Trip Reports

September 17th to September 26th 1999

Cast Members:

Mike: 28, Narrator
Becca: 27, My Wife
Bill: 68, Becca’s father, retired Colonel in the army
Emily: 57, Becca’s mother
Pre-Planning:

The idea for this trip started after our WDW honeymoon in Dec. ‘97(Holiday ’97 section of Brian Bennett’s Trip report page). Bill told Becca and me about the Shades of Green resort which he is eligible for because he is retired military. After mulling it over for a couple months we decided to plan our trip for September of 1999. The reasons for this time of year is because of the lack of crowds and the weather would still be consistently warm. After our honeymoon where we had to wear our winter clothes we wear in Buffalo, we wanted to be sure the weather would not be cool.

Shades of Green (SoG) resort only allow for reservations to be made a year in advance, so on September 17th, 1998 reservations were made for Sep 17th - 25th 1999. Because my father-in-law made it to Colonel in the army we were put in the highest price bracket (pricing is based on rank, privates paying the least while generals pay the most). Even being in this bracket the price was still comparable to the All-Star resorts.

We decided to buy our tickets, and 8 day stars and stripes pass (park hopper) that we will purchase at SoG on Sept. 18th, to take us to through the 25th. We don’t need tickets for the 17th, because of our flight arriving at 5:00 or the 26th because our flight is taking off at 11:40.

Most, actually all, of the planning was done by me and Becca, so a couple months before our trip we sat down and made a rough schedule to give us an idea of where we were going to be when. We made 2 priority-seating arrangements from home. The first was at the Rose and Crown Pub on September 20th at 8:00 to allow us to watch illuminations. The second was for the Crystal Palace on September 25th at 8:30 a.m. to get us of to an early start for our last day. We decided that since it’s the off season all other priority seating could be made from the resort, that way we could decide what we were in the mood for. The only other planning we did before hand was making a reservation for Disney’s Amazing Architecture Tour for Sept 22nd. With our resort booked, airplane tickets bought and priority-seating arrangements taken care of all we had left to do was watch the days go by until September 17th.

Day 1, September 17th,

Since our flight wasn’t until 3:00 this afternoon I worked a half-day today. I had set my alarm for 6:25 a.m. (my normal time during the workweek). As it turns out the alarm wasn’t necessary because I was up at 5:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep with all the excitement. It’s hard to sleep when you realize dinner tonight is going to be at beaches and Cream. I went through my normal routine in the morning and made it to work by 8:00. My day seemed extremely long; it’s amazing that waiting for my flight the day of my trip seems to take longer than my entire 10-day trip. It probably doesn’t help that I check my Disney countdown timer every 5 minutes today.

Our plan was for Becca to be to her parent’s house by 1:00 to pick them up and then go to the airport. After dropping off her parents she would come to pick me up at my office, which is directly across the street from the end of the runway, at 2:00. She arrived at my office at 1:45, a little early but all the better, and we parked the car in our parking lot and were driven to the airport by our office manager, Darcey.

After checking our bags we still had an hour before our flight so we stopped of at the bar and had a pre flight beer. We were boarded on our nonstop Delta Express flight to Orlando at 2:50 and were in the air at 3:05. Besides the fact that they were only serving cola the flight was good. We landed at 5:40 and were met by our Tiffany Town Car (TTC) driver Darcy at baggage pickup and were on the road by 6:15, We stopped at Publix in Williamsburg to pick up some snacks and drinks for the week ahead. On our way to the resort we passed by Sea World and our driver told us about the new park Sea World is building that lets guests swim with the fish. It seemed like a large Shark Reef at Typhoon Lagoon. Darcy took us by Epcot on our way to SoG, seeing spaceship earth with the 2000 on it was incredible, and a few minutes later we were driving by the Polynesian and pulling up to SoG.

We were given room 223, which was on of the rooms I requested on Wednesday. The room is on the same floor as check in and the bus drop off (no stairs J) but requires the a little bit of walking because it is at the back of the resort. The room itself was beautiful and rather large with 2 queen size beds, a pull out sleeper sofa and a small round table separated from the head of the bed by a half wall. The room also comes with a TV and VCR as well as an iron and an ironing board. The bathroom was a separate room unto itself with a large countertop with two sinks and a hairdryer and a separate room past the vanity with the toilet and bathtub. The best feature of our room, and the reason I requested this room was the view off the balcony. Our room overlooked the green for the 9th hole of the Magnolia golf course. The view was absolutely stunning.

After unpacking we had our first experience with the SoG bus system. Having only stayed on Disney property, having to take a bus to the TTC and the another bus or the monorail to your final destination was a hassle at times. This bus trip went smooth though, we caught the 8:00 bus to the TTC and from there we caught the MGM bus to the park. Once at the park we walked to the friendship dock and were on our way to the Yacht and Beach club by 8:30, just in time to catch a few of the fireworks from Fantasmic (and early enough to beet the crowds to the docks).

We strolled through the Y&B, which is a beautiful resort, especially at night, and made our way past Castaway Creek on our way to Beaches and Cream. We took a seated at the bar because there was a 40-minute wait for a table. I ordered the cheeseburger and Becca had the BLT and we washed them down with a cherry Coke and one of their famous vanilla shakes. After our late dinner we walked back through the resort and made our way to the Boardwalk, passing by the boring Swan and Dolphin along the way.

The Boardwalk was very exciting tonight. There was a Congo line forming outside of Atlantic Dance, which everyone seemed to be enjoying. We continued down to the gift shop where we got our first dose of Disney’s millenium merchandise. We wanted to buy everything but we held off on shopping until World of Disney where we could use our Magic Kingdom Club card. After browsing we kept walking down to the ESPN club and took a peak inside. The hostess at the door said it gets very crowded on Sunday’s so I decided that watching the Bill’s game here Sunday night wouldn’t be such a good idea.

After walking down to get a better look at spaceship earth at night, I love the way the purple looks reflecting off of the triangles, we headed back down to the bakery to get some peanut butter tiggers. The bakery was supper crowded but it was worth the wait. We ate our chocolates on our way out to wait for the next Downtown Disney bus. When we arrived at the bus stop it was already super crowded and 20 minutes later when the bus finally showed up there was practically enough people to fill up the bus.

Once at DD we got off at the first stop at the Marketplace and waited about 20-minute for the bus to the TTC, while waiting we counted atl east 2 busses for every other destination (3 from CBR). The bus finally arrived and dropped us off at TTC, but we had just missed the bus to SoG. Instead of waiting 20 minutes for the next bus we decided to hoof it to SoG. Along the way we stopped to see our brick which is located on the Poly side of the TTC. The walk was about 20 minutes and we made it back to SoG about the same time as the next bus did. After the long walk we crashed at 12:00.

Day 2, September 18th,

I popped out of bed at 7:30 this morning, suprisingly I had a very difficult time sleeping last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the next 10 days (Becca told me she also had trouble sleeping because she was so excited). Becca suggested that we change our original plans for today, which was a great idea. Originally we planned on going to MK this morning but since Saturday night was the only showing of the Main St, Electric Parade until next Saturday (our last night) we decided to start off at MGM this morning. This also helped us avoid the crowds at the MK EE this morning.

After changing our plans for this morning I had my coffee and donut stick on the porch and watched the golfers on the course. It could be one of the best resort views on the property, along with Boardwalk, Poly and Contemporary with their views of the parks. We grabbed the number 1 bus to the TTC and an MGM bus was waiting for us. We were in the park by 8:45 and got in line for the walk down Sunset Blvd. to the Tower. At exactly 9:00 the CM’s led us very slowly to the tower. On our way to the Tower Emily told us how when they came to MGM last time she thought the Tower was some type of architectural tour of the building. Needless to say after those elevator doors opened and she was dropped 13 stories she vowed never to go on this ride again. I found the story truly amazing and couldn’t believe that she would have no idea that it was a thrill. It’s not like there aren’t people screaming and signs and warnings everywhere.

As it turns out it was one of the longest waits I’ve ever had for the Tower, about 15 minutes. The new drop sequence is great, very unexpected. Later in the day it was only a 5-minute wait. Our next ride was Rock n Rollercoaster. Everything about this ride is incredible; the concept for the ride and the theming is just great. I think we have a contender to take worst job at WDW away from the gun toting poacher hunter on Kilamanjaro Safari, The guy in the sound booth who has to get Joe Perry’s Les Paul guitar. Sorry buddy, not everyone is lucky enough to be at the Tower. The CM’s at the Tower really get into their roles; it really helps to make it seem even spookier. Sorry, back to RnR. When the “limo” floors it, it just puts you back in your seat. The rest of the ride isn’t quite as good, but I enjoyed it much better than Space Mountain.

