Trip Reports

The players:

Me, 30-something engineer who basically loves the Disney theme parks (especially DL). I have visited the WDW parks six times from 1979-1994. Susan, my lovely wife of 10+ years who, although she was a WDW CM during high school, doesn’t quite have the love for the place that I do. But she puts up with me. Our near-perfect children, Lindsey (7) (three visits) and Brooke (5) (one visit) who share my enthusiasm (at least for now) of the parks and Disney stuff.

We lived in southern California in 1995-1997, so naturally we had DL AP’s (that’s Disneyland to all of you WDW fanatics not Dixie Landings. You know, the park that was built by that Walt character you sometimes read about). This would be our first trip to WDW after "living" at DL so we were anxious to compare and contrast.

Although we are Disney vets, this was a rookie visit for us on several fronts. First, we had not visited WDW since March of 1994 (although I had visited downtown Disney and fantasia golf last summer). Also, this was our longest visit (usually we would only stay 2 or 3 nights) and the first time we had ever stayed on property. In the past, a good friend of mine who was in the hotel business would give us the executive suite at the Main Gate Hawaiian in Kissimee. Bear in mind that the Hawaiian is a low-budget hotel, but the suite was nice with a master bedroom, two full baths, a full kitchen and a living room with a couch-bed – for $5/night!! Unfortunately, he isn’t with them anymore so now we have to pay full price for a room. Basically, the only thing we ever did on property was visit the parks and go shopping at the marketplace on our last day. We had never gone in a resort, visited FW, gone to a WDW water park, used any of the recreation stuff, ate at a non-park WDW restaurant, etc. So basically we are Disney theme park vets but WDW resort rookies.

This trip came about almost accidentally and very last minute. In early February, we did our taxes and for the first time in 10 years we were getting a refund – and a sizable one at that!! So after about 2 minutes of discussion on what to do with the windfall (pay off some credit cards? Save it? Landscape the back yard?) we decided to do the practical thing – blow it all on a trip to WDW. We decided to do a cheap trip – basically a three-day weekend, just go to the MK and stay somewhere cheap on property. We picked the first weekend in March because we have found that early march and mid-October are the best times for us. And we weren’t about to wait until October. We started talking about where to stay and we decided that with a MKC discount, CS would be worth looking into. We also decided to extend the trip a day and spend the night in Ocala so the trip down wouldn’t be so hard. I called CRO and CS was booked so I tried PO, our second choice. They had rooms, but oh by the way, the time you want is peak season and there are no discounts. OK, well $20/night more isn’t going to make me wait until October. Oh by the way, the only thing we have are water views and they are $160/night!! So here I am on the phone – I could change our plans and wait for October (which would be cheaper, and probably less crowded) but let’s face it, we had made up our mind to go and the girls were looking forward to it, so gee, go for it! We booked the three nights at PO. The next day I started calling around in Ocala to find a cheap room. It’s tough to book a hotel in an area you are unfamiliar with. Even the chains vary wildly from location to location so I’m rather leery. Well, as luck would have it Gainesville and Ocala were booked solid. So we decided to bite the bullet, leave a few hours earlier, and just stay an extra night at PO. So I called CRO to extend my stay for one night – no can do, no room in the inn. But they had a cheap room on "special" at DL for $130/night so I booked it (they didn’t have all four nights available at either resort). I could have gotten the nights I wanted at CBR but from what I’ve read (and seen driving around property) it really didn’t stack up to DL/PO/CS. I never considered the All-Stars – they just didn’t appeal to me. I will now attempt to document things sort of as we go:

Here is a rough itinerary:

Friday, 4am: leave our house (just north of Atlanta) by car for Orlando. We like to drive at odd hours on long trips so the girls can sleep through the majority of it.
Friday, 7am – ish: when the girls wake up, stop for an egg mcmuffin and an hour break. Then get back on the road.
Friday, 10am –ish: Stop at the Ocala welcome center, buy our tickets and check to see if there are any resort deals. Have an absolutely lovely lunch at the nearby Burger King.
Friday, 1am –ish: Arrive on property. Try to check in early or at least stow our stuff. Then either swim at the hotel or go to Downtown Disney. Spend the rest of the day lazing. Have dinner at Gulliver’s courtesy of the $50/off coupon.
Saturday, Check out of DxL, check in at PO (what a waste of time!!).DO a combination of swimming/fantasia golf. Go to FW in the early afternoon, do the pony rides, petting zoo, nature trails, etc. Eat at Trail’s End buffet and do the singalong/movie thing
Sunday, MK day. Be there from before opening until closing (it closes too early to take a mid-day break). Our kids mainly do the Fantasyland/Toontown stuff plus CBJ and the milder things at TL. They aren’t thrill ride buffs so I don’t have to worry about the mountain ranges and such. Lunch at the castle, dinner at some counter service (originally had Pooh character dinner reservations but decided it wasn’t worth the time or expense. The kids have basically seen every character imaginable when we were in California except for Ariel which is Brooke's favorite "aracter" and was a must see).
Monday, Either laze/swim or go to the studios. Depends on the weather and how Sunday went.
Tuesday, Check out. Go to Downtown Disney. Eat at the Rainforest Café and shop while we wait. Leave for home.
That was the original plan. Oh how things change.

Friday, February 27

One week until the trip. We find out that some friends of ours are planning on meeting us at the MK on Sunday. They are flying down Saturday, meeting us on Sunday and going back Monday morning. Since they have a teenage son (who has a broken ankle and will be in a wheelchair) who naturally doesn’t want to spend the day riding Dumbo, and since we have PS at the castle for lunch, I’ve suggested that they meet us at 1 pm at the Barnstormer and we’ll go from there.

Thursday, March 05, 1998

Tomorrow is the big day. I am at work and writing this; I’m leaving at 1 pm to go home and help Susan pack.

Weather looks to be a possible problem. The girls are really looking forward to swimming and depending on which weather report you believe it might be kinda chilly. Also, it looks like thunderstorms on our MK day. The weather channel has t-storms on Sunday, cloudy the other days with an average high of around 75. Yahoo says temps in the high 70’s/low 80’s, t-storms on Sunday and scattered storms on Saturday. The Orlando sentinel says no rain and temps in the low eighties (think this is to attract tourists?). So here’s what I’m going to do. Since we won’t really know what the weather is going to do until Friday night or even Saturday, if it looks like rain on Sunday, we’ll move our MK day to Monday and try early entry. I know this is risky but I don’t want to do MK in the rain (the crowds are less but it really makes everyone miserable). Besides, with EE on Monday, we can do most of the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland stuff the girls like before the official opening, and then do LotLK and the Toontown stuff between 9 and lunch (11:30). I’ve read that the parks are always more crowded on EE days but since we don’t do the headliners and Fantasyland is already out of the way, we can do the easy stuff like tom sawyer’s island, the presidents, CoP, etc. which usually don’t have big lines. We may even decide to take a mid-day break and return and then hit JC, the bears and repeats and then do the spectromagic thing. Then, if Sunday is a real stormy day, we’ll go shopping at DD. If it’s only a drizzle type rain, we’ll go to D-MGM since most of the stuff we do there is either indoors or covered and we usually do that park in 6-7 hours. Anyway, we’ll flex as necessary. Don’t know what our friends will do if it rains Sunday; probably go anyway. So Susan is making PS at the castle for lunch Saturday and Monday and we’ll just call and cancel whichever days we don’t use. (Unfortunately, Cindy’s was booked all day on both Saturday and Monday. I’m beginning to think I like the old make-reservations-same-day-at-the-park system better.)

