the Dig Site, and the lake. It was especially amazing in the morning with the sun shining off the water. It's no wonder the sun shows up so often in CS's graphic design.

In retrospect, I wouldn't pay extra for a water view at any of the moderates, since there's an outside corridor and looking out your window only means that someone can peek in your room! If I'd been stuck with a bad view, I would have just walked around to the other side of the building. As it was, I could see the Lago Dorado, the Dig Site pyramid and a pretty fountain.

I took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and the monorail to the Contemporary with no problems. (Throughout my stay at CS, I found the bus service to be exceptional, especially since there were so few people using it - most were too busy with the conference.) While waiting for the monorail, I gazed longingly at the MK, which was very crowded for SpectroMagic.

I got to my California Grill seating on time, and it was spectacular! At first, I sat at the sushi bar and watched Yoshie, the sushi chef. Her movements were almost too quick to follow with the naked eye. But after a few minutes, I asked to be re-seated at one of the other stations, since I was particularly interested in watching the other types of chefs at work.

They seated me at the pastry counter, and I had the great treat of watching the pastry chefs work their magic. I had a good chat with Karen, one of the chefs, and a nice couple from Virginia who were sitting next to me.

My dinner was truly wonderful. I started out with vegetarian maki, which arrived in the blink of an eye, as I expected from having watched Yoshie. It was beautiful and innovative - used enoki mushrooms in one of the rolls, which I'd never tried before. A word of warning: Yoshie puts wasabi in as she rolls them! Mine were fairly spicy even before I added extra wasabi.

For an entree, I had the Sonoma goat cheese ravioli appetizer with shiitake mushrooms, basil and sundried tomatoes. (I literally had to restrain myself to keep from licking the plate!) Then I managed to squeeze in their Laura Chenel chevre cheesecake with lemon sauce and huckleberry glaze. Since I'm both a Californian and a major goat cheese fan, I had to go for both of their goat-cheese offerings, and I'm happy to say that I was far from disappointed.

The bill came to $32 with tip, but it was well worth it for the amazing food and the best view in the World. I didn't feel at all awkward for eating alone, as I usually do - there was plenty to look at and plenty of friendly people to talk to.

I took a cab back to CS for $10 + tip, unpacked my stuff in the room, and crashed!

Day 2 of 13: November 15, 1998

I wanted to do early entry at MGM today, so I was awakened at 5:30 by a certain mouse! Somehow my jet lag wasn't too bad - major excitement, and a little melatonin, helped with that.

I bounded out of bed, got ready quickly and went to the Pepper Market for breakfast. Only the take-out counter was open so early, but I was able to get my refillable mug (which features the Three Caballeros and has a cool sliding top so it doesn't leak) and a very yummy croissant covered with fresh tropical fruits and pastry cream.

I had a short wait for the bus and a short ride to MGM, about 5 minutes each. MGM is *very* convenient from CS.

Got there just in time for rope drop and headed straight for the Tower of Terror. I'd never seen it, having not been to MGM since the year it opened. It was way too cool! The special effects were amazing. On my first ride, I got the seat belt seat. I screamed! Then I turned right around and did it again.

I love Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards. They're my favorite part of the park because they don't let you see behind the illusion. One of my favorite details is a cracked, fading billboard on Sunset, advertising the Hollywood Tower Hotel as a chic new hangout.

Did the Great Movie Ride next, with no wait; got the cowboy side. It's a pretty cool ride and nice and long - I liked the Wizard of Oz part best, with that incredible witch. I'm puzzled, though, by the "grand finale." Seems like they could have done something more elaborate than a bunch of movie clips (many of which you see in the queue, anyway).

(I heard something funny from a family exiting the ride with two youngish kids who looked a little nervous about the day's activities. Dad said "First, we'll do Star Wars. Then, the Tower of...uh...whatever.")

I've had my fill of Star Tours at Disneyland, so I made my way down NY Street (which was being repainted by guys on cherry pickers, so it kind of ruined the effect. Saw MuppetVision, which was hysterical! I've always loved the Muppets.

Took the Backlot Tour, which was amusing, but I wasn't that crazy about all the "This is the truck we used in *this* movie, this is the car from *that* TV show..." Catastrophe Canyon was very cool, though.

I had perfect timing for everything today - almost no waits for rides, and I seemed to arrive at shows just before they were about to start.

The Little Mermaid show was gorgeous! I can't figure out how they did some of the puppetry, and I don't care. Same goes for the special effects on the TOT.

I took the Animation Tour next, since it was next door. It was great to see Tarzan and Fantasia 2000 stuff, but I would have preferred to see fewer movies (Robin and Walter, etc.). Maybe I just didn't get the full effect, since I was there on a Sunday when no one was working.

It was the last day of Soap Opera weekend, so I expected the crowds to be terrible...but it turned out to be great! Although there were *some* crowds, they were mostly in line to get the stars' autographs or to see them in a motorcade down Hollywood Blvd. At 11:30, there was only a 10-minute wait for TOT. I put a nickel on my knee and watched it hover!

I had a PS at Mama Melrose's for lunch, and it was really excellent. I had an appetizer of a grilled portobello mushroom with gorgonzola cheese, creamy polenta and a merlot reduction, plus a cup of really wonderful minestrone (and I'm Sicilian and a bit of a minestrone connoisseur). The bill was $14 with tip.

After lunch, I braved yet another ride on TOT (do we see a pattern here?). This time was the scariest of all, because there were two big guys in my row. I caught literally six inches of air!

A little sleepy, I caught the bus to Coronado (again, no wait) for a quick nap before going to the orientation session for my conference. Saw another snowy egret on the way.

The orientation was presented by someone from the conference, but she had a team from the Comedy Warehouse helping her out. They were completely amazing! I don't usually go for stand-up comedy, but I definitely want to catch these guys some day at PI - they bring new meaning to the word 'improv.'

After the orientation, I figured out that I *might* just be able to get back to MGM in time for the last Hunchback show of the day. I got the bus pretty quickly, practically sprinted through the park, and got to my seat about 30 seconds before it started! This was a big deal, because I'd been trying to see it at Disneyland for two years and something always went wrong to prevent it (like on the week before it closed there, Drew and I were walking to the theatre when he slipped and twisted his ankle, and we spent 2 hours in First Aid. The silver lining was that the Mouse himself came to visit us, but we never did get to see the show at DL).

Anyway, the show was well worth the wait - I was completely spellbound and especially loved Clopin, Djali, Frollo's horse, and the fiery cauldron.

