Trip Reports

Susan Cole - December 11-21, 1998 - Offsite

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Offsite
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Toddler, Pre-School, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: The Cole family (including 4 year old Austin and 2 year old Tucker) visited the Orlando area in mid-December for a week and a half long stay. The family visited WDW, but also covered several other area attractions, too. The report is in a play-by-play style, but is concise and to the point, so those of you that hate the detailed trip reports will still like this one.

December 11-21, 1998

Cast of Characters:

Mom – that’s me, 30 year old, accounting supervisor
Dad – 32 year old, Full time Dad, Part time maintenance worker
Austin – 4 year old son
Tucker – 2 year old son

Pre-show:

A little history – I had been to Disney World twice as a child in ’76 and ’78. Dad had never been. I wanted to go again and he wanted to see it so we went together while we were still dating in ’87. Neither of us has been back since. Between the wedding, the house, and then the children, there was never any money left for a vacation. Since the kids were born, I have been dying to go back. Each year I would think maybe we could swing it, but it never worked out. Last year’s "Remember The Magic" campaign drove me nuts. I finally somehow justified it by saying if we go this year, Tucker will be free, but if we wait we will have to pay that much more. My promotion and Dad’s new job helped make the decision a little easier.

So we are going to Disney World, first vacation in 8 years!! Can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am.

I believe we finally made the decision to go back in March. Since I had been dreaming of going for a couple years, I already had copies of the Official, Unofficial, Kissimmee guides, Orlando MagiCard and I knew about Deb Wills and Brian Bennett’s sites. I had already weighed the Onsite vs. Offsite options. I could not justify the onsite cost and I really didn’t want the kids sleeping in the same room as us. We also probably won’t be back for a while so I wanted to stretch out the money we had over as many days as possible.

I decided on the second week in December, because both guides said it was the least crowded and I absolutely love christmas time. Booked reservations at the Condolodge in Kissimmee, for a two bedroom condo ($59 per night, MagiCard rate, free crib and highchairs included). I like the idea of having the kids in their own room and having a full kitchen (to save money on meals) and washer and dryer (we do a lot of laundry).

We also debated driving versus flying. Flying won, even though more expensive, we didn’t want to waste any of our precious vacation time driving. And driving that far with two young children seemed too stressful to both of us.

We purchased three 5 day passes using Magic Kingdom card discount. I really don’t believe it will be warm enough for the water parks and we plan to do Seaworld and Universal Studios also. I really wanted to go to the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so I got tickets for that too.

Preliminary Itinerary

Since we are not onsite and not eligible for early entry, I tried to avoid the early entry parks on those days. We plan to have breakfast in the condo each day. I made three PS, 2 lunches and 1 dinner. Most lunches we will probably bring sandwiches or do fast food. Most dinners will be at the condo.

Day 1 - Friday, December 11th - Arrive at airport at 5PM, get Dollar rental car, head over to Chef Mickey’s for 7PM PS (We’ve got to see Mickey first thing) then check into condo, go to market and get supplies for the week, hit the sack.
Day 2 - Saturday, December 12th - Epcot, character lunch at Garden Grill, back to condo for dinner, Magic Kingdom after dinner for 7PM Spectromagic.
Day 3 - Sunday, December 13th - Magic Kingdom all day
Day 4 - Monday, December 14th - Seaworld
Day 5 - Tuesday, December 15th - Animal Kingdom, back to condo for dinner, Epcot after dinner, I want to see Illuminations.
Day 6 - Wednesday, December 16th - Universal Studios
Day 7 - Thursday, December 17th- MGM
Day 8 - Friday, December 18th - Rest in morning, we might try Fantasia Gardens or do some resort hopping, Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at 7pm
Day 9 - Saturday, December 19th - Seaworld or Universal again (undecided)
Day 10 - Sunday, December 20th - Magic Kingdom all day, Character Lunch at Crystal Palace 11:30 PS, Spectromagic again at 7:30pm
Day 11 - Monday, December 21st- Shop – Disney Village Marketplace or maybe the Character Warehouse, leave for airport, flight home at 3:45pm
Day 1 – Friday, December 11, 1998 - Arrival and Chef Mickey’s

No major issues with flight down other than the fact that our flight was delayed about 20 minutes. The kids enjoyed flying. Dad and I are happy the flight was only 2 ½ hours. The kids really didn’t want to sit still much longer than that.

Our car was rented through Dollar. We had no problems or lines at the airport. We had our luggage and car by 6:30pm. We had a 7:00 Priority Seating (PS) at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort. We were not familiar with the roads at all and it was dark, but we somehow managed to get to the valet parking at the Contemporary by 7:15. Thank goodness for PS. We were seated within 5 minutes despite a very long line.

Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto and Goofy were all there. Tucker loved all the characters and gave them hugs right away. It took Austin awhile to warm up, he enjoyed looking at them from a distance. Austin also loved twirling his napkin over his head during the Celebration song. I wish I had not forgotten the video camera in the car.

