Trip Reports

DISNEY TRIP REPORT - JAN 30 - FEB 2, 1998

Let me begin by saying this trip really began on December 6th, 1997. My husband and myself were at my company Christmas party, which was on the same night as the SEC championship game, so most of us were gathered around the TV watching the game. As you may or may not know, college football, especially Alabama and Auburn is a major deal around here. All of the Alabama fans were rooting for Tennessee and the rest of us were rooting for Auburn. Bummer game by the way. Anyway, during half-time we had our "Dirty Santa" gift swap and door prizes. Well, much to my surprise, they called my name for a door prize. It was a $400.00 gift certificate from our on-site travel agent!!!!!. I was really excited about winning. As we finished watching the game and enjoying the party, my husband and I discussed what we would do with it. Well someone mentioned that it probably could be cashed in, so with it being Christmas time and everything, we decided that is what we would do. Also, we had decided that instead of vacations for 98 and 99, we would remodel the house, and figured out that was just enough to get all new doorknobs for the house. Imagine that, $400.00 for doorknobs. Those things really add up.

Well on Monday morning I went to work and dropped by our travel agent's office and asked about cashing in the certificate. Well, as it turns out it would take the CEO's approval to cash it in, and I really didn't want to fuss with all of that. I guess I'll look at my ugly door knobs for awhile longer!!! I went back to my office and started looking at airfares to different places to see what I could do. I checked Disneyland (nope, airfare too high), the Paramount Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas (nope, too dangerous by myself, Las Vegas that is, not Star Trek), and Disney World (yep, this would work!!!). After researching everything out and talking to my husband, we decided I should go to Disney World (By myself, no kids, no husband WOO HOO!!!). I priced everything out and figured I could get three nights off-site room, a four day value pass and airfare for right at $400.00. I also looked at the budget, and figured I could rearrange some stuff and come up with $200.00 for spending/food money. I then went down the hall and told the travel agent what I wanted. Unfortunately, the only way they could get me admission tickets was as part of a package. So I went and researched some more, did some more budget juggling, and made my husband promise to give me Disney Dollars instead of a Christmas present and decided on a three night package at one of the "Good Neighbor Hotels" with a four day all in one pass, airfare, and transfers for $496.00. I took this down to the travel agent and she set it all up. (If only I had upgraded my 10 Day LOS pass from our October trip to an annual pass. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.)

I then pulled up Deja News and let all of RADP know about my good fortune and to find out about operating hours since Disney.com doesn't know what they're doing, but I soon found out that almost EVERYBODY was at WDW, so I did not get the quick and excited response I was hoping for.

That night I pulled out my 97 Sehlinger's and Birnbaum books and began looking through them again. Especially Sehlinger's touring plans. I figured since I was by myself on this trip, I could follow the touring plans pretty easily and see just about everything. I also started making a priority list of things I wanted to see. My list was as follows:

Discovery Island
Pleasure Island (Adventurer's Club, and Comedy Warehouse)
Fantasia Gardens Golf
Monorail Resorts
Magic Kingdom Major Rides
EPCOT Major Rides and Shows
Disney Studios Major Rides and Shows
My schedule was to be as follows: (subject to change at any time, of course)

Friday:

Arrival

Discovery Island/Lunch

Dinner at Chef Mickey's - 5:00 PS

Magic Kingdom

Pleasure Island - Adventurers Club

Saturday:

EPCOT

Lunch at Grand Floridian Café - 12:00 PS

EPCOT

Dinner at Nine Dragons in China - 7:30 PS

Pleasure Island - Comedy Club

Sunday:

Studios

Lunch at 50's Prime Time Café - 3:00 PS

Studios

Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf

Dinner at Spoodles - 9:00 PS

Boardwalk

Monday

Magic Kingdom

Lunch at Tony's Town Square - 2:45 PS

Home (Boo Hoo)

Well, that was my preliminary planning. I was waiting for the travel agent to call me back and give me final details and what hotel I was staying at.

I finally heard from the travel agent on Friday. She arranged a room at the Quality Inn Plaza on International Drive, Mears transfer, a Four Day All-In-One Hopper Pass, and airfare on Southwest Airlines out of Nashville, TN for $490.00. The only drawback to this resort is a $9.00 round-trip per day charge for transportation to and from the World. However, that was still less than a rental car and parking fees. Plus, I don't like driving in places I'm unfamiliar with. I quickly updated my post to RADP to get the inside scoop and decided to quit worrying about the trip for now and get back to work. One interesting note. I've only flown five times in my entire life and have happened to get five different airlines. I'll never get any frequent flyer miles this way!!!!

On Saturday, January 10th, I called for priority seating and got everything I wanted. I also checked with Mears and found out that instead of bussing back to my off-site hotel, I could arrange for pickup from any of the on-site hotels directly back to the airport. Since my bag was small, I planned to carry it with me the last day and store it in the lockers at the Magic Kingdom and arrange for my Mears pickup at the Contemporary. That would give me a couple of extra hours in the World.

I had been looking around town for a pre-paid calling card to make the obligatory calls home to let my hubby and kids know I was OK and to tell them I love them and miss them , when a 120 minute pre-paid calling card offer from MCI/ AAdvantage came in the mail. This kind of struck me as funny, because as I said I've only flown American once and that was about 5 years ago. I was surprised I was still on their records. I said what the heck, our long distance is so little that it doesn't matter what company we use, and it would save me about $10.00 on buying a pre-paid card. I gave them a call and had the card activated. That was the last detail I could think of except for my package documents.