I called and made our Gulliver reservations for Friday night. Also, I was able to get our DxL reservation changed to an additional night at PO so we would have an uninterrupted stay without having to transfer resorts. The booking agent said that since the 72 hour deadline on the DL reservation had passed, she would have to check with her supervisor to see if she could get the penalty waived and applied to my PO balance (like it was some great favor – I was upgrading from a $130 room to a $160 room and there might be a possibility of me having to waive my $130 deposit??!!). I told her if the supervisor said no, that I would like to have a few words with him. She put me on hold, and came back and said everything was OK. I feigned sincerest gratitude.

Everything was ready and packed by 10 so we went to bed.

Friday, March 6 (TRAVEL, PO, DOWNTOWN DISNEY, GULLIVER’S)

Woke up at 3 am and we got everyone/thing packed and on the road at 4, right on schedule. The girls were pretty excited but fell asleep after an hour or so. Susan and I drove in shifts and the 65/70-mph speed limits made things go by quickly. Around 7:30, the girls woke and we decided to eat breakfast so we stopped at an IHOP just north of Valdosta. It was more food than any of us could finish, so we were pretty stuffed. We were now on the road again, our next stop would be Ocala for the welcome center. We had packed Walkman’s (new) for the girls and new cassettes so that and their new coloring books kept them pretty happy. On the way to Ocala, something strange happened. I don’t know if it’s the vacation bug or some subliminal messaging in the Disney music on the car stereo that caused the change. Susan asked, "how much would it cost for us to go to a second park". I answered. Then she asked, "what about park hopping? I don’t think there’s enough at either EPCOT or D-MGM to make a full day for the girls". I told her. Silence. "How long are the other two days good for?". "Forever", I replied. Silence. "Let’s go for it", she said. So here would be another new thing for us – the joys (we hoped) of Park Hopping. So we arrived at the center at 10:30. The girls went on a potty break while I bought the tickets, excuse me, PASSES. Actually, it was all about $50 less than I anticipated. Then we went to the hotel reservation section and I asked what kind of "killer deals" they had. They quoted me rates for OKR, WL and the Y&BC, which all seemed pretty normal to me. We had discussed that if we came across a deal where a monorail hotel or the Y&BC was only $40 or so a night more then we might change from the PO but this was nowhere near the case. So we walked through the souvenir store and took the girls pictures next to some of the character cutouts and stretched our legs. We didn’t bother with lunch (everyone was still full from IHOP) so we gassed up and headed back on the road at 11:00.

We reached property at 12:30 and now everyone was really excited. The girls couldn’t wait to check out the dragon slide!! We pulled into the PO gates and to check in. Wow, what a beautifully landscaped place!! And the way it was spread out it was more like an apartment complex than a hotel. I checked in (no wait for a CM) and got all of the info. Our room wouldn’t be ready until 3 and they couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me which one it would be and if my requests for non-smoking/river view would be met. We walked the grounds a little and took the girls to see the pool. We had about two hours to kill, so we decided to take the boat up the Sassagoula to DD and tempted the girls with promises of a popcorn and ice cream lunch. We waited about 20 minutes for a boat and it was a nice trip. We docked next to Captain Jacks/Rainforest Café and walked around DD. I had warned Susan that the village had changed and she was quite taken back. We used to love the village, it was always such a nice, quiet place to get away from the hustle for some casual shopping. Not anymore!! This place is bustling – it turns out these were the biggest crowds we would see our entire trip. We went to WOD to buy some sunglasses and look for Susan a new bathing suit and this place was the worst of all!! We usually scarf Disney souvenirs up but the place was so overwhelming and crowded (and so hard to keep an eye on the kids) that we quickly found what we wanted and left. We then had some ice cream bars (dipped in liquid nitrogen – they were frozen solid) and popcorn along the bay. Then it was approaching 3:00 so we caught the boat back (30 minute wait for a boat).

Checking in went very quickly; we were given our i.d./keys and we had the bell service guy drive our stuff and us to our room. He was very helpful and friendly and offered to give us a tour of the resort but we reclined since we had already checked things out earlier on foot. Our room was in building one which is the rightmost corner of the resort (if you are facing the river). It was non-smoking and faced the river and it was on the ground floor!! It turned out to be very convienient because the parking lot was just around the corner and the river, boat landing and pool were just a short walk. We were about as far away from the bustop/lobby/resteraunt as you could get but we used our car allot more than the busses so it worked out well for us. As for the room itself, after experiencing the outside of the resort, it was somewhat of a disappointment. Other than some wallpaper boarder and a ceiling fan, it could have been a standard room at any Holiday Inn or equivalent (except it may have been a little smaller). It was very clean and well maintained, however – just nothing special. Another note on room location: it would be very nice if someone added to one of the published guidebooks maps of the resorts themselves. Even though you aren’t guaranteed the room you request it would be nice to have a map of each property with the buildings and rooms identified so you could choose if you wanted to be close to the bustop, pool, river, parking lot, etc. since no single location offers all of these. And booking the most expensive rooms, in reality, buys you nothing. I was aware that the room prices were based entirely on the view out your window (the most expensive, water views, were all I could get when I made the reservation) but there’s a pretty major catch – you can’t really see anything out your window. The resorts (at least the moderate ones that we visited) don’t have balconies like most hotels so you can’t sit outside your window and look over the pool/river. Instead, you have a rather small window that is over your air -conditioning unit – it doesn’t even open. So unless you plan on sitting on the a/c unit with your nose pressed against the glass, don’t plan on enjoying any great views. This is probably quite different in the "deluxe" resorts. As a result, I will try to get building #1again next visit but with the parking lot side (cheaper and more convenient to the car).

Anyway, we checked in and now it was time to swim!! So off to the pool. The pool theming is cute but the slide looks allot taller in the photos than in real life. It was my kids first water slide experience, so it was just right for them. The pool doesn’t lend itself to true swimmers, however. It is rather odd shaped so lap swimming is impossible. The deepest part is less than 5 feet so there’s no diving. I guess in summary the pool is great for small kids but teenagers would be bored silly (same for the DxL pool). After swimming (and freezing, it was only 73o outside) for a while, it was time to head for our dinner reservation at Gulliver's for 6. We drove to Gulliver's and were promptly seated. This is a very small restaurant and was pretty much deserted. I would say, at the most, there were five other tables with patrons when we were there. This was also a character dinner, but quite different than most. First, it wasn’t a fixed price, buffet style – you ordered from a menu like a regular tableservice establishment. Service was very personable (the ratio between employees and guest was pretty high) and the food was above average (we both had the filet mignon which was pretty good). As far as characters go, this seemed to be an afterthought. Instead of the almost constant stream of characters going from table to table we had only two in the 2 hours we were there – Timon and Rafikki. Each came out one at a time and mingled for about 30-45 minutes, would leave, and then the other would appear. I don’t really understand this place – the food is better than an average character dining but there are almost no characters. And this place is pricey—with our $50 discount, the bill still came to $55!!! I hope the other patrons were there with the coupon, otherwise they were being severely gouged!! I’m not sure what demographics this place was aiming for but don’t be surprised if Gulliver’s changes into a different type of restaurant soon. Also, we agreed that the Swan was pretty gaudy; it was really over-themed. Afterwards, we went to the Crossroads’ Goodings and bought drinks and breakfast stuff for our cooler and then went back to our room and crashed. The weather report said that there was only a a chance of scattered showers on Sunday (MK day) so we decided to stick with our plan. BTW, the in-room TV channel selection was pretty limited: the 3 networks, some local independent stations, ESPN, Lifletime, a weather channel (not THE weather channel), some foreign stations, six channels with WDW advertisement plus radio Disney and two talk radio stations!! That’s nine Disney-owned stations!! After everyone else settled down, I walked along the river path to DxL and back. While at DxL I checked out their pool and stuff – it was OK but overall I think PO is more elegant. The path is very well lit and would be great for late jogging or romantic walks.

