Trip Reports

I’m Paul from White Plains, NY. My wife Karen and I visited WDW in early May in conjunction with a visit to our long time (high school) friends the Terrys and our beloved god-daughter Elizabeth at their new and beautiful home in Jacksonville. We are middle aged adults (no kids), and while I would like to visit WDW more often, it is all I can do to convince Karen to make the trip every 10 years or so (first visit 1978, last visit 1990). I will say that once we get to WDW, Karen likes it as much as I do.

DATES: 4/27/98 – 5/10/98 (at WDW 5/5 – 5/9).

GENERAL INFORMATION:

We traveled by car, which was much easier than I anticipated. We stopped in Florence, SC the first night after 700+ miles (stops to eat at Waffle House and Cracker Barrel, both of which I really enjoy). Then we spent 4 days in Jacksonville, before our 4 day stay at WDW. The trip home sure seemed a lot longer than the trip down, but I guess that’s normal for any vacation!

SPECIFICS:

As I get older, I have trouble remembering sequential events, so I’ll hit the category highlights of our trip.

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Our choice of resorts was the Wilderness Lodge. Having actually staid at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park, I can confirm that the WL is a great facsimile of the real thing, right down to the geyser. We both rated the WL as a 4-star hotel (tops on our scale), and Disney will have to really outdo the WL for us to ever consider staying at another resort. The staff treated us great, including Todd from guest services who hosted us as flag family our last morning, and who spent a long time with Karen discussing the Disney approach to human resource management and training (Karen is in HR). Tip: if you stay at the WL, inquire about being flag family when you check-in. It is fun, and you can see for miles from the top of the lodge. Raising the American flag at WDW is a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks to Todd, once again; he was an excellent host, and made being flag family really memorable.

The WL was fantastic. The lobby is awe inspiring, especially the carved animals, birds, and the two totem poles. As a wood carver myself, I really appreciated the attention to detail, and the fact that the location of each carved animal or bird on the vertical dimension of each lobby support pole coincided with their natural habitat in the wild (i.e. plains, mountains, air). We learned this from our guided (free) lodge tour. The tour is a nice break from the regular park activities, and gives you an added appreciation for the meticulous way in which Disney does everything in the parks and resorts. The pool, while kind of tame (accommodating kids, I know), was beautifully themed and linked to the stream flowing out and down from the main hotel lobby. Our room was samll, but well appointed, and our location (4th floor, courtyard view) was top notch. Since we were at WDW for our 25th anniversary, I asked for and received a choice room in our opinion, thanks again to the nice people at the WL front desk. And while I’m thinking of it, thanks also to Patsy our housekeeper. She provided us with lots of extra Mickey soap and shampoos to take home for our nieces and nephews.

We did have an opportunity to re-visit our previous WDW resort accommodations (Grand Floridian and Polynesian). The GF is showing a little wear and tear (peeling paint, worn carpets, etc.), but it is still beautiful. The PBR is in good shape, and has been refurbished since our stay. We also walked through the Yacht and Beach Club resorts. We would probably stay there if the WL was not available, since the YBCR is so accessible to MGM and EPCOT.

But the key to the appeal of the WL, we both agreed, was its seeming seclusion. Despite the number of kids (by the way, what’s with all of these kids on vacation before school lets out for the Summer?), you feel as if you are not even near the parks, yet everything is within easy reach by boat or bus.

TRANSPORTATION:

The most we ever waited for a bus or boat was 20 minutes. Usually, much less. Travel to every park was easy, and we had been concerned about this before our arrival. The drivers, for the most part, were friendly, talkative, and informative. A Disney trivia quiz (no prizes, though) was an added bonus by one driver. Even though we had our own car, we never took it out of the lot at the WL, since using the bus and boats was so appealing and relaxing. WE also did a LOT of walking, and an interesting walk was between the WL and Fort Wilderness. We saw lots of wildlife, and then were really impressed when we took the launch from FW to Discovery Island. The variety of free-roaming birds on DI (and at the WL for that matter) was amazing.

