Trip Reports

Joanne Forshaw - November 28 - December 8, 1998 - Wilderness Lodge

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Plane
Resort: WL
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Joanne and her Aunt, who together traveled to WDW and DLP, ventured back to Florida for this wonderful trip. After being "educated" in trip planning at several web sites, Joanne decided to stay onsite for this trip, so Wilderness Lodge was the choice for 1998. This is an especially valuable trip report for WDW visitors from the UK, as Joanne is from the Manchester area (actually near Wigan).


24th Nov 98 - 8th Dec 98

Background

I had visited WDW for the first time in April/May '95 with my Aunty, & stayed at Comfort Inn, Lake Buena Vista. I hadn't really done any planning for that trip & looking back now we missed so much, we didn't even have a character meal. In May '96 I was diagnosed as having lupus, which left me very fatigued & with severe joint pain, I didn't think I would see Disney World again for a long time. In summer '97 I was talking to my aunty on the phone & jokingly said I wished I was in Disney World, the next time I spoke to her she had got brochures for Disneyland Paris & was arranging time off work! So in November '97 we went to Disneyland Paris for the first time, for the bonfire extravaganza. We flew to Paris with British Airways (I refused to go through the Channel Tunnel!) & stayed in the Hotel New York, which was fabulous, & not far from the park. I hired a wheelchair & took it with me, but ended up alternating between sitting in the chair & pushing myself, & walking & pushing the chair, because pushing myself left my arms in awful pain & very weak (my aunty couldn't push me as she has a bad back). We enjoyed DLP, but it was very cold, there were a lot of things shut because it was off season, & we weren't very impressed with the French people's manners!! However, it left us thinking about a return trip to WDW.

January '98, another phone call to my aunty & a conversation about WDW, I can't remember how it came about, but the next thing I knew we were booked to go to WDW on November 24th for two weeks, with Virgin Atlantic, staying at the WDW Swan. We had decided to stay on property this time & the Swan looked good. We had also decided to fly Premium Economy class (between economy & first class), as this would give us the guaranteed extra leg room we both needed. I didn't want to endure a nine hour flight with my legs squashed up & in agony, so I reasoned that it was money well spent. I would have to get a transfer flight from Manchester down to Gatwick where I would meet Lilian (who lives in Essex).

Then began my search on the internet for all things Disney, I first came across Deb Will's site, & from that moment was hooked. From there I found Brian Bennett's site & discovered RADP. I saw a few posts on RADP saying the Swan wasn't very good, the Disney owned hotels were much better. A quick search round some Disney sites & a frantic call to Lilian asking her to go to the travel agents & change the booking, & we were now going to be staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I repeatedly had to assure her that the Wilderness Lodge appeared to be a favourite with lots of people.

I began to count down to the 24th November, 38wks...37wks... Week after week I scoured all of the Disney sites, & read the posts on RADP, planning all of the things we were going to do. I discovered there was a dolphin interaction program available at Sea World, I love dolphins & it was my dream to be able to get in the water with them. I printed off the booking form & posted it off, a few weeks later a letter arrived saying I had got a place on the program, yippeee! As soon as the MVMCP tickets were available I was on the phone booking two. At 120 days I rang & booked a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, then at 60 days I rang (& was on hold for 10 minutes before getting through!) to book a CB at Cindy's Royal Table.

My main concern was how I was going to get around WDW, I enquired about wheelchair & ECV hire. To hire an ECV for 2 weeks would cost over £200 ($300), wheelchairs & ECVs were available in the parks but on first come, first served basis. After talking to some of the wheelchair users on RADP, I decided I might as well hire an ECV for the full two wks, after all I was paying all that money for the holiday, it would be stupid to ruin it for the sake of a couple of hundred more. So I booked an ECV from Care Medical, via email.

Tuesday 24th November 1998

The day finally arrived, & we set off early morning to Manchester airport, leaving behind temps of 1-3ºC, brrr!. I had wheelchair assistance at the airports which was great. The flight down was uneventful. I met up with Lilian at Gatwick & we boarded the Virgin Atlantic flight to Orlando, to be greeted with champagne & orange juice before we had even sat down! I had phoned Virgin a few months earlier to request a bulkhead seat for medical reasons, & had been told although it couldn't be guaranteed it shouldn't be a problem. When Lilian had booked in she had requested a bulkhead seat & had been told there was no need as the seats in Premium economy had plenty legroom. When we boarded, we were told there would only be about 6 of us in the cabin, so we asked about the bulkhead seats & the stewardess kindly got the man who was sat in them to swap with us. And we were glad of the extra legroom. It was a good decision flying PE, the seats were so much more comfy & the service was great. It was a long 9 3/4 hr flight & 6pm (11pm GMT) when we landed, very tired. We got a shuttle to the hotel. Our first impressions of Wilderness Lodge were 'wow'! The Christmas tree was up in the lobby & it just looked wonderful, far better than on any pictures we'd seen.

