Trip Reports

Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Personal Car, Rental Car
Resort: DL
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: After a brief summary of some hilariously (to the reader) tragic (to Cathie) events during the family's first trip to WDW earlier this year, she provides a fantastic run-down of the trip the Guests' took in early December. It's a wonderful play-by-play account, with great details, tips, and suggestions laced throughout. Best of all, Cathie considered my "crazy" when she first found my web site. Now she is "one of us."


The Players

David (39) 2nd trip, first trip January 1998
Cathie (39) 3rd trip, first trip 1972, 2nd trip January 1998 (writer of this trip report)
Brent (9) 2nd trip, first trip January 1998
Camille (5) 2nd trip, first trip January 1998
Background

This January was "our" first trip to WDW; we flew to Orlando, rented a car and spent one week at the Port Orleans. Originally we had planned to go in April but when we went to the travel agent to book for April we discovered if we left almost immediately we could get return airfares from Toronto, Ontario, Canada for $104 adult/$84 child. At this point, Disney passes were at "par" (U.S. exchange). It didn’t take long for us to change our minds – today was Friday and we would be leaving on Tuesday. ONLY 4 SLEEPS until WDW.

Maybe because of the hurried pace of leaving (that’s my excuse) but some really dumb things happened. We picked up the car at Alamo, drove to the Goodlings parking lot and stopped to retrieve the camcorder out of the trunk to video the drive into WDW. After opening the trunk, I realized to my H O R R OR it was M I S S I N G. After some heated discussion (which could not possibly be printed) I realized I had left it on the bench (outside!) at Alamo. We drove back to Alamo with my heart pounding, hoping and praying that someone did not swipe it. It had a tag on it saying "Reward if Returned". I raced to the bench – nothing – ran to Lost & Found. IT WAS THERE. Thank you, thank you, thank you, kind, honest person. They left their address at the lost and found and I sent them a nice card and cheque when we returned home. We drove back to WDW (again) and decided to stop for lunch at Taco Bell. After lunch I got the camcorder out and somehow it flew out of my hand and crashed into the asphalt. Great, now it has a huge scratch and I am trying (unsuccessfully) to hide the fact that the Pause button is permanently pressed in and I can’t get it to record…at all.

Okay, so I broke it and there is nothing I can do about it now. EVERYONE GET IN THE CAR, NOW!

We drove to the Port Orleans to check in. At the gate, "I’m sorry I don’t see your name on the reservation list, check with the front desk". Apparently our travel agent FORGOT to make the reservations. The front desk people were wonderful and we chose a room in Building 5. The past incidents were now behind us, so lets go have fun! We went to the room to drop off the luggage and THEN. . .

I realized I forget ALL the AMEX traveler’s cheques AT HOME and we only had $100 U.S.

Just in case I wasn’t feeling bad enough my husband was kind enough to recap everything: "Let me get this straight, first you leave the camcorder at the car rental OUTSIDE on a bench, then you drop it in the parking lot and break it, then they don’t have our reservation (this one was not MY fault), now your telling me you forgot all the AMEX at home?" Yep. That pretty well covers it. In my defense, haven’t you seen those AMEX commercials? We can get replacements! Traveler’s cheques were "invented" for days like this! Look on the bright side, what if it was cash that we left at home? Besides, we got the camcorder back (it doesn’t work I know, but we did get it back) and we got a room even without a reservation!

The last two (full) days my daughter was very sick, (she was in the hospital Christmas Eve and I think the virus was still hanging on) so she missed breakfast with Cinderalla. The day before leaving (to go home) my son caught the bug and threw up in the rental car on the way to the airport (but my daughter was starting to perk up now). We got AMEX replacements at the Contemporary and I finally unstuck the "pause" on the camcorder on day 3. Despite all the mishaps, this was the BEST vacation ever. My (totally fearless) daughter (Camille 4-1/2) went on everything; Tower of Terror, Alien Encounter, Space Mountain, etc. and loved everything. After the TOT, Camille said she "loooovvvved it", her 9 year old brother said "my stomach hurts". I could not count the hours of fun my daughter has had imitating her older brother "remember after the TOT Brent said - my stomach hurts" then laughing uproariously, much to the chagrin of her older brother (insert nasty look from older brother here).