I received my airline tickets and package vouchers on January 23rd and called the hotel directly to confirm reservations and check on the bus schedule. The guy at Guest Services at the hotel wasn't very friendly, but did tell me my reservations were there. He also said that they would store my bag for me on the first day before check-in. As far as the bus schedule, he said that it changed frequently and I would be given a printout with the bus schedule when I arrived. I insisted he at least tell me what the schedule was currently. He told me that currently the first bus generally left the hotel at 8:20 in the morning and ran approximately every hour. The last bus generally left Pleasure Island around 1:00 am. That seemed to be pretty good. It's definitely not on-site, but for what it was costing me and the shortness of the trip, I could live with it. After all, I was going to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!

Fortunately, work was very busy the week before I left, so by Thursday night at 6:00 pm when I finally got out of there, I had 44.5 hours that week. This was a good thing, because I had just barely crawled out of the hole vacation-wise from our October trip. Plus, it made the week go by a lot faster. Also, since that NUT was giving us grief in RADP, it didn't bother me that I didn't have time to keep up with the posts. I got home, ran a few errands, finished my packing, gave my DH instructions on where the kids had to be and when, how much money he could spend (I'm really nervous about leaving him in charge of the checking account without adult supervision and to make the house payment or else, gave the kids a big hug and tucked them into bed, and then we crawled into bed for hopefully a good night's sleep.

ON TO THE TRIP!!!!

Friday, January 30, 1998

RIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!!! The alarm clock went off at 4:30 in the morning. Fortunately, I did sleep very well. I made myself jump out of bed very quietly and got dressed. I had packed everything earlier in the week and already had my suitcase loaded in the car and my fanny pack all ready to go. I reset the alarm clock for 6:30 for my hubby so he could get up for work. I quietly gave my sleeping family a peck on the cheek and headed out the door. I headed out Alabama Highway 72 West from Huntsville, AL, then onto I-65 North to Nashville, TN. (I just thought of something, Orlando is South and East of my house, yet I had to go West and North to get there LOL!!!) I pulled into the Satellite ($5.00 per day) parking lot at the airport about 7:10 am, got my parking ticket and found a parking spot. I then grabbed my wheeled suitcase, made sure the car was all locked up and then waited for the shuttle bus to the terminal.

The shuttle arrived rather quickly and I was off to the terminal. Got there and gave my DH a call to let them know I had arrived safely. The free calling card worked great, I got through with no problems at all. I went to check in and much to my dismay discovered that my plane had a High School Dance team on it. However, they were checking them in at a separate counter, so I checked in rather quickly. I proceeded toward the gate and got my boarding pass and then found a place to grab a bite. Got a bagel and cream cheese ($1.75) and then sat down in the smoking lounge. There was this lady sitting in there talking about having to go to Florida to get her son from her ex - (apparently, there were some problems there, because, I think her attorney was going as well) she seemed really stressed out.

It was getting close to departure time, so I wandered toward my gate. The flight was way overbooked and they were taking volunteers to give up their ticket. They were only offering $100.00 credit on a future SW flight. That just wasn't enough for me to stay in Nashville for three more hours. We got underway shortly after that and were on to Orlando. Going to Orlando, the plane went South of the airport and turned around for landing. I was able to see EPCOT through the window.

Once we landed in Orlando, I found a phone and called DH again to let him know I landed OK. I then headed to the shuttle and found the Mears desk. The place was crowded. When we were there for our October trip, we arrived late at night and were on a shuttle in about two minutes. This was a different story. I waited in line for ten minutes just to get my voucher exchanged for a ticket. I requested to be dropped off at Quality Inn Plaza, I-Drive, but picked up at the Contemporary. What they had to do, was print out a round trip to the Contemporary, and then note that I was going to QIP. After waiting about 15 minutes they finally had me on my shuttle. By the way, it wasn't a Mears shuttle. It was another company. I guess when they get crowded, they use other companies as well. The Mears folks handed the driver some type of voucher. There were about 10 folks on my van, but I was the first to be dropped off. Traffic on I-Drive was terrible. There was some type of Golf Convention going on. However, they had the traffic signals turned off and the Sheriff's Dept. was directing traffic.

There was the most unusual building across the street from my hotel. It was built to look as if it had been blown upside down on top of another building, complete with the grass under the eaves and upside down palm trees. The upside down words on the front said Wonder Works. Nobody seemed to know what it was going to be. The FAO Schwarz building was also very unique.

I went to the desk to check in and they did have a room ready. I got my key and then went to the business desk and got my park ticket and then went to the room. It was a nice room. It had two double beds, a luggage rack, and a desk/dresser type thing with two drawers. There would not have been much drawer space for a family of four for a week. There was a bathroom with a commode and a tub. The sink was on the outside. It did have a long counter. There was also a clothes rod thing with the normal hotel type hangers. There was a safe in the room, but it was not built into the wall. It was just hanging there.

I unpacked and got my backpack ready to go. I went to get ice for my sodas I had brought with me. I brought two two-liters of Mountain Dew (actually Kroger Brand, "Big K Citrus Drop", 39 cents a two liter) with me, plus a 20 oz bottle to carry around the parks. Gotta have that caffeine!!!!