I had faxed the room controller 5 days previously to put in my room requests & all of them were granted. We were put in room 4085, 4th floor, looking out onto the lobby, above Whispering Canyon, woods view, two queensize beds. After getting something to eat, we collapsed into bed!

Wedsnesday 25th November 1998

Our first wake-up call from the mouse himself! Breakfast in Roaring Forks. We were supposed to go to a welcome meeting with Virgin at Downtown Disney at 8:30am, but weren't sure if they were sending a bus or if we had to get a Disney bus, and my scooter was supposed to be being delivered at 8am. I got in line at guest services to see if my scooter had been delivered, & was told it would be at bell services. Whilst there I asked about being flag family, no vacancies that week, but a choice for the week after, so I put us down for 1st Dec.

My scooter was at bell services, when I'd figured out how to get it going (take the recharger lead out!) we decided to stuff the welcome meeting & head for Downtown Disney to do some shopping! We had to get a bus to the TTC then to DD, this was my first experience of getting the scooter on a bus, & I didn't do too badly (honest!!).

Explored the shops & had some lunch. It was very sunny & about 80º, which we weren't used to. We headed back to the Lodge & went for a swim, & in the spas - lovely. Decided we would do animation tour as our flex feature, so rang up to book for Weds 2nd, no problem.

A nice quiet, easy first day.

Thursday 26th November 1998 (Thanksgiving)

I had always wanted to go to America for Thanksgiving, & now here I was. We had decided to go to MGM today, as I'd read that MK would be very crowded. we got the bus to MGM at 8am, there was only one other family on the bus. The driver told us we had made the right choice, MK & AK were already packed. We got in the queue at MGM, & when the gates opened at 8:15am, my scooter wouldn't start - panic! I sent Lilian off to get a CM, but then after a few more turns of the key it started, so I shouted her back. It continued to do that all day, only starting after three turns of the key.

We went to the Little Mermaid show first, as I hadn't seen it last time we came. We were directed into a separate queue area for wheelchairs, so Lilian got to sit down. The wheelchair viewing area was on the back row, but the view was still good. We headed up Mickey Avenue & found Meeko with no one else around, so had photo with him. Then we discovered Woody & Buzz near the Backlot Tour entrance, so had photo with them. Discovered we couldn't get through to New York Street so had to come all the way back (later in the week, I did see a gap that we could have gone through). Finally got to Hunchback Show, & got a wheelchair place in the middle, then this woman with 'big hair' came & sat in front of me, so I couldn't see the show properly, & on the video, the show is mostly obscured by this woman's hair! Matt the juggler was the pre-show & was really good.

Lunch at Backlot Express, fries cold! Had photo with Mulan & Chan (or is it Chang??) outside Chinese Theatre. You might have guessed by now that I like having my photo taken with characters :-) We had an ice cream & sat waiting for Belle's Enchanted Christmas Show outside the Chinese theatre (which a nice lady Cm in a shop had told us about earlier). Belle arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, & then danced with the Beast & two small children. I must admit I had a tear in my eye at the end!

We then got a spot for the parade in the wheelchair area outside the theatre, & got talking to two Belgian ladies. Waiting for the parade, this guy in an old-fashioned car came along, signing autographs, he was quite funny, but no one knew who he was! There was a pre parade with characters walking along shaking people's hands. We enjoyed the Mulan parade & thought it was a big improvement on the Aladdin parade that was there last time we came.

We left the park after the parade to go back to the Lodge for a rest, before going to MK for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6pm PS. There was a bus waiting but it was full, so we had to wait 15 mins to next one. Short rest then boat to MK. The boat was already in when we got there, the water level was a bit low, & they had to lift the scooter down. The level was ok at MK, so no problems getting off. The Magic Kingdom was packed, so we headed straight over to LTT, at 5:30pm. We were seated in about 20-25 minutes, had to leave the scooter in the lobby, I don't know what they'd do if anyone had to stay in a w/chair or ecv, as there didn't seem to be much room. The characters were Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip & Dale, they all visited the table at least twice. The food was good, the pink lemonade was delicious!