Thanks so much to Brian Bennett and Deb Wills for their fantastic web sites; I was so much better prepared because of their information and trip reports.

This Trip December 9 – 16, 1998

We noticed in the paper that passes are at par again and that Air Transit has flights to Orlando in December for $99 return and the kids’ tickets are $79 return (that’s from Toronto, Canada!). Who could resist? The next day we went to the Travel Agency, booked flights for December 9 – 16 and booked Alamo car. The other deciding factor was David was scheduled to have a knee operation on November 30th and would have all of December off work. We leave for Disney 10 days after the operation, let’s hope he can handle the walking (instead of going to rehab). When I called Disney we were not able to get all seven nights at Dixie; the first night will be at the Port Orleans, the remaining six nights at Dixie.

Some of the objectives for this trip are to do things we were unable to fit into our week in January as well as some new items:

Character meal
Water Park
Visit resorts missed last trip
Christmas Parade
Fantasmic
Spectromagic
Boardwalk
Celebration
Also, I have made out an itinerary, blocking out what we hope to do each day in the morning, afternoon and evening as well as listing priority seating arrangements and events like Fantasmic. We’ll see how close we follow the itinerary.

Before leaving I made priority seating for Chef Mickey’s for the first night, Whispering Canyon Café in the middle of the trip and Cinderella’s Royal Table at the end of the trip. We also exchanged $1,100 Canadian for $700 U.S. (OUCH that REALLY HURTS) for all meals and spending money. Our objective is not to go over this, as it is $100 per day (but costing us $156 Canadian).

Day 1 – Wednesday, December 9, 1998

The flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00 a.m. Everyone is sitting in their seats on the plane when they make an announcement "We are waiting for a member of our crew to arrive and we will be on our way". About 8:10 the pilot runs on and gets into the cockpit whereupon they announce "The first officer has arrived and we will be on our way now". I guess with some jobs there is no hiding when your late for work. Brent and Camille went up to visit the cockpit later in the flight and Brent asked the Pilot why he was late for work, to which he replied he was coming from Montreal. On sure.

Has anyone else ever found the "stuffed man" at Orlando Airport? I have never seen him mentioned. The next time you are at Orlando Airport look for him – you won’t believe your eyes. After you get off the monorail and walk down a short hallway, there is the Universal Studios store on the left side. Straight ahead is a huge atrium with a gigantic board stating all arrivals and departures. If you walk to the backside of this board there is a bank of elevators on one side and a large Plexiglas case on the other side. Inside the case is a man sitting down with his eyes closed like an exhausted traveler. It is absolutely incredible. I promise you will not be disappointed. Take a look and see for yourself.

After customs, baggage claim, etc. we were out in the Florida heat by 11:35 waiting for the Alamo bus. It FINALLYarrived 35 minutes later; next stop is Dixie Landings. At present we are booked for tonight at the Port Orleans and the rest of the trip at Dixie. We drive straight to Dixie to check if we can stay all 7 nights and avoid the hassle of moving. YES! The room is not ready yet so we are given a telephone number to call and check back later. We stop at the store and purchase autograph books and head for the food court. At the food court we discover why we had so much difficulty getting reservations for the first couple of nights at Dixie. The place is overrun with 12-14 year old girls for a "cheerleading competition". When I couldn’t get reservations for Dixie for the first night I was worried all of WDW was going to be crowded for some reason. The moral of the story is maybe there is just a whole group booked into your hotel. Whew! After lunch and purchase of refill mugs I called the number and our room was ready – Room 9599 in Parterre Place. It is not real close to the food court but it could be worse. In the lobby of DxL there are hidden Mickeys in the Gingerbread up by the ceiling, also in Magnolia Bend, the wrought iron fences have a hidden Mickey.

Since we had priority seating tonight for Chef Mickey’s the plan was to drive to the Contemporary and take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Holy cow there are two characters in the lobby of the Contemporary as soon as we walk in – it’s Robin Hood and Maid Marion; good thing we bought those autograph books already. To me, this is probably the least appealing resort – it has all the warmth of a vacation in an office building.