Costs (I will exclude gas since it would depend on your place of departure):

Breakfast -- IHOP: $20
4-day hoppers: $549
sunglasses, autograph books, big-fat pens--Wworld of Disney: $48
popcorn and ice cream: $8
dinner -- Gulliver's: (including $50 discount): $55
groceries -- Crossroads: $20
Saturday, march 7 (Contemporary Resort, Fort Wilderness, Rain Forest Cafe)

This was to be our main swimming day since the temperature was to get into the low 80’s. We slept in until 9:30, had our in-room breakfast and went to the pool. We swam until the girls were tired (around 11:30) and then we rented a surrey bike to pedal to DxL and back. The surrey bikes are four-wheeled bicycles that seat 2-4 adults in one or 2 bench seats. Each passenger gets to pedal. I made a mistake – since there were four of us, I chose the four-seater not realizing that the girls would be sitting not in the back but in a "basket" in the front of the bike kinda like the kid’s seat in a shopping cart. We could have got by with a 2 seater instead and it would have been allot easier to pedal. It was a fun trip but you have to stick to the designated path and despite the rather on-board cryptic map and a smattering of signs, we missed our turn more than once. It was a fun trip!! Afterwards, we went to try the food court and we were pleasantly surprised – for fast food it wasn’t that bad (or expensive). We bought refillable mugs even though I had previously decided not to do so. Not counting the mugs, the meal was about $20 which is what it usually runs us at burger king or equivalent. The mugs came in handy because I refilled it four times at this meal alone!! They don’t hold much, however so multiple fill-ups more meal is a must.

Next we decided to do the FW entertainment we had planned on (petting zoo, nature trails, pony rides, possibly watercraft) so we drove to the CR (I was also doing recognizance-- I wanted to see if parking at the CR and walking to the MK was a viable option for tomorrow). We parked at the CR (the guard saw our PO vehicle pass and waved us through) and went inside the main lobby.. The Contemporary is an interesting resort – very 70’s looking. The place looked pretty cool – big pools (and a big slide), the beach and the lake which was bigger than I ever realized (previously I had only seen it riding the ferry from TTC to the MK). Why, it even looked like the rooms had private balconies!! I guess in the deluxe resorts the view is really a view. We then road the monorail just for fun to the TTC. From the TTC, we took a ferry to FW (which took forever). At FW, we hit the restrooms and the girls did the pony rides and the petting zoo. Minnie Moo was extremely friendly. She came from her barn when I called to her and I think she would had let me pet her neck and chin all day if I wanted to. She even licked my hand a few times (wow, talk about a rough tongue). Nice animal. After washing up and scrubbing the cow saliva, we visited the horse barns. Now it was decision time. I had underestimated the time schedule and it was only 3:45 and the Chip and Dale thing didn’t start until 7. I figured we could eat at the Trails End at 5 so we still had over an hour to kill. We had a family meeting and decided to go to the Rainforest Café and do some night swimming instead (no one was really interested in the watercraft or nature trails). We hopped a boat that went directly to the CR and drove back to PO. One thing we noticed driving back to PO is that there are allot of roads that aren’t on the "official" map they give to guests. PO is actually very close to CR and the MK if you know which roads to take. And the roads weren’t restricted at all from public use just not well marked. We were going to drive to DD but since PO was on the way, we stopped in our room and got the girls’ jackets and then caught the boat again. This time the boats were running bout 10 minutes apart so it worked out well. RFC was a 40-minute wait (we got there at 5:20) so we went to the Lego shop and let the girls play. It was a neat place but I don’t expect it to last – outside in the play area it was packed but no one seemed to be inside buying anything. We went back to RFC at 6 and were seated near the elephants. We had eaten at a RFC in a Southern California mall last summer and enjoyed it so we were anxious to see what the Disney one had to offer. Basically, except for size and the exterior façade, it was pretty much identical. For those of you that have never been to the RFC, basically you sit in a dining room that is darkened and planted with real and fake vegetation to simulate a rain forest. There are life-sized groups of robotic elephants and gorillas (and a few parrots) that you may or may not have a clear view of that spend most of their time frozen still. Occasionally they will move and every 15 minutes or so, there will be a big squawking match or a simulated thunderstorm and the animals will move around (but not walk or anything since they are bolted to the ground). That’s basically it; there’s not really a show or anything and the robotics, which might be novel in any other part of the country, are rather lame if you’ve just been to one of the theme parks (they are a little more technically advanced then say the JC but not as good as PotC). The place is also loud – between squawking sessions they play loud jungle music. The food was OK; Susan had the pizza and I had the chicken sandwich and they were decent. The girls had kid’s meals (the kids menu here is more varied than most WDW eateries). The gift shop is neat and a good break from Mickey stuff. I guess everyone should go once but I don’t really see a need to ever go back.

Afterwards, we rode the boat back to PO and went swimming, it was a little chilly but not too bad. We tried to go to bed early since tomorrow was MK day. Our friends had arrived earlier today and they went to Universal. Barbara and Brittany (the girls’ friend) were going to meet us at Dumbo at 10 am. Alex, the teenager, and his dad decided to pass on visiting the MK so it would just be the six of us.

Costs:

Surrey rental: $8
Lunch – Food Factory (including two mugs): $38
Dinner-- RFC: $58
Sunday, march 8 (Magic Kingdom, Cinderella's ROYAL TABLE)

This was my make it or break it day. Will it be crowded? Was the difficulty in getting room reservations an indications of crowds (PO sure didn’t seem crowded)? Did I make the right decision in avoiding early entry? I decided to give the busses a try since they went straight to the front gate, avoiding the TTC bottleneck. Was this going to be the right decision? Would arriving at 8:30 be early enough (the park supposedly didn’t open until 9 but everyone said they always open at least a half-hour early)? Would the weather hold out? (we had a travel bag with a kazillion pockets and compartments. It held the 8mm camcorder, still camera, film, spare batteries, aspirin, Band-Aids, compact umbrellas, ponchos, hand wipes, autograph books and pens, quarters and pennies for penny-presses and the girls’ windbreakers. It weighed a ton, but we had everything we needed). Would I be able to herd a group of six as well as four?