By this time it was about 2:30 in the afternoon. I called downstairs to check on the bus service to the parks. I was informed that there were no more scheduled buses that day. OOPS!!! I asked about a cab and he said that it would be $28.00 to Disney World, then he added that was for the Magic Kingdom. I asked about fare to Downtown Disney. That was $15.00. OK, that would work, I guess. I went downstairs and got all of my transportation information. I got a cab voucher to DD for $15.00 and a shuttle return voucher from Pleasure Island at 1:00 am. ($6.00) Yes, I could have rented a car on what I paid for shuttles today, but driving in Orlando traffic was not something I wanted to do, plus since I had all the info I needed now, the rest of my stay should go better. (WRONG!!!, You'll see why later)

My cab arrived shortly, and took me to DD. Aahh!!! Finally, I was here in this safe place of free buses and quick transportation. I waited 5 minutes for the TTC bus and off I went. Then, I took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then took the boat to Discovery Island. The time was 3:30 in the afternoon. I had been at this for 10 hours now and the only thing I had done all day is drive, fly and ride buses. However, I was in the most Magical Place on Earth, so nothing was going to dampen my spirits.

I got to Discovery Island and really enjoyed it. I spent an hour just wandering around slowly and looking at all of the beautiful birds and animals. That was a great start to my trip and I loved it. It really helped to slow me down and get in the mood of just enjoying myself.

I had 5:00 PS for Chef Mickey's, so I took the boat to the Contemporary. Chef Mickey's was great. The characters were fun, the music was just what I needed to continue this Magical Vacation. I was seated off in a corner, but was visited by Chip, Dale, Mickey and Minnie. I got a picture with Mickey and Minnie. The food was great. I think I sampled a little bit of everything. I also had two pieces of dessert. There was some type of chocolate thing I just had to try, plus a delightful looking cheesecake. (19.95 + tax/tip)

I finally dragged my stuffed-self out of my seat to head to the Magic Kingdom. It was open until 10:00 that night. I went to the monorail station and got to sit up front. Of course, I got to go all the way around the lagoon. Everything was beautiful. I got to the Magic Kingdom and went to the bus station to check on the size of the lockers as I planned to bring my bag the last day and leave from the Contemporary. They didn't seem big enough. I checked at the desk, and they had storage for larger items for $3.00. No problem, my plan would work.

I then hit the rides. I went to the 25th Anniversary Center and got my 97 GoH pin and poster. I saw Alien Encounter first. No line. Several of the dance team members were at the Magic Kingdom that night. They were asking me a bunch of questions about the rides. Of course, the alien was sent back where he belonged. I then went to Space Mountain. The line was about 15 minutes. I really like roller coasters, but SM does need to be darker. I then rode Tomorrowland Transit Authority and then saw Carousel of Progress. "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" The theater was only about a third full.

I then went over to Fantasyland. I rode, It's a Small World. That ride is great except, it could be about two minutes shorter. I then rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, both sides. I did see the naked lady. Toad was a walk-on. After that I went to Snow White. I had to wait about 5 minutes. Then I saw Legend of the Lion King. The show was good as usual. I walked straight into the pre-show. After that I rode off into Neverland. This line was about 10 minutes.

I checked out the castle to see if there was any indication that they were about to start working on it. The moat had been drained. I then went over to ride the Haunted Mansion with the 999 Friendly Spooks and walked right into the stretch room. I did see the bride this time. It was about 10 minutes to closing time then, so I ran over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and made it without about 5 minutes to spare. I had to wait in line about three minutes. The train that let people off right before my train was not reloaded. They backed it up to put it up for the night. My train then showed up and away we went. I love this ride. I hooped and hollered all the way through and around the mountain. When we got off our train, they backed it up too. Nobody else was in line.

I then SLOWLY started toward the front and just generally wandered and soaked in the music and the lights and the magic of it all. As I was heading down Main Street, I saw the jewelry shop and looked for something for my 11 year old son. He had asked for a piece of jewelry with Mickey on it. I found one of those plastic wire necklaces with beads and a Mickey Ear Silhouette in the center. That was the only thing I could find that didn't look like a little girl's necklace. Plus I've seen a lot of his friends wearing similar jewelry, so I guessed he would like it. I got it and a matching bracelet. I then went to the ice cream shop and found the phones and called my family. I gave my boys good night kisses and talked to my husband for a little bit and said goodnight. I then continued slowly down Main Street to the exit.

I got on the bus to Downtown Disney and stayed on for the Pleasure Island stop. I then went to Adventurer's Club. I ordered a Kungaloosh and went downstairs. I had never been here before, but had read so much about it that I knew I had to see what it was all about. In a few minutes, the members came out and inducted all of us into the club. Kungaloosh!!!!

It was about time for the New Year's Countdown, so I went outside to watch that. The West End Stage was closed and they were holding the show on a smaller stage in the center. I wandered around the shops a little bit. After the fireworks and confetti I went back to the AC. I ordered another Kungaloosh and headed downstairs. We were ordered to get up off of our keisters and go to the Mask Room. That was a hoot. A little later we were invited into the library. The library show was great, but I had to leave early to catch my 1:00 am shuttle.

The van arrived shortly and off we went. Once again, I was dropped off first. That happened just about every trip. It must have been the location of my hotel. I shuffled to my room, refreshed my ice supply, requested a 6:30 am wake up call and crashed. I had been going for 20 hours plus had two Kungaloosh's (Or is it Kungaleesh???) in me. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.