As soon as we pass through the MK gates and see the parade in progress we grab a spot in front of the firehall to watch the remainder of the parade. Next stop is Alien Encounter. After a 20 minute wait, and right at the part where the alien has broken through the glass, the lights come on and a very mumbled announcement about technical difficulties. Some people are very confused "Is that it?". We are ushered out into the sunshine but the alien is still loose. I hope they catch him.

Next up was Buzz Lightyear (it didn’t appeal to me but David and Brent liked it), Space Mountain and then Skyway to Fantasyland. After visiting the character line-up composed of Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore it is time to head over to Chef Mickey's. Spectromagic has started and we are stumbling out of the park in the dark trying to catch a glimpse of Spectromagic (which looks unbelievable).

At Chef Mickey's we are seated within 5 minutes and then our waitress comes by and advises us to stay put, as Mickey will be at our table in one minute. Mickey is followed by Minnie and Chip’n’Dale. Goofy and Pluto are in the front of the restaurant hamming it up. The buffet was delicious, the characters were great and the kids had a great time waving their napkins in the air and singing.

A quick drive over to the Polynesian for a look-see. The resort is very well themed, the kids loved swinging in the hammocks on the beach and playing in the sand so much they did not want to leave. Camille noticed all the tracks in the sand – one track looked like it was from a goat or a pig (REALLY it DID). I can’t imagine what is was from – one of life’s mysteries I suppose. We headed back to Dixie and turned in for the night.

Day 2 – Thursday, December 10, 1998

At 8:30 we headed over to the food court for pancakes (very cold) then drove to the Yacht Club to look around. This is a beautiful resort and there was a huge tree in the lobby decorated with schooners and lighthouses. I really loved that the Christmas decorations at each resort (and each park as well) matched the theme of that particular place. At Dixie they had real cotton as decoration on the tree (picked with the stem on – not the stuff from the drugstore). We had a good look around the Yacht Club, walked along the beach and got our first look at the Boardwalk across the water.

Since is was still warm today (around 80F) I thought we better ditch the itinerary for today and get in a waterpark in case the weather turns cold later in the week. This turned out to be a very smart move.

As soon as we reach Blizzard Beach (by car) Brent right away starts "I want to go on Summit Plummet". After Camille chimes in "me too", David breaks it to her that she is too short. Well, she gets in a total snit and doesn’t want to do anything "because everything else is for babies". Brent runs off and goes on the Iceberg walk, t-bar ride and donut ride. Finally he convinces Camille to try the iceberg walk – she gets half way through and cannot reach the net above her head to hang onto any more. Apparently at the beginning of the walk the net hangs lower than at the second half of the walk. She cheers up and tries the t-bar and other rides.

Now is the time Brent and I decide to try Summit Plummet and David and Camille head over to Runoff Rapids. The chairlift to the top gives a great view but the best view is from the very top of Summit Plummet as you wait your turn. I tell you my heart is pounding because after you lie down flat behind the bar then it appears to just drop straight down – I mean completely vertically down. I almost chickened out but thought no, I want to do this so here goes. The sound of the water as you go down is really loud. This ride is thrilling but 60 seconds later you have a lot of water up your nose and the WORST wedgie of your life.

It was time to head back to the room to relax for a while. After some R&R and lunch, we grab a bus to MGM. As soon as we go through the gates there are Rafiki and Meeko. It is about 2:30 so we grab a spot on the curb for the parade. While waiting I walked over and bought 3 Mickey ice cream bars, David declined. I thought the parade could use some more floats in it and less people just walking.

After the parade our first stop is 1 Saturday Morning. Brent is chosen to go up on stage to do sound effects. Camille starts to cry, as she is not chosen. It’s not fair! The show is interesting and displays the importance of sound effects in movies. After the show on your way out, there is a room where you go into booths and put on headphones for another "sound effect experience". Do it. It is great!

One of everyone’s favourites is Muppet 3D so off we go. Since January, Camille has talked about how Waldo pointed at her. Guess what? He pointed right at her again, out of all those people in the theatre! Now Camille is smiling and happy once again. Thanks Waldo.

A leisurely walk over to the Honey I Shrunk the Playground where my kids show me the dog nose that sniffs you (I missed this last time but they didn’t). After dragging them out, we head over to the ABC Commissary for dinner. David has chicken strips, Brent and Camille both have grilled cheese, and I’m not very hungry so I opt for the red beans and rice. HUGE MISTAKE, but it does not become apparent until the next morning.