I had verified that the busses that picked up at 8 and later went directly to the MK entrance so we made our way to the busstop about 7:50. A bus arrived about 5 minutes later and the wating group filled it. The drive was about 8 minutes so we arrived at the busstop in a short time and walked to the entrance gate. It was now about 8:15 so we joined the other serious planners in line, awaiting the 8:30 early opening. They opened the gates at 8:35 and we got to use our hoppers for the first time—the automatic system seems to work well. We went under the train tracks and onto main street and were immediately taken back at how much bigger it is here than in California. Minnie and Chip and Dale were already being mobbed at the square but we kept walking. The last few times we had visited the MK and were allowed in before "official" opening, they had the rope at the end of Main Street but there wasn’t one in sight so people were scrambling for their favorite lands. We stopped at the Hub to take a picture of the girls at the Partners statue and then went to the castle (our plan being to get Dumbo and the other long liners in Fantasyland out of the way as quick as possible). The castle looked almost back to normal; they had a huge crane parked next to it that was probably being used for painting. When we got into the castle a rope stopped us. We didn’t realize that the lands weren’t really open, only Main Street was. But now with the throngs of people filling the castle it was really too late to go back to main street. So we waitedfor 9:00. Susan noticed that the CM at the rope was asking trivia questions so she told me I should move up within earshot and see if I could win anything. The CM asked "what was the last animated film that Walt Disney was involved with" and I replied "Jungle Book" which made me a winner. He gave me a "front of the line" pass good for me and my family at any Fantasyland attraction. I figured this would come in handy late in the afternoon when someone wanted to ride a dark ride. Well, 9:05 finally arrived, the ropes were dropped and we hit Fantasyland. Funny, Dumbo and the carousel were in full spin, but empty of passengers. I guess it’s to make everything seem more dramatic. We went straight for Dumbo and barely missed the first loading. We rode Dumbo (riding Dumbo first thing is a family tradition. Now as I write this report, it may have been a last time for that tradition). As Brooke and I rode together (with Susan and Lindsey in front of us), I filmed the rooftops of Fantasyland with the camcorder. Personally, I think the DL Fantasyland is prettier (although allot more cramped) and this MK could certainly benefit from a facelift. After Dumbo, we went to Peter Pan, which was to be used as my barometer. Bear in mind that what we ride this day will generally be dictated by Lindsey. Lindsey is a paradox; she loves roller coasters and things that go up high (like the rocket jets) but hates anything that takes place in darkness. She rode BTM at DL a few years ago and was OK with it until the dark tunnel and then she lost it (she would never even go on a dark ride until last summer at DL, when she tried Pan-- she cried through most of it. Brooke thought Pan was fun, especially since it had mermaids, and it was on her list of things to see today). Lindsey went along with giving Neverland another try but was apprehensive. We walked right on and she did fine until one pitch dark portion at the end. She didn’t cry, but it made a negative impression she didn’t want to re-ride Pan or sample any of the other dark rides. We did LotLK next, which was a first for us. It was a very cute show. The Rafikki pre-show section was uncomfortable; it was very stuffy. Can’t imagine being in there on a crowded day in August. After LotLK, we checked the queue at Ariel’s grotto; it wasn’t opening until 10. Susan took a place in line and the girls and I rode the carousel. It was now just past 10 so we caught up with Susan in line. The grotto is a nice little temporary niche that does a good job of using some undeveloped space. The line moves very slowly and the queue isn’t sheltered from the sun so this is a early morning must. Ariel herself is in a small cave next to the 20,000 leagues lagoon which now sports an impressive King Triton fountain. The girls both talked to Ariel and got her autograph. She was quite personable especially with Brooke who was being somewhat shy (I guess she figured that this was a big deal for Brooke since she was wearing an Ariel dress and Ariel socks).

Barbara and Brittany were waiting for us at Dumbo, as planned. We made a beeline for the Teacups, one of the girls favorites. Susan gets motion sickness so Barbara and I rode with the girls. I spun the thing as fast as I could and would reverse the direction every once in a while to help counteract the dizziness. After teacups, the next scheduled attraction was the Barnstormer (the girls are big fans of Gadget’s Go Coaster at DL). It was almost a walk-on (about a two-minute wait) and while we were in line outside, I looked around WDW’s Toontown. It was definitely an improvement over the old Starland but it’s no REAL (DL) Toontown. When you go into the Toontown at DL, you enter a whole new world where everything from the architecture to manhole covers to vegetation looks like a cartoon. This Toontown had the toon houses and such but everything in between was just standard landscaping. The coaster was just what we expected, a very quick ride. It seemed a little longer in ride time but in a smaller space than Gadget’s. The kids loved it so we rode again. They would have rode it all day but it was time to move on. We went in Minnie’s house and it was basically a watered down version of the DL version. Then off to Mickey’s house and we went to the greeting queue (again, there was almost no theming here. Where DL has all of the cute 3-D renderings of the cartoon props and such, this was just a room. Some of the walls were even made out of cubicle dividers!!) Anyway, we were about 5 minutes from meeting the cheese when one of the girls announced she had to go potty. So we left Mickey’s (which is no big deal with the girls, they have "met" him several times) and hit the restrooms. It was now approaching our 11:35 PS for the castle so we made our way over. We now had to make some decisions. Our PS was made back in February and was for just the four of us. Barbara and Brittany were going to go get some fast food and then meet us outside the castle about 1:00 but we really didn’t want to split up. So I decided to see if we could change our PS from 4 to 6 people. We arrived at the check-in desk about 11:20 and asked the CM. She said that we would have to check back at our PS time and then they would tell us if they could go from four to six. While we waited the girls watched the live castle show from inside the castle (kind of a backstage view). At 11:30, I again asked the CM about increasing our party size and she said sure, no problem. I guess allot can change in 10 minutes. We went inside the lobby and Cindy herself was there as was the Prince. Cindy looked awfully familiar and then I realized that she was the exact same CM that Lindsey had her picture with in this lobby four years ago!! I know she’s the same woman because the picture is framed and on our bedroom dresser so I see it several times a day. So either Cindy’s have an incredible benefits package or this girl loves what she’s doing!!

Anyway, we were called for our seating and were surprised to see that we had a large window table. Also, the CM’s made a big deal out of calling everyone "lord" or "lady" during the meal. Service was pretty good (but not outstanding); the girls all had kids meals (complete with crowns to color). Susan had the chicken Caesar salad, Barbara the barbecue sandwich and I had the salmon sandwich. We also had the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer. Everyone agreed that the food was OK,, nothing spectacular (my sandwich was actually kind of nasty. The bread was burnt and the salmon was covered with greens that had a rather strong salad dressing. I took the sandwich apart and ate just the salmon itself, which was decent). The sweet potato chips were good. The bill came and it was actually less than I had expected (it was, according to my records, $44 for two adults and 2 kids back in 1994 so I was expecting about $70-$80 plus tip); it was "only" $76 with tip.

We left the castle (after no less than three potty trips during the meal!!) at 12:45 and decided to head to Frontierland to see the CBJ and let the girls see Splash Mountain (they had said they wanted to ride it but I wanted them to see it before I invested the queue time). We cut through Liberty Square and I was pointed out the different attractions as we passed. "There’s the presidents and over there is the Haunted Mansion", I said.

"Let’s go on the Haunted Mansion!!", said Susan, half-teasing.

"No", said Brooke.

"No way", said Lindsey.

"I want to go", said Brittany.

"OK, me too", said Brooke.

"Not me", said Lindsey.

"OK, I’ll wait with Lindsey while the rest of you go", I said.

"I’ll go", said Lindsey, meekly.

Something strange had happened. The same girl who wouldn’t ride Snow White was now consenting to ride the HM – simply because her friend was willing. This was my first taste of what peer pressure could do. I was elated and scared to death at the same time (Part of me wanted to say "Don’t do it!! You’ll get scared!! Don’t let someone else talk you into something that you don’t want to do!). Instead I told her that the scariest part would take place in an elevator (the stretch room) and that I would carry her until we boarded the actual ride. Most of the stuff would be more funny than scary and there would be some pop-up ghosts that I would warn her about before hand. She could also close her eyes if she felt like it. So we went in (10-minute wait); Susan carried Brooke and I carried Lindsey. I kept pointing out things in the house and the stretch room and whispered to her how the effects were accomplished. I then warned her about the lights going dark and the hanging body. She closed her eyes during this part (but peeked) and she seemed OK. We then rode the ride itself and she buried her head in my shoulder a few times but we started making a game out of looking for the popping ghosts and talking about the effects so she seemed to handle it well. After we left the ride, the girls compared notes and they decided that they could basically now handle any ride in the park. In the span of 30 minutes we saw our girls mentally leave the safe friendly Fantasyland for the more daring Adventureland.