Saturday, January 31, 1998

The blasted phone rang at 6:30 in the morning, but I had asked for it. Anyway, I dragged myself up and got dressed and got my backpack ready to head out for the day. I refilled my 20 oz bottle of Mt. Dew from the 2-liters I brought and headed downstairs. I had breakfast at the buffet at the hotel. It was pretty good as far as breakfast goes.

I went to the transportation desk and arranged my shuttles for the day. Six dollars one way to EPCOT, Six dollars back from Pleasure Island at 1:00 am. The shuttle was to arrive at 8:20 am. A huge bus arrived and away we went. We pulled into Sea World's Parking lot and they proceeded to give us instructions as to which bus to transfer to. I tell ya, this is a really screwed up system. I transferred to the appropriate bus and was taken to EPCOT from there. We actually did arrive about 5 minutes before opening time so no problem.

The place was empty!!! I proceeded through Innoventions West and rode Journey Into Imagination. I think I was the first one on board. Figment learned about imagination and ideas as normal. I then went over to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I loved it!! Since, I knew what was coming, I enjoyed seeing everybody else's reaction. I was wearing jeans this time, so the mice weren't as startling, but if you're wearing shorts, it's great!!! Then I went to the Land. I saw the Circle of Life, then rode the Living with the Land Boat ride, then saw Food Rocks. We missed Food Rocks last trip, that was cute.

I then stopped and called home for my morning check-in call and chatted with the boys and their grandmother. (She came to spend the weekend with them to help my DH get them where they needed to be and also to relax. Rick and the boys waited on her hand and foot and she really enjoyed herself. She gets really stressed out at home. There's too much family living close together over there, if you know what I mean.) I then talked with my DH and told him I "missed them" and loved them. By the way, I really did miss my family, but being by myself and not having anybody want anything from me was just heaven!!!! I then went to the Living Seas. I watched the presentation and went through the hydrolators and rode the car ride, but did not stay in the open area very long. I love the sea animals, but without a guide or narrative, just standing and looking is not my thing.

Then I went through Innoventions again and headed over to the other side of Future World. There was no line at Spaceship Earth so I rode that. That is just a spectacular presentation. I stopped by Test Track to take a look, I saw one car go by, but when I went digging for my camera, there were no more cars.

I then went over to Horizons. I love the Horizons ride, but it needs some work. I was about to get on when it stopped. We stood there for about two minutes, then it stopped three more times during the ride.

I was supposed to go to the Grand Floridian Café for 12:00 PS for lunch, but was getting so much accomplished that I decided that I would take my chances for a late lunch in one of the World Pavilions.

I went over to the Wonder's of Life Building. I rode Body Wars. I enjoyed the ride in October, but this time it really did a number on my head. I guess the fun I was having was catching up to me. I went and found some Tylenol ($1.50) for four tablets, got some water and sat down and watched Goofy About Health. We had missed that one last time. I think I skipped it last time so I wouldn't hear about my smoking from my DH and the boys. Anyway, the Tylenol kicked in and I felt a lot better. I left Wonders of Life and went over and rode Ellen's Energy Adventure.

I think I dozed through the last part of that. It was about 15 till 2:00 by then, and I had seen most of Future World!!! I headed towards World Showcase and wandered past Mexico and on to Norway. I was planning on riding Maelstrom, but the line was out the door, so I said forget that. I then looked at the menu for Akershus. This looked great!!! I decided it was time for some food!!! They were able to seat me immediately. I had a taste of quite a few things on the buffet. It was wonderful!!! I also had dessert, the sweet rice with strawberry sauce and whipped cream. Yummy!!!! Lunch was around $16.00 + tax/tip. I definitely felt much better now.

I continued around World Showcase. I stopped and saw the movie in China. We missed it last trip. It was very good, but the aerial 360 degree scenes started doing numbers on my head again, so I sat down and just watched what I could. I looked at some of the art there in the gallery and watched the Chinese acrobats for a few minutes.

I then continued my wandering journey through World Showcase. I poked through shops and just listened to the music and soaked in everything. Then I went and saw the American Adventure Show. It was beautiful and amazing as always. I continued my leisurely stroll through the World and decided to skip the France and Canada shows to preserve my fragile head.

Well, it was now only 6:00 in the evening and I had seen everything in EPCOT that I wanted to see. I decided to go back and check out Innoventions. I wandered through both sides. I checked out Deja News to see what was going on in r.a.d.p. Of course, without an internet e-mail account, I couldn't post anything.

I had 8:50 PS at Cape May Café, but I decided to try and go there early and come back to EPCOT for Illuminations. I headed back towards the International Gateway. On the way back, I checked into buying one of those red name tags. I asked about getting R@DP put on a blank one, but the CM working there said that she had tried before and the @ would not print, so I just got my name and home town. Is that really true, or is there some rule about them not printing that on those tags?????

I got over to the Beach Club and checked in at Cape May Café. I had originally planned for Nine Dragons, but I have Chinese at home all the time. After hearing about the Clam Bake on r.a.d.p., I changed my PS to there. Thanks everybody!!! They were able to seat me early with a 20 minute wait. The Clam Bake was good.($19.95 + tax/tip) Once again, I tasted a little bit of everything and had a bucket full of oysters.