I really wanted to see the East Coast's version of Fantasmic, since it's one of my favorite things at DL. On my way there, I got a quick dinner of a baked potato with sour cream, and ate it while waiting (waited about 35 minutes). Hit the spot, because my stomach was feeling a little weird from so much rich food.

I really liked the guy who provided pre-show entertainment. He did some silly things, like asking everyone in the audience named Michael to stand up, and then saying "Okay, I just wanted to do a quick Mike check."

Fantasmic was as great as ever! I missed Peter Pan, but it was good to have a seat and be able to see perfectly.

One more TOT ride and then home to CS! I was hungry again, so I had Dinner Part 2 at Pepper Market: pasta with marinara sauce for $7. Bedtime!

Day 3 of 13: November 16, 1998

I had a lovely breakfast at the Pepper Market: kids' breakfast of Mickey-shaped waffles and fruit with a side order of home fries. I attended conference sessions most of the day, with lunch at the Pepper Market again (had a "side" portion of nachos for $4, which was ENORMOUS - the entree size must take three people to lift it!).

After the conference stuff was over, I was off to MGM again! I saw the Mulan parade (way cool, especially the acrobats), then rode TOT for the sixth time (could you tell I liked it?) and saw Beauty and the Beast. BATB was a little disappointing compared to Hunchback - a few scenes were just plain weird, like the dancing bats (?!), and there was a faux Belle in one scene so the real one could change dresses. I would have done it differently, but then again, I minored in theatre in college and am a little biased about these things.

I was going to head over to Downtown Disney by taking the bus to the Caribbean Beach and then transferring, but after waiting about 15 minutes for a CBR bus, I realized I was sleepy and should go take a nap before my dinner PS at Spoodles.

After a rest, I felt much better and caught the very convenient direct bus to the Boardwalk. It's very pretty there, especially the porte-cochere! I decided I probably wouldn't ever stay at the Boardwalk Inn because it seemed like it would be too noisy and busy for me, but I'd be willing to give the Boardwalk Villas a try. I checked in at Spoodles about twenty minutes early, so they gave me a pager and I wandered the Boardwalk a little bit.

What the heck is up with that booth where you can dip your hand in wax and have a candle made from it?? That was without a doubt the most peculiar souvenir I saw in all of WDW.

I took a seat on a bench outside the restaurant to read my book for a few minutes, but when the pager went off in my pocket, I jumped about a foot in the air! I'd completely forgotten about it. The family sitting next to me must have thought I was a nut.

I had chosen to go to Spoodles on this particular night because there was a guest chef, Todd English from the Olives restaurant in Boston, and I'd heard he was wonderful. Unfortunately, the special items he was cooking were all meat dishes (I think there was venison and something with crab) and I'm a vegetarian, so I had to stick with their regular menu. Next time I'm in Boston, I'll be sure to make it to his restaurant.

My server was very friendly and recommended the meze plate (a sampler of a dozen different Mediterranean appetizers), and it was very tasty. But I expected to fall completely in love with Spoodles, since Mediterranean foods are my favorites, and I didn't like it quite as well as the California Grill. I didn't care for the decor and there weren't as many vegetarian options as I would have liked. Still, the service was super-fast, and I certainly didn't go away hungry. The meze plate came with hummus, tabouli, marinated carrots, different types of olives, cheeses, and several other yummy things, all with plenty of pita bread. With a cranberry juice and tip, it was $26.

Thoroughly stuffed, I caught the bus to Downtown Disney. I enjoyed the Fantasia topiaries (the brooms with buckets were too cute!), the Disney Home store and the enormous World of Disney, but it was all a little too much stimulation for me - it had been a long day and I had to head home. I bought postcards and a Mickey pencil cup and asked to have them sent back to CS. (Two and a half weeks later, I have yet to see them, but I'll write more on that later in the report!)

I didn't get a seat on the bus, and it stopped all over creation: the Marketplace, Pleasure Island, West Side, the Boardwalk, CS bus stop 1, and finally my stop, #2. Every time, they had to turn the dang lights on in the bus! Finally, I got back to my room, thoroughly sleepy, grumpy and dopey. Bedtime!

Day 4 of 13: November 17, 1998

This was my last conference day and the day Drew was arriving!

I slept late for my own sanity after the long night at Downtown Disney the night before. I attended the last few conference sessions for most of the day, then waited and waited for Drew to arrive. His plane had landed at 4:30, but he didn't arrive at CS till half past six! Turned out he'd had a long wait for Mears, and then the shuttle had stopped at about a million other resorts and let him off last.

We were late for our priority seating at the Maya Grill, but we didn't have to wait long for a table. The restaurant is very beautiful, with huge 'torches' in the middle and Mayan-style carvings on the walls - you feel like you're on the inside of a temple. People who like the Mexico pavilion at Epcot would love it here.

The food is "nuevo Latino," though, not Mexican, and it's wonderful. Drew had seafood ceviche, a shellfish soup, an enormous margarita, coffee and an amazing dessert (some kind of chocolate napoleon, with raspberry-filled truffles on the side) for $37. I had their grilled shrimp pasta, but with grilled veggies and plantains instead of the shrimp, and with a cranberry juice it was $31. Everything was delicious. My pasta was angel hair, but as I was eating, I discovered one piece of Mickey-shaped pasta - an edible Hidden Mickey! I was very tickled.

Drew crashed after his very long day, but I was too excited to sleep for a while and had to shut myself in the bathroom and take trip report notes.

Day 5 of 13: November 18, 1998

This was Magic Kingdom day!

We had room service for breakfast (pastries, juice and tea - $17!). While Drew was in the shower, I took some pictures of the Dig Site, and then we had Bell Services bring us and our bags out front. Said goodbye to Coronado Springs - sad, but we were glad to be heading to Port Orleans.

Got the MK bus right away, and we were off! We were drawn in by the castle and did Snow White, Peter Pan, and Small World first, then Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and Pirates - all quite different from the Disneyland versions. Splash was MUCH longer, but Pirates shorter. We tried the new Tiki Room because Drew is a big fan of the old, and it was a little odd, but fun. We're glad we still have the original out here in California.

At one point in the morning, we stopped in Liberty Square to have some popcorn. We sat on a bench to eat it and Drew said to me, "Let's see how long it takes them to clean up after us." We spilled a few kernels on the ground, as people do when they're eating popcorn, and before we were even done, a CM had come out of nowhere to sweep up.