I decided to go on It's a Small World, there was a long queue, but I went in at the w/chair entrance & didn't have to wait. I really enjoyed this ride at DLP, but it wasn't quite as good here, the last room is much better at DLP. When we were leaving the park at around 7:30pm, they were already seated 4-5 thick waiting for spectro(8pm). We went to get the boat back & the water level was ok. But when we got back to the lodge, the water level there was very low. The female CMs operating the boat went to get a man to help lift the scooter off, but he decided I'd have to turn it round first. Well if you've ever been on one of those boats, you'll know there not much room. Whilst turning it round, I got stuck & the man came to help & tried lifting it round, but when I came to start it, it just would not start at all. So there I was sat on this scooter with a bunch of CMs & a queue of people waiting to get to the MK watching me, getting very flustered & embarrassed! They decided they'd have to lift it off, & got some more help. We agreed to leave it there while I went to phone Care Med. Being Thanksgiving there was nobody there, so left an angry message on their voicemail. Went back down to guest services & explained what had happened, the CM said he'd go down & arrange to have the scooter brought back up to the Lodge for the night, which I though was very nice of them.

Friday 27th November 1998

Got a call from Care at 8:30am saying a new scooter was on its way & they were sorry. It arrived at 9:30am, the man from Care explained that they'd given me a free upgrade & this new scooter should have cost $10 a day more.

Waited about 15 mins for a bus to AK. When we got there it was packed, & I soon regretted choosing that day to go there! The first thing that struck me about AK is how green it is, I was also expecting a lot more flowers, maybe the wrong time of year. It also seemed to be long walks between each area, at the other parks, things seem more 'continuous', there are always shops or attractions wherever you walk.We headed straight for the Lion King show as I'd heard it was very good, went through separate w/chair queue, & got seated first, in giraffe section right at front. The show was excellent. We had a quick look at the Tree of Life, & had some frozen lemonade & soft ice-cream(delicious!). The wait for the safari was 65 minutes, so we decided to give that a miss. Over to Dinoland, but it was so busy, you could hardly move so we decided to head back to the Lodge. The bus was full.

I'd decided that we would go to the MK to watch spectro, but after the previous fiasco on the boat, we would go by bus. There is no direct bus from WL to MK, the official route is to TTC then MK, but we discovered that the MGM bus goes (sometimes) to the Poly, so we got the mono from there. Columbia Harbour House for dinner - very nice fish & fries. We started off towards toontown, but then decided to go to the hub & get a spot in the w/chair section facing down Main Street. It was a good decision, got a great spot, & had only just got there when other people started to arrive & it filled up quickly. That was 5:50pm & spectro was only starting at 8pm! Got talking to a nice family from Chicago. Spectro was worth the wait, its a shame its going away. As we headed back down Main Street, there were just sooo many people, you couldn't move. By the time we'd got near the entrance, it was time for the fireworks, so we stayed for them. They were much better than I remember from last time, although from where we were stood, the view of the castle was obscured by the xmas garlands. Never did get to take a picture or video of the fireworks & the castle. Mono back to ttc, & Crockett bus to WL.

Saturday 28th November 1998

We had planned to go to Epcot, but were too tired, so we decided to have a quiet day. We had a fridge in the room, but didn't have that much in it, so decided to return it, anything that needed to be kept cool was ok in the ice bucket.

Got the AK bus to the Poly, & had a look round there. Nice hotel, but from what I saw the theming wasn't as good as the WL. Asked to ride up front on the monorail, CM said we'd have to wait for the mono that just left to do a full circuit. It was well worth doing, the view is great. I asked for a certificate, but he couldn't find any, so he radioed through & some came on another mono. We walked round to Luau cove, which was practically deserted. I couldn't find the hammocks that I'd read were there. The beach was so beautiful, it felt like we were in a tropical paradise. I had a paddle in the water, & then we carried on to the wedding pavillion. I don't remember reading about this anywhere, but it is well worth going to see. I decided there & then that I'm going to get married at WDW! We had our pictures taken under the arch at the side of the pavillion looking over to the castle. We carried on walking round to the Grand Floridian & sat in the lobby for a while.

When we got back to the Lodge, I hired a water mouse. It was absolutely fantastic, I have never driven a speedboat before & I love every minute. I went around Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom, what a great view.