After RnR Becca and Emily were waiting for us at the exit. We made out way over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid (VOLM), but we had just missed the show so we decided to go on the animation tour. This was our first time on this tour in the four times we’ve been to this park and I’m mad we’ve passed on it till today. The tour started with a funny movie with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite then moved into a room with an actual animator who drew Mickey, Mushu and Terk. From there we saw the animators studio, empty because it was Saturday, and the saw a final movie.

After the show I snapped a quick picture of Studio Mickey and we tried to for VOLM again but missed it. We decided to go on the Backlot Tour, which is one of those every third trip kinda rides. I did enjoy the creature display that they showed after the ride. By now we wanted to grab a bite to eat so we wandered around until we settled on the Backlot Express Cafeteria. We ate rather quickly in order to see Indiana Jones. The show was O.K., another one of those once every third trip kinda shows, if that. We headed out to take a break at SoG. This time we caught the number 2 bus that runs from SoG to AK to Bizzard Beach to MGM then back to SoG every hour. Since MGM is the last stop before SoG we waited for the bus, only 5 minutes, and we were on our way to SoG.

I didn’t feel like lying down so I went down to the sportsbar and had a beer while I watched college football. I stayed about an hour before I went back to the room where everyone was getting ready to head out again. We caught the number 1 bus to the TTC and were at the MK via the monorail by 4:30.

I planned on arriving at the MK at this time so we would be able to watch the flag lowering ceremony on Main St. We found a spot to watch the ceremony on the second floor of the train station. This is one of my favorite places to take a break from the crowds. We sat next to a lady who we overheard saying that she’s been sitting here since 2:00 waiting for the parade and she plans on sitting there until after the fireworks at 9:00. That’s 7 hours at the train station, that woman was in serious anti commando mode. As much as I love people watching from the train station I could never relax that long.

The flag ceremony was very patriotic. Even Bill, the retired colonel, said he liked the ceremony. After we made our way down Main St. and made a right stopping to see if we could get a seat at the plaza restaurant. No such luck, so we walked a little further and grabbed a meal at the plaza pavilion. The food was pretty good but the view was incredible. I made sure to grab a seat with a great view of the castle. After our dinner we continued on to Tomorrowland where we took a relaxing ride on the TTA. After we wanted to go on Walt Disney’s Carrousel of Progress but for some reason it closes at 5:00. We had 10 days so we weren’t concerned about it being closed tonight.

We walked to Fantasyland where there was no wait for It’s a small World. We wanted to go on other rides but the waits were incredibly long, Buzz Lightyear 30 min. Pooh 30 min. Peter Pan 40 min., and with this long of a vacation I felt no need to wait in long lines. From small world we walked through Liberty Square and on to Adventureland for a stop at our favorite isle, Aloha Isle, for a Dole Whip. We finished our floats on our way to Pirates of the Caribbean, which was a walk on in every sense of the word; we didn’t stop walking until we sat down in the boats. This ride is a great one. By now it was 8:45 so we walked down to the parade route and found a spot right at the end next to Splash Mountain (which was closed for refurbishment).

The MSEP finally made it’s way to the end of the parade route by about 8:25. It was nice to have only waited a short amount of time for the parade, compared to people that we saw getting ready 1 ½ hours before the parade (especially with the light rain that was on and off all night). Becca and I have been looking forward to this since we heard it was going to be back at MK when we are here and it was even better than we remembered it. The music, lights and characters are so much fun, we love this parade.

After the parade ended it was 8:50 so we walked over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It claimed to be a 20-minute wait but Bill and I only waited about 5 minutes before we were seated. Like on RnR we sat in the back, I figured that this ride is slow as it is there’s no sense in sitting in the front and making it even slower. As we pulled out onto the mountain the fireworks started. It was absolutely beautiful to be spinning around Thunder Mountain and seeing the fireworks behind it. When we got off the ride Becca and Emily were waiting at the exit. We walked a little further to get a better view of the fireworks and watched a little before we started out toward Main St. as we left the park I was absolutely amazed at the line for the express monorail. It went all the way down the ramp and winded like a very long snake all the way to the exit stalls. The line for the ferryboat wasn’t as long but it was much longer than I wanted to wait. Being an experienced Disney veteran I led the group to the resort monorail where we were on the next monorail to come. I think that is one of the oversights by Disney visitors, after a long exhausting day at the park they forget or never knew in the first place that the TTC is the second stop for the resort monorail. I feel I can safely write this in my trip report because anyone who reads trip reports with any dedication is most likely already aware of the resort monorail secret.

When the monorail arrived at TTC we realized that we had just missed the bus to SoG (I told you this transfer thing was a pain in the butt) so we decided to continue on to the Poly and take the 10 minute walk back to the resort. The trail from the Poly to SoG is a beautiful walk. Both resorts have beautiful landscaping and the plants at Poly have the most incredible scents, not to mention an occasional monorail passing overhead, I just love them. Even being dead tired I enjoyed this walk every time I took it. We arrived at SoG at 10:00, just as the bus was heading to the TTC, so we saved 10 minutes of waiting and got even more exercise. When we got back to the room we watched a little of the Florida Tennessee football game and made plans for the next day. I turned the TV off at 11:30 to get some sleep since I had a hard time last night.

Day 3, September 19th,

Woke up today at 9:00, with my early bedtime last night, I was rejuvenated and ready to go. Suprisingly Bill slept in till 9:00 also; normally he gets up with the sun. The last couple of days must have worn him down a little. We got ready and were able to catch the 10:00 number 2 bus from SoG (that’s the bus that does the one hour round trip, staring at AK then going to Blizzard Beach the to MGM and finally back to SoG at the top of every hour). Our destination for this morning was AK,

The 10:00 bus got us to AK by about 10:10. About 25 feet from the bus Emily realized that she had left her park tickets in the hotel room. Before the bus pulled away we made plans for me and Becca to meet Bill and Emily at the entrance to AK in one hour, after they make the SoG round trip on the bus to get their tickets from the room.

Emily forgetting their tickets actually was beneficial for us. In that extra hour we went as anti-commando you can go while still moving. We had left SoG in such a hurry we had forgotten to stretch Becca’s back and legs, so we grabbed a bench outside the entrance where no one was and got Becca all ready for the day. After that we went into to the park and took a very slow walk through the Oasis. We always run through this part of the park on way to everything else. We went to the right this time, every other time we’ve gone through the left side, and stopped at all the animal habitats and read watch each animal was, except the birds, Becca hates birds.

After making it out of the Oasis we started to the Tree of Life, stopping to get our photograph by the CM’s taking photos. After the bridge we ducked into the souvenir shop. We ended up buying a couple chocolates. Having not eaten breakfast this morning that chocolate didn’t fill us up so headed toward Harambe and stopped at the Tusker house for a cheese danish and a milk. The hour was almost up so we made our way back to the entrance, eating the danish along the way.

Now it gets confusing, when we got to the gates it was now 11:00 and Becca realized that their tickets were in Emily’s purse, which was locked in our suitcase. The problem was they didn’t know where we put the key for our suitcase. I called back to the room and Emily was still there. I told her where the key was and she was able to get into the suitcase and get their tickets. She then said we would wait for the 12:00 bus and head over to AK. After some persuasion I convinced her to take the number 1 bus to the TTC and the take the AK bus, which is the bus stop directly in front of the SoG stop, to the park. She was very nervous but I told her that it’s very easy and if she has any questions or problems to ask any CM, they’re there to help you.

While I was doing this Becca went outside the gate to meet her father. Unfortunately Bill wasn’t out there, so we went back to the phone and called the room to leave a message for Bill to come to the park, we were all here. I figured while was at the phones I’d call my sister Amy who was watching our bassett hound Barty while we are away. She wasn’t there so I left a message. When we went back out we found Bill, so all we needed now was Emily. We walked out to the TTC drop off and sure enough 15 minutes later came the bus with Emily sitting in the very front. It was now 11:30 and we were ready to go in the park, again.

Since we had already explored the Oasis we took Bill and Emily (B&E) through and on to the rest of the park. Our first attraction was it’s Tough to be a Bug. Unfortunately there was no queue so we were unable to take our time and examine the Tree of Life. I didn’t mind for us so much because we’ve seen it several times, but this was B&E’s first time seeing it. They didn’t seem to mind so I guess it’s no big deal. The movie was great, my favorite on the property. It scared Emily to death, I guess they should warn senior citizens about the dark spaces and loud noises too.

