Trip Reports

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Plane, Shuttle Service
Resort: CSR, DL
Accommodations
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Teen, Adult, Senior
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Infrequent
Comments: Jacquie and her whole family (including her mom and sister's family) enjoyed a week and a half at WDW in September. The family enjoyed the parks, but also visited a number of the full service restaurants. Jacquie's report goes into some detail to describe them (which is a part of trip reports that I really enjoy).


September 16-26, 1998

Players: Me, Jacquie, 40 yr. old technical writer, Dallas, my husband, 36 yr. old mechanical engineer, Jenna, my daughter, 7 yr. old 2nd grader, Jeannine, my mom, 68 yr. old retired school teacher (grandma), Holly, my sister, 45 yr. old office manager, Dennis, Holly's fiancé, 50 something dental technician, Carly, my niece, 16 yr. Senior and soccer whiz kid, and Allison, my niece, 15 year old Sophomore and boy crazy teenager.

Trip planning

We started planning this trip almost two years ago. We thought that it might be the last time that the whole family could get together since my nieces are getting older. I was left in charge of all the planning because I was the biggest Disney nut and because of all the good info that I get off of the Internet and the Disney News groups. In March of 1997 I finally decided to make our reservations for seven nights at the Dixie Landings Resort. Because we had heard so much good stuff about it and since it was moderately priced, we decided that this was the place for us. In May Dallas, Mom, Jenna and I decided that seven days was just not long enough so we decided to extend the trip by three more days. I tried to extend the reservation at DL but there were already full for the MK price, so we decided to try Coronado Springs Resort for the first three days. Between my mom and I, we read zillions of trip reports, and just about everything else on Deb Wills WDWIG, Rec.Arts.Disney.Parks, other web pages, guide books, and what ever else we could get a hold of. I must say that planning for the trip was a lot of fun. By shopping for airfares over the Internet, I was able to get $300 round trip fares from San Francisco to Orlando. We bought our seven-day all-in-one passes at The Disney Store before we left and I made priority-seating reservations for all breakfasts and dinners. (We had the Fall Fantasy add-on, which basically means that all breakfasts are already paid for.) I had made reservations at the California Grill for the Rock and Rockets fireworks show.

Side note: This is really a long story, but briefly, when the CA Grill decided to switch to a private party type seating at $150 per person, I was able to diplomatically state my case with the manager at the Grill about why this wasn't fair since I had done my planning in advance, yada, yada, yada. The bottom line was, he offered the eight of us the event for a total of $300. Wow wee, did I make out. Unfortunately, as many of you know, the fireworks never happened that night because good OLE hurricane Georges caused the event to be cancelled. Needless to say, by the time the big day arrived we were all busting with excitement.

Day 1 (Wednesday, September 16, 1998)

Mom, Dallas, Jenna and I left Santa Rosa, CA at 4:00 a.m. We had a flight out of SFO at 7:10. Even though it should only take about 1.5 hours to get there from Santa Rosa, the commute from the North Bay area is unmerciful starting at about 5:00. Anyway, our flights were all on time and we arrived at Orlando airport at 5:00 p.m. It was nice to see our Florida Town Car driver waiting for us as we were getting off the escalators down at baggage claim. On our way to Coronado Springs, we were a little surprised to see how much it was raining, but we figured that it wouldn't last long. Ha! More on this as the trip progresses. Check-in at the Coronado Springs was quick. The Cast Member helping us was very friendly and knowledgeable. I had requested a room in the Cabanas, but due to a huge convention of South American newsagents, we were given a room in the Ranchos. Our room was beautiful anyway, very clean, comfortable beds, coffee maker, hair dryer, and so on. We were fairly close to The Dig Site, but pretty far from the buses and very, very far from the main complex. We quickly settled in then headed for our dinner reservations at Ohana's restaurant in the Polynesian Resort. Since it was about 8:00 and all the parks were already closed except for EPCOT, it was a little difficult finding a bus that would take us to the Magic Kingdom so that we could then transfer to the Poly via the monorail. When we finally asked one of the bus drivers about this, they offered to take us directly to the Poly. Side note: This happened more than once during our trip, where we had reservations at another hotel when the parks were already closed. The bus drivers were always very nice about arranging to take us anyway. We had a great dinner at Ohana's. We spent a little time looking around the resort. My mom, dad, and sister's family had stayed there eight years ago, so it was fun for my mom to revisit. She still thinks that it is her favorite resort. As we left the Poly, we asked one of the bell persons to get us a taxi. She asked us where we were going, and said that they would be glad to take us back to CS. What great service!