After a rest back at WL, we got the Boone bus to FW for the campfire. When we got off the bus it was very poorly lit, no signposts, we had to ask directions to the campfire. When we eventually found it, it was already full. I was expecting a large campfire & was a bit disappointed to find two very small ones! I'd already bought marshmallows from the Trading Post, & when I asked someone at the fire about sticks, they said to get them from the Chuck Wagon. There was a long line & I waited 10 mins to but 2 sticks, then when I'd toasted them, I decided I didn't like toasted marshmallows!! After the singalong we went back to the bus stop (via the Trading Post to shop). A Boone bus came & the driver said we should get the Crockett bus, but after waiting over 20 minutes, none showed. The next Boone that came, we asked the driver & he said we could get that one back to WL. After all that we could have gotten the first Boone!

Sunday 29th November 1998

Got the MGM bus to the Poly, & mono to MK. The dwarfs were outside the MK, so I had my photos taken with them all, including my favourite Doc. We had our photos taken by an official photographer looking up Main St to the castle, & also took our own. (Looked at them after but didn't buy). We had ps for 8:55am at Cindy's Royal Table. The Fairy Godmother was in the lobby. We were called up at 8:50am & seated by a window looking out onto Fantasyland. The food was fruit plate, croissants & muffins, then pre-plated egg, bacon, potatoes, cheese french toast, which I don't like so I had a plate of waffles instead. The characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan & Belle. I enjoyed being called 'Princess', & our server sprinkled Mickey glitter in my hair - magic!

Over in Toontown there was a short wait to meet Mickey, then into the Hall of Fame to meet the Pooh characters, & Donald & Max. Saw the Lion King show, got in wheelchair area right in middle at front, great view. I wanted to try the new Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland, there was a long line, & after being in it for 10 minutes, they came & said the ride had broken down! Got a place in front of the castle just in time for the Every Day's a Holiday Show. Then we went down Main St & got a place in front of the xmas tree for the parade. Got talking to a woman whose daughter was in the marching band. The view of the parade was quite good from there, the Cinderella's castle float & the Aladdin float stopped right in front. When they had come round giving stickers out before the parade I thought they only gave them to kids, but when teh floats stopped there were adults got up to participate. I would have loved to dance with the characters, ok so I'm a big kid at heart!

We decided to try the boat back, got on ok at MK, but when we got to WL the water level was way too low. So I had to get off scooter while two CMs lifted the scooter off. Quick change of clothes for me, then I headed off alone to MGM for 8pm Fantasmic. Waited 5 mins for bus, then the bus driver said he didn't think the scooter would fit on the lift, I told him I hadn't had a problem before. Luckily he decided to try & it fitted no problem! At the MGM gates they said the 6:30pm Fantasmic was already standing room only. I'd read about having to get in line real early for the show so I decided to have something to eat at Sunset Ranch market then head over to queue. I went all up the ramp to what I thought was the queue area, & when I got to the top they directed me over to a standing area for the 6:30pm show. I explained I wanted the 8pm show so they said to come back to queue area later. I decided to start queuing now, which was lucky as when I found the queue area, there were already quite a few waiting. We were let in at about 7:30pm, I chose to sit at the front w/chair area, rather than the back row. I was the first one down there, so had pick of seats & sat right in centre, which was a great view. A nice lady cm gave me a large plastic bag to put over the scooter to stop it getting wet, & I put a park map over the video camera. A fine mist comes off the water screens which doesn't seem too bad, but by the end I was quite wet! It was a great show, & it didn't take too long to exit, despite what I'd heard. The bus waiting for WL was full, so the cm called for another which arrived within 5 mins.

Monday 30th November 1998

I borrowed a wheelchair from WL, because Care Medical had said I couldn't take the scooter off site.

Dolphin Interaction Program day! Got up at 5:30am which was a bit too early for me! The porter called for a taxi which was there in 5 mins.The fare was $22 to Sea World. A dolphin educator met us at the gate, I was surprised at how many other people were there. First we went to the underwater dolphin viewing area, where he talked about dolphin anatomy, then a trainer talked about training & what we would be doing. We all had to put a wet suit on, the first one was too small for me, & they aren't easy to get on & off! We got into the main dolphin pool that is used for the shows, although we were on a ledge which was about 3ft deep. There were 6 people to one dolphin & two trainers. In turn we each got to hug the dolphin & shake its fin, whilst the photographer took photos (which I later purchased - 3 for $30), we also got to stroke the dolphin & do hand signals to make it turn round. We were in the water about 30-40 mins, but each got less than 5 mins with the dolphin. It had cost about $120 for the program, & was expecting more out of it than 5 mins with the dolphin. It could be improved by having less participants, more individual time with the dolphins, & perhaps the photos thrown in free! We got muffins & orange juice for breakfast.