Chef Mickey’s was wonderful. The perfect start to our Disney vacation. ($60 with tip)

We got lost finding the hotel (Condolodge in Kissimmee). We ended up going the wrong direction on 192 when we came out of Disney World. The roads here took some getting use to. They have a funky turn lane in the center of the road for cars travelling in either direction and the merge lanes seem very short. Finally found the hotel by 11:00pm.

Note about Condolodge: Our condo was about 10 -15 minutes from Disney World depending on light and traffic. We were able to park directly in front of our unit and we had no stairs to climb. We had a two bedroom, two bathroom unit. It contained a full kitchen, dining area, living room and screened patio and laundry. There were remote controlled TV’s in the living room and master bedroom. We had a queen size bed (it was on the soft side). Kids had two twin size beds in their room. I was given two highchairs as requested on my reservation at no extra charge. We paid $59.00 per night (magicard rate) I thought it was quite a bargain given all we received and we decided we would stay there again in the future.

Day 2 – Saturday, December 12, 1998 – Epcot and Magic Kingdom

Since we had arrived at the condo so late the night before, we had not officially checked in. Therefore we had to wait until the Condolodge office opened at 8:30am to check in before we could leave.

We arrived at Epcot by 9:00am. We went through the gates and kind of wandered around, we didn’t have any set plans. We ended up going to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. This was a bad move, Tucker was terrified. Austin, Dad and I thought it was great.

We went to the Land after that. Rode on the boat ride there, both kids liked that. We then finally convinced Tucker into the Circle of Life movie, he really did not want to go into the theater after the HISTA show. I think the only reason he came in was because Simba, Timon and Pumba were in it. He did just fine, although he did complain that it was too loud.

We went to the Living Seas. We wandered around Sea Base Alpha for a bit. Kids enjoyed looking at the fish. The Living Seas didn’t thrill me, I thought there was more to it.

We headed back to the Land because we had a 11:30am PS at the Garden Grill for lunch. Apparently a whole bunch of people had 11:30 PS’s. That is the time the Garden Grill opens for lunch. We were given a box that we were told would light up with red lights when our table was ready. They have to get this system better organized if they are going to keep using it. Our box lit up two separate times before they actually wanted us. Then as we went in I saw the same thing happening to someone else. We were seated within 10 minutes.

Lunch was good, the characters were great. Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale were there. Austin was really getting into it. We had brought with us an autograph book and a large pen for the characters to sign with. Austin really got a kick out of this and took it very seriously getting all those autographs. Both kids would give the characters hugs and stand next to them for pictures. Dad and I thought the restaurant was too small. It was very tight trying to get pictures and videos of the characters. There was also very little room on the table for all the dishes they brought.

Overall, we enjoyed it a lot. ($48.00 with tip and MK card discount)

After lunch we went on Spaceship Earth, Ellen’s Energy Adventure and Horizons. The kids enjoyed all these rides, although the dinosaurs in Ellen’s show made Tucker a little nervous. We also wandered through the Wonders of Life, but didn’t end up seeing any shows.

We left Epcot around 4:00pm to go to Magic Kingdom. I wanted to see Spectromagic. We were surprised to see how many people were here. It was very crowded, compared to how Epcot had been all day. At Epcot we hadn’t waited long for anything.

We ended up in Fantasyland, it was at least a 30 minute wait for every ride except for It’s a Small World, which had a 10 minute wait. We rode It’s a Small World. Both kids really liked this ride.

We ate dinner at Pinnochio’s. Dad and I had cheeseburgers and the kids had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ($20.36).

We then sat down with the crowd in front of the castle for the ‘Every Day is a Holiday’ Show. All of us enjoyed this show. A lot of the characters were in it. Chip and Dale are Tucker’s favorite characters, he got so excited when they came out.

After the show we planted ourselves on the curb for our 2 hour wait for Spectromagic. It was not easy keeping the kids happy that long. But I really wanted to be on the curb and it was very crowded. In fact while we were waiting, I had to take Austin to the bathroom. My husband said he had trouble keeping my space open.

Spectromagic was well worth the wait. I videotaped the entire parade and my husband shot almost 3 roles of film. Pluto was walking at the end of the parade. He came right over to Austin and shook his hand and kissed his head. I have Austin’s expression caught on video. It is priceless.

We headed out of the park. I bought some postcards on the way out. We changed the kids into their pajamas at the car. They fell asleep on the way back to the condo. We stopped to pick up a few things at the Kash and Karry supermarket which was just a few minutes from the condo before retiring for the night.

Day 3 – Sunday, December 13, 1998 – Magic Kingdom

Somehow we managed to be up and in the castle waiting for the rope to drop by 8:55am. We were on Dumbo’s second flight of the day. We all enjoyed it.