We had lunch at Pecos Bill's - a hot dog, root beer float and fries for Drew, and a salad and Coke for me, $14. The salad was quite good (you can get it without the chicken), though the fries were extremely salty.

We got on the WDW Railroad at the Frontierland station and had a good rest. What a BIG park the MK is, compared to Disneyland! We went around the track 1-1/2 times, then did Toontown because we just had to see the Mouse. It turned out to be the exact day of his 70th birthday, and he looks great for a senior citizen. We had also met Doc, Rafiki, Timon and Ariel at various times during the day. I had to take a picture of Drew with Doc because I tease him about his Ph.D.

Off to Tomorrowland, which is packed with things to do, compared to Disneyland. We did Space Mountain first and did NOT like it, much to our surprise. At Disneyland it's my second-favorite ride, but at WDW it's incredibly bumpy, almost to the point of being painful. Also, at DL there's a music soundtrack synchronized with the ride, and we found that without the familiar music we didn't know where we were in the ride or how much was left.

A little wobbly, we exited and made for the TTA, which was a great relief. Then I dragged Drew on the Carousel of Progress, and it was as campy as ever. Now, all I have to do to make Drew crazy is to start singing - everybody join in, now - "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow...shining at the end of every day..."

We went to get Drew's hair cut on Main Street, which was a cool experience. It came out great and was actually cheaper than his barber at home (we live in San Francisco, where a pint of ice cream costs $3.19). Then we watched the parade from City Hall (a lot of fun) and caught the bus to Port Orleans.

PO is beautiful! The CM who checked us in offered us a free drink at the bar because we were honeymooners. We got a spot in Building 5, very close to the main building and overlooking the hot tub. The landscaping was beautiful and the pool was the coolest I'd ever seen. It's so much more intimate than CS, though I did love CS.

When we were checking in, Drew had a brief panic because our reservations were only through the night of the 24th. I had to give away part of my big secret - I told him we were staying at the Grand Floridian for our last night in WDW. I didn't tell him the other part of the surprise, though - more on that later.

The room was lovely, just our style of decorating, but we only stayed in it a little while before we had to head over to the Contemporary for yet another dinner at the California Grill. On our way in, I told Drew about the five-legged goat in the mural, and he spotted it right away!

We had a VERY big, lavish, very tasty dinner. They seated us right by the window, overlooking the Magic Kingdom, and the server brought us excellent focaccia with olive oil, which I hadn't had on my other visit. We ordered a flatbread with olives, sundried tomatoes and chevre for me and a plate of California roll for Drew, both of which were incredible. Then Drew had the salmon with a veggie ragout, and I had an entree-sized portion of the same chevre ravioli I'd tried the other night. For dessert, we shared a Cappuccino Quake, and with a Coke for me and chardonnay for Drew, it was $97 with tip.

Unfortunately, I got very sick right afterwards. I had been coming down with a stomach flu and hadn't noticed till it was too late. I spent a lot of time in bathrooms at the restaurant and in the lobby, and Drew got so worried that he found a CM, Tammy, from one of the gift shops to go in the ladies' room to find me. She took excellent care of me - brought me Sprite and Pepto-Bismol, and called PO to have someone pick us up.

Laura from PO was there quickly and was reassuring. We saw two deer by the road on the way to PO, just standing there nonchalantly by the highway, watching us go by. The Pepto and being back in the room made me feel a little better, and we went to sleep.

Day 6 of 13: November 19, 1998

I woke up this morning feeling considerably worse, and Drew called the front desk to see if it was possible to get a doctor to come to the room. They connected us to an off-site medical facility, and I talked to a nurse on the phone who recommended that I get to a hospital to have intravenous fluids, because it was likely that I was dehydrated.

Drew called the front desk again, and in a few minutes, CM Paige was all set to drive us to Florida Hospital in Celebration. The hospital was beautiful and modern (Paige was right - it looked more like a hotel than a hospital, with architecture very similar to the Grand Floridian), and everyone took excellent care of me. I had an IV and some nausea medicine and felt much better. Paige came again to bring us back to PO, and I got a bite to eat.

After a nap for both of us, I felt well enough to go to Epcot for our PS at Rose and Crown. We had time for a quick ride on Spaceship Earth before the PS, and it turned out to be one of our all-time favorites. We also caught a glimpse of Off Kilter as we walked to the UK.

Our PS was for 7:30, but we requested an IllumiNations table and weren't seated till after 8. Drew had a bowl of soup and fish and chips (which he said were excellent) and I stuck with juice and a roll. They have nice rolls that are a bit like baking powder biscuits. The bill was $28 with tip. Just as we were finishing, IllumiNations began, and we had a perfect view! I was a bit sleepy from my nausea medicine, but we both enjoyed it anyway.

When we got to the bus loading area, there was a giant line for PO and DL, so we said to heck with it and took a cab for $12 w/tip. Sleepytime!

Day 7 of 13: November 20, 1998

We slept late this morning, did some laundry and took a little walk around PO. I felt a lot better, but I still wanted to take it easy.

We took the bus back to Epcot about 1:00. The crowds were quite light there, even thouh it was early entry day. I had the idea of renting a wheelchair to save my energy, and it really helped a lot - Epcot is a BIG place and it's amazing how much walking you can do there. I parked the chair and walked when we went into shops and on rides, but it was very relaxing just to sit most of the time, and Drew said it was easy to push me.

We did Spaceship Earth again and took some pictures - I have no idea if they'll come out, but it was worth a shot. Then Drew had a cheeseburger and fries at the Electric Umbrella, and we both tried Surge for the first time. Yuck! I stuck with my bottled water.

We got a little lost on the way to World Showcase and ended up by the Odyssey building, but it was a stroke of good luck, because Julia Child was doing a cooking demonstration! We watched her make bouillabaisse. She's so cool and has a great sense of humor - we've both always admired her. There was also a truly amazing display made by pastry chefs from some of the WDW resorts: a huge "cast-iron" stove made entirely of chocolate, with pots and pans made of various edibles.

After some gawking at that, we headed over to Mexico to do World Showcase clockwise. I remembered Mexico being one of my favorite pavilions, and Drew loved it too, even the little boat ride. He bought a little sun face made of pottery to hang on the wall over his desk at home.

Drew was really looking forward to seeing the Norway pavilion, and he was not disappointed. We loved the Viking ship and the Stave Church, not to mention Drew's smoked salmon sandwich, soda and lefsa ($9). The lefsa tasted to me like a rolled-up flour tortilla with butter and sugar on it, but he thought it was great. We braved the trolls on the Maelstrom and had a great time, but skipped the movie (*blush*).