After we'd had a short walk round (I couldn't push myself in the w/chair because it was all uphill, so I had to walk, which I found very tiring) & got the photos we got a taxi back to the Lodge where I had a good rest. Getting up so early & walking around had knocked the stuffing out of me. That evening, first we discovered there were bell-ringers playing xmas songs in the lobby, then we heard loud bangs outside, when we opened the curtains we could see the MK fireworks, although they were partly obscured by trees we could see the high ones really well.

Tuesday 1st December 1998

We were flag family today! We met the cm in the lobby at 7:15am, he took us up in the lift then up a couple of flights of stairs onto the roof. Wow the view is amazing, you can see the MK, Cindy's castle, space mountain, Epcot, the Grand Floridian. I would highly recommend doing this. We each raised two flags & had our pictures taken, I also took a video. We got a certificate, a small photo frame ( which is a bit too small to put a decent photo in!), & a voucher for free breakfast at Roaring Forks. The cm wrote on the voucher how many people the breakfast was for, but there was no price limit, we had about $10 worth each.

As we were going to be at MGM all day, Lilian decided to hire a scooter once we got there, she had never driven one before & it was fun watching her bump into things (only joking Lilian!). We had a look round the shops including the new Villains store, then went to see the 11am BatB show. We got a seat right at the front, but Lilian had trouble negotiating the scooter around the tight corners down the ramp! After Backstage Pass (more problems for Lilian with the scooter, she got left behind at one point!) we headed over to 50s Prime Time for lunch. Our server was niece Kathy, when we sat down, everyone in our room had to say 'Hi' to us new kids. Lilian didn't eat all of her pasta, & tried hiding it under her napkin, but she didn't fool Kathy, who played aeroplanes to get her to eat a mouthful, so she got a clean plate club sticker. I left some of my fried chicken & green beans, & Kathy played trains to try & get me to eat a mouthful, but I kept my mouth tight shut!! We made sure we kept our elbows off the table, but others didn't & we had to sing 'Mabel, Mabel' a couple of times.

After Muppetvision & the Backlot Tour, we watched the tree lighting ceremony. Whilst I was sat waiting for the ceremony, two women came with a boy in a wheelchair who was severely handicapped. He introduced himself as Josh, & insisted that I met his mum & aunt & shook hands with them all, he was really sweet. I was really looking forward to seeing the Osborne Lights, as I'd read how good they were. I wasn't disappointed, the lights were awesome, but it was a bit too crowded, maybe an hour later it would have been quieter. I didn't get the full effect of the special glasses whilst there, not sure why, but when we got home, I put them on to look at our xmas tree lights & it was great, you can see little angels all around the lights. Somewhere in the middle of the lights, I lost Lilian, I turned around & she was gone. I thought I'd bump into her nearer the end, but she was nowhere to be seen. So I sat waiting for a while, then went back in (after explaining to the CM why I was going in at the exit!), no sign. Again I waited at the exit, then went back in, I asked the same CM if he had seen a woman in a scooter & he said 'yeah, she went ins few minutes ago', & I said 'no that was me!'. I decided to head back to the hotel, & when I finally got back she was in the room, needless to say I wasn't very pleased!

Wednesday 2nd December 1998

We got to MGM in time to meet for the animation tour at the bus information building. Our guide was Jim Caucas (sp?), he introduced himself as an animator, actor, magician..... We all had to introduce ourselves & say whether we had any art training, nobody had, until he got to me & when I said I had art training, he said I was the one he'd have to shoot! We started with a 'tour' around the park, the story was that we were back in 1935 & were auditioning for a job with Walt Disney. We stopped at various places around the park while Jim talked about animation & about Walt & how he started out, it was very interesting. Then we went 'backstage' into the animation building, an animator talked us through the different stages of animating a film, then showed us how to paint a cel. We then painted a Mickey Mouse cel, which he said was exclusive to the tour, we got to keep the paint set & brush, & the cel was sent onto us at home once it had dried (it arrived about a week after we got home). He also gave everyone a folder with information about what is required to become a Disney animator.