I then went back to EPCOT and reached the gate about 2 minutes to 9:00. I was waiting my turn to go through the turnstyle when the lights went out and the Illuminations 25 Music started. The CMs at the gate said 3 - 2 - 1 and then opened the back gates. During Illuminations I just strolled along the walkway seeing what I could see. It was as beautiful as I remembered. After it was over, I just hung back and let the crowds go by and enjoyed everything. As I was strolling toward the front, I thought I heard some rumblings from Test Track, so I wandered over there. Sure enough there were cars going by. I stood and watched for a little bit. A car was coming by about every 30 seconds. I took some pictures. I then wandered around the Centorium a little and looked at the animation cells upstairs. I watched the fountain do it's thing for a little while and then strolled to the exit. As I was leaving, I asked a CM about Illuminations. She said that they would be going back to the regular Illuminations on Sunday. She also said all of the signs and banners would be coming down that night.

As I was heading for the Downtown Disney bus stop, I saw a couple of the World Transportation buses that my hotel was using for shuttle service. All of a sudden, going back to the hotel looked pretty darn good. I had all the fun I could stand for one day. I went over there and asked if I could use the 1:00 am Pleasure Island voucher I had to ride back to Quality Inn Plaza with one of them. One of the drivers took me by the arm and escorted me to his bus. He was a very friendly driver and we chatted about Disney, and Orlando in general. We left Epcot and had to go over to Magic Kingdom. Nobody was there, so I was the only soul on his bus. He took me back to my hotel and I went to the room. I called my family and chatted with them for awhile. I was cleaning out my backpack when I noticed my camera was gone. I called the bus line, and they radioed the driver and did find the camera and would return it in the morning. I got my ice, arranged for a 6:30 am wake up call, found Pensacola on TV and crashed.

Sunday, February 1, 1998

The blasted phone rang again at 6:30 in the morning, but of course I had asked for it, but this time I closed my eyes for just a minute and the next thing I knew, it was 8:30. I got up, got my back pack ready and headed downstairs.

The next shuttle was at 9:55 am, so I had a leisurely breakfast ($5.75 + tax/tip) and called my family. I checked with the hotel desk and my camera had not been returned yet. No big deal. We had taken 25 rolls of film our last trip, so I was basically concentrating on taking pictures of things we hadn't seen before. I got my bus vouchers, $6.00 to the Studios and $6.00 for the 10:45 pm return from Pleasure Island. This bus did the same thing as yesterday, dropped us off at Sea World and a transfer to an MGM bus. I finally arrived at MGM around 11:15.

Behind the construction wall, it looked like that had a good bit of the framework for the Fantasmic stage up. All of the 25th Banners were down in the park, and replaced with Black History Month Banners.

The first thing I rode was Tower of Terror. The line was very short. I stopped about 10 feet from the outside door. It took about 10 minutes to get to the ride elevator. I love all the detail in this place. Everybody that waits down outside is really missing a good show. Even if you don't want to ride at least go through the line. The elevator ride was longer than I remembered. I had forgotten about the sideways trip down the hall. We fell to our apparent doom twice and screamed the whole way. I checked out my picture as I left. I had a dumb expression on my face and didn't get it.

After this point, I don't remember what order I did things in, so I will just tell what I did do. To me MGM is the most confusing of all the parks because of the show times and the criss-crossing that has to be done. Also, the Dance Team Competition was going on that day, so some things were closed and some walk ways were blocked off. I saw Beauty and the Beast. That was a great show. We didn't make it there last time. The dancing, singing, and costumes were superb. I also managed to catch the last show of Indy. They only had three shows that day because of the Dance Team thing. Everything was exactly the same as our last trip. It was very good. I rode the Great Movie Ride and asked for the Western Side as I had seen the Gangster side last time. I love that ride. They have the clips in the front timed almost right. I saw the whole set once, plus about two minutes of it a second time. I also saw the Hunchback Show. Excellent show. I managed to be behind a pole again, but it still was outstanding. I rode Star Tours. That was fun, although my head complained a little bit. I also took the Backstage Tram Tour. The guide for this tour was not as good as the guide we had before. Also the Flight of the Navigator ship in the parking lot was in major need of repainting. I expect the stuff in the boneyard to look bad, but not a prop that is supposed to be in "use". My car for Catastrophe Canyon did rock this time. That is a good show.

After I left the tour I ran over to 50's Prime Time Café for lunch. I had a 3:00 PS. I got there about 3:15. I was "fussed" at by the hostesses for being late, but was seated immediately. My waitress was very friendly and helpful, but did not fuss at me once for putting my elbows on the table. However, there was a "sister" in the next room that was outstanding. I ordered the chicken noodle soup and chicken salad sandwich on a croissant. I also ordered cheese fries. Big mistake. The sandwich was HUGE. It was about 4" around, plus the bowl of soup was large as well. Everything was really good, but I couldn't eat all of my fries. Needless to say, I didn't get a clean plate sticker. ($14.20 + tax/tip).

After lunch, I went and saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Last time I saw the show, we were seated toward the front. I thought the misting water was splashing from the screen. This time, I sat toward the back and discovered that they mist the entire theater. I also got a few full blown drips on my head. Anyway, the show was really good.

Then I went over and watched Muppet Vision 3-D and laughed at all the silly jokes and poked at the bubbles. During the pre-show the electronic sign didn't have any jokes, it just kept repeating Muppet Vision 3-D. After that I just wandered around and poked through the shops a little bit. I then went over and rode TZToT again. That is really neat at night when the doors open.

When I got out, the park was closed, so I wandered around and poked in more shops and then walked over to the boat launch. I took the boat over to the Swan/Dolphin. Those are beautiful hotels but have a "sterile" feeling to them.