Well, it was time for a potty break and then we headed under the arch to Adventureland and queued up for the JC. Again, the theming here was sparse compared to that of DL. I don’t know if it’s the open spaces that work against it or perhaps it’s having to share budgets with EPCOT and D-MGM but the "little things" just weren’t as abundant here as they are in California. Also, I noticed that the MK in general had a somewhat neglected look. There were plenty of places that were in dire need of a paint job or had trash that hadn’t been picked up all day. JC was about a 20-minute wait and we had an OK skipper. We then went to PotC, another ride that was once too scary for our girls. They loved it, especially the short drop. There has been volumes written about how this pales to the DL version and how silly the PC changes are so I won’t add to them. This was a walk-on, BTW. Next was a potty break and then off to check out SM. By now it was about 2:30 so I expected the SM line to be at it’s peak. But we walked by the line entrance and there was no one in line. So we ran into the que. I didn’t realize that the entire shop area had been turned into one big line stack so we had a decent line ahead of us. All in all we waited about 50 minutes to ride. The ride itself was great!! The girls loved the animatronics and the anticipation of the big drop. When we finally fell into the briar patch, they were all laughing and shouting. We then took a coke and popcorn break outside Pecos Bill’s (which was closed for renovation). We then took in CBJ (walk-on) which was a treat for the girls since it was a different show (DL has the vacation show). I have to say I like the vacation show better; this just wasn’t very funny (it seemed to rely too much on the novelty of singing bears and not the script or tunes themselves). Which brings me to a little mystery that maybe one of you WDW veterans can answer. In the CBJ theater, behind and above the audience, is an electronic message board. It is oriented such that it faces the stage. If you turn around and look up from certain seats, you can read it. My question is, what is it? It’s not a "close captioning" system for deaf and non-English speaking guests because you can’t read it and watch the show at the same time since you have to look over your shoulder. Besides, the characters displayed seemed to be unintelligible gibberish. I don’t think it’s a show element ("cue cards" for the bears?) since, again it doesn’t display anything you could read and 99.9% of the people would never see it. Any answers out there?

After the bears, the girls, high on their newfound brazenness, decided they wanted to tackle BTMR. Fortunately, this was only a 5-minute wait and everyone loved it. This was much better than the DL version; allot bigger and more effects and animatronics. We immediately rode it again. One thing I noticed about the inside queue here and at SM – it was hot (remember the Rafikki room?) and the outside temperature was only about 75 – there was just no airflow in these ques. Anyway, the second time on the mountain was just as good as the first and we were set to ride again but someone needed a potty break so we headed for the nearest bathroom. This happened to be at the exit of SM and Brer Fox and Bear were there so we also got some pictures and autographs. We then stopped in the briar patch and Lindsey found the pressed Pooh penny machine and got one of Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore (I had told Brooke that there would be an Ariel machine at the studios tomorrow). We then headed for Tomorrowland to tackle our last remaining coaster, Space Mountain!! On the way we stopped by and rode IASW reminiscing how in days gone by, this was our kids favorite attraction. Brooke was disappointed that there were no mermaids in this MK’s version. We hiked to Space Mountain – man is Tommorrowland huge!! There was about a 30-minute wait. Just as we were about to enter the loading area, Susan made a startling discovery. This was a single person per row ride; IOW we would have to sit behind each girl and not beside them for the ride. We weren’t too comfortable with this since we wouldn’t be able to console any problems during the ride (this was in the dark) so we decided to take the chicken exit. We then started to plan on what to do with our remaining time in the park (it was now about 7 and the park closed at 8:30). The girls had asked to do the race cars earlier so we got in line for this (20 minute wait) and then everyone was starting to drag so we went in Cosmic Ray’s for dinner. Our past experience with MK fast food had been a disaster (we had eaten at the Village Haus, the Terrace, the Veranda and the Pirate and the Parrot on previous visits) so we were braced for the worst. We all got hamburgers and we were pleasantly surprised – it was a slight cut above a Burger King meal in quality and about the same price (either we have gotten less picky in our old age or the quality of WDW fast food has increased. We had similar experiences with the PO foodcourt). The place was empty but the girls enjoyed coloring the free handouts and stuffing their faces. We left about 8 and told the girls we only had time for a few rides close by with short lines. I suggested the dark rides since the girls were now "super brave". We rode Toad and Snow White in quick succession. I don’t understand some adults devotion to Toad; I guess it must be something they really liked as a child. I found it the weakest ride of the day. Snow White was next, which is the first time either Susan or I had rode this since its update. Having Snow actually appear in the ride is a vast improvement and I would say it’s better than the DL version on the inside . We then rode Pan again, just so Lindsey could prove to herself that nothing could scare her that day and then the fireworks started (which meant all the attractions closed). Then we discussed whether to make a beeline for the bus station or shop a while and let the crowds pass. We decided to shop since we haven’t even visited the Emporium yet. The emporium seemed to suffer from the same thing that World of Disney and the shops at DL California have at late: "seen-it-all-at-my-local-mall’s-Disney-store". We wanted some shirts but didn’t really see anything decent that was unique to the theme park so we ended up buying a few odds and ends simply because the girls had some money and wanted to spend it. Unfortunately, the Emporium was the single most hot and stuffy place of the day so I waited outside while the girls shopped.

We left main street for the bus stop and I figured that this moment would determine my opinion of the WDW bus transportation. We waited for about 5 minutes and then a boat for DxL came by. Then some other resort busses. And then another DxL and a third but no PO!! Finally after about a half-hour wait, a CM herded us from our PO waiting spot to an unmarked bus which took us "home". We then walked back to the room and crashed. The not-quite-the-weather-channel said that we were under tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings until tomorrow so we stayed up for a while and watched the local news.

Costs:

Lunch --Cindy’s: $76
Popcorn and cokes: $15
Dinner -- Cosmic Rays: $21
Emporium: $55
Monday, march 9 (Studios, Epcot)

We awoke around 7; it had rained the night before but had now stopped. Our plan was to visit the handful of attractions the girls were interested in at D-MGM in the morning, break for lunch, and then spend the evening at EPCOT. I had a rather rough time sleeping last night and woke up with a bad sore throat. I went to the PO gift shop and picked up some throat lozenges. The girls were still pretty tired from yesterday so it was hard to get them up. We also decided that since parking at D-MGM is easier than the MK and we were going to park hop, that we would drive instead of fool with the bus. We arrived at D-MGM around 8:45 (no sense getting there early only to wait at the ropes for a half-hour) and the park was open. I queued up for VotLM while Susan and the girls checked out the princess shop. Brooke found an Ariel pressed penny machine but it had an "out of order" sign on it and she was pretty disappointed. I remembered that there was one supposedly at the CBR so I told her we would go there before we left WDW. At 9:05, they let us in for VotLM. I had forgotten what a cute show this was!! I only wish that it was a little longer; maybe a little closer to the running time of LotLK. In the animation courtyard, Pooh and Eeyore were there so the girls got their pictures and autographs (based on ques for Pooh and merchandise available throughout WDW, I would say that the bear has eclipsed the mouse in popularity). Next we went to the GMR, which was a walk-on and a first time for us. It was OK; maybe I expected too much. We had a pretty good CM driver who kidded with the kids allot (we rode up front). Riding up front isn’t the greatest; since this is live narration and you are in a long tram, you’ve already passed the scenes before the guide says his spiel so you are constantly looking backwards at stuff. Neither of the girls were bothered by the Alien sequence since I had warned them ahead of time. Next it was off to Star Tours which would be new for the girls and the first time for Susan and I at WDW. The outside theming was nicely done; the inside was pretty much the same as DL’s except not quite as elaborate. We had a bout a 10-minute wait. The girls enjoyed the ride; they have really become thrill seekers in the last 24 hours. Next we went to Muppet 3-D; it was a walk-on into the pre-show area but we had just missed the main show so we saw the entire video presentation. This is easily the best of the pre-show presentations at WDW. We then went in the theater and the girls got to experience their first 3-D movie. Anyway, this was the best ride of the morning; it was allot of fun to watch the presentation and see the girls reacting to the effects.

Afterwards, we went to the Shrunk the Kids playzone. This was well done and the kids enjoyed it but a note to parents: if you plan on doing this, do it early!! This was the most crowded thing we went on all day (and it was at 11:30 on a very slow attendance day). Also, if you have little ones, it’s tough to keep track of them – there’s allot of nooks and crannies and back exits for the kids to go through as they hustle off to the next slide or tunnel. We pretty much decided that the girls were tired and they had seen everything at D-MGM that they were interested in. We were ready for lunch and decided not to eat there (we had eaten at the Derby before and enjoyed it but expensive sit down dinners are a waste on the girls so we decided to pass). We stopped by the Princess Shop, next to VotLM again and Lindsey noticed that the Ariel press penny machine was working again so Brooke was elated and had the souvenir she wanted.