Day 2

We got up bright and early on Thursday morning and headed for EPCOT center. My daughter Jenna was so excited as were all of us. We started off by riding Space Ship Earth, then headed for our PS at The Garden Grill in the Land. This was really a great restaurant. We did not realize at first that the whole restaurant revolved. It seemed to make one complete turn by the time we were finished with breakfast. The breakfast was a "skillet style" breakfast with everything that you could imagine. The server did ask if there was something different that they could bring us, and we asked for pancakes for Jenna. Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale all came around twice while we ate. The food was wonderful and we were stuffed.

Side note: For us, the Fall Fantasy was well worth the money. Yes, I do realize that we really did pay for these breakfasts, but It was so fun to go to the best restaurants, have the best food and drink (especially the OJ, I am sure that I drank a couple of gallons during our stay). Once the meal was over with, we would just hand the server one of our hotel cards and have the bill immediately taken care of including the tip. Not having to split the bill and figure out what everyone owed was absolute heaven. Also, we were always so full after the huge breakfast that we never needed lunch.

After breakfast, we hit the Land ride that is always good. Next was Honey I Shrunk the Audience. This is the first time we had seen this and we all got a big kick out of it. Jenna was not too sure about the mice. We then proceeded to Body Wars. We have decided that this ride isn't that great. Star Tours is much better, besides Body Wars makes me feel carsick. We then went to Innoventions and played around there for quite awhile. We had fun sending picture E-mails back to friends at work and to my sister who would be leaving the next night to join us. Side note: My friend's back at work really got a kick out of receiving these. When I got back to work they said, "Gee, it felt as if you just left and there you were in WDW."

During the time that we were in Innoventions, it really poured. I still thought that this was a fluke and that we wouldn't need to purchase ponchos. Anyway, the crowds were really low and we got to see and do a lot in a very little time. We decided to go back to the resort, grab our suits and head for Blizzard Beach.

We got to BB at about 4:30, this was a great time as most people were leaving. We dragged my mom up the million stairs to do Team Boat Springs. We really had a great time. This is a nice long raft ride. Next, while mom took a rest, Dallas, Jenna, and I tried out the two mat rides. Later, Dallas did Summit Plummet. I wasn't brave enough for this one. Besides, I still remember how my bathing suit felt at the bottom of Humonga Kowabunga at Typhoon Lagoon nine years ago. After a quick change at the room, we took a bus to the Boardwalk so that we could use the International Gateway to the World Showcase. We had PS at the Rose and Crown for dinner. Dinner was great. I had fish n' chips, mom had prime rib, Dallas, had some sort of Curry dish, and Jenna had salad and french fries.

Time for another side note: No matter where we ate, the servers were always so accommodating. Jenna, who is really picky, was not always thrilled with the menu selections. The servers were always extremely helpful in accommodating her taste buds. The server at the Rose and Crown noticed that she really liked the cherry tomatoes on her salad, so she brought her a whole bowl full. We noticed that most restaurant menus actually stated that if you had special dietary needs, or just wanted something that was not on the menu, to just let the server know. We viewed Illuminations from the deck area, however; some of the beauty was lost as it was raining and the firework sulfur stuff drifted right into us.

After the show, we exited with the rest of the mob. I was amazed how friendly the cast members were as we made our way to the exit. With it raining buckets and also the end of the night, I would have expected them to be trying to get rid of us. Instead, they had genuine smiles on the faces and bid us a nice farewell. This is one of the things that make Disney so special to me.