Anyway, I remembered about arranging for Mears back to the airport on Monday so I gave them a call and was given a 6:05 pm pickup time from the Contemporary. I walked from the Swan over to Fantasia Gardens. The 25th Banners were still up there. I played a round on the Gardens course. ($9.00 + tax) I was terrible, but it was fun. I think I shot somewhere around 75.

I left there and walked back toward the Swan/Dolphin and over to the Boardwalk. I had a 9:00 PS for Spoodles. I checked in and was given a beeper. I wandered up and down the Boardwalk and watched the Illuminations fireworks. I couldn't tell from there if the show was any different or not. Anyway, my buzzer went off and I went back down to Spoodles. I ordered the Boscaiola pizza that was wonderful, but I couldn't finish it. ($12.75 +tax/tip) As far as 25th banners, the actual banner portions were still up on the Boardwalk, but the 25th signs at the top of the banners were gone.

After eating, I looked at some of the other shops on the Boardwalk and went to the bus stop to get to Pleasure Island. Once I got there, I found a phone and called home to say hello to my DH. About that time, my van showed up and I headed to the hotel.

I got to the hotel and asked about my camera. The lost & found office was closed for the day and the front desk didn't know anything about it. When I got back to the room, I called my DH and talked with him for a few minutes, then refreshed my ice and got ready for bed. I called the bus service again to see if anybody there knew about my camera. They didn't know whether it had been delivered or not. At this point, I was beginning to worry, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I requested a 6:30 wake-up call and crashed.

Monday, February 2, 1998

This was my last day here, boo hoo!!!! Naturally, the phone rang again at 6:30 in the morning. I got up, packed everything up and checked the room to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, then headed downstairs.

I checked with the business office/lost & found and my camera was there. It had been dropped off at about 2:00 the day before.

I had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, ($5.75 + tax/tip), then went to the desk to check out. My room charges (breakfast/phone) came to about $25.00. I took care of that with my Diner's Club and then went to the transportation desk. I was going to get the $6.00 bus trip to the Magic Kingdom when the guy at the desk saw my suitcase and said that I couldn't bring it with me on the bus. I told him that I was going to carry it and there was no need for them to store it under the bus. He said that it was a Dept. of Transportation regulation with tour buses and they couldn't do anything about it. Well, their first return bus would not get me back to the hotel in time to get to the airport, so once again, I paid $15.00 for a taxi to Downtown Disney.

I got to DD about 8:10 in the morning and headed for the bus stops. Nothing was open yet, but there were quite a few workers working on landscaping, sweeping, cleaning, painting, etc. There were also workers taking down the 25th banners and replacing them with bright colored Mickey banners. I asked what they were going to do with the 25th banners and was told that they were going to the Disneyana Convention to be sold.

There were several other people in Downtown Disney carrying multiple large shopping bags with Sears name tags on. When I got to the bus stop, a few of them were sitting there waiting and I asked what was going on. They had won a week's all-expense paid vacation for four to WDW which included six nights at Coronado Springs, 7-Day All-In-One Passes, round-trip air, $700.00 in Disney Dollars, and a $1000.00 shopping spree at the World of Disney. There were also a couple of other options they could take. A group of ladies I talked to were going on an inside tour of Test Track. I would love to see that. They had held the shopping spree that morning before the store opened.

Well, while I was waiting for a bus to the TTC, a bus for Coronado Springs showed up at about 8:20 . I should have gotten on that bus and gone to the Magic Kingdom from CS, but I didn't. The first TTC bus didn't show up until 9:20, so once again, I got a late start. I finally got to the TTC about 9:45 and took the boat to the Magic Kingdom.

I took my suitcase to the train station and gave it to them for storage ($3.00). When I walked out of the train station, I noticed that there was a crane by the Castle and some of the inflatables had been removed and some of them had been deflated. There were people on one of the turrets taking something down. I watched that for a few minutes.

After that, I went to Adventureland and rode the Jungle cruise. That was a nice way to start the day. The line was about 5 minutes. Then, I rode Pirates of the Caribbean, "YO HO HO, A Pirates Life for Me". They had adjusted the sound level a little since my last trip, and I could understand everything better. Pirates was a walk-on.

Then I rode Splash Mountain. This was the best. I followed Brer Rabbit to his laughing place and laughed the whole way through. As I was walking to the boats, I noticed all of the line area that was set up. Do they really fill those lines up like that??? I absolutely cannot imagine walking through every inch of the queue that they had there. The wait for this was about 5 minutes.

I checked out Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but the line was too long. Well, now I had ridden everything that I wanted to ride in Magic Kingdom at least once, and it was only 1:00. I went back towards the castle to check out their progress for the day. Well, the wind was really bad that day, so all work had stopped on the castle.

I went to Main Street and checked out some of the shops and got a Timon and a Pooh Bear for my youngest son. I know that's a weird combination, but he had gotten a Pumbaa on our last trip and wanted Timon to go with it and he also loves Pooh. I went into the kitchen shop to try and find something for my DH. He loves cooking on the grill, so I thought maybe a spatula or grill fork with Mickey on it would be neat, but they didn't have anything like that, just some dishes, napkins and tablecloths.

I then ran into the Dapper Dans and listened to them for a little bit. I love Barbershop Quartet. My favorite song is Java Jive. I asked if they knew it and they sang a little bit of it for me, but couldn't do the whole thing because it really didn't fit into the "Americana" theme they were supposed to portray.