In China, Drew had his first CircleVision experience ever, and we liked the movie - very beautiful. Of course, it helped that we're both poets and it's narrated by Li Po. While we were in the theatre waiting for the movie to start, we caught a glimpse of Mushu, Mulan and what's-his-name, her love interest, in the shop outside the theatre, but by the time the movie was over, they were gone.

I loved the architecture in Germany and the statue of St. George and the dragon. Drew got bratwurst at Sommerfest and I ate most of his sauerkraut. Drew studied German in college and spent a lot of time there, and he told me that German folk wisdom says that sauerkraut is the thing to eat when you have a bad stomach. It worked for me! While we were eating, we listened to the great oompah band outside.

We cruised through Italy quickly, checking out the shops, and there was a band in 18th-century costumes playing wonderful 'electrified baroque' music. Does anybody know the group's name?

We wanted to catch the American Adventure show, but one had just started and we didn't want to wait for the next one, so we moved on to Japan.

I hadn't expected to care much for the Mitsukoshi department store, but I got completely lost in there, checking out all the cool stuff. I was delighted to find that they have a big Sanrio section (you know, Hello Kitty and all those characters), because the first day Drew and I met in person, we went to the Sanrio store in San Francisco. I've always thought of them as the Japanese version of Disney.

Drew saw me admiring the pick-your-own-pearl display, so he bought me one. I picked a nice fat oyster, and my pearl was beautiful! The clerk polished it with salt and measured it - 7 millimeters, bigger than a pencil eraser. Maybe I'll have it made into a pendant some day.

We stopped to get me a bowl of miso soup before leaving Japan, and it was just the thing for my tummy, and a bargain at about $2.

In Morocco, we listened to an excellent band with a guy playing an electric violin and poked around in the shops. There was some great Egyptian stuff - not quite geographically correct, but close enough.

France was probably my favorite pavilion. We sniffed perfumes, checked out the little art museum with autographs of famous French people, and went to Boulangerie Patisserie, where I really, really wished that I was feeling up to having a lavish dessert. I compromised by getting a plain croissant, which we ate while watching "Impressions de France." It was lovely and made me wish to be there.

In the UK, we did lots of shopping and heard the British Invasion playing outside. The singer really sounded remarkably like Paul McCartney! We bought a Welsh cookbook for a friend of ours, and while I was in line to pay for it, the couple in front of me wished the (very British) CM a happy Thanksgiving. He looked a little puzzled but was very patient in explaining to the couple that it wasn't really his holiday.

We were also very excited to find something we had dearly hoped they had in the UK pavilion: Cadbury Flake bars. They're just bars of this indescribably flaky, creamy chocolate that you can only get in the UK, as far as I know. We bought a half-dozen and saved them for when my tummy was better.

We had to skip "O Canada" for the same reason as the American Adventure - a show had just started when we got there - but I bought some maple sugar candy, which I love, and Drew had a slice of tourtiere (a pork pie that's a specialty of Quebec) at the Food & Wine Festival booth.

We headed back to PO just as IllumiNations was starting, so we'd miss most of the crowds. Drew got chicken strips and rice and beans at the food court - a bargain at about $6 and very yummy.

Off to bed!

Day 8 of 13: November 21, 1998

We were up at 7 (eek!) for our long-awaited breakfast with Mary Poppins. Before leaving the room, I put in a call to Coronado Springs to try to track down the package I had sent there from Downtown Disney - I got transferred back and forth about a dozen times, but finally got someone on the phone who swore that she'd have the package sent over to Port Orleans. I hoped for the best.

We took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to the Grand Floridian. It was overwhelmingly beautiful, and we both got very excited for our upcoming night there. The breakfast buffet at 1900 Park Faire was excellent! There were a great many things to choose from, all delicious, and we had a great time meeting Minnie, Pluto (who licked us) and Alice. We saw Mary Poppins, but didn't get a chance to chat with her. The bill was $38 with tip. Unfortunately, I overestimated the ability of my stomach to handle a big breakfast after so many days of nothing but crackers, and after we ate, I felt unwell all over again. We took a cab back to Port Orleans ($15 with tip) and took a good nap.

I felt well enough by 2:00 to head to the Animal Kingdom.

We had a little trouble at first because the bus seemed to drop us off in the middle of nowhere and it was not immediately apparent which way the main entrance was, but we quickly found our way. On the way in, a CM was handing out green photocopied sheets with tips for touring the Animal Kingdom.

We were very excited about this park, since it was the first time for both of us, and we were not disappointed. AK is incredible! We were drawn in to the Tree of Life but stopped to see the March of the ARTimals along the way (clever, but a little peculiar). We saw many animals, both live and carved, on the way to and through the tree.

There was almost no wait for It's Tough to Be a Bug, and we almost wished the line moved a little more slowly so we could see more of the tree! But we both enjoyed the show; it was funny, wild and a little scary. I can understand why little kids would be frightened by it - we had to grab onto one another once or twice.

Next, we wandered through Safari Village and Harambe toward Kilimanjaro Safaris. As we made our way through, I realized I couldn't decide which part of the park I liked the best - it seemed that every time we turned a corner, I saw something even more amazing than the thing before. Safari Village is so lively and colorful, and the shops have great stuff; and Harambe is unbelievably real, down to the Swahili advertisements plastered on the sides of the buildings. The CMs from Africa had such wonderful accents. I've always wanted to go to Africa, and I feel like in Harambe I got a taste of what it must really be like.

The wait for the safari was just as short as it had been for ITTBAB. (I'd definitely go at this time of year again - the crowds were very manageable right up until a couple of days before Thanksgiving.) On the tour, we saw duiker, Thomson's gazelles, rhinos, cheetahs, warthogs, the lioness, elephants, flamingos, giraffes - too many to name! I took a ton of pictures. We didn't mind the "poachers" plot because the safari driver did a good job with it, but I wished the voices on the "radio" were better actors. All in all, though, it was an amazing experience.

I had really been looking forward to Pangani Falls, because I love gorillas, and it was just beautiful. We saw plenty of fish, hippos, meerkats, many many gorgeous (and fearless!) birds, and of course, the gorillas: first, the silverback dad through the glass, and then a bachelor fellow about 6 feet away in the open air. I had never been so close to gorillas and absolutely loved it.

Drew had a chicken sandwich, fries and a Coke at Tusker House ($9) and pronounced it quite tasty.