Day 3

Today was a no-park day. We got up and took the bus to the MK and from there boarded a boat to the Fort Wilderness Lodge. What a beautiful place. Actually, there was not one resort that I saw that I wouldn't be thrilled to stay at. We had breakfast at Whispering Canyons. Again, this was a skillet type meal. The food was great and the server fun. When my husband asked for catsup, the server brought him four bottles. After breakfast we took the boat to the Contemporary Hotel and then boarded the resort monorail. We were lucky enough to sit up front with the driver. He had a wonderful personality and made our ride (once completely around then next stop at TTC) very enjoyable. He gave us all co-pilots licenses at the end of the trip. Next, we jumped on the EPCOT monorail and rode up front again. At EPCOT we then moved to another car for the return trip to the TTC (can't hog the good place the whole time).

After our monorail jaunts we were sweltering, so we headed back to our room. Grandma and Dallas took a little rest while Jenna and I headed for the pool at the Dig Site. We had a great time playing in the water and going down the slide. After awhile Dallas showed up so I gave him Jenna duty while I enjoyed a Pina Colada as I lounged around the pool and wondered what the poor folks were doing back home. What a life. Too bad we never seemed to have much time the rest of the trip to relax and soak up the atmosphere as I did this afternoon.

For dinner we walked over to the Pepper Market. I thought that it was really nice. Very eye pleasing and I really liked the food choices. I did not mind the 10 % gratuity that was automatically added, as there was some table service provided such as drink orders and dishes cleared away. After dinner it was POURING outside. We had to decide whether we would pick up a bus going to a park and take the long ride before it would drop us off a bus stop 3, or whether we were going to put on ponchos, which we finally broke down and bought, and brave the rain back to the room. Mom voted for the bus, but the rest of us wanted to walk. Mom was a good sport and decided to go along with us. Dallas thought that if we planned carefully, we could go from one building to another without getting wet. Ha! It worked for awhile and then we finally had to bite the bullet and go for it. I got smart though, before the water level got above the soles of my brand new tennis shoes, I took them off and carried them underneath my poncho. I was the only one who had shoes that were not completely drenched.

Side note: We learned from this time on that the best way to dress was to wear Teva type sandals (they dry out) and shorts. This way you are able to remain mostly dry and then you don't freeze when you go inside the air conditioning.

Day 4

This morning Holly, Dennis, Carly, and Allison awaked us at 7:00. They had taken a red-eye flight from Sacramento to Orlando. Before they came over to our room, they had the Florida Town Car drop them and their luggage off at Dixie Landings and then checked us all in. We got dressed, our suitcases packed, notified the Bell services that the luggage needed to be transferred to DL, and then went to our PS at the Maya Grill for breakfast. We had a wonderful buffet breakfast with everything that you could possibly imagine, even made-to-order omelets. After breakfast, we headed to MGM.

Side note: There is so much more to do here than when I visited nine years ago. Let this be a lesson to all those who judge the Animal Kingdom as too boring. You need to give it some time to mature.

We started with the Great Movie Ride. This is fun, but I only need to do this once a trip. Next, we took the back stage tour. Jenna really loved Catastrophe Canyon. Everyone (but me) voted for Tower of Terror next. I have been looking forward to this ride and dreading it for the past 18 months. I was really considering chickening out, but how could I when my 68 year-old mother wanted to go. So, being the sport that I am, it went along with the gang. This ride is so well done, (attention given to every detail) that even though the first two times that I rode I couldn't keep my eyes open during the drops, I feel sorry for people who won't attempt this ride because of the "scare factor." Poor Jenna, she wanted to ride this so much but I could tell it really scared the pants off of her. She wasn't willing to try it again this day, but did so one more time later during the trip. She said she loved it, but there were tears when we got out of the elevator. The good part is that Tof T gave the red-eye folks a little shot of adrenaline to get them through the rest of the day.

The consensus of the crowd took us to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. I had not seen this before and really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we did a little shopping in the Indy type store. Allison does not like bugs, reptiles, or any other creepy thing. Well, as I was purchasing sunglasses for Jenna, there was a tray of rubber cock roaches on the counter. This was the best 25 cents that I have ever spent. (I let everyone but Allison in on my little secret that I planned to put it in her bed that night. Stay tuned to the continuing saga about how this unfolds over the next few days.)

After my little purchase, we headed for Star Tours followed by Muppet vision. I always like riding Star Tours at Disneyland, however I am ready for a new destination. This was our first time for Muppet vision and we all really enjoyed this one. Except, Allison (don't know about Carly, she is the type that never complains) this was too mild for her, not enough stimulation. Maybe this had something to do with being on a plane all night long.