Tower of Terror is next on the list with a 10 minute wait. The detail and theming is really incredible, we love this ride. Time to walk over to the Osborne Lights. W-O-W. Words cannot possibly describe this display of Christmas lights. It is so much more than I imagined. If you are at WDW at this time of year, do NOT miss these lights. Where the lights end, lots of characters are waiting for everyone.

Day 3 – Friday, December 11, 1998

This morning was to be Animal Kingdom. After breakfast in the food court we arrived at the bus stop at 8:25 and waited about 10 minutes for the bus. When I got up I felt okay but as soon as I reached the bus stop my stomach started churning. I was tempted to run back to the room and take some Imodium but did not want to miss the bus. Animal Kingdom is beautifully landscaped and truly conveys a lush, tropical feeling as soon as you arrive. We made a beeline for the Safari and noted how the paths already seemed quite busy. It is extremely clever how you cannot see the Tree of Life when you first arrive but all of a sudden there it is and it is huge. It is hard to explain, but the bottom of the tree is higher in the air than I expected. When you walk around it, you are sort of underneath it. The safari was much better than I expected; I love the voice on the radio and when we ride over the rickety old bridge.

At this point I am really suffering but try to keep it together to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. It is hilarious! After the movie, I run to the bathroom – I need Imodium now. I stop a cast member and ask where I can buy it wherein he informs me the only place in the park to get something like that is at First Aid. I leave David, Brent and Camille standing there while I follow him to First Aid. The kind lady at the desk gives me 2 swigs of Kaopectate (sp?) and hands me 4 pills to take with me.

I meet back up with the rest of the family and we all head for Countdown to Extinction. Camille is about ½ inch to short. Great! This is the second time this trip she is too short for something. After tears and discussion we decide to split up. David and Brent will ride the Countdown; Camille and I head for the Jungle Book.

While walking the path to the Jungle Book, Camille is clearly not happy, hanging her head down, crying and dragging her feet when a monkey comes up behind her and starts imitating her. Camille starts to laugh and the monkey gives her a hug and motions what is wrong. I tell him the "short" version of the Countdown episode. The monkey motions regret then grabs her hand and starts skipping down the path with her. She is beaming as they pass everyone and he leads her the theatre and a seat 6th row centre. The monkey gives her a hug and a kiss and waves good bye. Who knew a monkey could save the day? During the performance I am feeling worse and spy the bathrooms to the right of the stage and run there and back as quickly as possible.

After meeting up with the rest of the gang I inform them I have to go back to the hotel now. After arriving back I take Imodium, put a do not disturb sign on the door (handwritten on it in big letters SICK) and crawl into bed with the worst stomach problems I can ever remember having. Since the last thing I ate was the red beans and rice at the Commissary, I assume that was the culprit. Do NOT eat the red beans and rice.

Later the three of them arrive back at the hotel, change into their bathing suits and head for the large pool. They report later that they tried both the large pool and the "quiet" pool, changed, went to the food court then took the boat to Downtown Disney while I remained in bed.

Day 4 - Saturday, December 12, 1998

Got out of bed about 8:45 and after showers headed to the food court for cereal. I was still feeling weak but could at least walk. A quick drive over to the All Star Sports to look around. I really like PO and Dixie a lot better than the All Star. One of my favorite things is to take the boat to Downtown Disney (which is not possible from the All Star).

Today we had reservations for 12:00 lunch at Whispering Canyon Café so we jumped into the car and drove over. IMHO I think the Wilderness Lodge is the best themed resort in all of WDW. It is definitely worth the trip to see the Lodge, even without going to a restaurant.

We arrived about 11:40 so there is time to look in the store. Camille decided she really wanted to buy the (small) bag of rocks of $5.50. Before we left, I had told Brent and Camille they would each have $25 to spend on whatever they wanted. This worked out really well, many times Brent would say, "I want that". After I reminded him it would be deducted from the $25 he would say, "forget it" or "that is waaaaay to expensive". Anyway, Camille had her heart set picking out all different colored rocks and stuffing them into this little bag. David just freaked. $6.00 for a bag of rocks, what a waste of money (you get the picture). I stood my ground and said I had told them they could spend their money any way they wanted but when it was gone, it was gone.