We walked onto Peter Pan’s Flight. Austin loved it so we walked on again. This would turn out to be the kids favorite ride. We would end up going on it at least 5 or 6 more times throughout our trip.

We walked onto It’s a Small World. Kids really like this ride too.

We headed over to the Haunted Mansion and walked on with no wait. The kids were geared up for this ride. A few weeks before our trip, I had gotten them the Disneyland’s Sing Along Song video. I believe they watched it each and every day before we left. Tucker did fine on this ride. We kept prewarning him where ghosts were going to pop up. Austin enjoyed this ride.

We watched the Country Bears Christmas show, rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise and walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse. All were virtual walkons.

We took the raft to Tom Sawyer’s Island found a bench and ate sandwiches that we had brought in. The kids then played on the island for awhile before we took the raft back.

We saw the Legend of the Lion King show. Good show, kids like Rafiki.

We headed over to Toontown when we saw the character area that used to be used for the 20,000 leagues ride. Stopped in and got more autographs and pictures. Pinnochio and Geppetto were there.

Then it started to rain. We headed into the nearest store and purchased our yellow ponchos ($18). We headed over to the Tomorrowland Speedway which we had bypassed before the rain due to a 30 minute wait. It was now a virtual walkon. This was a fun ride.

It basically rained fairly steady the rest of the afternoon. We did Toontown next. Surprisingly there were hardly any lines in the character tent. I thought it would be mobbed because of the rain, but we saw Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Chip, Dale and Donald Duck with very little wait. We waited about 10 minutes to see Minnie, Pluto and Goofy. Tucker’s reaction to the characters is absolutely priceless. He jumps up and down and calls their names. It is funny because both kids are programmed now, they run up and give them hugs and then immediately turn around and smile for a picture. Donald Duck accidently wrote on Austin’s arm when he signed Austin’s book. Austin came over and showed us that Donald had written on him. Donald quickly came over and tried to wipe Austin’s arm clean. It was really cute.

We walked through Mickey’s house and waited for about 10 minutes to see him.

We then rode Goofy’s Barnstormer. Great ride. Kids loved it. The cast member at the entrance had recommended that Tucker not go on because he wasn’t 3 yet. I took him anyway and he loved it. I just held onto him really tight close to me and push the lap bar down as far as it would go.

We then rode the Disney Railroad. Both kids fell asleep. So we rode around the park 3 times to let them sleep. It was still raining anyway so it was a good break. I thought I had read somewhere that you were not allowed to bring strollers on the railroad, but people were bringing them on and were not being stopped.

We headed over to Tomorrowland and road Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. It was about a 15 minute wait. What an excellent ride. I think Dad and I enjoyed more than the kids.

We saw the last half of the Disny Holiday show in the Galaxy Palace Theater. Chip and Dale were in the show. The are definitely Tucker’s favorites. His eyes just light up when they come out.

We went on the TTA (no wait). I don’t know why, but I really like this ride.

Then we had dinner at the Plaza Pavilion. Pizza and chicken strips ($21.36). We had a distant view of Spectromagic. We watched through the trees while we ate. I absolutely love this parade. Just hearing the music almost brought a tear to my eye. I was so happy to finally be here and we were having such a good time. The parade seemed to keep getting stuck in one spot, probably from all the rain which had now finally stopped.

We stayed in the pavilion and watched Tinkerbell’s flight and the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. What a great show. What a wonderful day.

Day 4 – Monday, December 14, 1998 – Seaworld

I did not write down any notes for the next two days when I got back to the condo. So I don’t exactly remember what we did in what order.

Today we went to Seaworld. We were there by 9:00am. We bought our 3 one day tickets when we arrived. ($110.08, with seaworld card discount) We immediately went to have our second day free tickets validated. We then headed over to get our maps and ran into Baby Shamu. We got some cute pictures and his autograph.

We headed towards the dolphin show. Good show, we all enjoyed it. After the show, we went to the dolphin feeding area. This was a lot of fun. We bought $6 worth of fish to feed to the dolphins. They come right up to you and you can touch them. If you want to do this though make sure you buy the fish. The dolphins won’t come near you if you don’t have fish. As soon as our fish were gone, so were the dolphins.

We headed over to see the Shamu show. We ate lunch that we had brought into the park during the show. This show was very good. All of us enjoyed it. I was amazed how high the whales push the people out of the water. Very impressive. I also like the ‘victim’ skit with the volunteer audience members.

We went to the Sealion show. This was a cute show. It was a pirate theme. Austin really enjoyed it, he loves pirates.

We ended up going to Shamu’s Happy Harbor, and letting the kids play there for awhile. We met Penny and Pete Pengiun and Clyde and Seamore Sealion there. Got more autographs and photos. Our kids really enjoyed this area, it was not crowded at all.

We went through Wild Arctic and saw the polar bear. We saw the pengiuns, the terrors of the deep (sharks), manatees, budweiser horses and the pets on stage show (very cute).