I believe at this time we headed to Dixie Landings. At the time that I made our reservations, I requested three-water view rooms in Alligator Bayou, preferable in either buildings 14, 15, or 18. Three days before we arrived I called the room controller to hopefully secure one of these locations. But, I was told that they would not be able to get three rooms in any of these buildings, in fact, the only place that they could put us all in the same building was Oak Manor. Even though I knew that the Magnolia Bend section was beautiful, I was disappointed. Upon arrival, my sisters group got taken to their room first, while we were still waiting for the Bell person to retrieve our luggage from storage. By the time we got to Oak Manor, my sister had already rejected her room because of the overpowering smell of smoke (No, she is not a wimp. We grew up with parents that smoke.) Anyway, her Bell person managed to find us adjoining rooms in building 27. Well, I don't know why I couldn't get these to start with, but I certainly didn't complain. Since I did all of the planning, I felt that I was justified in snagging the room on the corner that had two windows. Mom, Carly, and Allison took the next room with an adjoining door, and Dennis and Holly took the last room. Well, you know what? I think that this building location is better than the more popular buildings 14, 15, and 18. We were right between the main pool area and the main resort building areas (food court, Boatwrights, store, and boat area). One of our favorite things to do in the evening was to bring our chairs out on the porch and soak up the scenery. The river and foliage were so beautiful to look upon, and the assorted duck types were really cute.

Well, even though the plan called for eating a Tony's Town Square in the MK, everyone was too pooped to pop and we decided to eat a Boatwrights and then call it a night. Actually, Holly, Jenna and I went to OLE Man Island and played in the pool and soaked in the spa, then it was time to hit the sack. Oh no! I forgot to put the cockroach in Allison's bed. I will try to remember tomorrow night.

Day 5

Today we started out with breakfast at Bonfamilles at Port Orleans. YUM! Even though we had really good breakfasts everywhere, this buffet was my favorite. From Port Orleans, we took the bus to Typhoon Lagoon and proceeded to try to work off the breakfast. It was raining again. Isn't that amazing? But, this made for perfect slide riding conditions. Hardly no one was there. It's funny, how no one shows up at the water parks when it is raining, yet your going to get wet anyway. The temperature was really warm and there was no threat of lightening. Well, we started with the wave pool followed by numerous rides on the slides. We then split up, Jenna, Carly, and I headed for the snorkeling pool, and the rest headed for the lazy river. We caught up with everyone later and finished the morning in the wave pool. Holly and I were determined to get at least one good ride out of a wave. Man, I can't tell you how many times we semi-rode a wave in, sort of body surfing but not really, then we would swim back out and try again. The interesting thing is, it didn't really seem like the wave would carry us that far, but we sure had a long way back to the beginning of the rope area. We did pick up some techniques from others, but I never got the ride that I wanted. However, it was time to quit if we were going to have any energy to do anything else that day. So we headed to our rooms and rested awhile then got ready for EPCOT that night.

We had dinner in Alfredo's in Italy. The food was not as good as I expected, the price versus value wasn't good in my opinion either. Also, the service wasn't that great. Since we were a party of eight a 15% gratuity was automatically added to our bill. This was fine, except on a few occasions I felt the service wasn't as good because they already had there tip in hand. Just my opinion. After dinner, we did the ride in Norway (Maelstrom) then skipped out of the movie. I felt guilty, like cheating on your homework. At this point it was raining again so we decided to skip Illuminations and beat the crowds to the bus. Once back at Dixie Landings, I snuck into Allison's room and put the cockroach in between the sheets. At night, we do close the access door between the two rooms, but I still waited to hear some response out of Allison, but it didn't happen.

Day 6

Today was another off day (well, not according to Dallas and Dennis). This was the day that the two men were going to take the Richard Petty 8-lap driving experience. Holly and I got up with them at 6:00 so that we would be sure to get to the track by 8:00. Once at the track, we went into the briefing room where all the drivers got their suits and a short lecture of the morning's event. Next, they piled into a van to take a few laps on the track while the instructors taught them the strategies. Now we were in for a long wait. Because of the rain the night before, the track was still wet. In fact, they had to cancel the rides the two previous days because of the wet track.