After the tour, I couldn't resist going in the animation shop, I could spend a fortune in there! Lilian bought me a poster - Mickey's head made up of Disney characters, saying 'remember this all started with a mouse'. Lilian then went back to the hotel for a rest & I went to Disney Quest. At MGM the bus driver didn't see me & I had to get someone to tell him, then the bus was too far away from the kerb to get the scooter onto the lift, so he had to lift it on. DQ was good, but at first I found it a bit confusing finding my way around. I enjoyed the create zone best, I drew Mickey at the animation gallery & got the free print out & diploma. I found the raft ride a bit too rough, so decided not to go on any of the other simulator rides. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon playing on skeeball (my favourite!) & the other games, winning tickets (hint- the roll-a-coin games give the most tickets) .I ended up with 794 tickets, the biggest prize was for 600, so I got this sand picture making thing, & told the cm to give the rest of my tickets to the person behind me. I think they could have a better choice of prizes. I had dinner at Cheesecake express, I thought that was where the internet access was, but I only found out later that it was at the other cafe, I should have looked at my map properly!

After seeing the portrait artist in the lobby at WL, I had decided to get my portrait done to give to my mum & dad. I chose the 30 minute pastel sketch which was $60, it was very hard sitting perfectly still for so long, especially with a crowd of people stood watching. when she had finished Lilian was saying how much it looked like me, but when I saw it I was quite disappointed, I didn't think it looked much like me, but didn't say anything. My mum & dad, & anyone else who has seen it, don't think it looks much like me either!

Thursday 3rd December 1998

Today was the first & only day we saw any rain - it rained for about 5 mins in the afternoon. We had breakfast at Whispering Canyon, it wasn't very rowdy that morning, although when someone asked for ketchup, they brought about 12 bottles! Our server said I had beautiful eyes & got another server to come & look! Every morning our housekeeper, Jill, had arranged any toys we had left out, one morning Mickey was sat on my scooter with my gloves on, another Mickey was sat on a chair which had sheets over it, with all of the other toys sat round & a note saying 'only in America could a mouse be king!'; that morning she had spread them out around the room, with the Queen of Hearts stood near the door, with toilet paper unravelled & all over the room, as if the toys had done it! We met Jill & she was lovely, she added that extra bit of Disney magic to our holiday.

Onto Epcot, where Lilian hired a scooter again. I got one of the famous kaki-gori from Japan, it was good, but nothing that special, maybe the other flavours were better. When we got to Japan, Miyuki the candy artist was doing her stuff, it was fascinating to watch. Whilst we were sitting watching I realised that Josh (the boy in the w/chair from MGM) was sat next to me, what a coincidence! Miyuki made me a rabbit (which I managed to get home without to much damage) & Lilian a swan (which she later lost). At 3:55pm, we noticed that they had already started queuing for the 5pm Candlelight Processional, so we got in line, & got let in at 4:30pm. We were sat in the middle but to the side, I only realised when we were leaving that the view from the middle would have been better, the singers stand in the shape of a Christmas tree. It was a great show, very moving.

On the bus back to the Lodge, there was already a w/chair on, I told the driver I couldn't get the scooter on, so he moved the w/chair back & I had to swing the other way to get into the space farthest from the door, he had to lift the scooter as I got stuck. It would have been a lot more sense for the w/chair to be in that space, & for my scooter to be in the space nearest the door. That evening there were flautists in the lobby playing xmas music.

Friday 4th December 1998

We had breakfast at Artist point with Pooh, Tigger & Eeyore, who came round to the table a few times. We went to Blizzard Beach but the first bus had a broken lift, so we had to wait 15 mins for the next one. Summit Plummet & slush gusher weren't in use. Blizzard Beach was the only other place that I found pink lemonade for sale. The bus back was full & I didn't think the driver was going to let us on but in the end she did.

When we went to pick up our packages (that we had bought in the parks the day before & had delivered) from the WL shop, yesterdays had come, but the one from Weds(my poster) still hadn't arrived, I left them to chase it up. I finally got it the day after, they had lost the first & had to get a replacement.

After dinner at roaring forks, we got the MGM bus & got off at GF, had a look round the shop there, then got the mono to MK for MVMCP. When we arrived at MK at 7:20pm there were already big queues waiting, but they were starting to let people in. There were people already sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the 9pm parade. When we got to the hub the w/chair section was empty, so we were going to stay for the parade, but a cm said the 11:30pm one would be a lot less crowded, so we decided to head over to the Galaxy Palace Theatre for Mickey's Twas the night before xmas show. On the way we stopped to get our photo taken, we asked if we could have two because we don't live in the same house, & they sent us one each. We got seated on the front row w/chair section, but some kids behind were moaning that they couldn't see, so I sat on the bench. I turned round & asked if they could see better now, but I just got a dirty look. By the end of the show I was in agony from sitting on the hard bench, & the show wasn't even very good. After getting our cookies & hot chocolate, we got in place on the bridge between the hub & tomorrowland, for the fireworks at 10pm. I thought it would have filled up early, but people didn't start to arrive until just before the start! I was hoping to get a good photo of the fireworks going off behind the castle, but I hadn't realised that from that view they go off at the side of the castle. Anyway, the fireworks were great, especially the xmas finale.When we had first got in the park the queues for the rides were virtually non-existent but later on they were quite long, so I didn't bother going on any of the rides. The princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty) & the fairy godmother were at the back of the castle for photos but the lines were really long. Cindy's coach was parked up behind the castle so I had my photo taken with that! We were both that tired we decided we wouldn't stay for the parade, so got the boat back (on ok, had to be lifted off)at 11:30pm. I had been really looking forward to MVMCP, after reading so much about it, but after going I was quite disappointed. Maybe because I'd already seen two of the shows in the daytime, the one I did see wasn't very good, we didn't see the parade. I think if we hadn't have been so tired, & gone on some of the rides it would have been more worth it.