FOOD:

With the exception of a poor experience at Aunt Polly’s on Tom Sawyer’s Island during the crowded lunch rush, our meals at WDW were superb (but quite expensive, in my opinion). We had PS at Artist Point and Whispering Canyon at the WL, 50’s Primetime Café at MGM, and San Angel Inn at Mexico in EPCOT. We were seated within 5 minutes of arrival at all PS restaurants, which I considered outstanding. I would definitely recommend PS. While the food was really good at all of these places, I especially enjoyed Whispering Canyon and 50’s Primetime. The audience participation makes ordinary food seem to taste better. We even had to stand and kiss for 25 clangs of the dinner triangle at WC to celebrate our 25th anniversary (thanks to Karen telling our waiter without my knowledge!). But those types of things are what makes a Disney trip so special. Fast food tip: try the vegetable lasagna and bread sticks at The Land food court in EPCOT. A real good meal and a good value too. Also, don’t miss the ice cream specials at Beaches & Cream at the YBCR; the atmosphere is great and the ice cream is equal to the setting. We saw someone order the "Kitchen Sink", and it was tremendous.

THE PARKS:

Sorry, but we did not visit the Animal Kingdom. We want to wait a few years until it is complete, and they work out the "bugs". Since the other parks were pretty busy, I guess I’m thankful that AK was open and busy too, so that it took some of the crowd pressure off of our visits to MK, MGM, and EPCOT. The highlights of these 3 parks:

MK: I got Karen to ride the Teacups, which normally would make her sick. I couldn’t believe she agreed to go on, but she ended up having fun, I think. As a Peter Pan fan, revisiting my favorite Fantasyland attraction was also great, and I saw Tinkerbell as we took off over London. Every time I ride peter pan I think back to watching the original Disneyland on Sunday night TV in the late 50’s, and seeing Tinkerbell over the castle sprinkling her pixie dust during the opening credits. Those are good memories of simpler times. We also did all the biggies on E-ticket night, which was a strange experience. The park was full until after the 9pm fireworks, and then emptied quickly. Riding the POTC with only 2 other people was kind of lonely. On the other hand, when I saw the length of the potential queue for Splash Mountain, I was eternally grateful for E-tickets! Space Mountain was still too much of a whiplash type ride in the dark, even for me, who lover roller coasters. We finally (after no luck on previous visits) got to see fireworks over the castle and watched Tinkerbell’s ride. I guess the highlight of our visits to the MK this trip was having our joint portrait done in pastels at Liberty Square Portraits for a very reasonable $45 (including framing!). The portrait will definitely help us to remember this great trip, and our artist Sheila Anderson graciously posed for a joint photo after her masterpiece was completed. Liberty Square and its unique theming is my favorite part of the MK.

EPCOT: We really enjoyed HISTA, our first real experience with 3D effects. Although I am not an Ellen fan, her show was funny and she was good. I was disappointed that Test Track was STILL not open, and I believe Disney should advise everyone exactly what is going on with this situation. I was really looking forward to it. The Flower Show was in progress, and it was spectacular, especially the topiaries. Karen maintains an immaculate old English garden at home, and she especially appreciated the variety of flowers and plants. Speaking of England, I think it is my favorite location at EPCOT. We saw the end of a street theater group performance, and also witnessed the daily butterfly release at Pooh’s Spot. The gardens here are something special.

MGM: This was my favorite day. The crowds were large, but in light of all of the new attractions since our last visit in 1990, we were able to see a lot. TZToT lived up to my expectations, and the theming is wonderful. We rode twice, and I got the seatbelt spot on the second ride – a real blast! I got to participate in the 101 Dalmations bluescreen demonstration, and didn’t make too bad a fool out of myself. The Muppet show took us to another level of 3D, and is definitely not just for kids. 50’s PTC was perfect lunch spot; it really brought back vivid memories of growing up on Long Island in a Levitt built house with lots of other baby boomers. I still don’t understand how they make meatloaf taste that good. And the butterfinger milkshake, recommended by our waitress Pok, was one of the thickest and best shakes I’ve ever had. This place was everything I wanted it to be, and Karen and I both got Clean Plate Club stickers. Pok was proud of us. I guess the highlight of MGM was the HOND stage show. We both commented that it was like a Broadway production. The live action, costuming, and colors were tremendous, right down to the bell-shaped confetti. Most impressive were the voices of the actors. Since these people have to do this same show numerous times every day, I was amazed with their enthusiasm. Starting the performance by picking a kid from the audience to introduce the show is another Disney signature idea. The little girl chosen to announce our performance was from Canada; her parents were obviously very pleased, and rightfully so. This is something that little girl will always remember. What a cute kid.

So, that’s our trip, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. There’s nothing like a WDW vacation; we’ve had 3 and each one has been better than the last. I really made use of these trip reports in the planning of our visit, and it certainly made a big difference in being prepared to tackle the vastness of WDW. I want to thank Brian and everyone for that valuable information. It was essential to the great time Karen and I had. Happy 25th Anniversary Karen Lynn, I love you.

Paul Solenick

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