We watched just about every employee of Richard Petty's (including the general manager in his little BMW) drive around and around the track for the next few hours, as they tried to dry the track before it rained again. With great relief, the track was finally getting dry enough to bring the cars out (as clouds loomed overhead). The pace-car drivers then warmed up the cars and continued to dry out the track. If really looked like it was going to happen.

At last they started calling drivers for their turns. Dallas was number 7 and Dennis number 9. They both did great and had loads of fun. Their top speed was about 123 mph. The Richard Petty Co. then offered anyone who came with a person who had signed up for the driving experience, a chance to ride three laps with a driver at a 1/2 price rate (still big bucks in my opinion). But Holly and I thought that we should go for it. After all, we had stood there for the last four hours and missed our wonderful breakfast.

Holly went first. It was fun watching her climb into the car through the window. Of course, Dallas caught us both on tape, so we have a reminder of this delicate event. I watched as Holly zoomed around the track, the pulse in my neck was beating wondering if this was going to scare me to death. Anyway, Holly returned with a big smile on her face and it was now my turn. As I folded myself into the car the driver smiled at me and said, "Hi sis, are you ready to go"? I told him yes, but I hoped that I wouldn't scare him if I screamed. He laughed and said it wouldn't bother him.

I got all strapped in and we were ready to go. Let me tell you it is a real rush accelerating out of the pit stop and then turning the first corner. I might be wrong, but I think that we were up to the 145-mph mark when we hit the first turn. I do know that in watching the videotape, Holly and I look like we are going a lot faster then Dennis and Dallas. It was just a blur. Dennis wanted me to watch the tachometer to check the rpm's. I did remember to watch and we were averaging about 6500 rpm's. Before I knew it, my turn was over, boy does it get hot in the car. I pulled my shaking body out of the car and joined the rest of the gang. We walked over to the Photo trailer and got pictures all around. I didn't think that I really needed one, but Dennis was nice and bought mine for me. Now, I am glad that I have it.

The Richard Petty shuttle driver who picked us up that morning at the TTC was kind enough to take us all the way back to DL. On the way back, he mentioned that it had rained over 15 inches in the last 72 hours. Holy Smokes! I though it rained a lot in Northern California during the winter. Of course, it had started raining again. Thank goodness we got done in time. The afternoon drivers were going to be out of luck. Once back at Dixie Landings, we grabbed lunch at the Cotton Mill, then we met up with the rest of the gang. The first chance that I got, I asked Carly and Grandma if Allison had found the cockroach. They said that she decided not to sleep under the sheets so she never found it. They went ahead and grabbed it that morning and they were going to try again tonight.

Next, we decided to take the boat ride to Downtown Disney while Dallas made his second trip (I forgot to mention the first) to the medical clinic. Poor guy, he brought a cold with him on the trip that had turned into a sinus infection.

Side note: Dallas got great service from the clinic. It is not fun being sick on vacation, but if it happens to you in WDW you will be well taken care of. Both times he just called the front desk and they hooked him up immediately with the clinic. You can either choose to have a doctor come out to visit you, or they will send a van out to pick you up. Either way, the service was going to be immediate. Dallas opted for the van pick-up as we didn't feel that our HMO would cover a doctor's visit.

What a beautiful ride down the river. As we got off the boat it began to pour. We spent sometime going from shop-to-shop buying treasures to take home. Next, we went to Fulton's Crab House and had a drink and soaked up the atmosphere. After Fulton's, we split up. Grandma, Jenna, Allison and I headed back to DL. While Holly, Dennis, and Carly did some more shopping and then had dinner at the Rainforest Café, which they all loved. On our way back we got a special treat. The boat driver/captain needed to pickup a fishing boat at Port Orleans and deliver it to DL. He offered to take us with him.

Buy the time we got back, we decided to get pizza from the food court and eat it in the room. After dinner I took Jenna swimming while Dallas watched the news updates on Hurricane Georges. Once in bed, I listened for shrieks from the next room, but again I heard nothing.