Camille had her rocks in hand, and we went over to put our name in for lunch. We should have done this as soon as we arrived at the Lodge but we didn’t. At 12:20 we were seated at the table. David and Brent ordered the all you could eat platter (which was all meat, chicken, spareribs, etc.) except for one small bowl of coleslaw and one small bowl of baked beans. I really think that some rice or a baked potato should be added to the platter. Camille went with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I ordered the Miss MacGregor (cold breast of chicken on a Caesar salad) as my stomach was still not up to par. The food was good, the kids galloped around the restaurant on the "horses" and our waitress was nice but not overbearing.

A 5 minute wait at the dock and we were off to the Magic Kingdom. We headed straight for Liberty Square to sit on the planters outside of the Hall of Presidents, which I had read in a trip report was a good spot to watch the parade. Well, it was about 85 F, sunny and humid, with one hour before parade time. At 2:30 I duck out to buy some fruit punch, as sweat is now dripping off my forehead. I notice we are directly across from the Liberty Tree. I had wanted to see the Liberty Tree in January but somehow did not take note of it. The wheelchair viewing spot is directly under the Liberty Tree in the shade. They are filming the parade down on Main St., maybe that is the reason for the gaps in the parade and the stopping and starting of it.

After the parade we head into the cool air-conditioned Hall of Presidents. We missed the first show, and we have about a 20-minute wait to the next show, but I don’t care since it is cool in here. Some people laughed when they called Clinton’s name (!) and some people clapped. I thought the show was extremely well done.

The park is the busiest I have ever seen it. After the Haunted Mansion we decide we have to get out of here the crowds are too much. Epcot is the destination via the TTC and monorail. Ellen’s Energy was first (great) followed by Body Wars (good but like Star Tours better) and Honey I Shrunk the Audience (love it). We find the talking water fountain! YES! The water is also colorful (at night). After pizza and a stop at Ice Station Cool Brent, Camille and I catch the bus to Dixie and David catches the bus to Wilderness Lodge to pick up the car. "Home " and to bed.

Sunday, December 12, 1998

Finally we are going to get up for early entry. We were at the bus stop for MGM by 7:10 with empty stomachs. After taking the elevator in the Tower of Terror twice (what a way to wake up) and I got the seatbelt seat on the second trip! We stopped at the bakery to pick up muffins and orange juice. Into the Great Movie ride then onto Star Tours with no line-ups. A walk over to Muppets 3D and we arrive just after the pre-show has started. We picked 4th row centre seats, but I think it is much better if you sit farther back in the theatre. Camille is thrilled because Waldo pointed at HER AGAIN.

We looked through the It’s a Wonderful Store (Christmas store) and then Brent ran out with Camille following and splat! Camille fell hard and skinned both knees pretty bad. The ladies from the store came running outside and a maintenance man ran over and said "I’ll take you to First Aid". I told David to take Brent and we will catch up with them at the Hunchback show. First aid is right at the front of the park so on the way over "Norman" tried to make small talk but Camille was getting concerned about the blood dripping down her leg. Upon arrival Norman explained to the first aid people what had happened and we thanked him. They quickly cleaned and bandaged her up and on our walk back I put our name in at the Prime Time Café for lunch. We walked into the Hunchback theatre as Matt the Juggler was performing. Both the pre-show and the main show are excellent. Camille is now walking with a limp with her left leg completely straight coincidentally exactly how David is walking due to his knee operation. It looks pretty strange when you walk behind the two of them.

On Mickey Avenue we met with the characters, then headed off to lunch. We were seated 5 minutes after arriving and got a table with a television. Our waiter did the "airplane trick" on me – I complied if only to make Camille laugh (she was still pretty sad over the skinned knees). David order the nachos and ½ Caesar, Brent had Spagettio’s, Camille had the kids’ hamburger (which would be great also for an adult) and I went with the chicken noodle soup and chicken salad sandwich on a croissant. It was the tinniest bowl of soup I have ever seen and the thickest sandwich with filling for about 3 sandwiches inside. Everyone was satisfied with his or her food.