Saturday 5th December 1998

Had a long lie in until 9:40am. I went to Epcot on my own, to look round futureworld. I had been round futureworld last time I came, & didn't really see anything I wanted to do again, it could do with a major update. After some lunch at sunshine season food fair - the counters weren't accessible so had to park scooter up- I phoned Lilian at the hotel & asked if she wanted to meet at the GF for afternoon tea. I got the mono & had to change at TTC, she was there 15 mins before me! Whilst I was on the mono, going past the wedding pavillion, I heard someone say that Cindy's coach was there. So when I got to GF, I left Lilian sat at beach & I zoomed round to the pavillion, the bride had just gone in, so the coach was just there waiting. I got a woman who was there to take my photo with the coach & horses. It must be a dream come true to arrive at your wedding in that.

Back at the GF, we had a 45 minute wait for afternoon tea, so we sat & watched wedding parties having their photos done & listening to the carolers round the tree. The server was very slow, but the tea was lovely, very posh! I didn't fancy any of the combinations on the menu, so I picked my own combination of pastries, strawberries & cream, & tea. When we got back to WL, we went in the shop, & the cm on the counter was talking to a customer about packages not being delivered direct to the rooms, like they are at the other resorts. She said they were always telling management about it, but the only way it will be changed is if enough guests write it on their comment cards.

Sunday 6th December 1998

We got the AK bus to the Poly then the mono to the GF for our ps at 1900 Park Fare. The Mad Hatter was in the waiting area, & told Lilian her dress would make a nice table cloth :-)

There was only a 5 min wait before we got seated. The buffet was excellent, there was everything you could ever want for breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes, biscuits, pancakes, french toast sticks, toast, English muffins, muffins, cereals, fresh fruit, grits, hash browns, Mickey waffles, & made to order omelettes. The characters were Minnie, Alice, Pluto & Snow White, not sure why Mary Poppins wasn't there.

After breakfast we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I decided to go on Peter Pan's flight, & went in through the wheelchair entrance, I had to leave the scooter outside as it wouldn't fit through the entrance. The cm asked for my pass, so I told her I didn't have one, but was on a scooter which I'd left outside, she didn't look all that convinced but let me on anyway. After going on the teacups & the carousel, we both had our picture taken with the Queen of Hearts, who didn't seem very happy! I went on Splash mountain (which I didn't go on last time), I was directed through a separate wheelchair entrance, & when I got to the loading platform, a cm told me to wait a minute, then she wandered off. The two other cms, where stood talking, so I just sat & waited, but eventually realised that the other cm had forgotten me & they didn't know I was waiting to go on, so I asked them when I could get on & they apologised & put me on the next boat. Then I went on BTMR, w/chair users go through the exit, I left Lilian sat on the scooter on the exit platform. When I got off the ride, I realised that the platform was too narrow to turn the scooter round, one false move & I would have been on the track! So I carefully, using my skillful driving, reversed the scooter & when the platform got a little bit wider, carefully turned the scooter around, & got a round of applause from everyone in the queue on the other side of the platform :-)

On our way out of the park I bought a Sleeping Beauty snowglobe (which plays my favourite Disney tune, Once upon a dream), didn't realised how big the box would be, Lilian said there was no way I would get it on the plane, but I told her it wouldn't be a problem - famous last words! We tried to get the boat back, but they wouldn't let us on because the water level was far too low, so we had to get the mono & bus back.