After Bug we went into Dinoland, on our last trip we weren’t able to stop here so I was looking forward to going here again. We walked over to Countdown to Extinction and saw that there was a 25-minute wait. It was getting to be very hot and humid so I really didn’t feel like waiting for the ride so we decided to test out the Fastpass. We stepped up to the box and inserted our tickets and out came our Fastpass. We were assigned 12:45 to 1:45.

With our Fastpasses in hand we thought that it might be a good idea to walk over to Asia and get a Fastpass for Kali River Rapids. As I learned later you can’t have more than 1 Fastpass at a time so it’s probably best that we decided to go over to Asia later and take our chances with the line. Instead of Asia we decided to explore Cretaceous trail, the plant life was nice but I don’t know if there is suppose to be a point to this trail other than the fake dig sites that were set up in a couple of places. When we exited the trail it was 12:45 so we thought it would be a good idea to catch Tarzan Rocks. We figured if nothing else it would get us off our feet and out of the hot sun.

Tarzan Rocks turned out to be a very entertaining and energetic show. The stage alone was a work of art. The use of metal to represent the jungle helped to tie the movie to the performance and it also set the mood for the show. The show was divided up into 2 main parts. The first part of the show had a live band and singers, who were very energetic. The singers came out and interacted with the audience. While the band was rockin’ monkeys on rollerblades came on to the stage and did some extreme skating on the set with a ramp that popped out from under the drummer and throughout the metal jungle along the sides of the stage and out into the audience. The second part of the show was when Tarzan and Jane made an appearance. They did a beautiful performance, which consisted of a little bit of gymnastics and little bit of dancing. I thought the show was great, even Emily left the show saying she loved it and would want to see it again. We never did make it but it is definitely on the not to be missed list for my next trip.

After the show it was 1:30 so we decided to try our Fastpasses at Countdown. We got three passes instead of four because Becca’s bad back wouldn’t let her go on the ride. What I didn’t think of was that Becca would want to go through the queue with us to get part of the theming and get out of the heat. Luckily there was a kind CM that let Becca through without a pass after we told him that she wouldn’t be riding because of her back. She was able to stay with us all the way to the time machine where she slid all the way through the vehicle and waited for us at exit. The wait for Countdown was 35 minutes when we walked up to it. We walked to the Fastpass entrance and we walked through the entire queue, past everyone who had been waiting the last 30 minutes. It felt like I was doing something illegal cutting in front of all those people, but as Becca said, those people are dumb for not using the Fastpass, it’s not like everyone can’t use it. Our total wait time was about 5 minutes for this ride. To sum up, Fastpass rocks and the fewer people who use it, the better for us people that do.

It was now about 2:00 and we were a little hungry so we stopped to get a turkey leg before we left Dinoland. We finished our lunch on the way to Asia where we planned to ride Kali River Rapids. When we arrived at Kali there was a 20 minute wait so we decided to skip the Fastpass so we could save some time and get back to our air conditioned resort. Emily decided to stay dry and skip this ride, so the rest of us got in line. The wait was actually 20 minutes, which surprised me because I’ve found that they usually over guess the wait times, but the queue area was constructed with a great amount of detail. The ride itself was a bit of a disappointment. I thought the ride was way to short, and I barely got wet. It’s been a long time but I remember the Congo River Rapids at Busch Gardens to be a lot better. I guess that’s what I was expecting.

It was now the heat of the afternoon so we started the long walk back to the front of the park. We decided to skip the SoG bus so we caught a Disney bus to the TTC and grabbed the number 1 bus back to SoG. On our way back to the room we stopped at the concierge desk and made priority seating at Flying Fish for Tuesday night. When I got back to the room I watched some football and we deiced to order some room service before we went back out.

We ordered a bucket of fried chicken and were told it would take 25 minutes. 45 minutes later the chicken still wasn’t here. We were told that it was on its way and 5 minutes later it was delivered. We wanted to grab the 5:00 bus so by the time the food got here we only had 15 minutes to eat. I’m naturally a slow eater so I wasn’t able to enjoy the food, but we did make the number 1 bus to the TTC. From there we caught the MGM bus which was waiting and we were at the park a short time later. I must be starting to enjoy this park more because this is the most popular park at this point in our short trip.

Once in the park we made our way over to Little Mermaid but we had just missed it again so we decided to catch Muppets 3-D. We made it as far as New York Ave. and it started to downpour so we took shelter under an awning at one of the fake stores there. There was another family under the awning with us and we talked about which rides we had ridden and enjoyed. It’s interesting the people you meet at Disney out of the blue. The rain finally let up a little so we slipped on our ponchos and trudged over. By the time we got to the theatre it had just about stopped. Before we walked in to the theatre we noticed that all the strollers that had been left by families that went to see the show were now totally soaked. I would love to see those people when they get out, I could hear it now, “But it was perfectly clear when we went in…”

We walked in right at the end of the preshow and we were instructed to sit where we would like because there weren’t enough people to fill the theatre. We decided to go almost all the way down the row so we could be the first out of the theatre. After an exceptional performance by Kermit and the gang, except that dumb 3-D character they create, we made our way through a very light mist over to The Soundstage starring Drew Carrey. This was our first time at the attraction and I wasn’t overly impressed with it. My biggest issue with the show was putting on the headphones. Let’s face it, there are a lot of people who visit WDW that don’t have the best hygiene. Beside that I didn’t think the show had a strong enough story line, I kept thinking to myself, how did they get Drew Carrey to agree to do this?

After the soundstage we walked over to the tip board to see if they were still going to have Fantasmic tonight. We were told that it was still on but they can cancel it at anytime until the show begins. We decided to go down to Fantasmic to get seats. Before we went into the amphitheater we noticed that Tower was a walk-on so Bill and I entered the lobby and took the service elevator and got ready to scream. There was a girl in our elevator was scared to death. I looked back at her during one of the drops and she had her head buried in her friend’s shoulder. The picture was even funnier.

We met up with Becca and Emily outside of the giftshop and went to get our seats for Fantasmic. We sat in the Pocahontas section, the same section we sat in back in February. We had about 35 minutes before the show so we made a pit stop and I called my sister, Amy. She was home this time and said her and Barty were doing fine. The preshow was very funny, unfortunately I can’t remember his name but he was very entertaining. I enjoyed the show a lot more this time that I did in February, probably because I didn’t tape it this time and I was able to watch it.

When the show ended we joined the other 10,000 people that were all trying to get out at the same time. Halfway down Sunset Blvd. I thought that if I waited till the crowds cleared out I could get some great nighttime shots of Sunset and Hollywood Blvd. Becca and her parents wanted to go back to SoG so I said goodbye and I browsed through some of the shops while I was waiting for the park to clear out. It took about 20 minutes before the streets started to become empty. It was nice to just sit there watching everyone hurry by trying to get back to there bus or car. I was probably one of the last 200 people in the park, which allowed me to get some great shots of the park without any people in them. The reflection of the neon lights off of the buildings and the empty streets make the park a beautiful sight to see. I would highly recommend that if you go to see Fantasmic, take your time leaving the park. It’s more relaxing than having to fight the crowds all the way back to the busses, and I think this is the way the Imagineers wanted the park to be seen.

I wasn’t sure if the 9:40 SoG bus would be at the bus stop so I decided not to risk it and take the Poly bus, sure enough; I saw the number 2 SoG bus waiting, oh well. After a stop at the Wilderness Lodge and a brief stop at the TTC, where the number 1 SoG bus was waiting, missed that one too, the bus dropped me off a the Poly. After getting off the bus I took the peaceful 10-minute walk through the Poly and up Palm/Magnolia Drive to SoG. Instead of going to the room I went to the sportsbar where Becca and Bill where watching the Buffalo/Jets. After catching the second half of the game we changed into our swimsuits which Becca had brought with her and I took a dip in the Mickey shaped pool right outside the bar. The water was a little too cold for Becca so she sat it out as I did a very slow lap around the pool. After our abbreviated swim we headed back up to the room and I had a snack and a pop on our patio and then went to bed at 12:00

Day 4, September 20th,

I made everyone wake up early today for one reason, Test Track. I wanted to grab the 8:00 number 1 bus to the TTC and be to Epcot by 8:30. We did catch the 8:00 bus but when we got to the TTC they informed us that they were only running 1 monorail and we had missed the last one by 5 minutes. We grabbed a bench and I helped Becca to stretch her back as we waited. Eventually the monorail came and we were walking through the gates at 9:00. Once through the gates we made a beeline to Test Track, along with everyone else. Becca and Emily decided to sit this one out so Bill and I unloaded our gear and walked into and through most of the queue until we were stalled at the end. After 10 minutes of not moving I was relieved that they started letting people in again and weren’t shutting down the ride. We were given a front seat for the two of us so we were each able to sit on the end of the row. Despite a brief shutdown during the maneuvering part of the course, which I would have enjoyed at full speed, the ride was pretty good. Bill said the ride would have been better if they just took you out for the speed test, I agree but then you wouldn’t get the message of how GM is your guardian.