After all this the kids were both sleeping in their strollers. I put on my mickey poncho and headed to the Journey to Atlantis ride. Dad waited with the kids while I went on. It was a cool day and there was absolutely no line at all. If fact, empty boats were going down the chute. I walked through a very long queue area and boarded a boat with two other people. I am glad I wore my poncho. You get very wet on this ride. What a great ride. You think it is over and it starts up again almost becoming a roller coaster for a bit. A lot of fun.

We checked out the turtles, underwater dolphin viewing, seal feeding area and sting rays on the way out. Park closed at 6:00pm. We bought our picture that was taken in the morning as we entered the park ($15.85).

We cooked dinner in the condo and went to bed early. It would be an early day at Animal Kingdom tomorrow.

Day 5 – Tuesday, December 15, 1998 – Animal Kingdom and Epcot

Again, I didn’t take notes so I don’t have a lot of good details about the day.

We were up early and through the AK gate by around 7:00am. We headed directly towards the safari ride. All of us really enjoyed this one. Kids loved seeing all the animals. Dad and I got a kick out of how realistic everything is. The mud holes really look so real, you think you are going to sink, but you don’t even come close.

We did the gorilla walking tour after retrieving our strollers. It was good, we saw a lot of gorillas and some hippos.

We then rode the train to the Conservation Station. Kids enjoyed petting the goats. We also did the Sounds of the Rainforest. It was OK. Overall, Dad and I were not impressed with the Conservation Station.

I believe we went to Camp Mickey-Minnie next. We saw Chip and Dale. They were wandering around the area all day, so we saw them a lot. We went through each character area. First we waited and saw Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. We had not seen Eeyore yet, so this was fun. We had about a 15 minute wait and then when we were next on line, the characters had to take a break. The cast member said that they would be back in 5 minutes. We were a little bummed but then Tigger came back within about a minute. And we were allowed to go in and visit with him. Then Eeyore came out a minute or two after that and Pooh bear in another minute or two. All in all we got to visit with them for about 5 minutes before being hurried along. I have it all on video. Tucker’s reaction to Pooh is priceless.

We saw King Louie and Rafiki in the jungle friends line. There was no line at all so we got to spend some extra time with them. King Louie does not know how to write, so he was unable to sign our autograph book.

We met Pluto and Goofy in the next area. Pluto is fun, he always tickles them and licks them.

We then got on line for Mickey and Minnie. This was a fairly long line. We probably waited close to a half an hour, one of our longest waits the whole trip. We got pictures of them with just the kids and of them with all four of us. A cast member also took our picture, which is available to be purchased at the end of the day by the park entrance. A cast member had also taken our picture in the Hundred Acre wood area.

We then ate lunch on a bench in Camp Mickey-Minnie. We had brought sandwiches for the kids. Dad and I ate hot dogs purchased from a vendor ($9).

I think we watched the Festival of the Lion King show next. We were in the elephant section. We all enjoyed this show very much. While waiting for the guests to start moving into the theater, I video taped Tucker a little. I asked him what were going to go see and he said, "The Lion King". He then immediately asked, "Is it going to be loud?" I felt bad for him. The shows and movies are all very, very loud. Does Disney think we are all deaf?

Austin wanted to go inside the Tree of Life. When I explained what was in the tree, he wanted to go that much more. He had seen "A Bug’s Life" and really enjoyed it. I didn’t want Tucker to see It’s Tough to be a Bug, so he waited with Dad, who really didn’t care to see it either. There was no line at all. We got our glasses and headed in. I knew about the seat’s special effects, so I sat Austin on my lap. This show is very intense, I don’t recommend bringing young children to it. I liked it, but I found myself covering Austin’s eyes quite a bit because I thought it was too much for him. He did fine. I probably panicked for nothing.

We headed over to Dinoland. We let the kids run around in the play area. I didn’t care for this area. It was very crowded and it had very loud music playing. I can’t imagine what this area is like in the crowded summer months.

We saw the Jungle Book show. The monkeys were out in front of the show before it started. They were funny. They signed our book and we got some cute pictures. We all enjoyed this show too. I especially like the elephants.

We headed back to Camp Mickey-Minnie to see the Pocahontas show. This one was OK. Kids really enjoyed it. They both really like Pocahontas.

Kids wanted to see Pooh again. So we got in line. When we got up to the cast member we asked if she could take a picture with the four of us with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore together. She did. The picture would have been great but she had asked the kids to wave. Austin did and his hand is right in front of his face. Oh well.

Coming out of the exit, we ran into Baloo. This was neat because we hadn’t seen him yet. We got some nice pictures and his autograph just before he left for a break.