Day 7

This morning I had just got dressed when I heard knocking on the inner-room door. It was Allison. She told me that there was a cockroach in her bed the night before and she knocked off the bed but couldn't find it. She accused me of hiding a fake cockroach in the bed, which I then confessed to. However, she was in such an uproar that she didn't even hear what I said. She just continued going on about having to notify the maid about it, and wondering where it went.

When I could get grandma and Carly aside, they told me the story. I guess when she pulled back the sheets she saw it and gave it a flip. Carly was laying in the trundle bed below and grabbed it before Allison could see. I guess Allison started looking everywhere for it. Grandma and Carly took turns saying, "there it goes across the floor", or "oh my gosh it ran behind the dresser," and so on. I guess this morning they even got poor Ally to check her shoes. Well, this was too much fun, so of course we will have to try again tonight.

Okay! So today is our day to experience the Animal Kingdom. We got there at about 8:00 and headed straight for the Kilimanjero Safari ride. We got right on and were treated to seeing lots of different animals. I have been to the San Diego Wild Life Park, and even though it is really nice it cannot compare with this. Boy, you just feel like you are in the middle of Africa.

Next, we did the exploration trail, and among lots of other neat things, we got to see the Gorillas. It was time for our breakfast reservation at Donald's Restaurant Osaurus. We were seated at the back of the restaurant in the mock Airstream trailer. This was really cute, however the buffet was just mediocre. I would say the only "eh" breakfast that we had all week. The characters were out in force thought: Donald, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto.

After breakfast, we headed for Count Down to Extinction. We all thought that this was a really fun ride. Maybe not quite as good and Indiana Jones in DL, but fun. I do know that the seats are a lot more cushioned on this ride compared to Indy. Not near the bruises after we were done. Now on to the Tree of Life and Its Tough to be a Bug.

Wow, what can I say, the Tree of Life is amazing. The more you look the more animals that you see. We all thought that Its Tough to be a Bug was great. I love the special effects as the bugs exit the theatre. After this, the group split up. Dallas and I stayed to soak up more atmosphere, and the rest pooped out. We hit Count Down to Extinction and Its Tough to be a Bug. We tried to go on the safari again, but the wait was over an hour. We took some of the scenic trails and just soaked the beauty in. I just can't imagine anyone thinking that this place isn't great. I guess that maybe I have gotten beyond the point where rides are the only thing that gives me a thrill.

Well, since we get to go to E-ticket night tonight, it was time to leave. As we neared the exit it began to pour again so we ducked inside the Rain Forest Café and did a little more exploring. We would have had a drink at the bar but it was too crowded. Back at DL we all got ready to leave for the MK.

Our first stop was City Hall to exchange our tickets for the wristbands. Next, we wanted to ride some of the things that would be closed later on. Our first stop was Carousel of Progress. This was one of my favorite rides at Disneyland when I was a kid, and I look forward to seeing it again. I wasn't sure what my nieces and daughter would think. I thought that with the changing of times that they might think it was stupid. I was totally delighted to find out that they enjoyed it as much as I did and still do. I really can't remember anymore what came next, but about a 1/2 hour before E-ticket night started we took in a quick dinner in Tomorrowland.

We had such a wonderful time during E-ticket night. We rode on everything that we wanted to, plus we did some of our favorites twice. It was fun to feel like you have the park to yourself, but the time sure went fast. Before we knew it we were heading off to bed again. I managed to get the cockroach into Allison's bed again.

Day 8

Oh no, only three full days left! Last night Allison discovered that the cockroach was a phony. I kind of wondered if she would be mad seeing how everybody was in on the gag, but she was a good sport. Boy, was that fun! Thanks Allison!

We start the day off with Breakfast at Park Faire at the Grand Floridian. We had another wonderful buffet breakfast with lots of characters. This was the most expensive breakfast bill that we encountered. It was $206 for the eight of us. This is another reason that I liked the Fall Fantasy package, I already paid a certain amount and I now didn't have to worry about it being too expensive. I think if I would have had to pay for it at the time of the meal, then I would have skipped it. (I tend to be kind of a tight wad.)

After breakfast we decided to split up for awhile. Holly, Dennis, Carly, and Allison did some exploring at the Grand Floridian (I stayed there last time, so this wasn't top on my list) while the rest of us tried to head to EPCOT via the resort monorail then the TTC monorail.