We met up with Becca and Emily, who were waiting for us when we exited, and we walked over to Wonders of Life pavilion for a late breakfast. This is another place that I don’t hear much about but is an absolute must for us everytime we’re in Epcot. Becca had her normal, toasted bagel with strawberry preserves, while I had a breakfast burrito, which I don’t remember being here in February but I’m glad it is now it was delicious. After our meal we watched Cranium Command, everyone of course loved it. I do wonder how long they’re going to keep the characters like Hanz and Franz from SNL, I’d imagine the younger kids have no idea who they are. We planned on catching the making of me but decided that we weren’t in the mood so instead we went over to Ellen’s Universe of Energy. It amazes me that this ride is 45 minutes long, it sure doesn’t feel like it.

From Ellen’s we made a brief stop in the new Mouse Gear store and then we went onto Spaceship Earth, the line said it was a 10 minute wait but it kept moving so it never seemed as long as they said. This ride was also the first of only two times someone recognized my RADP pin that I wore the whole vacation, actually I put it on my camcorder bag, but I always had with me so that’s just as good. I also never saw any other pins the entire trip either. It was a CM at Spaceship Earth who saw me and said “oh, an RADPer”. Unfortunately by the time I realized what he said he was on to the car behind us and I was unable to catch his name. Becca was really excited she told me that I definitely have to write that in my trip report

After meeting a new friend we went to ice station cool to get out of the heat and humidity. I noticed that as soon as you get into the pop dispensing area to your left they have a current feed of the weather station that is carried in the Disney resort rooms. So if you’re in future world and want to know if its going to rain stop in and check how the rest of your day will be. After we were cooled off enough we headed to World Showcase and went to Canada first where we looked over the menu for LeCellier. Becca and I ate here our last trip and loved it. From there we went through the shops and walked over to see Oh Canada, but it didn’t start for 15 minutes so we decided to head for the U.K. on our way out we walked along the water instead of back up the stairs. I’ve never seen this little trail before and apparently not many other people do either because we were the only ones on it. The trail let us out at LeCellier where we walked along the garden and then back onto the promenade.

We walked past the Millenium Pavilion where the construction crew was putting the finishing touches on the walkway. Unfortunately it won’t be open by the time we have to leave. That just gives us another excuse to come back. We were eating at Rose and Crown tonight so we stopped in and requested a seat on the water to get a good view of Illuminations. After our brief stop we went through the shops and saw Peter Pan, Cpt. Hook and Mary Poppins signing autographs. On our way out the Worldshowcase Performers were just starting their Holy Grail skit. We stayed to watch and were thoroughly entertained. It amazes me the amount of entertainment that Disney throws at you. When the show ended we continued on down to France where we browsed the shops until Impressions de France was seating. While we were waiting in the lobby of the theatre I read all displays explaining different parts of Notre Dame. The movie was very good but not nearly as entertaining as the French CM who was hilarious. He did his best French are great lovers stereotype, it was great, everyone in the theatre enjoyed it.

After the movie we left the World Showcase and walked to the monorail and went back to our resort for an afternoon rest. When we got to SoG Becca decided not to join us for lunch so she could get some rest so we went to Evergreens for a quick lunch. I had the chicken fingers, which were good and the service was fast. Bill and Emily also enjoyed their meals. After lunch we still had 2 hours before we planned to go back to Epcot so I decided to grab my camera and take some pictures. I had originally planned on just taking pictures around the resort, but I figured with almost 2 hours before we were leaving I could heard over and get some shots around the Magic Kingdom. After getting some good shots I realized I had left myself with very little time to get back to SoG and to get ready to head back out. I decided to take the resort monorail back to the TTC because the express had a line for it and I didn’t think I would make it to the TTC in time to catch the SoG number 1 bus. As it turns out I missed the bus with the Resort monorail also. This left me at TTC with a long jog back to SoG with very little time. I finally made it to SoG, alive, and Bill and Emily were already waiting for the bus, even though we still had 15 minutes before the bus, that’s old people for you. Back at the room I cleaned up, changed and we made it out to the bus with a couple minutes to spare.

At the TTC we had just missed the monorail so that meant we were the first people for the next one, perfect candidates for the front car, which we were given. The front cab is always a great seat, especially on the trip to Epcot with such a long ride. Our driver was great and once we initiated conversation with him he kept talking, mostly about the monorail, he was very informative. We arrived at Epcot to a light rain that we walked through until we were in front of Fountain view café when it started to come down a little heavier. We waited out the heavy stuff for about 3 minutes inside the café and then continued on to the World Showcase. Bill needed to eat a little something so we started in Mexico and kept walking until China where he bought soup to tide him over until our dinner.

After Bill’s quick meal we walked over to Germany where we browsed through the shops and then we decided to split up. Bill and Emily wanted to see Lord of the Dance and we didn’t feel like it so we said we would meet up at dinner at 8:00. We went to Italy and looked through he shops there also. Of course we never buy anything but it’s fun to look. After Italy we walked to America determined to see the American Adventure because we haven’t seen this yet in all the times we’ve been here. Of course when we go to walk in we were told that they were having a private party. Maybe next trip. We kept walking and enjoyed the drummers that were performing in Japan. Becca is always amazed at how strong the drummers are. It is such a great show, we never plan on seeing it, in fact we forget they even have it, but we are always very lucky and are able to watch it. After the wonderful show we walked through the department store and then we walked on to Morocco where we caught the end of a performance. I wish I could say more about it but when we arrived they were rolling up their mats and walking away. Becca and I took our time walking around Morocco. This is our favorite country. The architecture and tile works are beautiful.

Next we walked by France and on to UK where we checked in 30 minutes early for our 8:00 seating at the Rose and Crown Pub. 15 minutes later Becca’s parents showed up and 5 minutes later we were seated. Our request was granted and we were seated right along the railing on the lagoon. We made our drink orders and then the rain started to come down. Our table had an umbrella over it so the light rain didn’t really hit us. Unfortunately it started to come down heavier. Luckily a table opened up right behind us under the covered seating area and our waitress offered it to us. Not having to dodge the raindrops made it much easier to enjoy our meals. I had the prime rib, which I enjoyed more than Bill enjoyed his. Becca had fish and chips and thought it was O.K.. As 9:00 approached the manager came over to our tables and offered to raise the plastic screen that was lowered to keep out the rain. Everyone agreed to risk getting wet in order to get a better view of Illuminations. The seats were as good as I have read they are. My only complaint with our seats were that in front of the restaurant were bright purple lights that were used to illuminate the UK during the show. It kinda took away from the impact of the show but besides that it was great. The service was below par though. I don’t know if it is because our waitress relocated us to an area that wasn’t hers but she only checked on us a couple of times.

After Illuminations had finished Becca and I decided we wanted to go Downtown Disney. Becca’s parents said they were to tired and were going to go back to SoG. We ended up walking onto the Friendship out of Epcot at 9:30. We didn’t want to get caught up in the crowds at Boardwalk so we decided to get off at Swan and Dolphin and get a bus from there. Boy was that a mistake. After walking through the Swan we walked out to the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited for about 25 minutes for the bus to show up. By the time we made it to the Marketplace it was 10:30. We walked briskly over to World of Disney where made a brief stop to look at the new kaleidoscope that wasn’t there last time we were. In WoD we walked around a picked up a few things that we had shipped back to SoG. After making our purchases we went back to the bus stop and began our long journey back to the resort with a long wait at the marketplace and another long wait at the TTc and arrived back at SoG around 12:30.