We went over to Asia and saw the last bird show. This show was pretty cheesy. It was an animal training session, not a real show. I guess they need test audiences for some of the birds before they are put into the real show. They only brought out two birds and talked through the rest of the 20 minute show. Tucker had fallen asleep in the stroller before this show. The cast member actually let us bring the stroller in so that he could sleep. I thanked him a lot, I am sure he wasn’t supposed to, but it really wasn’t that crowded.

It was about 5:40pm. The park closed a 6:00. I really wanted to ride Countdown to Extinsion if the line wasn’t bad. We headed over to Dinoland to find that there was no wait. Both Dad and I rode. We each took turns watching the kids out in front, so I don’t really know how the baby swap would have worked.

Great ride. We both liked it. Though I don’t think I would ever wait in a long line to ride it.

It was now 6:00 and the park was closed. We headed out to the exit. We purchased two pictures of the kids with Tigger and Pooh ($22).

We were still raring to go and the night seemed young. And since we didn’t want to waste a minute of our five day park hopper passes, we headed over to Epcot, which was open until 9:30, to see Illuminations.

We stopped at the McDonald’s which is on Disney property for dinner ($25) and headed over to Epcot.

The kids wanted to go in the "big, round ball" again, so we walked onto Spaceship Earth. I really like this ride. The kids seem to enjoy it too.

We then headed over to the World Showcase to Norway. We walked onto the Maelstrom. We all liked this ride too. We didn’t stay for the movie.

We hoofed it over to America. I wanted to see the America Adventure. It turned out that if we stayed for the last American Adventure show, we would miss Illuminations. I was disappointed, I really wanted to see both. Illuminations won out and we hiked back to the entrance to the World Showcase to wait for the show to start.

We hadn’t picked out a spot early enough and had a big pole in our way, but the show was great none the less. I think Austin slept through some of it. Tucker liked it. He really likes fireworks.

We bought Austin a Goofy hat on the way out ($14). It was the only thing he wanted. Another perfect ending to another great day.

Day 6 – December 16, 1998 – Magic Kingdom

The original plan for today was to go to Universal Studios, but the more we looked at what Universal had to offer we changed our minds. Although Dad and I thought Universal looked really intense for us, there just didn’t look like there was enough for our kids to do. So we decided to do Magic Kingdom again, I just love MK.

We were through the gates by 8:45am. The seven dwarfs were lined up in front of the train station. We lined up for autographs and pictures. We then moved into the park a bit more and met Scrooge McDuck by Guest Relations. Another autograph and more pictures.

We ended up heading toward Tomorrowland first. We walked onto Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We love this ride.

We then walked onto the speedway racecars and the teacups. We headed over to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo with only a few minutes wait.

We went to Ariel’s Grotto, there was no one there. The kids met Ariel, got her autograph and picture. The kids played in the Grotto. What a fun place.

After that we headed to Peter Pan’s Flight, per kids request. We walked on, twice. Can you tell it is the kids’ favorite?

We then rode Cinderella’s Carousel with no wait. Tucker fell asleep on this ride. I had to hold him up. Dad got a really cute picture of this.

We decided to ride the skyway ride. Not to actually go anywhere, but rather just check out the view. The kids really liked this. We rode to Tomorrowland and back again.

We then went to Pinnochio’s for lunch. The kids ate sandwiches we had brought in. Dad and I had cheeseburgers ($12).

We walked over to Toontown and rode barnstormer twice without a wait. Austin is so cute, he sits down on the ride and immediately puts both his hands in the air, even before the ride moves. He keeps his hands up for the entire ride.

We went though Mickey and Minnie’s houses. We went into the character tent to visit Chip and Dale and Donald again. (5 minute wait). Tucker just loves Chip and Dale.

We rode the train over to Frontierland. Tucker fell asleep in the stroller on the way down the exit ramp of the train. So we decided to try our first babyswap at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Austin just made the height requirement and really wanted to go on. Austin and I got on line, it was about a 15 minute wait. What an outstanding ride, better than I remember. Austin kept his arms in the air the entire ride. Dad had waited near the exit with Tucker asleep in the stroller. Austin and I exited. Dad and Austin went back up the exit. Dad was amazed how well the babyswap worked. He said the cast members running the ride actually made someone that had just sat down get up and get off the train so that he and Austin could get on. We all really liked this ride.

After that, we went to Adventureland to the Character Oasis and Austin met the Genie from Aladdin. Tucker was still sleeping. It was about 2:00. We noticed cast members putting tape on the street for the afternoon Magical Moments parade. I really wanted a good viewing spot and I knew if we got there early we had a chance of being in the parade. So we found a great spot right next to the bridge at the edge of Frontierland and we sat down.

Tucker woke up and had a Mickey ears rice krispy treat ($2.36) while Austin took a short nap in my arms. By 2:30 there were still very few people waiting and we ended up getting Beauty and The Beast and Snow White stickers for both kids. The cast member said the kids were a little young, but I could go up with them. The parade was wonderful. We helped Beauty set the table and danced with Snow White and the seven dwarfs. It was fabulous.