It was getting close to closing time, so we headed over to Countdown to Extinction. We didn't have much time to see Dinoland, but we made a note to check it out later. CTX scared the pants off us! I sat in the front left seat and was the target for several lunging horrors; and at the end I was expecting a meteor and got a HUGE dreadful carnotaurus! It wasn't quite as good as Indiana Jones, which is my favorite ride at Disneyland, but it was a worthy successor.

It was dark when we got out and the park was closing, so we headed home to PO. Drew did a little laundry (laundry at PO is cheaper than it is at home!), then we both tried out the hot tub before going to sleep.

Day 9 of 13: November 22, 1998

We had already made a couple of trips through World Showcase, but we decided to do Future World this morning.

We started with Innoventions, which was a good choice because it was almost completely empty. We sent some electronic postcards, did an ultrasound and played with Crayola software for quite some time.

The Living Seas was next; it ended up being Drew's favorite pavilion in Future World, but I didn't much care for it. I had never actually seen it before, because it was just being finished the last time I was at Epcot. I expected it to be as good as or better than the New England Aquarium, which also features an enormous tank and which I loved when I was growing up; but I didn't see as many creatures at the Living Seas. Drew enjoyed the little movie about the relationship between the oceans and the plates of the earth's crust, partly because we live in earthquake country, but mostly because it featured Atlas and Drew's very interested in Greek mythology lately.

By the time we got to The Land, we were a little hungry, so Drew got barbecue and pronounced it the best counter-service food he'd had so far. We waited about 15 minutes for the Living with the Land boat ride and enjoyed it quite a bit. We'd like to do the Behind the Seeds tour someday.

We skipped the Imagination pavilion and HISTA, because we can see it at Disneyland. I missed seeing Figment, though.

Drew wasn't very excited about seeing the Universe of Energy, but I wanted to see how it had changed, and we both ended up enjoying it. I remembered the old show as being a bit of a snore except for the dinosaur scene, but this version was much more engaging and didn't have as much of a message of "Fossil fuels are our friends!"

Wonders of Life was always my second-favorite pavilion after Imagination, and I think it's moved into first place now that the old Journey Into Imagination ride is gone. At Pure and Simple, Drew had a frozen yogurt sundae and I tried a waffle with blueberries. My tummy was fine! We saw Cranium Command, which was a lot of fun, but skipped Body Wars - with my illness, we'd both seen enough bodily functions live and in person to last us a lifetime.

We rode Horizons, which is cool in parts (like the choose-your-own-ending) but way too retro in others. At least those poor Audio-Animatronics could get a haircut! We wandered into Ice Station Cool before going back to PO for a nap - I thought the Beverly was truly awful, but Drew, my favorite omnivore, said it wasn't so bad. We both thought the frozen fellow inside was pretty funny.

After naptime, we got the bus to the MK around 5. We had our silhouettes done as a honeymoon souvenir, then tried Alien Encounter, which we had skipped the other day. It scared the pants off us! We agreed that once was definitely enough for that attraction. We calmed ourselves down by seeing Timekeeper, which we both loved. Drew is into Jeremy Irons and enjoyed hearing his voice on Spaceship Earth and then seeing him again as H.G. Wells.

We bought a Monstro pretzel in Fantasyland and had time to catch Legend of the Lion King before SpectroMagic. LotLK was great, especially Rafiki - I only wished it was a little longer.

We found a good spot in Liberty Square to watch Spectro. We stood directly behind a row of strollers, so I could actually see the parade (I'm 4'11" and usually have to crane my neck for things like that). We waited for only twenty minutes or so, but nearly went stir-crazy because a kid next to us literally could not keep still for two seconds! She kept stepping on our feet, running into us, swinging her head around and hitting us with her hair....I wouldn't have minded so much if she were a little kid, but she was at least ten or eleven, and her parents didn't say a word to her.

Spectro was pretty cool, but I wasn't as nuts about it as I expected. Maybe I was just grumpy from dealing with the kid, but I think I like the old Main Street Electrical Parade better. (What's up with those creepy clown-like creatures at the beginning of the parade? They're worse than the Light Magic pixies.)

We had time for a quick ride on the Haunted Mansion - Drew always wants to ride that a million times when we're at Disneyland, and at WDW it was no different. (Not that I mind! It was my very favorite when I was little.) Then we hightailed it to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear and got in line just in the nick of time before the park closed. There was a bit of a delay because the ride broke down, so we stood still for ten minutes or so, but eventually they got things moving again. It was fun, but difficult! Neither of us plays many video games, so we're not very good at that sort of thing. My score was 80,200 and Drew's 10,000. Still, we enjoyed it and would do it again.

When we got to the PO bus stop, a Disney Cruise Line bus was there waiting for us. It was relaxing to sit in the nice cushy seats. We had lemonade and some more barbecue at the food court, and crashed.

Day 10 of 13: November 23, 1998

We got up at 7 again - a bit too early, but we wanted to catch MGM before it got too crowded. The bus took longer than we'd estimated, and we got to MGM at about 9:05.

(On the bus, we saw a woman with a baby about 18 months old. Both of them were standing in the aisle. She refused several offers of a seat and let the baby stand on her own and try to hold herself up. I was terrified that the baby would lose her balance and hit her head! But the mother just held her by one hand and murmured "No, no, you have to hold on," whenever the baby let go of the seat she was holding on to. The baby was way too small to balance herself like that. Later on, we saw them again near the TOT - the woman left the baby in her stroller ALONE and walked across the street to throw something away! We were horrified and briefly considered wheeling the baby away just to teach the mother a lesson.)

At 9:05, TOT already had a 35-minute wait! We skipped it and did the Great Movie Ride, gangster side. Drew enjoyed it, but he just about jumped out of his seat when that alien was hovering over his head. Then we caught both Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Hunchback. Drew liked VotLM but, like me, was totally floored by Hunchback. It really is an amazing show.

We had lunch at Mama Melrose's because I'd enjoyed it so much the other time. Drew had fried oysters; a sausage and caramelized onion pizza; sangria; coffee; and cappuccino crème brulée. I had their wonderful minestrone and actually felt fine! A streetmosphere performer dressed as a tourist was entertaining some tables nearby. The total was $42 with tip and Drew pronounced it his new favorite, even better than the California Grill.

We wanted to see MuppetVision, but there was a half-hour wait, so we headed to the tip board to check on TOT. Only 10 minutes! Drew was afraid he would lose his wonderful lunch (he'd never been on TOT and was apprehensive, to say the least), so I went for one last drop by myself. It was as good as ever! I was tempted to buy a Hollywood Tower Hotel bathrobe, but it was too long for me, so I settled for a facecloth.