Day 5, September 21st:

Bill and I woke up around 7:30 today and caught the number 1 bus to the TTC and then we jumped on the Downtown Disney bus, which was waiting for us, and took it to the Marketplace. At the marketplace we walked across the street to the Whyndom Palace Resort where we were to pick up our rental car. We found Alamo rental car very easily and by 9:30 we were in our Cavalier on our way back to SoG. Back at SoG we picked up Becca and Emily with plans to see some shops off of the property. Our first stop was breakfast at the Waffle House that we saw off of I-4 on our way from the airport. The food was great, of course, and the restaurant was the cleanest and largest Waffle House I have ever seen. After breakfast we continued down I-4 to the Belz outlet mall to visit the Character Premiere. It was pretty easy to find the mall (with brochures in hand). This place had great bargains. We bought a few things very cheap and saw other items we had purchased on previous trips for a fraction of what we paid for them.

After our making our purchases we went back to SoG, got changed into our swim gear and headed back out to Typhoon Lagoon. We found a spot to put our stuff, which wasn’t hard because the park was deserted, on the Shark Reef side of the wave pool. After setting our stuff down I taped a little of the wave pool, the lazy river and of Shark Reef and ran the camcorder back out to the car so I didn’t have to worry about it. When I got back Becca was laying in a chair and her parents had gone for a walk so I decided to do a little body surfing in the wave pool and then go swimming with the sharks. The Shark Reef is the reason that we came to TL. I love this attraction, I think it could be the best thing to do at all of WDW. After my swim I went back to meet up with Becca and we went for a lap around the lazy river. This is always great especially when you’ve got the ride all to yourself. I couldn’t imagine this place in the summer. After our lap we went back to our stuff which we had left with Becca’s mom to watch. Emily wasn’t too happy to be here, she originally wanted to stay in the room but we convinced her to come with us, maybe we shouldn’t have. The three of us went to hit some water rides and left Emily to pout under her umbrella.

We made our way over to the family raft rides and Bill and I went on the tube rides. After the tubes we went to Humunga Cowabunga, which I loved but Bill said he liked the water slides, which we did next, better. After one trip down the water slides we made our way back to the wave pool to meet up with the girls. It was around 4:00 so we packed up our gear and went back to SoG. Once the air conditioning was going in the car Emily said she started to feel much better. When we got back to our room Becca and I unloaded our gear and headed back out to the MK since we had a few hours before dinner. We parked in the diamond lot, which turned out to be a hassle when we were leaving. We took the express monorail to save some time even though we really wanted to take it but we figured we could grab the ferry when we have more time. Once in MK we decided to hit some rides in Fantasyland, figuring Bill and Emily wouldn’t be interested in these rides.

Our first ride, Snow White, was a walk on. We both love this ride. I’ve read on RADP a lot of people would like this ride replace with another but I’m glad it’s here. They’ve taken enough of Walt out of the park; it’s good to know that Walt’s first full-length feature is still represented. Our next ride was our favorite in Fantasyland, Peter Pan. The whole ride is great but the effect of flying over London is amazing. After Pan we had about an hour before we had to leave so we decided to wait the 40 minutes for Pooh. I know a lot of people miss Toad but I thought that Pooh was a great ride. They added a lot of twists and turns that the other Fantasyland rides don’t have. We exited the ride and walked through the gift shop that had the most atrocious smell. It was like nothing I had ever smelled before, I assume it’s because it’s new and eventually the smell will go away. I felt sorry for the CM that had to work there. We left MK and grabbed the monorail back to the TTC. Once at the TTC I ran ahead to the diamond lot, which was a hassle because the trams weren’t servicing the Diamond lot and Handicap parking. Once I finally got to the car I drove to the beginning of the handicap lot and picked up Becca. We left the parking lot and had to drive all the way around the parking lot out of the MK resort area and then turn around and come back through the MK parking lot gates. All just to get back to my resort. I imagine all of the MK resort area guests take the monorail so only SoG guests with a car have to go through the grief we went through. Lucky us. We finally arrived back at SoG, changed for diner and then headed back out to the Boardwalk.

We decided to save money and skip the valet parking tonight. We arrived 5 minutes early for our 8:00 priority seating for Flying Fish and were seated right away. This restaurant was incredible. The detail in the architecture, the colors used and the atmosphere make this restaurant an incredible place to be. Then you get to eat their food, which was delicious. I had the red snapper wrapped in potato with leeks to go along with my yummy rum drink, while Becca had the tilefish. We both were happy that the food was as good as the atmosphere. Although I couldn’t finish all the leeks, a little too slimy after a while. After our incredible meal we stepped next door to pick up some chocolates at the bakery. To our surprise they were doing renovations to the interior and had all the chocolates put away. We walked outside and expressed our disappointment to each other when a CM, who I think was someone in a management position, overheard us and explained that they were remodeling to create a better traffic pattern and from our experience here the other night we agreed it was pretty bad. The CM then brought us inside and had a cashier go into the back room and get us the chocolates we wanted. It’s things like this that make Disney the magical place it is.

After we got our chocolate fix we very briefly walked through the Boardwalk and decided to show Bill and Emily some other resorts on the property. Our first stop was to continue down the road and visit the All Stars. The guard was very pleasant and told us not to miss Movies. We tried to get a look at Sports and Music but we didn’t find them very car friendly. Then we continued down to Movies and loved the theming. We were able to get a decent look at all the different movie themes without getting out of the car. We all loved this one, especially the Toy Story area. The army guys on top of the buildings and the bucket ‘o soldiers around the stairwells were great touches. After the All Stars we took Bill and Emily the Wilderness Lodge. Their reactions here were the same as ours the first time we came here. Becca and I both think this is the most exciting resort on the property. After our brief resort hopping we drove down the road to SoG where we relaxed watching TV and went to bed early to get plenty of rest for our early start tomorrow.

Day 6, September 22nd:

Today we woke up around 7:30 and were dressed and ready in time to catch the 8:00 bus that got us to AK by 8:15. We walked through the gates and went straight to Kilamanjari Safari, along with everyone else, where we inserted our tickets into the magical boxes and got back out Fastpasses. We had about an hour so we took the Pagnini Forest Exploration trail right next door. The trail was as great as I remembered it. What’s nice about the trails at AK is that you can take your time looking and reading. They are probably the most enjoyable places in AK. We were able to see a baby hippo lying in the water with his mother and this time the gorillas were out, and very rambunctious. They seemed like they were having a great time rough housing with each other without a care in the world. By the time we exited the trail it had been an hour and our Fastpass was now valid.

We walked our way past all the people in line. When we got to the front of the line the people in front of us gave the CM a piece of paper. The CM looked at it as they were walking away and said to us “40 minute wait, sound about right?” We told him we used the Fastpass and it was only about a 5-minute wait. When we asked him why so many people didn’t use the Fastpass he told us he had no idea. We were loaded into our safari truck and were on our way. The animals seemed to be in more abundance this time and very close to the trail. Our driver got VERY excited with every animal we saw. When Becca and I got our vacation pictures back we noticed that all the pictures we took on the safari we already have at least 2 of from previous trips. We decided that the driver was to blame because her excitement caused us to get excited and take more pictures. It’s all a Disney conspiracy to get you to buy more film. Now we’re hip to there trick and we’ll be wiser the next time. N.K.K. No Kameras on Kilomanjari!

We decided to take the train to Conservation Station. The station could be very interesting if we had spent more time there but unfortunately we were somewhat rushed through here. I did really enjoy the train ride there but I don’t know why they have you walk so far from the train station to the main building. After CS we decided to skip lunch for the moment and we went to Camp Minnie and Mickey to watch Festival of the Lion King. The show was very good and everyone enjoyed it. After the show I left the group and grabbed a quick lunch at Pizzafari before I grabbed a bus to Disney Institute tot take my Disney’s amazing Architecture tour, which I will briefly go over in the next few paragraphs. Becca and her parents ended up eating lunch at the Tusker House, which they loved, and went back to S.o.G. to rest a little.

I made it to DI by 1:40, 20 minutes early for my tour. I was worried that I would be late and hold up the whole tour. As it turned out I was early and I was the only one on the tour. Which turned out to be good and bad. It was nice to have a lot of personnel conversation with Rich, my tour guide, but it would have been nice to have a few other people there to here different points of view and comments regarding their architecture. Our first two stops were the most interesting on the tour. We took the van from DI and drove down the rode to the Casting Center by Robert AM Stern. Rich pointed out how Stern tried to combine touches of Fantasyland, with its use of the diamond pattern on the building and sidewalks and the character door handles, and Tomorrowland, with the use of the spires. Stern also called on past visits to Italy with his use of glass along the front and back of the building as if it is framing a bridge from over the waterways in Venice to create the proper theme for this building. This same arched bridged is used on the interior where it goes over the hallway that leads to the interviewing area. Along the hallway there are paintings on the walls and the use of skylights along all public areas are meant to give the building a light feeling and to help perspective CM feel more comfortable.