Another new one for us was the Magic of Disney Animation. Love that Robin Williams. Everyone enjoyed the show. After the show we noticed the wet pavement as it had rained while we were inside. This was the first rain of our trip. We made it to the 2:15 showing of Beauty & the Beast, which is another favorite. Everyone agrees to head back to the hotel for a swim. As we are walking to the room it begins to spit and minutes later it is pouring but lucky for us we didn’t get caught in it. It clears up; Brent and Camille (only) swim in the quiet pool.

Dinner is at the Pepper Market of the Coronado Springs. I had the almond chicken, David had the curried chicken and both kids had the kids’ pasta. Everyone really liked their food but I was a little ticked off when the kids’ cokes arrived and they were huge. You think the waitress would have warned me that they should split one. The other beef I have with this place is you get your food like a food court, they get your drinks, after you pay at a cash register and they automatically add 10 percent gratituty. I don’t get it. I wish they would make up their mind – make it a food court or make it a restaurant. Total bill was $29.55, which I think is high for a food court meal for 2 adults and 2 children.

Time to drive over to the Boardwalk. One thing we noticed was at the lower priced resorts they waved us through when they saw the paper in the windshield but at the pricier resorts we always were stopped and explained our purpose of the visit. Interesting. In the lobby of the boardwalk there is a huge light fixture with gold carasoual horses. Along the boardwalk we saw the "wax hands" and the ESPN place. ESPN looks like my worst nightmare – wall to wall televisions on different channels but all showing sports. Peering through the window we saw some poor family eating supper in there, the majority of the patrons however, were males.

Day 6 - Monday, December 13, 1998

Mickey woke us at 6:45 to make early entry at Magic Kingdom. The weather has changed drastically and the high today is maybe 62F. It is hard to believe that just two days ago it was about 85F and humid. First off was Space Mountain, then Alien Encounter and over to Fantasyland where we decide to split up until 10:00. Camille and I take a spin on the Carousel, see the Adventures of Snow White twice, ride Dumbo (10 minute wait) and over to Peter Pan for two flights. Rush over to Big Thunder Mountain and then try to squeeze in one more attraction before it is time to meet David and Brent. After our visit to the Pirates of the Caribbean we dash back to Liberty Square for our 10:00 meet but we are 5 minutes late. Everyone is in agreement to do the Jungle Cruise (10 minute wait). Our captain mumbled so much you could hardly understand a word he said. After we got a lot of character photos and went to The Enchanted Tiki Room. The kids seemed to enjoy this more than the adults.

Lunch at the Columbia Harbor House where David went for the Clam Chowder (which is served inside a bowl made of bread) and the rest of us (including me) had the kids’ macaroni & cheese. I really think the only way to do Magic Kingdom is by early entry as you can accomplish so much in a short time frame. Even at this time of year, MK is the one park that seems too busy in the afternoon.

On our way out, we drop by Toontown fair and see Pinocchio, Geppetto and others. Brent and Camille ride the Barnstomer then we drop by Mickey’s house. The Christmas lights on Mickey’s house are just like the type we put on our house but they are "super sized" and look so cute. After photos with the Big Cheese we go through the door to outside and find 5 of the 7 dwarfs. Sleepy kept falling asleep between photos, it was so cute. Everyone then hopped on the train to City Hall and to browse the shops. Donald is in his Christmas Tree Lot and we can’t believe it – we have never seen Donald before. After everyone made their purchases it was back to the room to relax, do a load of laundry.

Later we have an early dinner in the food court and catch the bus to MGM for Fantasmic. We are in our seats at exactly 5:00. The show doesn’t begin for 1-1/2 hours so I brought coloring books for the kids and this journal to write. The preshow consists of one guy trying to entertain the masses, I couldn’t imagine doing that solo and basically an improv. style. Brent and Camille thought he was terrific but I admit I didn’t really watch as I was too busy writing (longhand as I don’t have a laptop). The show was fanTASTIC but hard to describe because it contains so many elements. When we got up to leave, David pointed out the jerks behind us had spilt their beer all over and my backpack is soaked. These two guys were more than half-blasted and they just kept downing the beers at the pre-show and then started to get loud and obnoxious. Personally, I think Disney should re-think selling beer at Fantasmic.