Next we rode Peter Pan again. Kids’ request (10 minute wait this time).

After that we headed over to Tomorrowland and saw Timekeeper (3 minute wait). We just had to do the Space Ranger Spin again (10 minute wait) and we rode the TTA again with no wait.

I heard someone mention that they were going to be showing Spectromagic tonight at 6:15. I absolutely love this parade. Can you tell? It was about 5:00. We headed over to Mainstreet to claim some curb. We sat right at the end of Mainstreet in front of the castle, so we could see the parade coming towards us the whole way, practically from where it starts. Dad went and bought some hot dogs and fries ($27) and we ate dinner right there on the curb while we waited.

Spectromagic was once again an outstanding show. Very few words can describe.

After the parade we swung around to the tables down below the ice cream parlor on Mainstreet and the Plaza Pavilion. We watched Tinkerbell’s flight and the fireworks. Once again we opened and closed the park. What a fabulous day.

Day 7 - December 17, 1998 – MGM and Epcot

We went to MGM this morning. Dad had loved Chef Mickey’s so much on our first day that he really wanted to go back. We were a little early so we stopped at guest services outside MGM and made to more priority seatings. One for Chef Mickey’s for dinner tomorrow and one for breakfast at Artist’s Point at the Winderness Lodge for Monday morning, our last day (Boo Hoo).

We headed through the gate just in time for the rope drop at 9:00am. We rode the Great Movie Ride. I enjoyed it and that it was well done.

We then went through the Magic of Disney Animation. This was OK.

I am sure that it is just me, but I kept getting lost in this park. I just didn’t know where I was headed and even when I was looking at the map I seemed to go in the wrong direction.

We headed down Mickey Avenue and rode the Studios Backlot Tour. All of us enjoyed this. So far we didn’t wait in any lines today.

We somehow found Muppets 4D and walked in with no wait. What a great show. It was much better for the kids than It’s Tough to Be a Bug and HISTA because it was not scary. It was very well done with wonderful special effects and the two old men were very funny.

After that, we ate our lunch that we had packed from the condo. We sat at a table outside in front of the Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade. It was not crowded and there were at lot of empty tables or else I would not have sat there.

After lunch, we headed over and watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame Show. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. What a talented cast. Tucker got pretty antsy through this show, so Dad took him out while Austin and I finished the show.

We brought the kids to the HISTK playground. Kids loved it but again Dad and I thought this area was much to crowded. It was very stressful trying to watch and follow two kids heading in different directions among lots of other little kids into tunnels and nets, while carrying camera and video equipment.

We went back to Pizza Planet. I asked a cast member if there was anywhere that we could meet Buzz and Woody. She told us that they would be outside in about 15 minutes. We headed outside and immediately met a green army man. He had a stamp which he used on our autograph book. Buzz and Woody came out very quickly. They both had stamps, too.

We quickly headed over to the Little Mermaid show. All of us enjoyed this one very much.

We had very little waits if any all day, but at three different times during the day cast members told us that if we wanted to see Fantasmic tonight we should arrive early. Fantasmic was scheduled for 6:30pm tonight, but cast members mentioned that coming at 5:00 was not too early. They said that people come in from other parks to see it and it fills very quickly.

It was 2:45 when we left the Little Mermaid show, so we headed over to find a spot to watch the Mulan Parade. We were pretty late in getting a spot and the parade route was pretty crowded, but we found an OK spot and waited. I enjoyed this parade even though we never saw the movie.

Tucker fell asleep in the stroller after that, so I brought Austin to the Indiania Jones show, while Dad walked around with Tucker so that he could sleep. Austin and I enjoyed the Indiania Jones show. It was pretty cool and the audience participation parts are very, very funny.

Dad caught the Beauty and the Beast Christmas show out on the street, Hollywood Blvd. I think, while Austin and I watching the Indiania Jones show.

By the time we hooked back up with each other it was about 4:45pm. Heeding the cast members warnings about Fantasmic, we headed over to claim our seats. We stopped at Rosie’s All American Café for some burgers and fries to go ($20) and headed into the amphitheater. We ended up dead center stage about 10 rows up. Perfect seats. We then ate our dinner and watched the theater fill. It filled steadily for the next hour and by 6:00 or 6:15 it was pretty much filled. I don’t know if they stopped letting people in, but it did look full. It was a very long wait, but the show was fabulous. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the show, we followed the crowd over to the Osborne lights. Austin fell asleep in the stroller, so he didn’t see but. It was very amazing to see. I have never seen that many lights. Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale were there. Tucker gave them all hugs and we got more pictures.

I regret not seeing more of this park. I would have liked to try the TOT and seen the Baeuty and the Beast show. Both of which I think we could have done instead of waiting an hour and a half for Fantasmic. I believe we could have done both and still been seated by 6:00 for Fantasmic. Although the seats would not have been in the center. Oh well.