Our next stop was the next door at the Team Disney building designed by Arata Isozaki. Isozaki combined the concept of time and his Japanese heritage in the design of this building. His use of time is the more obvious of the two in this building. The most commonly known is the world’s largest sundial that is used as the centerpiece of the building. Inside the sundial is a rock garden that was inspired from his heritage. Along the rock garden is a marble stone pathway that has famous quotes engraved in some of them. The less obvious use of time in the design of the building would be seen most clearly from above where when looking down on the building it is in the shape of a wrist watch with the sundial being the timepiece and the north and south wings being the watch bands. The second inspiration for this building was from his Japanese heritage where Isozaki used such things as the rock garden, which was mentioned above, and the use of water around the building. The 2 Mickey shaped archways you drive through are in line with a third that creates the entrance into the Team Disney building are believed by Japanese to cleanse the soul of any person who travels through them. After spending most of the time in the sundial, which was a fascinating eerie quiet place because of the cylindrical space that is constructed of non-structural foam.

From the Downtown Disney we went backstage at Epcot. We drove around the back of the world showcase pavilions. The pavilions were stripped of all ornamentation, total contrast of the front of the pavilions where great attention to detail is used. I was also able to see the new sphere that is used for Illuminations 2000 before the soft opening and was told by Rich that today would be the first day for the new show. We parked behind the American pavilion and started walking to the public areas. Rich pointed out detail on the Italy pavilion in the backstage area that was added on because of the construction of the Swan and Dolphin made it possible for guests to see this backstage area. We entered world showcase on the side of the American pavilion passing through the cast member’s only gate and the signs that were posted reminding CM’s to smile because they are on stage.

We first stopped at the American pavilion where Rich pointed out how they used forced perspective the opposite of Main St. and tried to make a 5 story building look like a 3 story building to hide the 2000 seat auditorium inside. They accomplished this by using slightly larger doors and windows and by using grayer shades of white paint as the building goes up. The second pavilion we visited was Italy. Here forced perspective was used the same as on Main St. in MK and it helps to make the building look bigger than it is. Rich also said the tower, which is 1/5th the size of the original was placed on the right side of the building where the original it was modeled after in Italy has the tower on the left side of the building. This was done to make the tower the center point of the courtyard. As we walked out of Italy Rich pointed out the real grapevines that are growing on the side of the courtyard that most people overlook.

We walked back to the van and began to head over to A.S. Movies. We entered the resort through the Toy Story area, which I liked the best, and proceeded to the pool area. I also enjoyed the Fantasia themed pools and buildings. After walking through the Love Bug section and the food court we went back to the van and on to Coronado Springs. It was nice to see these resort since I had never been to either, but I didn’t learn too much about either place. It was more of a sight seeing tour at this point. I would have liked to have seen the R.C.I.D. firehall or heard about the buildings from 1920’s Hollywood that Imagineers used as inspiration for MGM.

Our final stop was at Wilderness Lodge. Although I had been on the free architectural tour they offer here in the past and know quite a bit about this resort, it was fun to be here with Rich. He was management on the opening team for this resort and he knows quite a bit about this place. He stressed throughout our stay here at WL how this was built to be environmentally friendly. All of the natural wood, some of the “wood” is actually steel that is designed to look like wood, are dead trees that were found in the northwest and hauled to WDW for construction. The total amount of logs used, if put end to end, would be over 60 miles in length. He also pointed out how all of the natural material used, headwear, animal skin lampshade, are not natural at all but actually synthetic. We finished walking through the lobby and back to the geyser, along the way Rich told me some facts about the resort, almost all of which I had known from the free tour the lodge offers. After the geyser erupted we walked back to the van and Rich was kind enough to drop me off at SoG instead of taking me back to DI and having to take the bus.

Becca was pleasantly surprised to see me back so early; she wasn’t expecting me for another 45 minutes. After resting for a while we went to the SoG restaurant for the prime rib buffet. The food was pretty good with a large variety of sides to choose from. After dinner we wanted to take it kinda easy tonight so we drove over to Poly to visit the monorail resorts. We walked through the Poly, which is one of my favorite resorts and continued down the beach towards the Grand Floridian. Along the way we stopped outside of the Wedding Pavilion where there was a wedding going on tonight. I would love to have seen the interior but there was a wedding going on, so I didn’t cross over the bridge. As we walked away we saw another couple trying to walk in but they were asked to leave by a CM. After they left the CM then closed the gate to make sure no one else tried to sneak in.

As we were walking up to GF we had to walk around a party that was being catered right on the beach. There must have been more than 300 people there along with a full band, food stations and 3 bars. A lot of the people at the party had Volvo clothing on so I assume it was a party for people involved with the company. We sat on the porch at GF and enjoyed the band and the party from a safe distance before entering the lobby. This was Bill and Emily’s first time at this resort and they were both very impressed, as most people are I’m sure. We relaxed for a while, listening to the band inside before we strolled around the grounds. This really is a wonderful resort, not just the lobby but the grounds themselves, which are beautifully groomed. After a nice walk around GF we walked up to the monorail and rode over to the Contemporary. Since it was getting late (for them) we took the elevator up to California Grille and walked out onto the balcony. I love the view of MK from here at night. Seeing all the neon of tomorrowland and the warm glow of the lights on Main St. is one of the most magnificent views on the property.

After our visit to the roof we jumped back on the monorail and took it back to Poly where we walked back to the car and took Bill and Emily back to SoG because they were getting tired. We realized that our vacation was quickly coming to an end so we decided to visit the West Side since we wouldn’t have to deal with the hassle of the busses. We parked near the AMC movie theatre where we pondered, unless you live in Orlando, why would you come to WDW and see a movie, of course we’re not big moviegoers. We stopped at a couple of shops along the way but they were so crowded it was difficult to browse. We did manage to pick up some peanut butter chocolates, of course. We continued down past DisneyQuest and walked into the Cirque de Soliel gift shop. I love this building. This is an incredible piece of architecture, possibly one of the most unique and appealing buildings on the property. I would love to have seen this show but I had a choice between this, golf and my tour, I opted for the tour. We left the gift shop and somehow managed to walk all the way back to our car in our exhausted state.

As long as we were now sitting instead of walking we decided to visit Caribbean Beach Resort, the resort we stayed at on our honeymoon. We made a quick lap around the resort, which looked as beautiful as ever. I’ve read a lot of negative posts about CBR, but it’s one of my favorite resorts, moderate or not. The themeing is very fun and relaxing. We decided that we would come back tomorrow to walk around while we drove back to SoG. Back at the resort I caught up on my trip report notes and then we went to bed.

Day 7, September 23rd,

Today was MK day, but our first concern was breakfast. When we were here in February Kona Café was closed for refurbishment. It was now open and there was no way we were going to miss out on Tonga Toast this trip. We had Bill and Emily drop us off at the Polynesian and we made plans to meet up with them at 11:00. The breakfast was excellent. Becca had the Tonga Toast and I had eggs and pancakes, although we ended up splitting the meal. The atmosphere was incredible. The architecture of the restaurant really blends well with the theme of the whole resort, which I love. After breakfast we walked to the monorail and made our way to MK. With a little time before we had to meet Becca’s parents we took a leisurely stroll down Main St. Becca walked through the shops while I walked down the street looking at the names that are on the windows.

We continued on through the castle and took a seat outside of Sir Mickey’s and a couple minutes later Becca’s parents arrived. The first thing we HAD to do was ride the skyway since it was running today. It seems everytime we visit MK it isn’t running. We caught the skyway in Fantasyland and enjoyed our ride to Tomorrowland. It’s a good thing we did too, as I am writing this it was announced that WDW has closed the skyway. It was now 11:45 and I realized I wasn’t going to be able to attend the R.A.D.P. meet outside Swiss Family Treehouse.

We stopped quickly at Space Mountain and picked up a Fastpass before we jumped in line for Alien Encounter. I really wanted to sit near Emily because I knew she’d get scared. She didn’t disappoint, she left the attraction spooked, it was very funny. After AE we walked by timekeeper but the countdown timer outside said it was 18 minutes until the next show. We figured we just missed it so we walked right by. As it turned out I think the timer was broken because every time we walked by, it always said 18 minutes. Next we walked over to Carousel of Progress. This is always a favorite. After thoroughly enjoying CoP our hour was up so Bill and I walked by a bunch of people who didn’t take advantage of Fastpass, fools. Once we got inside there was a problem with the ride and we had to wait a few minutes while they repaired the problem. To fix the problem they had to turn on the lights, which was a neat thing to see. Eventually they got the ride running and we were on our way.