The plan was to go to Downtown Disney after by taking the bus to Port Orleans then the boat. When we saw the Key West bus sitting there with only 2 people on it (can you believe it, only two people out of that whole crowd of Fantasmic) we hopped on it to then catch the boat to Downtown. At the main stop the two people got off first then the bus driver says "stay on the bus, I’ll drive you there". WOOHOOOOO! Thank you very much. He dropped us off right at the entrance and we started the walk through the stores and onto the kids’ favorite haunt, Lego Land. The plan was to walk the length to the West Side then take the boat back to the Rainforest Café then the boat to Dixie. Boy, I must be getting really old as I found just walking through Pleasure Island to be most unpleasurable with blaring music coming from huge speakers. I was so happy to get out of there and finally back to our room. It is chilly enough that I have on a T-shirt, sweatshirt and coat. It is hard to believe that 2 days ago, sweat was literally dripping off my forehead.

Day 7 - Tuesday, December 15, 1998

Mickey called at 7:45 and we head to the Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the Castle. As we are seated, the list of characters are rhymed off – Cinderella, (that’s a given), Snow White, Peter Pan, Wendy and Pocahontas. A fresh fruit plate is delivered with muffins and croissants then the pre-plated all you can eat breakfast arrives. There are scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, potatoes and a really good cinnamon thing (that I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious). The characters seemed a lot more rushed than at Chef Mickey’s. Pocahontas was really abrupt. The characters only visited once and you got the feeling they wanted you to eat up and get out. Everyone concurred that Chef Mickey’s is a lot more fun for a Character meal. On the way out of the park we stopped at the Firehall and David bought a T-shirt that says "Mickey’s Fire Department" which he saw earlier in the trip. The T-shirt is styled EXACTLY like the ones he wears to work (as a firefighter with the City of Toronto), which goes to show how realistic and researched are the Disney details.

Next stop was Epcot via the boat to the TTC, then the monorail. We waited out two trains in order to ride up front. There were a lot of characters just before World Showcase. At Mexico I saw the hidden Mickey in the boat ride. It is three clay pots in the scene of the hawkers selling their wares. Actually, I overhead the people in front of us in the boat and they were pointing it out. We made our way through the countries until the American one where we stopped for lunch (boring I know). There was a huge gingerbread house the size of a one car garages. The recipe was listed and it contained 800 eggs, etc. Santa and Mrs. Clause were in attendance.

We carried on our tour, caught the end of the British Invasion at U.K. (excellent) and the end of Off Kilter at Canada (also excellent).

After we headed to Honey I Shrunk the Audience (love it), Horizons (new to us – okay), Body Wars and Cranium Command. I finally got to see what Figment looks like. I had read about him, but I had no idea what he looked like so I asked Brent if he sees him, point him out to me. There was a cart of stuffed animals and Brent YELLS "There he is, there he is, it’s Figment". David is looking at him like he is nuts and says, "Who is Figment"?

It is now after 7pm and I am pooped, as this was the only no-break day. I head back to Dixie and leave the troops behind. On the way out of Epcot I come across the solar bench (which I had read about). They show about 10:30pm and fall into bed.

Home - Wednesday, December 16, 1998

Wake up was set for 8am, express checkout was on our door so we head out in the car and wave our goodbye to WDW. I really think it is a wonderful place where people 34 years apart in age can have an equally good time.

There is still time before our flight so we drop by Celebration. There are building a 115-room hotel. The houses look lovely and the town is kind of like out of a movie. All the garages are placed in back of the houses and there are a lot of school buses pulling into the school. It looks lovely but a real quick drive and you are back in the land of gaudy tourist traps. I notice on the billboard leaving the prices are $150,000 - $750,000. The houses I saw didn’t look over $300,000 at the maximum.

After turning in the rental car and an uneventful flight we are home again, back to reality and unpacking and doing laundry. David survived the walking and we did not bother renting a wheelchair but by the end of the day he knew he had a good workout.