We went back to the car (my throat was killing me) and drove back to PO. We ate at the food court and then took the girls to the pool for what would probably be their last swim of the trip. It was only around 70 outside so the water was pretty cold. We swam for an hour and then I went back to the room with the girls and was actually able to talk them into taking a nap. After the girls went to sleep, I joined Susan at a bench next to the lake (which was just outside our front door). We had been kicking around the idea of staying one extra day and she had went to the front desk to check on room availability. Our room was available for tomorrow as were about 10 standard view rooms. This seemed sort of suspicious – when I made reservations, there were no standard rooms available (even up to the day before we checked in). The resort wasn’t crowded in the least judging by the pool and restaurant crowds. And they couldn’t give us a standard room for our stay? Is there some underhanded booking policy here? Anyway, we decided to make our decision later that night after EPCOT.

We woke the girls up at 4:30 and the nap seemed to help them allot. We then drove to EPCOT and arrived around 5:30; the parking lot was pretty empty and we snagged a space close to the entrance. We took a couple of pictures and rode SE, which was a walk-on. The girls called it a "baby ride" and were disappointed that you didn’t descend faster. I was also underwhelmed; Jeremy Iron’s narration just didn’t capture my attention the way Walter Cronkite’s did. We then walked right into the pre-show for HISTA. The pre-show was a real yawner – even worse than the "Making Memories" one of old. We then got to experience HISTA – man this was fantastic!! The girls squeaked, squealed and screamed through the whole thing. Afterwards, we did the Figment-thing (Figment was the only thing Lindsey remembered from her visit here in 1992). A nice family ride, not really compelling, but pleasant enough. Now it was time to eat. On previous visits to EPCOT we had enjoyed meals at Alredos, Chefs de France, etc. but since we were pressed for time (we had only 2:30 hours until closing) we decided to do fast food. I had read that the food courts at the Land offered more than the usual burger and fries so we checked it out. The place had four or five different counters, similar to a mall food court. There was one for pasta, one for salads, baked potatoes and a couple more that I can’t remember. Basically, we were underwelmed by the choices. Each counter only had 2 or maybe 3 entrees to choose from and the kid’s meal selection was even worse (all of the counters only featured PBJ except for the Italian – it had spaghetti). I got the spaghetti for Brooke and picked up the "Mickey special" which was spaghetti, garlic bread and a salad, for myself. I can’t remember what Susan got (or can she for that matter) and Lindsey had a PBJ. This place brought back memories of olden experiences with WDW fast food: it was awful. Not mediocre like McDonalds or Burger King or bland like a school lunch, but terrible. Basically, this was our only bad experience with food and it was a big bomb. Needless to say, the only person who finished their entrée was Lindsey; Brooke had my garlic bread and Lindsey’s potato chips. After that culinary delight, we went to see Food Rocks. We had seen the old show on our last visit and deemed it "OK". This one was basically the same type show only different characters and different songs. The song parodies are cleverly done but this show seems to be doomed for being dated from the start with its 80’s repertoire. The girls liked the music but I think the messages were missed on them. Another "OK" attraction (seems kind of weird that a candy company is sponsoring a nutrition lesson, BTW). Well, the girls are disappointed so far. Except for HISTA and a little amusement at Figment, they haven’t been impressed with EPCOT so far. So we lay out a game plan to hit the "thrill" rides, unfortunately they are in short supply: Body Wars (which none of us have ever ridden), and Maelstrom (it was a water ride and it did go backwards so the girls might like it). I figured with each of these being pretty much a walk on, it should take about 45 minutes to see these which gives us an extra 20 minutes to fill with something else. I mentally veto UoE – the dinos are neat but with all of the films before and after it takes up too much time. We were right next to the Living Seas so we decided to do it instead. The girls love animals and Lindsey liked this during her previous visit so we went in. It was a walk-in so I figured we could do it in about 15 minutes (just browse the main tank and the manatees and skip the small exhibits). But I had forgotten something – we had to do preshows before we got to see the fishies!! One thing that really limits my desire to revisit an EPCOT attraction is having to sit through the pre-shows. I wish you could just walk into the Living Seas without sitting through the films and the lame hydrolators and train. Anyway, 20 or so precious minutes later, we were actually at Seabase Alpha. We went to the manatees first; the last time we were here the baby was only a few months old. I didn’t expect it to still be a baby put I thought there would at least be some sort of sign or acknowledgment of the birth that I could point out to the girls (if there was, I didn’t see it so I’m not sure if either of the beasts in the tank were the baby that was born here a few years back). We then went and looked at the main tank from upstairs and saw one of the dolphins swimming around (they are only let into the main tank for limited intervals). Living seas is probably the only attraction at EPCOT that is a personal "must see" for us. It’s a beautiful presentation of fish and I would say that it’s the best single tank presentation I have ever seen (we’ve been to allot of aquariums from coast to coast and while Seaworld may have EPCOT beat in the orca/dolphin/shark department, as far as FISH go, this is the better place). We pulled ourselves away from the fishes and headed for our last few destinations. The girls wanted to see the dinosaurs but I knew with the &*%$ films, it would take us at least a half-hour to see it so we skipped it. Off to Maelstrom!! Susan and I had ridden it once before right after it opened and the only thing that impressed us about it was it’s brevity. We rode it and the girls were just as unimpressed. I thought it was funny that when you are being led into the travelogue theater after the ride, the CM even points out the exits if you want to bolt. This must happen allot (and yes, we bolted). It was now about 8:40 so we decided to head for the only thrill ride, Body Wars. As we left Norway, I noticed that seating around the lagoon was almost devoid of people. Either Illuminations had been canceled due to weather (it was windy) and a few people weren’t clued in yet or else this place was really deserted. We made a beeline for the WOL pavilion and passed by Test Track. Every half-minute or so, a car would buzz along the track. I couldn’t really see anything but could just hear it. We walked into the WOL pavilion and went straight into BW (we had about a minute wait for a theater to open). We didn’t see any of the pre-show video in the main queue but I was familiar enough with the story to know what to expect. We sat in the back row. Since the theater was almost identical to the one in star tours, I was expecting a similar ride. I was wrong – this one was much bumpier than other simulator rides I have ridden (even Back to the Future). I don’t know if it was really that rough or the fact that it was the end of the day, but all of us gave this ride a thumbs down. I think that it’s basically just another flight simulator – at least the other two (ST and BttF) have the movie character tie-ins so you have some emotional investment. It was now 8:59 so I figured that by the time we left the pavilion and made it to Horizons it would be too late. We opted for Cranium Command, which I have read rave reviews of. We caught the last few minutes of the cartoon pre-show. While we took our seats in the theater (front row), I explained to the girls about what Buzzy was supposed to be and what we would see. The show was cute and clever but I don’t see a reason to ever see it again. Susan was pretty neutral on it and the girls were just too tired to care. As we left the pavilion, Illuminations had just ended (it didn’t get canceled there just wasn’t anyone around to see it) and we debated whether to shop or go for the car. There really wasn’t that many people and we had a prime parking spot so we opted to just leave. We got back to PO without incident and bought the girls some snacks at the gift shop (they hadn’t eaten much of their dinner).