We met up with Becca and Emily, who were trying to escape the heat in the shade, and walked over to Buzz Lightyear. Becca’s parents didn’t want to defeat Zurg so they decided to take a break while we went on the ride. I really wanted to beat Becca, every time we go on this ride she seems to beat me somehow. The results this time were no different. I scored 270,000 while Becca scored 310,000. But she kinda cheated. The ride stopped toward the end and she kept shooting the same target. I wanted to be fair so I tried to hit different targets, I won’t make that mistake again.

We pretty much finished off Tomorrowland so we started back toward Fantasyland with a brief stop at Cosmic Ray’s for a quick bite. After our meal we squeezed in Haunted Mansion before heading out, making a brief stop for a Dole Whip on the way. When we arrived back at the Poly Becca and I decided that since we had some time, no relaxing for us, that we would take the DVC tour. We had really no plans to buy the DVC today but we really wanted to know more about it so we figured why not. The DVC representative at Poly was very nice and arranged to have us picked up for the tour.

We arrived at the Boardwalk and given a quick tour of the resort before we were taken to the lobby. We had some refreshments while we waited and looked out across the lake at the Yacht and Beach. This was our first time here during the day and the colors used were just amazing. After a few minutes we were greeted by our guide and given the grand tour. The rooms were incredible and the price in the long run can’t be beat but we still had to pass on the offer, much to our guides’ amazement. He made one last sales pitch to us before he showed us he door. The tour was great but the salesman was a little more high pressure and rude than I thought a Disney employee should be. I understand he has to do his job, but I thought he was a little extreme. They did get us a ride back to SoG where we met up with Becca’s parents who were relaxing in the room.

When we got back to our room we rested briefly and drove over to DD Marketplace for dinner. We decided to eat at Rainforest and were seated right away along the water with a view of a beautiful sunset. A seat inside had a 45-minute wait. It was also nice to be able to watch all the lights come on at DD as night came. The food was incredible. When we ate here on our honeymoon in 1997 I had the ribs, which were delicious so I decided to try them again. I wasn’t disappointment. These are the ribs that I compare all others too, I still haven’t found there equal. After our dinner we stayed in the Marketplace and visited all the main stores before we went back to the car and back to our resort.

Since it was still early, for us at least, we went back to the room and grabbed our swim gear and drove over to visit our honeymoon hotel, CBR. We stopped in at Olde Port Royale and bought a pin to go along with the pin we purchased during our Port Orleans stay. After buying our goods we walked outside and were overwhelmed by how many people where at the poolside bar and the pool. They were even setting up for a band that started playing a half-hour after we arrived. It was a very exciting atmosphere. The hot tub was also crowded, unfortunately, so we waited a little bit for it to clear out instead of squeezing in and making it uncomfortable. The hot tub was just what we needed at this point in our vacation. During our stay at Port Orleans we visited the hot tub every night and being in one here makes us wish SoG had one.

After our short stay in the hot tub we got out and took a walk along the lake where we found a hammock and relaxed for a while. CBR at night is beautiful; each village looks very vibrant and exciting with the floodlights on them. We decided to head back to SoG before we fell asleep. When we got back to the resort we watched a little TV and I caught up on my trip notes.

Day 8, September 24th;

This was a very exciting morning for me. Today was the day that after being closed for a major refurbishment Splash Mountain was open. This is one of my favorite rides at WDW so I made plans to be there first thing this morning. I invited everyone to join me but Becca and her mom decided to sleep a little longer and Bill had to return the car this morning so he wouldn’t be able to join me either. That meant it was going to be a solo trip for me this morning.

I bummed a ride off of Bill to the Poly and arrived by 8:20. I jumped on the monorail and was walking in MK at 8:45. I joined the growing crowd that was gathering outside Liberty Square and waited for the official opening of the park. Once the announcement was made the crowd poured through the entrance and with that the Splash Mountain dash was on. It was a good thing I was toward the front of the crowd because apparently the ride wasn’t quite ready and we all had to wait 35 minutes before it finally opened. The ride was well worth the wait and I was even lucky enough to get to sit in the font of the log.

I was running pretty late after the ride because of the delay so I had to hustle back to the entrance to meet up with Becca. As we were pulling into the TTC I saw the SoG bus and decided that I wouldn’t be able to catch it so I continued on to the Poly and jogged back to SoG from there. It was a quick 5-minute jog, on a muggy day like today a bus would have been much nicer though. When I arrived at the resort Bill and Emily were already waiting so I kept my fast pace all the way back to the room where Becca was ready and waiting, so after a quick freshening up, we were out the door and on the next bus to Epcot.

We were to meet Bill and Emily at 12:00 at the entrance to World Showcase so that allowed us to take our time walking through Future World. We made it to WS 15 minutes early and B&E were waiting for us. They wanted a nice lunch so we gave them our MK Card and they walked to LeCellier. We decided to take a friendship to Italy and make our way back toward Mexico in order to meet her parents in an hour. Once we departed the boat we skipped Italy and walked to China where we browsed through the shops but didn’t buy anything. Next we went to Norway where we jumped in line for Maelstrom with no wait. This was a great ride and even better that we had no wait for the theatre, which we walked right through. We told each other that the next time we visit Norway we’ll see the movie. We walked through the shops past the beautiful Scandinavian cast members, which I feel are the most attractive CM’s in all WDW.

As we were leaving Norway we made our way to Mexico where we stopped for lunch at San Angel Inn. We ordered our standard, Plato Combinacion, which was delicious. Lunch was especially great this time because it was the first time in all our visits to this restaurant that we didn’t have to dodge raindrops. After lunch we quickly walked through the pavilion and went to meet Becca’s parents.

Bill and Emily were waiting for us again at the entrance to the rose path. They told us how great lunch was as we walked to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The movie was really good, although it’s still 3rd on my list behind Bug and Muppets. From Honey we walked to the Land Pavilion where we went on the boat ride through the garden. This is always a great ride with so much information, even for someone like me who doesn’t garden or even like vegetables. One of these times we plan on taking the guided walking tour. Our last stop for the afternoon was the Living Seas Pavilion. Last time we were here they were working on the tanks and the water was very cloudy. It was nice to be able to see the fish this time. After the “tour” we walked over and watched the Manatee’s swim around. They seem so happy just swimming and munching on lettuce. Becca was pretty disgusted by the manatee poo floating around so we walked to the observation deck for the tank where we saw sharks, big turtles and dolphins swimming around. After watching the fish for a while we separated with Bill and Emily who wanted to stay at the park while we went back to the room to eat dinner and rest a little.

We jumped on the monorail and went through the long process of getting back to SoG. We got back to our room and vegged out in front of the TV before we eventually went down to the sportsbar for a quick dinner followed by a swim in the rectangular pool. The Mickey head pool was pretty crowded with a bunch of kids we wanted to avoid. After our swim we changed and headed back out to meet up with Becca’s parents at Epcot at 7:00. Bill and Emily were waiting for us again at the entrance to WS where we joined up again and walked to Italy stopping briefly at China for Bill to grab some rice to eat.

We stopped in front of Italy where we laid claim to a nice piece of land to watch Illuminations 2000 from. We had to wait over an hour for the show to start but once it got going we decided the wait was well worth it. We all really enjoyed the show, much more than the original. After the show Bill and Emily made their way back to the resort, of course this meant having to walk from Italy to the monorail with all the crowds. Becca and I decided to grab a seat where we were and wait for the crowds to thin out a little. After about 10 minutes we started back toward the entrance. We made it as far as China before we were inspired by the view and decided to sit along the lagoon and enjoy the moment. We waited another 10 minutes looking at the countries across the lagoon and watching the people rush by us on there way out the park.

We finally made it out of WS and stopped again to watch kids playing in the water fountains between WS and FW. They seemed to be having so much fun. While we were watching the kids the fountain started its performance so we watched that for a while. This is a great show, especially at night with the illuminated water. After the water show we finally made it to the monorail. It’s nice when you can take your time leaving the park; it’s much more enjoyable than fighting the crowds. The monorail was slightly delayed but eventually we were on our way to the TTC where the SoG bus was waiting to take us back to the resort where we went right to bed to rest up for our last full day.