RANDOM NOTES AND THOUGHTS

Before going to Disney, while planning our first trip I discovered Brian’s web site. I thought the site was really informative and interesting but I admit I thought that maybe these people are a little crazy. Now I totally understand. There truly is something "magical" about WDW.
We visited a total of 7 resorts (including Dixie) and combined with the ones last trip, we have now seen about 10 resorts. I really enjoyed looking around, and seeing all the details that make a Disney resort so special. The resorts visited this time were: Yacht Club, Polynesian, Boardwalk, Coronado, All Star and the Contemporary (plus stayed at Dixie).
Port Orleans versus Dixie Landings: Dixie is twice the size and ½ of the rooms are on the other side of the river (all rooms in Magnolia Bend) therefore you are almost guaranteed a longer walk to the food court and main bus stop than at Port Orleans. The food court at Dixie has a much wider selection, the store is larger and it is much livelier at the lounge area. It is really hard to say which one I liked better, they both have their advantages and disadvantages but if I had to pick I think it would be Dixie Landings (by a very slim margin).
Everything on our list (see page 1) with the exception of Spectromagic was accomplished (and we did catch a bit of Spectomagic). We also accomplished many little things I had wanted to see and/or do: talking water fountains, solar bench, getting the seatbelt seat on TOT, finding (some) hidden Mickey’s, finding the dog’s sniffing nose in HIST Playground, ride Summit Plummet, see the Liberty Tree, Hall of Presidents, to name just a few.
The itinerary worked great and was followed with the exception of the waterpark date that we changed due to the hot weather (which was a very smart move as it got colder later in the week).
We saw a lot of families with walkie-talkies (great idea).
We saw a lot of people (especially Japanese tourists) with tiny little camcorders the size of a "point and shoot camera") hung around their necks – wish I had one.
Lots of Brazilians (is there anyone left in Brazil?), Japanese tourists and tourists from the U.K.
At every single meal the food was served very promptly and the service was great – not once did we have to look for our waiter/waitress. Also, every restaurant meal was quite good tasting. My one complaint is of course the PRICES (especially when the exchange is 1.562).
The transportation system worked great for us; buses, boats and monorails. The average wait was probably 5 minutes. I don’t think we ever waited longer than 15 minutes.
If you are planning your first trip, buy "The Official Guide to Walt Disney World" by S. Birnbaum. It gives descriptions of all the attractions (height restrictions), resorts, water parks, etc., which shows the scope and size of WDW.
Once you stay inside WDW, you will never EVER want to stay at a hotel outside.
Go in the "OFF SEASON".
Favorite Meal: Chef Mickey’s
Best Idea: Telling the kids they had $25 to spend and that is it!
2nd Best Idea: Scheduling a Character meal for the first day and the last day. Starts and ends the vacation on a high note.
Character Count: By counting signatures in Camille’s autograph book was saw 41 characters (a lot of duplicates of course). That’s a lot! We saw far more character this trip than in January.
Crowds: I think they were about the same as mid-January. Rides were either a walk-on or a 5 to 10 minute wait (once we waited 20 minutes for Alien Encounter). Only crowds were on Saturday at MK (day of Xmas parade and MK was open until 10pm). Crowds were about the same as early January – either is a great time of year to go (but early December you get to see all the Christmas Decorations and the Osborne Lights).
Favourite Attractions:

M.K. – Alien Encounter
Epcot – Honey I Shrunk the Audience
MGM – Muppet 3D
Favourite New (to us): Ellen’s Energy Adventure

Money: Exceeded our $700 spending by $18.00 ($28.54 Cdn)

Souvenirs: T-shirt (David), Crystal Cinderella Slipper (Cathie), (T-shirt) Brent, Porcelain Ballerina Minnie, Rocks, Walking Bird, Minnie light-up wand (Camille). Also Brent & Camille got about 7 keychains each (this was over and above their $25 limit). Last trip they got about 17 keychains each as they both have collections. Brent’s collection is clipped together is about 6 feet tall, Camille’s about 5 feet tall. Keychains are a great collection for kids as every time you (or a friend or relative) goes somewhere they are easy to find and inexpensive. Also, you have a great reply when someone is about to go on a trip and says, "Can I bring you anything?"

Restaurants:

Chef Mickeys Dinner - Excellent

Whispering Canyon Lunch - Fair

50’s Prime Time ` Lunch - Good

Cinderella’s Table Breakfast - Good

# Rolls of Film Taken: 10 rolls

Total Cost: Airfare $578.92

Car Rental $187.25

Hotel $1,444.27 ($924.63 U.S.)

Disney Passes $1045.22 (at par)

Spending Money $1,121.51 ($718.00 U.S.)

Grand Total $4,377.17 Canadian$

Cathie Guest

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