We got to our car and decided to go to Epcot again which was open until 9:30pm. This was the last day on our 5 day park hopper passes and we decided to use every possible minute. We drove over to Epcot and we were though the gates by 8:30pm.

We couldn’t get by Spaceship Earth without riding again, kids request, no wait. We then headed over to the Wonders of Life to see Cranium Command. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the next show. I thought it was cute and enjoyed it. I don’t believe the kids understood it at all.

By the time it was over and we walked outside, we were able to see the last portion of Illuminations from Future World. We then headed out to the car. It was yet another great day.

Day 8 –Friday, December 18, 1998 – Sleep late, shop, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

We finally slept in!

We have a 5:15pm Priority Seating at Chef Mickey’s tonight. After that we have tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom.

I have no major plans for the day up until then. I really wanted the kids to rest knowing that they would be out late tonight.

Austin and Tucker slept until 9:30am today! Simply unheard of in our household. We had a leisurely breakfast and let the kids play.

We went to the Character Warehouse in the Belz Factory Outlet. I found a great Mickey sweatshirt for only $10. We didn’t find anything else we really liked so we headed over to the World of Disney.

Here is my one pet peeve about Disney. My son, Tucker adores the characters. We have been to two character meals. Chip and Dale have become his favorites. He has seen them as many times if not more than Mickey Mouse. They are everywhere. At the character meals, at Magic Kingdom in the character tent and the parades, at Animal Kingdom and MGM just wandering around, you didn’t even have to wait on line. So we go shopping today with the intention of buying Chip and Dale beanie babies and a Chip and Dale T-shirt. Needless to say, we could find nothing. Not one in every store we tried. Chip and Dale are not even on a Magic Kingdom T-Shirt that has every character you can think of on it, front and back, but no Chip or Dale.

Enough of my complaining. We went back to the condo for lunch. Then struggled to get the kids to take a nap. During the struggle, I noticed that Tucker felt warm. I took his temperature, it was 101.3 degrees. I gave him some motrin and he finally fell asleep. The kids slept for 3 hours.

Tucker seemed much happier when he awoke, so we headed off to Chef Mickey’s. We let the Contemporary valet parking attendant park the car and we headed in to see Mickey. We had a great time. Lots of character hugs, kisses and pictures. Tucker still seemed OK, although he didn’t eat very much, which is unusual for him. Our waiter only charged us for Dad and myself because he noticed that Austin hadn’t eaten very much. Austin rarely eats much for dinner. ($50 with tip).

We wandered through the shops on the forth floor, still in search of Chip and Dale merchandise. We had no luck.

We took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Christmas Party. We joined the crowd at the gates waiting to get in. It was about 7:15. I believe they started letting people in at 7:30 even though it didn’t start until 8:00. That was cool. It was snowing on Mainstreet which was a very pretty affect. We met Donald Duck in his tree lot on Mainstreet. Then we headed to Peter Pan, kids’ choice, and walked on.

We rode It’s a Small World and then had our family portrait taken. There was no wait for either. We rode Dumbo without a wait. When we got off we met Alice in Wonderland and Tweedle Dee and Dum. We got pictures and autographs.

We ended up in Toontown Fair. I rode barnstormer a few times with Austin. Tucker didn’t want to.

We went through Mickey and Minnie’s houses. Toon town was not very crowded at all. Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet were all there, but Tucker, who has adored every character he has met and loves Pooh, did not want to go up to them. Austin did. We got some very nice pictures of him with them. Tucker pretty much didn’t want to do anything after that.

We went to Tomorrowland. It was crowded. We went on the Space Ranger Spin (15 minute wait). We went to Frontierland to see which characters were there. Austin met Timon and got a big hug, his autograph and a couple pictures.

We saw the Enchanted Tiki Bird Show. It was OK, but I wasn’t overly impressed. We stepped outside and saw the end of the perimeter fireworks. They were very cool.

We then went over and did the babyswap again at the BTMR. This ride is even better in the dark. Fantastic. It was about a 20 minute wait.

We went back to the castle and met Cinderella and Princess Jasmin. Tucker was asleep in the stroller now. We found a spot for the Merry Christmas Parade. This was a wonderful parade. There was one float which is decorated like a kitchen. Chip and Dale are on it baking cookies. As the float goes by you can smell gingerbread. Just delightful.

On our way out of the park, both kids were sleeping. Dad and I got our picture taken with Mickey. Mickey was by Guest Relations and he was all dressed up in a great top hat outfit.

We took the resort monorail back to the Contemporary and got our car back from the valet. It was nice not having to hike through the parking lot. It was 12:15am, hours later than I was planning to stay. I strapped Tucker into the car seat, he woke up and got sick in the car. We quickly got back to the condo. It was a long night.