Side note: After seeing how slow the resort monorail system was this time, I will never pay the price for one of the resorts on the monorail route because of the convenience that it supposedly adds. In my opinion, the buses, though not as fun, as much quicker.

We stopped off at the Contemporary on the way to EPCOT to rent the water sprites. This was a lot of fun. I got to see things (like Fort Wilderness and Discovery Island) that I haven't seen in the past. Once at EPCOT, we started to catch the rides that we hadn't done yet. Living Seas, not great, Horizons, I still love this one, Journey into Imagination, getting old. We then headed over to World Showcase. I had heard about getting the passports signed at each country and I wanted Jenna to be able to do this. Even though she completed all of the class assignments while she was out of school, I felt that this would be a great additional educational experience. (She was also keeping a day-by-day journal.) Grandma, Jenna, and I soon lost Dallas. He went to watch the Chinese acrobats where we were supposed to meet him, but somehow we missed each other. So, Jenna, Grandma, and I went from country to country, kid station to kid station, making projects from each country and getting her passport stamped. Jenna made a butterfly in Mexico, a bracelet in Norway, spaghetti and meatballs in Italy, a hat in Germany, she wrote numbers in China (We also saw the wonderful children's acrobats who also signed her autograph book.), She wrote her name in Arabic in Morocco, made an origami figure in Japan, made a flag in the United Kingdom, and a painting in France (we also saw "Bubbles" while we were there). There was no project to do in Canada at that time, so she just got her passport stamped. It didn't even occur to me to stop in the United States pavilion-What a dumb-dumb. Well needless to say, we were pooped and ready to head back to the room. Everyone else beat us back and they were wondering where we had been. Dallas had met up with the others in the World Showcase, so he and Allison went the to American Adventure and heard the singers. They both raved about it.

Tonight was Holly and Dennis' special night out. I had arranged for them to dine at Artist Point. They really enjoyed the meal and the Resort, but felt that it was pretty expensive. Mom and Allison opted to eat dinner from the food court, and Dallas, Jenna, Carly, and I went to Bonfamilles. We had another wonderful meal there and enjoyed the stroll along the river as we returned to our rooms.

Day 9

Today we were scheduled to have breakfast at Boatwrights then head over to Blizzard Beach. Only Dallas, Jenna, and I managed to make it out of bed. So we planned to meet up with the others at 1:00 in MGM.

The three of us decided to take our chances at getting a table at Bonfamilles. Its hard to pass up a sure bet. This time the breakfast was "order off the menu" instead of buffet, but it was equally delicious. We especially love those New Orleans style doughnuts and the wonderful French toast. Now on to BB to wear off some of those calories. We get to the park before the scheduled opening time so that by the time the rope dropped, we were ready to go. We went around the backside and did the tube rides until we could not longer handle the zillions of stairs. Next, we took the ski lift to Teamboat Springs. There was quite a wait already at the top for this ride, but it was really fun. They took our picture at the bottom (Oh boy, a bathing suit picture) and then Dallas and I rested while Jenna played in the preteens area. By this time it was ready to head to MGM.

We met up with everyone at the entrance and headed for the Making of Armageddon. We enjoyed that and then went immediately to the Little Mermaid Show. I think that we were all pleasantly surprised at how cute this was. Now we were ready for a little excitement, so off to TofT. Dallas got the seat without the lap bar. No thank you, I am not that brave yet. We bought the picture mainly because of the way Dallas looked. He was wearing a new tank top that would not stay up on his shoulders. We kept talking about buying him another one when we found one, but hadn't gotten to it yet. Well, we nearly laughed ourselves silly seeing Dallas in the picture. Both straps have fallen down his arms and his glasses are sitting right around his neck. The glasses look almost like a little bow tie. Anyway, he looked so sleazy. If anyone else on our elevator happened to buy the picture they probably wonder what the strange man is all about.

We rode one more time so that Holly could get the lap belt seat and then we decided to go to EPCOT one last time. We rode Ellen's Energy Encounter. This was much improved over the last version. I am not really an Ellen fan but thought that she had done an excellent job. Next, Jenna wanted to ride Space Ship Earth and Horizons, so we did these again and then bit farewell to EPCOT.