We caught the bus back to PO to take a nap and do laundry. The package from Downtown Disney via Coronado Springs *still* hadn't arrived.

We took off for Epcot around 4:45 but didn't arrive till 5:30 - the buses from PO sometimes stop at all 4 Dixie Landings stops as well, which takes forever. We never did figure out what the magic formula was; sometimes PO and DL shared a bus and sometimes they didn't, and it seemed completely random.

When we arrived at Epcot, we went to Guest Services to change our Akershus PS from 6:00 to 7:30, because we weren't particularly hungry yet. This was no problem. Then we had to have yet another ride on Spaceship Earth. We agreed it's one of Disney's best and definitely our favorite ride at Epcot.

We took a jaunt around World Showcase counterclockwise this time - saw "O Canada," which was beautiful, and bought some maple sugar candy. I grew up in New Hampshire and have been missing maple sugar out here in California, where a little pint of syrup costs practically a week's wages.

In the UK, Drew bought a book on Welsh culture, and I bought him a teacup with holly leaves on it that he had admired but was too embarrassed to buy (it's a guy thing - he loves tea, but didn't want to be seen buying a frilly cup). He sampled men's colognes in both the UK and France, continuing his seemingly endless quest for the perfect masculine scent. We strolled through the rest of the countries and enjoyed the Tam Tam drummers in the Outpost (I love African music), then made for Akershus.

I asked the hostess if it was all right if I skipped the buffet - not only did I still not trust my stomach, but I didn't expect that there'd be much for me to eat that wasn't fish or meat. But Drew was in heaven! He'd been waiting for months for his chance at Akershus, because he spent some time in northern Germany while he was in college, and apparently the cuisine there is similar to Norway's. The server and hostess were completely tickled by his passion for the herring, venison, salmon and rice cream. With a mineral water, Coke, Ringnes beer and tip, the bill was $40. Drew was a very happy fellow. I even took a quick look at the buffet myself and decided that next time I would go for it - there actually were quite a few things I would have enjoyed if my tummy had been up for it.

We headed home to PO while IllumiNations exploded!

Day 11 of 13: November 24, 1998

We were up at 8 and had our usual breakfast of juice and a plain croissant for me, tea and a muffin for Drew ($~5). Got the bus to AK around 9:35 and arrived there at 10.

We headed to Dinoland to see the various exhibits - pretty cool! I liked the giant turtle skeleton and the comparisons between dinosaur skeletons and those of similar modern animals. Later on, I bought an Animal Kingdom pin with a picture of Mickey as a paleontologist, measuring a dinosaur jaw with a tape measure. It's very cute.

It was quite crowded in Dinoland (especially near the dig area) and we'd already seen Countdown to Extinction, so we moved on to Camp Minnie-Mickey. Drew bought a corn dog and funnel cakes to eat while waiting to see the Festival of the Lion King. The show was *incredible* - dancers, floats, fire-juggling, wonderful singing - and it rivaled Hunchback for the best show we'd seen at WDW. We sat in the lion section and roared as best we could.

We noticed the Discovery River boats were running again, billed as 'Water Taxis - A Round Trip Tour of Disney's Animal Kingdom.' The wait was 50 minutes! We decided to skip it.

We made our way instead to the Conservation Station train and got on it right away. On the path from where the train let us off to the Conservation Station building, we saw a talking plant! It rustled its leaves and had quite the conversation with passing guests, telling us to file a complaint and get Disney to change the park's name to Plant Kingdom.

Conservation Station was cool, especially the murals (I spotted a Hidden Mickey in an ostrich's eye), the golden lion tamarins, and the Affection Section. I know, I know, it's only goats and sheep, but they're actually rare breeds, and they were much more placid than the ones at the petting zoo at home in San Francisco. Since there's a no-feeding policy at AK, the animals didn't have to beg for pellets and could spend their time just being friendly with the visitors rather than aggressively competing for food. I was also impressed with the handlers at AK - they knew every one of the goats and sheep by name. One handler had a rather animated argument with a sheep. She was leading a small group of sheep to the other end of the enclosure, and a sheep who was left behind was scolding her in sheep language:

"Baaaa!" "You can come too - nothing's stopping you." "Baaaaaa!" "Well, come over here, then!"

We washed our hands with the elephant water, took the train back, enjoying the view of what we could see of Asia, and did the Pangani Falls trail all over again. We saw *many* birds but only one gorilla: a big silverback gnawing away at a tree. I overheard a conversation between one keeper and the other:

"Boy, the gorillas have just been crazy about those trees lately. They're chewing away at them." "What kind of trees are they?" "I dunno.....delicious."

Speaking of delicious, my stomach informed me right about then that it was time for my first real meal in a week! We went to Pizzafari and had a Coke, a pepperoni pizza for Drew, and a hot deli sandwich (Swiss and Provolone cheeses, with pesto-marinated tomatoes and Caesar salad all inside the roll - really excellent) for $14.79. I felt fine after the sandwich! We sat in the "animals that hang upside down" room.

I stopped at Island Mercantile on the way out and bought a stuffed Eeyore for my best friend (he's her favorite character). He was dressed like a pack mule - very cute. We said a sad goodbye to AK but resolved to come back soon.

After a long nap at PO, we took the boat to Downtown Disney. This was a great honeymoon thing - we sat in the back and it was very peaceful. (We had a stroke of good luck: there was a very loud lady in line in front of us, and just as we got to the dock, the captain told us that the boat she was on was full. Our ride was much quieter than it would have been with her on it!) We browsed around the Marketplace for a while; bought a WDW Pictorial Souvenir book, some pens for my co-workers, a Mickey alarm clock and an Old English Christmas CD; had a nice deli dinner at Gourmet Pantry (chicken salad, tortellini salad, croissant, and bottled water - $9); admired the Lego shop (liked the sleeping man and the dad with a camcorder best); saw a Hidden Mickey on the chimney of Team Mickey; then walked over to the West Side.

Everything is so larger than life there! We checked the Sosa Family Cigar Shop for pipe tobacco for Drew (not much there) and got a CD at Virgin. We wanted to try DQ, but were very disappointed to see the new pricing structure - $25 adults, $20 kids for unlimited play. We didn't check to see if there was an AP or MKC discount. It was a late night for us early risers (it was around 9:30), and we knew that we'd never get our money's worth if we paid any more than about $10 each that night.