Monday 7th December 1998

The temp was about 84º & it felt way too hot. We went to Animal Kingdom, I remember reading somewhere that it feels hotter in AK because the trees cause a rainforest effect, how true that was. I went on safari on my own, Lilian didn't think her bad back would stand up to the rickety ride. There was a separate queue area for w/chairs, & I had to park the scooter up, when I got in the line, I was again asked for my special pass. I explained that my scooter was parked up , maybe next time I should consider getting a special pass, does this happen to everyone who parks their scooter/wheelchair up? The safari was good, we saw crocodiles, gazelles, elephants, ostriches, flamingos, & a lion. We got in the line to meet Mickey & Minnie, which didn't look too bad, wrong, we queued for almost an hour. A few people ahead of us in the line where this mother & son, he must have been about 6 or 7. He started to pick the flowers that were growing at the side of the path, & his mother just let him, I really couldn't believe it, if every kid who went up there did that, there wouldn't be any flowers left for people to enjoy.

By this time I was starving, so we headed to Dinoland to try & find Dinoland snacks for some fries, I left Lilian sitting on a bench. After riding round & round a few times (I kept getting mixed up & asking for Dino Diner which is different!), I couldn't find it, then this cm on a stall told me it was inside the jungle book show, & guess what, it was shut! So we ended up in Restaurantosaurus, where the service was slower than slow. By this time we were very hot & tired so we went back to the hotel to pack. We had left a box of chocolates that morning for Jill the housekeeper (we had left tips previously), & when we got in the room, we could hear voices, it turned out that Jill had left the television on, & Mickey & the gang were sat watching the tv with glasses in front of them & bibs on! What a star!

Tuesday 8th December 1998

Our last day here :-(

Virgin operates a check-in facility at Downtown Disney, so you can get rid of your suitcases & enjoy the rest of the day free. After checking out of WL, we got a taxi to DD ($15), & checked in our baggage (I had one medium suitcase & two small cases, as I find it difficult to carry large ones), they checked them in no problem. I requested bulkhead seat, but they said that they were reserved for people travelling with babies, & there were such people on the flight. We walked to Marketplace, & did some final shopping. Santa Claus was there & I saw a large older lady sat on his knee, so I thought if she can do that so can I! I got in the short queue & when it was my turn I asked Santa if I was too old & he told me I wasn't, so I got to sit on his knee & have my picture taken :-) When we got back to WL I checked the print out they had given us before, of everything that had been charged to our account. Earlier in the week, I had returned a sweater I had bought that didn't fit to WL Mercantile, but it hadn't shown up on the print out as being credited back to my account. After explaining to the cm in WL merc. that I had packed my receipt that showed I had returned it, he went to ask the manager, & after a while, returned with a new print out with a credit on for the $36, they didn't give me back the $2 tax but I wasn't going to argue about that. We sat in the lobby watching Disney films until it was time for us to get the shuttle bus to the airport.

When we got to the airport we couldn't find a wheelchair, so Lilian went in to get a Virgin staff member, who brought us a w/chair. But when she saw how much hand baggage I had she said there was no way I could take it on the plane (I had a carrier bag with the snowglobe in it, a small carrier bag with some fragile ornaments in, & a bag with my medication, my coat, video camera charger in). She gave me a box to transfer some things into which I did, then she took it off me & said that I'd have to pay $110 excess baggage because I now had four pieces of luggage in the hold, & I was only allowed two! I argued that the staff at DD had checked in 3 pieces of luggage, & had they not done so, I would have had all day to rectify the situation. I also offered to get rid of some of the things in the box, & take the snowglobe back to the Disney shop at the airport for a refund, but she wouldn't listen, so I ended up paying $110. When we boarded the plane, the premium economy cabin was full, but there wasn't one single baby to be seen. The seats they had put us in were in the middle at the back & I got kicked twice by other people trying to get to their seats. We complained to the stewardess about not being allowed the bulkhead seats & she agreed the check-in staff were wrong, & told us to complain to Virgin once back home. The flight home was just under 8 hours & I managed to get a couple of hours sleep. By the time I got home to Manchester airport I was absolutely shattered but glad to be home.

I did write to complain to Virgin, & got my $110 refunded!

All in all we had a wonderful trip, & would definitely stay at the Wilderness Lodge again (although it could do with being on the monorail!). I like the look of the Disney Cruise line, so maybe that's the next thing to do :-)

Favourite things from this trip-

hotel - Wilderness Lodge
show - Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom
breakfast - Cindy's Royal Table for the characters & location, 1900 Park Fare for the food
drink - pink lemonade
food - marinated chicken breast in a bun from various locations (anyone have the recipe?!)
ride - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
highlights - hiring a water mouse, & being flag family.
Joanne Forshaw

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