After getting the required souveniers, I went to go see the Country Bear Jamboree. Well, a show had just started, and it would be 20 minutes till the next show, so I didn't wait. I went to the Haunted Mansion and went right to the doors. The 999 spooks asked me to join them once again and I had a "friend" following me the rest of the day.

After that, I went back and checked out BTMR and didn't see the line, so I decided to go for it. Good choice, I got on a train in about two minutes. There was a little girl behind me whose parents said that she had never ridden any type of roller coaster at home, but she wanted to ride this one. The little girl closed her eyes, screamed and held her mom really tight the whole ride, but when it was over started laughing and wanted to ride again right away. I love seeing things like that.

Then, I went and saw the Diamond Horseshoe show. The last time we were there was the last show of the day and the Singing Cowboy wasn't there, but this time he was. He was pretty good. The whole show was funny and entertaining.

I wandered back to Main Street and decided to ride the train. I wandered around the station and read about the trains and then went upstairs when the train pulled up. I was going to ride all the way around, but decided I wanted to ride Space Mountain again, so I got off at Mickey's Toon Town Fair. I took the back walkway to Tomorrowland and walked all the way up to the front. I hooped and hollered the whole way through.

It was about 2:30 by then and I had a PS at Tony's so I went over there. I was seated immediately and had the Soup of the Day and some fried Calimari (sp?) ($12.50 + tax/tip) Everything was yummy and the restaurant was beautiful.

I walked out of Tony's and the parade coaches were coming around so I stopped for the parade. There were plenty of spaces right on the curb still. The parade was the same as the one we saw in October, but the sign on the front float was changed, Mickey didn't have his Sorcerer's hat on, and the Genie wasn't blown up to full size. That may have been because of the wind. They called it the "Magical Moments" Parade. The music was still "Remember the Magic".

After the parade, I just wandered around aimlessly looking at the nooks and crannies in the park, and listening to the music and just soaking it all in. I noticed that the 25th Anniversary Welcome Center was closed and the sign had been painted over. I would love to see that stay open as some kind of a future attractions preview center. On Monday, they were handing the free posters out somewhere, but I don't know where. I saw people walking around with three or four of them each.

I went over to Fantasyland and rode It's a Small World one more time. A storm was blowing in and the birds were going crazy. About 4:00 the rain started so I put on my rain suit (pants and jacket). A rain suit is much better than a poncho because you can still sit down and not get your bottom wet.

I had heard so much about these Dole Whip's so I just had to try one. I got a chocolate one. Those things are huge. I was only able to finish about half of it, plus it was dripping everywhere. I went back to the train station and claimed my suitcase and hopped on the Monorail for the Contemporary. I was going to go all the way around, but wasn't sure how long it would take and I didn't want to miss my shuttle to the airport. (Actually, I did want to miss it, but my head ruled my heart this time :-(

I wandered around the Contemporary and sat out in the rain by the pool and watched the boats and the water. I went up front and got on my shuttle and headed for the airport. There was another lady and her daughter on the shuttle with me. The driver had two more stops at the Poly and the Grand Floridian. He said that there was a total of 11 people scheduled for this trip, but noboby showed up for either stop, so we were the only ones.

I arrived at the airport and checked in. I was going to carry my suitcase on-board, but Southwest has a new policy of only one carry-on now, and my back pack was the carry-on, so I had to check my suitcase. The rain was coming pretty heavy now. I went to the restroom and got out of my rainsuit. I got to the gate and got my boarding pass and went to the lounge for a soda and a smoke.

I went to the Disney Store and picked up a full set of park guides for a souvenier. I also got myself a key chain with the four park logo on it ($5.50 + tax) I got back to the gate just as they were announcing that the plane was delayed out of Ft. Lauderdale. I called my DH and told him about the delay. Back to the lounge I went.

We finally boarded about 45 minutes late and took off about an hour late. We had a Southern take-off and I was hoping to see EPCOT out the window again, but we were above the clouds and the storm and I didn't see anything. This flight was interesting because I sat in a seat that was facing the rear of the plane. It felt weird being pulled forward as we were taking off instead of being pushed back into your seat. We landed in Nashville without any problem, and I claimed my bag and called the house one more time to let DH know I had landed safely.

There was no rain, but it was cold, about 45 degrees. I took the parking lot shuttle to the satellite parking and found my car. I loaded my bag, and fortunately the car cranked right up. I wasn't sure what it would do sitting outside in the cold for four days. I normally keep it in the garage. I got to the gate and paid my parking fee with my Diners' Club ($20.00) I headed out to the interstate towards home.

I stopped at a Krystal in Athens, AL and got two Krystals and a Coke. I also took my contacts out and put my glasses on. The contacts don't correct my astigmatism, so driving at night is a little weird. I got home safely about midnight central time and my husband gave me a great big bear hug. I gave the kids their souveneirs (yes they were still up) and I had a shower and unwound for about 20 minutes giving my DH some details about the trip. My 98 Disney Vacation Video had come in the mail while I was gone, so I crawled in bed and plugged the video into the VCR and fell asleep watching about Disney's Magic.

CONCLUSION/LESSONS LEARNED

Despite the transportation problems, this was a great trip. I'm a really easygoing person, so I don't let things like that bother me too much. However, if I didn't know what I did about WDW, this trip would have been a disaster.