We took the bus home to PO (it took a lot less time than the bus from Downtown Disney to Coronado Springs), packed our stuff for the move to the Grand Floridian tomorrow, and crashed.

Day 12 of 13: November 25, 1998

We got up at the crack of dawn, did some final packing, checked out of PO and had our bags sent to the GF. We had to say this early, sad goodbye to PO (we would definitely stay there again!) because we had an 8:00 PS for breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. The front desk CM told us that we should get a bus to the TTC and take the monorail from there, but while we were waiting for a TTC bus, a MK one showed up at 7:35.

We got to the MK gate at 7:45 but weren't let in till 8:00, along with about a bazillion other people who were waiting at the gates as well. Drew got a little nervous - "Are *all* these people going to the same breakfast as us?" - but I reassured him that some probably had PS's at other restaurants, and most people were just being let on to Main Street for a little while before the park opened.

The castle was beautiful in the early morning. It took us a few minutes to check in at Cinderella's, but we were seated right away, and thanks to the CMs who noticed that it was our honeymoon, we were placed by a window and somewhat out of the way of most of the kids in the place.

All the characters came to see us right away: Belle, Alice, Snow White, Peter Pan and Wendy, and of course Cinderella herself. We had a lovely chat with each of them and took plenty of pictures.

The breakfast was lovely but a bit too rich for me! There were two choices: - the regular breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and cream-cheese-stuffed, deep-fried French toast (!) - a light breakfast with cereal or granola (I don't remember exactly) But I don't care for cereal or eggs, don't eat bacon or sausage, and the CM informed me that the breakfast potatoes had bacon in them; so that left the French toast. He brought a heaping plate of it (calling us the King and Queen) and it was tasty, but very very rich. I mostly nibbled on the muffins, croissants and fruit that were already on the table, and that would have been plenty for me. Drew cleaned his plate, of course.

The restaurant was even prettier than I remembered, with its tapestries on the wall, suits of armor and stained glass windows. Since Drew is a medievalist, he particularly enjoyed the decor. All in all, it was a lovely experience, and rather romantic considering how many wee kids were around - they were all very well-behaved.

We got downstairs just in the nick of time for rope drop and made for Splash Mountain. The queue extended to kingdom come, but I convinced Drew to get in line with me. It turned out that they were "stacking" the line (not allowing people to fill up the inside queues), and the wait was only 10 minutes or so. I took a picture from the top of Chickapin Hill to test out the weatherproofing on my camera!

I wanted to take a spin on Thunder Mountain, but it was a 20-minute wait, so we did the Haunted Mansion and Pirates. We were getting draggy already, so we had a Coke in Adventureland to try to perk us up....but by the time we'd waited 1/2 hour for the Jungle Cruise, then taken a cruise on the Liberty Belle, we were so tired out that we called the GF to see if our room was ready yet. It was 12:15.

Lo and behold, not only was it ready, but the CM on the phone told me we'd been given a complimentary upgrade from Sugar Loaf Key (the limited concierge building) to the main building! All because I told the CM at CRO that it was our honeymoon. We said a VERY sad goodbye to the MK (I had to sit on a bench and cry while Drew got our stuff out of a locker) and took the monorail to GF.

We checked in quickly and met Lisa, our concierge, who gave us a little tour. Our room was on the third floor of the main building, where the concierges' desks are, and the buffet was a short flight of stairs up to the fourth floor. There were many tasty offerings - we had a little nap and then took afternoon tea.

It was just *beautiful* there. Our room was big and airy and had a private balcony that overlooked the pool and the beach, and we could see Space Mountain in the distance and hear the whistle of the WDW Railroad. From the balcony where the buffets were, we could look down into the GF lobby: the parakeet cage; the enormous five-story Christmas tree decorated with bows and framed mirrors; the pretty couches and tables; and a swing band on the second floor. At one point, I leaned over the balcony to watch the band, who were playing Christmas music, and the drummer looked up at me and waved as if to say "We're so glad you're enjoying us." It was one of the nicest moments of the trip, believe it or not - it really made me feel special, like I mattered to WDW.

After tea, we took a little walk around the main building. We stopped by Victoria & Albert's to confirm our reservation and make sure they knew I was a vegetarian. Everything was in order, and they were very gracious. We asked the concierges to try to track down my missing package from Downtown Disney (they called back later to say they were shipping it home for me), and to polish Drew's shoes. Then it was time to take showers, use the big fluffy bathrobes, and get ready to go to Victoria & Albert's.

V&A's was AMAZING! The host at the door remembered us from before and called us Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, which was a trip because we're still not used to being married. They seated us in a small room off to one side with a fireplace, a Christmas tree and a painting of Victoria and Albert themselves. I had read about the painting in _Disney_ magazine earlier.

Another couple was in the room with us at first, but they soon left and a family with two little girls came in. We got a little nervous, but the kids were great! The baby dined à la Mom and the older girl, who was about 6, had a dinner specially made for her. She requested pasta with broccoli, string beans and Parmesan cheese, and when she was done, she chatted with the harpist, who played a special selection of romantic Disney tunes for her. (The harpist was wonderful.) The parents made up for all of the lousy parents we had seen on our trip: they treated their daughters like real people, and the girls behaved accordingly.

Our dinner was absolutely spectacular. We agreed it was the best we've had in our entire lives. There was a special veggie menu for me, and it was truly well done - I often go to restaurants where they throw together a vegetarian entree, usually pasta primavera, as kind of an afterthought - as if a meal without meat isn't really worth paying attention to. At V&A's, it was beautifully balanced, adventurous, and just as carefully presented as Drew's more carnivorous selection.

Also, there was just enough food at each course to get a good taste, but not so much that we were completely stuffed by the soup course - even at the end, we were not uncomfortably full, just blissful - and the food was rich enough to feel special, but not so overly heavy that it was like they'd poured on a bucket of papier-mache paste! I don't care for excessively rich food, and this was exactly right.

We loved that the service was attentive but not attitudinous. Albert called us Madame and Monsieur ("A nice green salad for Madame...") but neither he nor Victoria was at all snobbish! They were very down-to-earth people, in spite of the surroundings. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and almost casual. I didn't feel out of place at all, even though it was easily the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to.