Day 9 – Saturday, December 19,1998 – Seaworld

Tucker still couldn’t keep anything down in the morning. Dad stayed with him in the condo. I took Austin back to Seaworld for our second day free.

We spent the majority of the day in Shamu’s Happy Harbor. This is the best kids area of any of the parks we went to. It is spacious and open, with lots and lots of activities. Tom Sawyer’s Island in the Magic Kingdom is fun but if it is crowded there are not enough activities and the narrow paths could be hard to keep track of. The Dinosaur area at Animal Kingdom and the HISTK playground at MGM are just plain way too small. It must be dreadful to see those areas in the busy summer months. I don’t think Epcot had anything at all.

Austin and I saw the Shamu Show again. We both enjoyed it. We also saw the Tropical Reef, the waterski show, the hawaiian show and the bird show. All of which we had missed the first day. I enjoyed the bird show. All the others were OK.

We also saw the Pets on Stage show again. This is a very cute show, well done.

We had eaten lunch that we packed and brought in again, so the day was very inexpensive, just five dollars to park.

We needed some more milk, bread, diapers, etc. We stopped by the Kash and Karry ($24.84) on the way back to the condo.

Day 10 – Sunday, December 20, 1998 – Emergency Room, Clinic and Magic Kingdom

4am Tucker awoke. He was still sick, nothing would stay down. At this point my thoughts that it is just a 24 hour bug were incorrect and I am worried about dehydration. By 5am, Tucker and I are in the emergency room of a hospital in Kissimmee. They gave him some medicine and observed him for about an hour and sent us home. By 9am, Tucker is back to his old self.

Tucker is better and not an hour later Austin is sick. Knowing that we are leaving tomorrow and not wanting him to be sick on the plane, we immediately take him to a medical clinic that is open. He is given a shot and sent on his way. Austin says he feels fine and Tucker is raring to go so we head to the Magic Kingdom for our last full day.

We buy 3 one day, one park tickets. ($110 with Magic Kingdom card discount). We ride Peter Pan (20 minute wait) and It’s a Small World (10 minute wait). The park is very crowded. More crowded than any other day we have been here. It was close to lunch time. We had a PS at Crystal Palace, but we didn’t go. We didn’t want to risk anyone getting sick.

It became apparent that Austin still wasn’t feeling up to par and the park was too crowded so we left to go back to the condo and rest.

We came back to Magic Kingdom around 6pm. We noticed more people leaving than coming in which we were happy about.

This was our last time in the park so we did as much as we could before it closed at 9pm. I don’t remember everything we did, but I know we went on the Space Ranger Spin, the TTA, Peter Pan, Toontown, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. It was a nice evening.

We met Goofy on the way out. Dad and I got our picture taken with him, I believe the kids were asleep.

I was very sad leaving the Magic Kingdom, knowing it was the last time this trip, but Dad and I are already talking about possibly coming back next year. I am very hopeful.

Day 11 – Monday, December 21, 1998 – Last Day, Artist’s Point, Downtown Disney

Today is our last day. We pack up the car and drop off the condo key and drive to the Wilderness Lodge for breakfast with Pooh. Both kids are happy and healthy once again. Breakfast was fun. Tigger was great. I still think Chef Mickey’s is my favorite character meal though.

We went to Downtown Disney after that. We did some shopping. The kids got a couple books for the plane ride home. We got one of those black oval cut out silouette pictures done of the four of us. We got three copies, one for of and two christmas gifts. They turned out very nice and I got a Magic Kingdom Club discount on them which I wouldn’t have gotten if we had bought them inside one of the parks.

We had time before we had to leave for the airport and it was and absolutely gorgeous day so we rented one of those canopy boats. This was a lot of fun, very relaxing and enjoyable. We cruised our boat down past Dixie Landings, Port Orleans, the Tree houses and the Old Key West Resorts. We had the boat out for about an hour and 15 minutes but they only charged us for an hour, $20, well worth it.

We had lunch at a Pizza Hut on 192 and then headed for the airport.

Final Thoughts

We got home and quickly got our 53 rolls of film developed. I think it cost around $150 to develop all of them. I have filled 3 photo albums. We got some really nice pictures. I keep looking at them. I want to go back already. We are talking seriously about it, so there is a chance we will be back next year.

Favorites:

Kids - Peter Pan, Dumbo, It’s a Small World, Shamu’s Happy Harbor
Mom and Dad – Space Ranger Spin, Spectromagic, Magic Kingdom in general
Biggest Regrets:

Not taking Tucker to a doctor right away when he got sick
Missing Space Mountain – line was always too long to justify making the kids wait through a babyswap
Biggest Bargain:

Tucker – we only paid for his plane ticket, and he thoroughly enjoyed everything we did (except the BTMR) in all parks including Seaworld, but we didn’t have to pay for him to get in or to eat. I wish I could get down here again before he turns 3, but I definitely don’t think that is in the cards for us.
Susan Cole

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