Most of the folks outside of the World are clueless. For example, when I asked about the taxi drive to WDW, I was quoted the price for Magic Kingdom. I at least knew that my All-In-One allowed me internal transporation and knew enough to ask about the fare to Downtown Disney. Most people don't know that.

I assumed that since this was a "Good Neighbor Hotel" the Disney folks had at least briefed them on the workings of WDW so that they could give their guests the best information, but this was not the case. I did a comparison on price, and figured out that staying at All-Stars would have cost me $88.00 more than what I actually spent. Also, I wouldn't have been able to use my Diner's Club to eat breakfast with, so that would have added another $20.00 to my cash costs. I had checked on All-Stars when I was researching my options and they didn't have any weekend availability during the January/February Value Season, so it really wasn't an option anyway.

After further research, I should've paid the extra $40.00 or so up front and stayed in one of the "Good Neighbor Hotels" in Lake Buena Vista near Crossroads. The buses were listed as complimentary and if they didn't fit my schedule, I could've walked to the Downtown Disney bus area. As far as the Quality Inn Plaza itself, I would recommend it as a good low cost option, but only if you are planning on renting a car or driving yourself. There are three reasons for this. One: the transportation schedule is terrible, for day of arrival and day of departure, it is impossible to use it. Two: if your party is larger than one person, a rental car will be cheaper, Three: the shuttle schedule does NOT allow you to have a mid-day break back at the room.

As far as touring the parks as a party of one, I found that to be a really good experience. There were serveral occasions that they needed one person to fill a car, train or boat and I got to pop ahead of a dozen or so people. Eating as a party of one, was also fun. Most of the Cast Members are really chatty people and will talk about most anything. The characters at Chef Mickey's were also very quick to come and see me even though I was by myself and in a corner. I found Pleasure Island and the Adventurer's Club a very fun place to be by myself. The Adventurer's Club is really a show, so you don't look stupid just sitting there drinking by yourself. I also didn't feel like every guy there was going to pick me up. I would imagine the dance clubs might be a little different, so I didn't go to them for that very reason.

One of the biggest things I enjoyed about this solo trip, was hanging around and just strolling at closing time. My DH is the kind that when it's time to go, it's time to go. He wants to be first in the bus line and get out of there. I found that strolling around each of the parks after the masses had left was wonderful. I soaked up more atmosphere and special little treats in this four day trip, than I did in the whole ten days that we had gone as a family.

Another thing I really enjoyed, was the lack of crowds. I thought we were lucky in October, because all of our line waits were around 20 minutes or less. Well, if the weather cooperates, this time of year seems to be more ideal. Of course, to me the water parks were out of the question, but there were people going (to the water parks) and there were people swimming at my hotel pool.

A note about the weather, from Friday, to about 4:00 on Monday, it was perfect. I wore blue jeans, a thin turtleneck shirt and a t-shirt all weekend, plus I had a set of long johns that I put on in the evening. That was just what I needed to stay confortable. There were people in shorts, but I would have been cold.

One thing I did notice, on this trip, souvenier prices have gone up slightly. The embroidered ball caps that were $16.00 in October are now $18.00. The Mickey and Minnie Straw Hats that myself and my DH got in October for $12.50 each are now $14.00. The Sorceror Mickey '98 t-shirts are $19.00, and I think the 25th Anniversary Mickey Sorcerer t-shirt I bought in October was $17.50. Most of the key rings have gone up from $5.00 to $5.50. I'm sure there are other things, but that was all I noticed.

Well I guess that's all of my report. I hope you enjoyed it. Our next firm trip is ten days scheduled for October 2001. Of course, that's what I said in my last trip report, so maybe something will pop up sooner. Although, I doubt it. We're about to spend major bucks on remodeling the house and I just got hit yesterday with $2000.00 worth of orthodontics for my older son. My younger son will probably need them in about a year. Anyway, I have already started some plans in my head for that trip. We're taking my DH's brother with us, so it will be 5 of us instead of four. Unless some other lodging options appear between now and then, we are planning on getting two adjoining rooms at All-Stars, one with a king, the other with two doubles and then getting a roll-away bed. That way, me and my DH won't push each other off the bed, and my boys and Rick's brother can each have their own bed, plus we'll have two baths. I'll also buy the MKC Card if it's still a good deal. We'll use Florida Town Car, stop at Super Wal-Mart to get beer and sodas and use the WDW internal transportation. We'll get LOS passes and Dining Disney Style or whatever similar plan that is in force at that time. The reasons for those choices are 1) I like the "One Card Does All" convenience, 2) At ages 14 and 15, we will give the boys some time to roam and I want them to be able to get what they need to eat without having charge priviledges or carrying cash, and 3) my DH's brother is kind of a cheapskate. If we don't have him pre-pay his meals, I wouldn't put it past him to only bring $50.00 for the whole week to eat on and us have to foot the bill. I figure I'll add all the costs together, (including tips), divide by 5, and give him a package price about two years in advance, we can break it out so he gives me so much each paycheck and then if he only brings $50.00 for souveniers with him then that's his problem. Then, on the last day, I will upgrade our four passes to Premium Annual Passes for maybe one short solo trip later and then another ten day family trip the following September.

I'll continue to check in with r.a.d.p from time to time and I'll send this report to Brian for him to post on his Trip Report Site. If anybody has any questions, feel free to post or e-mail me, I'll be happy to answer them.

Have a Disney Day,

Carol Kelley

ckelley@camber.com

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