Here's what I had for dinner:

- A pre-appetizer: just a few bites of matchstick-sized raw vegetables in some kind of incredible vinaigrette - Cold appetizer: napoleon of lady apples, greens and Laura Chenel's goat cheese; walnut vinaigrette - Hot appetizer: hand-gathered forest mushrooms in phyllo with champignon Brie - Soup: smoked fennel cream - Entree: timbale of sweet potato, Maui onion and barley mash and fall vegetables; garden herb beurre blanc - Cheese course: Royal Stilton with Burgundy poached pear and walnut bread; Quinta de Noval tawny port - Dessert: pyramid of Valrhona chocolate mousse with strawberries - Truffles

Here's what Drew chose, with the wine pairings:

- Pre-appetizer (I'm not sure what he had) - Cold appetizer: duck confit with caramelized walnut layers; lady apple croutons; Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvée, Sonoma County 1992 - Hot appetizer: veal shank and mushroom strudel with cognac jus and champignon Brie; Borgo Pretale, Chianti Classico, Tuscany 1995 - Soup: poussin consommé with patty pan squash - Entree: Cervena elk chop over a ragout of flageolet beans; Clos du Bois, Merlot, Sonoma 1995 - Cheese course: Royal Stilton with Burgundy poached pear and walnut bread; Quinta de Noval tawny port - Dessert: Hawaiian Kona chocolate soufflé - Coffee and truffles

Everything from beginning to end was just perfect. At the end, Albert brought chocolate truffles for each of us and a long-stemmed red rose for me, and they were the icing on the cake.

We got back to the room just in time to step out on the balcony and see the fireworks over the castle, and then the Electrical Water Pageant with IllumiNations in the background. There was a small problem with our sinks - the plumbers were working on the room next door and somehow forced some kind of black debris out of the drains in our sinks and up onto the walls and the ceiling! But we called the concierges, and they sent a plumber to check it out and make sure it wouldn't happen again. He offered to call a housekeeper to clean it up, but we declined - newlyweds do need their privacy, you know.

I couldn't have asked for a better ending to our honeymoon.

I forgot to mention something else about the end of our day at the GF.

There were incredibly fine, silky cotton sheets, real wool blankets, six feather pillows and cuddly comforters on the beds. When we got back to our room after dinner, they had turned down the covers and left us chocolates and a goodnight message: a little card printed with an old-fashioned engraving of a sheep and this inscription:

Slumber deep, drift away on fleecy clouds above you. -"Go to Sleep" from Disney's _Babes in Toyland_

A lovely way to end the night!

Day 13 of 13: November 26, 1998

Thanksgiving Day, and time to go home.

We slept late, relaxed in the room and had breakfast from the concierge buffet. We'd requested late check-out, so we had till noon to try to get used to the idea of leaving.

I sat on the balcony and had a good cry. Bell Services took our bags to the valet stand, and at noon we left the room, had a light lunch from the buffet, and went down to the lobby to wait till 1:00 when the Town Car was coming. While we were waiting, I bought a little Cinderella Castle for my desk at work and an outrageously expensive 'Walt Disney World Tour' sweatshirt at M. Mouse Mercantile. Then it was time to go outside to the valet stand.

A fellow from Tiffany Town Car soon arrived, apologizing that Brian, our original driver, was stuck at the airport. He only had a van to drive us in, but we figured that as long as we got there somehow, it was no big deal.

MCO had just installed all new signs to help people get around the airport more easily. Our flight to St. Louis was uneventful, but on the way from there to San Francisco, there was a rude guy who insisted on sitting in the exit row even though he spoke no English. Two flight attendants tried to get him to move, then tried to translate through someone in his party, but he staunchly refused to budge until the pilot (!) finally came back and asked him nicely.

About an hour before landing, someone in the front of the cabin started to whistle loudly....the man in front of me sounded like he was about to cough up a lung...two guys next to us had an origami contest...and someone behind us had a cocktail shaker (?!) and was mixing up a drink at their seat! A little bizarre, but hey, we landed safely (and 40 minutes early, even).

We took a cab home, dropped our bags, and surveyed the damage. Our landlord had sent contractors to renovate the bathroom and do some structural work while we were gone, and they'd blown out most of the electricity in the house, moved half our furniture, taken the blankets off the bed, and left everything completely covered in plaster dust. What a re-entry to the real world! We wanted to call the concierges and complain, till we realized there were none. But we were home, and we threw some blankets on the bed and fell asleep.

Some general observations from our trip:

Transportation: We found the WDW transportation to be pretty darn good. We never waited more than about 15 minutes for a bus, boat or monorail. Here in San Francisco, the buses are ancient, uncomfortable, filthy and horribly bouncy, so the physical state alone of the WDW buses was a relief. In fact, I was on a bus to Downtown Disney one night, standing up, and it felt like something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it...then I realized that I wasn't jouncing around and half-falling into someone's lap every time the driver put on the brakes.
Crowds: The crowds were very, very light up until about three days before Thanksgiving, and they got progressively heavier as the holiday got closer. But I'd definitely go at this time of year again; the weather was beautiful (80 degrees and sunny every day, with one brief rain shower one evening) and we rarely had to wait for anything.
Food: Food at WDW is wonderful, but expensive! We set a budget of $1000 for food and souvenirs for our 8 nights, and we spent about that much *even though I ate nothing but crackers and juice for most of the week*. This was partly due to souvenirs (there's much more cool stuff to buy at WDW than we expected), but it was also largely because of food prices. Ah, well - live and learn.
Resorts: We LOVED all three resorts we stayed in. The Grand Floridian was the hands-down favorite, for obvious reasons, but we would definitely return to either Port Orleans or Coronado Springs another time. We found the rooms to be plenty of space for the two of us, and they would have been just fine even if we'd had a kid or two with us. If I had to choose between PO and CS, I'd probably give a slight edge to PO, but only because it's so nice and small and you're not faced with a half-mile hike from the food court to the room. Then again, CS was more scenic....It would be hard to choose between the two.
General WDW philosophy: Drew and I agree that we like to take our time at Disney! We would not have enjoyed ourselves if we'd had a mindset of "We only have three days and we want to see *everything.*" I understand that some people like to cram as much as possible into their vacation, and I can see their point, but we definitely prefer to relax a little, take afternoon naps, sleep in sometimes, and follow the principle that "if it's not fun, stop." This worked to our advantage on this trip especially - if we'd been worried about cramming everything into a few days, our schedule would have been completely ruined by my getting sick. Half a day at the hospital and a few extra naps were not a big deal for our itinerary.
When can we go back?!: I'm planning to take a short solo trip in May '99 - probably four nights, May 2-6, because I don't want my poor Annual Pass to be rotting away in the drawer. Then Drew and I will return for our first wedding anniversary in October!

Thanks for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

Anne Bevilacqua Campbell

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