On the drive back to the hotel, Susan and I discussed whether we should stay an extra day. We didn’t want to change rooms so if we stayed we would pay the prime rate again. We thought about what we would do; we could go to the MK again but we felt the girls had pretty much reached their point of diminishing return as far as visiting parks goes. So we decided to stick with the original plan, and head for home tomorrow. We planned on sleeping in and check out late and then swim a little before we headed home. When we got back to the room and settled (the girls went to sleep almost immediately) we checked the weather. A big cold front was coming through and the highs would only be in the lower 50’s so no swimming tomorrow. We then decided we wanted to do something really cheesy and touristy. I looked through some brochures and we decided to do Gatorland in Kissimee.

Costs:

Princess shop (souvenirs): $43
PO food court: $18
Nasty EPCOT food: $23
Mexico (souvenirs): $14
Tuesday, march 10 (Gatorland,Voyage Home)

We woke up around 9:30 and the girls were really sad to leave. We were too but it just wasn’t practical to stay. We packed up our car (we didn’t use bell services since our car was so close to our room). It was chilly outside!! We decided to have a big breakfast before we went and we decided to try Bonafamiles. Décor-wise it was nothing special but the breakfast menu was quite interesting. Susan and I both ordered a skillet and the girls got pancakes. The pancakes were a huge hit (probably their favorite meal of the entire trip) and our skillets were also great!! We decided to definitely try this place for lunch or dinner next time. We took a few more pictures and video of the girls in the lobby and pool and then left the property for to Gatorland. It took us a while to find the place; we had only a very undetailed map to go by. The place really looked like an old Florida tourist trap. Admission was cheap (about $15 for adults and kids under 9 were free). The place has alligators everywhere – and not much else. We watched the end of the famous "jumperoo" show where the gators are supposed to jump for dead chickens suspended from wires several feet above the water. The show was a bust; it was just too chilly and the gators were lethargic and none jumped. We walked around and took in some of the other animal exhibits--some snakes (local poisonous snakes and a huge python), some deer and emu that ate out of your hands, and a bear. There was a breeding area where the gators were bred for slaughter and more huge pools. There was a spot where you could get your picture holding a live snake or baby gator. There was also a snack stand that sold fried gator. I was going to try it but the greasy smell outside the stand was so nauseating that I passed. The best part was a series of walkways that meandered through the nature preserve that adjoined the property. The paths went along a marsh that was full of nesting water birds and a mama alligator or two. There was also a large observation tower that offered a good view of the marsh. We left after about two hours and I felt that I had gotten my quota of cheese for this trip (I like visiting some of these old tourist attractions, they have a certain amount of charm). We left and stopped for some Taco Bell and drove home. The drive was pretty uneventful but seemed allot longer than the drive to WDW.

Costs:

Hotel: $620
Breakfast: $25
Gatorland: $30
Taco Bell: $15
Summary and Conclusions

PORT ORLEANS

From a practical standpoint, the Disney resorts are extremely overpriced for what you get. From the unpractical standpoint, PO was really a joy into itself and we all agreed that we would never stay offsite again. PO was beautiful and you really got to feel that you were "home" after a day or so. If it was more reasonably priced, I would love to stay there for a week and never go to a park. The landscaping is lovely, the theming is subtle yet complete and it was just the right size. The pool was perfect for the girls ages and I didn’t see a room location that I like better than our own. A pity the rooms themselves were so sparse!! The food court was reasonable for the two meals during our stay (but the menu is too limited to eat much more meals there), Bonafamiles was impressive (at least for breakfast) and the gift shop had everything we needed. The place was very family oriented; there were no loud groups of teenagers, college kids or rednecks and we never felt encroached upon or threatened our entire stay. It was extremely well kept and looked brand new. The CM’s were quite friendly; the housekeeper was quite clever. The girls brought their American Girl Dolls and some favorite plush animals that they left in the room while we toured. Everyday, the housekeeper would arrange them differently; one day they were sitting in a circle on a blanket looking like they were picnicking, another day they were "reading" one of Susan’s magazines. The place really added to the overall enjoyment of the trip. As far as the other resorts we visited (some which I did not document):

CR: neat to be close to the MK and around the water but way out of our price range.

DxL: would consider staying here if PO was unavailable. More spread out (hence inconvenience) and not as pretty (IMHO) as PO.

Villas: saw them when we took the boat to DD; probably nice to be in the woods but boy do they look old (even more so than the CR)

All Stars: drove in the parking lot to turn around once when we were looking for the AK. Basically I think they took blueprints for a Motel 6 and added the bizarre sculptures to divert your attention. Don’t think this is for us.

Fort Wilderness: We aren’t campers so I can’t really give this place a fair review. Looks like allot of stuff to do but I would think that since the campsites are so spread out that you would get tired of taking a bus everywhere (did I mention that I hate busses).

DISNEY TRANSPORTATION

The one time we used the busses (to and from the MK), we found it adequate. It sure beats driving and the whole TTC nightmare. The boats that ran to/from PO to DD were nice when they were running at 15-minute intervals but aggravating otherwise. The monorails seemed overwhelmed based on our jaunt around the loop on our way to FW. I don’t think it in itself would justify my staying at one of the MK resorts. The ferryboats at Bay Lake were fun but definitely the slow way to go. So my conclusion? I think the transportation system is adequate but I would never visit without a car. Sure, the busses and boats are good for going to the MK but only because you can’t drive there. For going to the studios and EPCOT a car has to be the way to go. I can’t imagine resort hopping with the busses – that has to be a nightmare. Also, what do you do if you don’t have a car and need to leave the property? What if you need a prescription filled or something from the grocery store? When we went to the Crossroads, there were allot of people walking in the street, hiking from the World to get to the grocery store. I assume they were Plaza guests; anyplace else would be too impractical. I would recommend to people that they rent a car if they can afford it. I wish that Disney offered the transportation as an option when you stayed on property – it would be nice to get $10 off a night on your hotel bill if you didn’t purchase the transportation option and used your own car. Let’s face it though, the transportation isn’t so much a convenience feature for guests as it is a way of keeping you on property while you are there. That way, you can’t go somewhere off property to eat a meal, or buy groceries or visit Seaworld or Universal. I’m sure allot of people think that the Disney transportation is great and wouldn’t consider driving but if you are a suburban person like me (I’ve lived most of my life in either Atlanta or Southern California and we practically live in our cars so I avoid public transportation like the plague), you’d rather drive yourself. As far as driving from PO goes, it was extremely close to D-MGM, EPCOT and to the MK if you know the backroads.

MAGIC KINGDOM

Most fun I have had there, primarily because the girls did so many first time rides. The size difference over Disneyland took some getting used to; you certainly never felt cramped but you sure had to walk allot (I couldn’t get over how far it was just from the teacups to Space Mountain). As far as attractions go, flame me if you will, but DL wins the Magic Kingdom wars hands down. Forget the fact that the place is full of history (afterall, it was Walt’s park). Forget that it has several attractions that WDW does not. The attractions they do share are mostly substantially better in California (I won’t go into details since the subject has been beat to death). I was expecting this. What really surprised me, and even the girls noticed this, was that even though DL is much older than the MK, the MK seems more rundown. Maintenance was horrible by Disney standards; there were dead flowers in planters, queue areas that were stripped of paint, figures in both SM and IASW that weren’t working and trash in the waterways. Audio was also a problem; you could barely hear some of the bears during the CBJ and the IASW track was barely audible. This didn’t seem to be the case in the other parks or at the resorts just at the MK. Also, the place was minimally themed. Fantasyland’s circus motif looked cheap and dated (why can’t it get the same facelift that DL got 15 years ago)? Adventureland had almost no theming and the ques just don’t have the little touches that DL has. The Toontown Fair really pales when compared to the "real" Toontown at DL; instead of being transported into another world you basically have a portion of the park that has a few cute buildings stuck in. Even with its faults, however, WDW’s MK is still the second best park in the world!! Crowdwise, the longest wait of the day was for SM and that was less than an hour for the middle of the afternoon. BTW, I never used my "Front of the Line Pass" that I won in the trivia contest.