When we got back to the room, there was a message on the answering machine. The California Grill had notified me that the dinner extravaganza had been cancelled tomorrow night, but the fireworks were still on. They indicated that if we got back to our rooms early enough that we could come to the dinner extravaganza tonight. Unfortunately, it was already too late. So I called the CA Grill and reinstated the regular dinner reservations for tomorrow night (Friday).

We had reservations at Boatwrights for tonight, but Dallas, Jenna, and I were too tired, so we had dinner at the food court while the others went on to Boatwrights. After dinner, I took Jenna swimming and hot-tubing again, then we hit the sack.

Day 10

This was our last full day. Jenna, Dallas, and I got dressed and ready before the rest of the gang, so we headed off for the opening of MK. We planned to meet the rest at our breakfast PS at the Crystal Palace. We rode Space Mountain first, then we headed to Fantasyland. There was hardly anyone in Fantasyland so we were able to ride just about everything in 45 minutes. Next, we headed for our breakfast, which was another character buffet. The food as usual was terrific and the characters were out in force. There was Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, Piglet, and a couple others.

After breakfast we split up again. Holly, Dennis, Carly, Allison, and Jenna left to ride some of the fast rides, while Dallas, Grandma, and I went to the Tiki Room and the Hall of Presidents. Even though I enjoyed the new version of the Tiki Room, I don't have to see either of these attractions more than once. Next we went to the Haunted Mansion. This is always one of our favorites. When we were exiting, we ran into the rest of the gang. Dallas and I decided to return to the Animal Kingdom one last time, and the others headed off to Splash Mountain.

This was probably the worst bus transfer that we had to deal with. There is no direct bus from MK to the AK. We either had to take the monorail to the TTC and pickup a bus there, or take a bus to another resort and then pick up the AK bus. We decided to take the first resort bus that we could find that was somewhat close to the AK. We got on the Swan/Dolphin bus. At the Swan, we waited about 25 minutes for the AK bus. Once picked up, we ended up making five more stops before we got to AK. I will say one thing, I sure got a quick glance at a lot of other resorts.

Once at the AK we headed straight for the safari. There was absolutely no one in line and there were only four other people in our jeep. The driver really took his time driving through the park and we were so fortunate to see many animals. Too bad I didn't have my camera this time. We went in Its Tough to Be a Bug and then we did some shopping. The other day when we were at the AK, I found some sales stuff that was really cute and the prices were marked down 75%. I decided that this was too good to pass up so I went back and loaded up. Next, we just strolled around for awhile and just took in the beauty. And then finally, we took the train to the Conservation Station and looked around there. There wasn't a whole lot going on there, but both Dallas and I got a kick out of the signs in the bathrooms. (In the woman's stalls, there are signs about the Straight Poop. That is, facts about Elephant Poop I believe. According to Dallas, the men's urinals have signs above them about whizzing facts. You got to love it!)

At last it was time to head out. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was exiting my last theme park. However, on the bus ride back to Dixie, I learned that the fireworks had been cancelled. Now, I am the type that could really dwell on this, but for once I didn't. After all we were just completing one of our best vacations ever. It really didn't make a difference. So, we all dressed up and headed for the CA Grill. I must say that we had the most wonderful meal and the view is spectacular. I can only imagine how wonderful the fireworks show would have been if they had happened. The manager of the hotel, George Miliots, paid for our wine. We really appreciated this gesture and enjoyed the wine that was produced just minutes from where we live in California. In fact, the one bottle of wine that we had came from Deloach vineyards which is right across the street from my mother's house.

Day 11

This morning we packed up our things and headed for our last breakfast at Boatwrights. We all had strawberries and cream to start with. Oh my, what a treat! The breakfast again was wonderful, but I do wonder how many pigs worth of bacon, ham, and sausage I consumed in ten days. (I got home and got on the scale and saw that it was four pounds worth.) Our Florida Town Car was waiting for us at the front, we got in and bid farewell to our vacation. Thankfully, we have lots of fond memories to keep with us. And now that I have finished this trip report, I can always come back to it and relive our wonderful vacation.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

Jacquie Parr

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