STUDIOS

This place is a mixed bag for us; the behind the scene stuff we had done on our last visit and it was OK but not worth a repeat experience (besides, nothing compares to Universal Hollywood). Some of the things there are very good (MV: 3D, VotLM, ST, GMR,and I’m sure, the ToT) but there just isn’t enough of them. Right now, it’s a good park but it seems unfinished to me.

EPCOT

We only spent a few hours at EPCOT but combined with our three previous visits, we have seen everything (except the Ellen add-on to UoE). EPCOT is another mixed bag for me. If it is just Susan and I, we can have allot of fun. We could easily spend the day shopping in World Showcase and agonizing over where to have lunch and dinner (it is the best place in WDW for shopping and dining). However, with the kids, the rules change. Frankly, eating out and shopping to them is a form of torture so you are left with only the attractions. And as far as that goes, that’s EPCOT’s major weakness. Sure, SE, UoE the American Adventure, etc, are compelling when you first experience them but do they have repeat value? For me, no. I once road the Indy adventure at DL five times in a row, rode on Space Mountain for an hour straight and did triple back to backs on PoTC. And the next week I was ready to ride them again. And I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been on the Fantasyland rides. But for some reason, I (and the rest of the family) just don’t get the same pleasure out of the EPCOT rides. I was thinking, if you take your 10-17 year old to EPCOT, what would he/she probably enjoy? BW and Test Track (when it opens). HISTA most likely. Maybe UoE. But how do you fill the rest of the day? I know that the rumors have Disney considering a fifth park, but do they really need one? I would rather see some new rides added to EPCOT and D-MGM instead, primarily some rides that would appeal more to the teenage thrillriders since there’s plenty of attractions for adults at EPCOT and D-MGM and plenty for toddlers at MK. It would also be nice to see some of that money get invested in the MK and give it a shot in the arm; the MK hasn’t had a new major attraction in a long time.

DOWNTOWN DISNEY

When I think of downtown, I think of no parking, crowds, old buildings and overpriced food and shopping. Except for lacking old buildings, DD fits the bill. We are shoppers by nature and the old Marketplace used to be a haven for us. The current DD is a real pain. Both times we visited we browsed the various shops but didn’t really find anything we had to have. We also tried World of Disney but it was too big and too packed to casually shop. The Lego shop was an interesting stop (because of the displays, not the merchandise). We didn’t try the West Side; it looked too urban for us. In general, shopping everywhere was a bust. I like to buy park specific merchandise (stuff I can’t get at the local Disney Store) and this trip I came home empty handed. The girls had saved their allowances, they bought a few things at various places (mainly Ariel and Pooh items) but outside of caps that had "Walt Disney World" lettering and the pressed pennies, it was all Disney Store stuff.

MEALS

Usually meals are a big deal for us; we hate fast food (especially bad fast food) so we historically ate mostly table service meals. Not so this time around since it’s a waste of time and money with the girls. Quickie reviews

Gulliver’s (swan): we had the $50 coupon and it was still overpriced. Service was very attentive (since we had the place almost to ourselves) but the prices are astronomical for the food. Also the worst character meal I had ever been to: only two characters in almost two hours. Might do again (with coupon).
PO food court: Decent; a little more to offer than just hamburgers (sandwiches, pizza, salads). Slow service, even when deserted. Kids liked the openness of it and not having to worry so much about minding their manners. Wouldn’t want to eat there more than twice in one vacation, however.
Rainforest Café: Everyone should go once but I think we have proved to ourselves that repeat visits aren’t necessary (this was our second visit). The robotic animals are kinda neat (like picnicking on the Jungle Cruise) but the novelty wears off after a while. Food is above average for vacation food and not too outrageous (at least you don’t need a $50 coupon). Service is minimal. The gift shop is the best part (good variety and reasonable prices) and you can visit it for free – without a wait. Probably won’t do again.
Cinderella’s Royal Table: A tradition for us and food quality varies (it’s either very good or very mediocre). This time was the latter, I’m afraid. Will probably do next time just because.
Cosmic Ray’s: A nice surprise; a slightly above average burger at a MK fast food joint. Plenty of dining room also. Will probably do next time if we need fast-food.
The Land foodcourt: worst food of the trip. Will never go again. BTW, where does one get decent fast food in Futureworld?
Bonafamille’s: great breakfast at a decent price. Will try for lunch or dinner next time.
Refillable mugs: At first, I didn’t want these. For $16 (the price of two mugs), I could buy a cooler and stock it with cokes for a week, throw away the cooler, and still come out ahead. However, we bought them anyway and we used them quite a bit. Primarily, we used them when we were out at the pool or eating at the food court. The thing I didn’t like is that they don’t hold much. Even without ice it seemed like they held about as much as a small fountain drink so I had to re-fill often. That’s adequate capacity for coffee but woefully inadequate for softdrinks or tea. Also, the refilling operation was completely uncontrolled and seemed unmonitored. I seriously doubt that unless you were doing something really outrageous (like using the soda machine to fill a 55 gallon drum) no one would stop you from getting refills regardless of whether they had the mug or not. When we purchased ours, they did put a red circle sticker on it which the CM said was a "time stamp" but I noticed that most people using the mugs either had a different color sticker or no sticker at all.
OVERALL

We knew we would have a good time, but this was our best WDW visit ever. Susan had such a good time she wanted to make reservations for the next trip while we were still there!! We are planning on returning in early October and I will probably make reservations by early April. Right now we are debating on returning "home" to PO or to give WL a try since it is much more convenient for MK visits. We basically plan on doing another 4 or 5 nighter and spend a full day at the MK, a half or ¾ day at the AK (depending on how much there is to do) with the balance of the day back at the MK. This would be a "cheap" visit for us since we already have the admission tickets and it would be value season (and if we get our MKC discounts on top of that, the WL will actually be cheaper than what we paid for PO on this visit).

RECOMMENDATIONS

I’m a Disney park nut so I visit all of the websites and newsgroups on a regular basis. I even buy the guidebooks every year so I consider myself an "armchair expert" as far as touring goes (and I have some field experience as well). The research and the planning I did for this trip helped to make this vacation a successful one especially when it came to picking the days to visit the parks, what resort to choose, etc. Even with all of the planning , we were still flexible enough to bend with the weather and what everyone was most interested in at the time (if you compare my pre-planning itinerary with what we actually did on our trip, you’ll se the two are quite different). The flexibility also allowed us a good balance of rest to offset the recreation. My recommendations:

Do at least SOME research. Visit some sites, buy one of the books or talk to someone who has visited WDW at least three times. It was amazing how little the average guest knew ( these are actual questions that I heard people ask during my visit: "Which monorail goes to Seaworld?", "How far is the walk from EPCOT to Typhoon Lagoon?", " Where’s King Kong?"). Just the fact that you have visited this website and read through this trip report (and others I would trust) shows that you are already well into your planning.
Tell yourself that you are going to get tired, you’re going to have to stand in lines and that you’re going to spend way too much money (and it’s probably going to be hotter than wherever you are visiting from). If you think otherwise, then you’ll be so busy complaining you won’t have fun. Just except these as a given and go from there.
Go off season!! The hotel rates are much cheaper (especially if you can get MKC rates), the weather is much more pleasant and the crowds are greatly reduced.
Don’t do two theme park days in a row (especially with younger kids). You’ll always enjoy the second day less. Stick in a day of restful activities in between.
Rent a car unless you a) are only going to EPCOT/MK and you are staying at an adjacent hotel or b) you prefer public transportation (busses) to driving yourself.
Don’t pay extra for the resort "views" . You can’t see out of your window anyway (this may not be the case in the deluxe resorts). Proximity to car/bus stop, pool and the foodcourt are more important.
Thanks for reading. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Michael Kerr

michael.kerr@west.boeing.com

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