Day 9, September 25th:

Today was the day that Becca and Emily were waiting for, Soap Star Weekend at MGM. Although MGM was our primary goal today, our first priority was breakfast. In keeping with tradition we made priority seating at Crystal Palace for our last day at the parks. We woke up early today in order to make it to MK for our 8:30 seating. We were seated about 8:45 and enjoyed an excellent breakfast. Even Becca’s parents thought it was worth spending the extra money for this meal. After breakfast we walked through tomorowland where timekeeper was a long wait again so we decided to skip it this trip and make our way to Hall of Presidents. After enjoying HoP we walked back to the entrance where we took the monorail to the TTC and jumped on the bus to begin our Soap Star Weekend at MGM.

All the traffic should have given us an early indication on how crowded this park would be but I had no idea it could be as bad as it was. There was a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot that reached out of the entrance and down Buena Vista Drive in both directions. After fighting the traffic (from the WDW bus) we finally made it to the drop off and walked up to the gate. Once we entered we were greeted by hordes of people all rushing to see their favorite star. I’ve been to WDW during the peak summer months and this park was the most crowded I’ve ever been in. We made a quick game plan around which stars we wanted to see and made our way to New York Ave where some All My Children stars were signing autographs. Even with the temperatures and humidity being very high they were very friendly and personable.

After getting our quick star fix we walked back to the forecourt of the Chinese theatre where there were more soap stars in an interview type of setting. Bill and I decided to fight our way through the crowds in order to get fastpasses for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. By the time we got back to Becca and Emily at the theatre the show was just about to end so we walked to the Doug Live theatre which was being used for more Soap Star interviews. We were about 45 minutes early but they were showing the current show that was going on inside on the monitors so I wasn’t that bad. Until for some reason they made us all take a couple of steps forward where we stood together squeezed in like rats for 15 minutes. I understand wanting us to move in a little to let more people in, but to make us wait 15 minutes with complete strangers invading our personnel space is uncalled for. This place became even more fun once the doors were opened. I swear these loser ex-housewives couldn’t get in there fast enough, a majority of the crowd I was around were incredibly rude and had no common courtesy. Once inside it was nice to sit down for an hour in an air-conditioned room. The show wasn’t that bad either.

As the show was ending we noticed that we were at the end of our window for the RnRC Fastpass. Bill and I made our way out of the theatre after the show and boogied across the park were we were let in even though our passes expired at 1:20 and it was now 1:22. I love walking by all those people. The ride was so great; again, as we were walking out we stopped to get another set of Fastpasses for ourselves. Becca was waiting for us on Sunset Blvd. And we walked down to meet Emily who was in one of the shops. We decided to catch Voyage of the Little Mermaid since we haven’t been there yet, on our way to VoLM we were able to see some of the star motorcade going down Hollywood Blvd. Even though we had very bad seats for VoLM everyone loved the show. After the girls wanted to see more soap stars so we split up again and Bill and I went back down Sunset Blvd. where we rode ToT and RnRC, with our Fastpasses, again. When we were walking out of RnRC we planned on going on ToT one more time but Becca and Emily were waiting for us under one of the shelters trying to keep dry.

Becca and I wanted to hit MK today so we decided to go our own way. We made our way to Echo Lake via the shops along Sunset Blvd in hopes of staying dry and sure enough by the time we made it to Hollywood Blvd. the rain had let up. There were a couple pictures Becca wanted to get before we left so as she was waiting for them to show up I went down to package pickup to get our mug we had exchanged. By the time I met up with Becca the people she wanted to see were there and we decided to head back to SoG to dry off a little. We made the 3:40 bus back to SoG, thanks partially to me running through the parking lot and holding the bus for Becca. The trip back to the resort was especially enjoyable, thanks mostly due to the college football game that was on the bus TV.

After a well-deserved rest in our room we made our way back out and grabbed the bus to TTC. The second half of today was the most enjoyable time I had the whole vacation. This was our last night at WDW and we wanted to enjoy it so we decided to take this park nice and easy. We took the ferryboat across the lagoon for the first time this trip. We wanted to visit Toontown since we haven’t been this trip yet so we decided to take the train around the park instead of fighting the crowds. We arrived at Toontown to hordes of people. Although the crowds weren’t nearly as bad as at MGM it was still quite crowded.

Our first stop was to pay a visit to Mickey’s house, from there we stopped at the tent next door where we picked up a couple things for our friend’s daughters. After our shopping we tried to walk through Minnie’s house but it was incredibly crowded so we decided to walk out once we saw how bad it was. These few things took care of Toontown for us so we walked over to Legend of the Lion King but missed the next showing so we decided to head over to Tomorrowland. We hoped to have a rematch at Buzz but there was a 25-minute wait so we decided to skip it. So that our trip here wasn’t a waste of time we decided to ride the TTA, which never has a wait. This is a very enjoyable way to tour Tomorrowland.

After TTA we walked through the rose garden on our way back over to LotLK. We were ushered right in to the preshow and after took our seats anywhere we wanted because of a half-filled theatre. After the show we walked through Frontierland and found a reason why the theatre may have been so empty. It was 15 minutes before the parade when Lion King ended and it seemed like the whole park was either waiting for the parade or in line for our next ride Splash Mt.

Splash posted a 30-minute wait but it was actually 20 minutes by the time we were loaded into our log. I had wanted this to be the first ride I rode when we arrived but with the refurbishment it wasn’t possible. Making this the last ride was even better. The ride stopped a couple times making this ride even longer than it is. The longest stop couldn’t have more perfect, we stalled out right before the incline for the big drop listening to them sing laughing place. After falling into the briar patch we made our way back to the drop off while watching the fireworks overhead. What a perfect way to end a day at MK.

It was 9:00 when we got off of Splash Mt. and we hoped that if we hurried we could get one last Dole Whip before leaving but Aloha Isle was already closed so we walked to the exits with everyone else. With fighting the crowds and getting semi separated a few times we totally forgot to pick up some Tigger chocolates to enjoy. It’s probably best we did, the lines were probably super long anyway. Once outside the gate we walked to the resort monorail because we planned on going to the Poly tonight. Once again, no line for the Resort monorail and at least a 30-minute wait for the express monorail. You’d think after waiting for 10 minutes for the express some people would put 2+2 together, lucky for me they don’t I guess.

We walked to the beach and had our choices of chairs to rest on but we settled on a hammock with the perfect view of the castle. It was great to lay there and have nothing to do but watch the castle change colors. We had originally talked about doing this last night but as we walked out of Epcot we decided we were too tired and saved it for tonight. I’m glad we did, this was the perfect ending to a great vacation. After lying, and partially napping for an hour we saw the electric water pageant going back to it’s home for the night. We thought that was a good idea for us too so we took the fabulous trail back to SoG. Once we got back to the room we packed as much as we could tonight so our morning wasn’t totally crazy.

Day 10, September 26th:

Today was our final day and I had some last minute things to do before we left. I was determined to use my tripod this vacation so this was my last chance. With our proximity to the MK I decided that I would take some final pictures of the castle. I woke up at 6:15, without an alarm, and was out the door after a quick change and grabbing my camera equipment.

It was still dark by the time I arrived at the beach so I had some time to try and find the best angle for the shots I wanted. I ended up setting up half way between the Poly and the Wedding Pavilion. I pulled over a lounge chair and just sat there for the next hour taking pictures. It was a quite morning. Between taking about 14 pictures of morning arriving at the MK I just sat back and see what happens while everyone sleeps. It was great to watch the CM’s hustle around the grounds making it ready for the upcoming day; it kinda felt like I was backstage. I was also especially surprised to see the resort monorail running first thing in the morning and I wondered if they ran all night or if they just start early in the morning.

Once the sun came up I packed up my gear and headed back to SoG to finish my packing. As a side note the pictures turned out great, I put 3 of them in a 3 picture frame showing the morning arriving at MK, it’s on the wall next to my desk at work and it looks great. When I got back to the resort it was 8:00 and everyone was up and everything was just about packed up. Since we had some time Becca’s parents offered to buy us breakfast at the buffet the resort has every morning. We of course let them and we all enjoyed a good breakfast to help get us through the day. Of course it wasn’t as good as Crystal Palace but it was still very delicious. After breakfast we walked back to the room and called the front desk to pickup our luggage. After one last sweep of the room we walked to the front of the resort to wait for the Tiffany Town Car.

We were at the pickup point at 9:45; 15 minutes before our driver was scheduled to pick us up. We figured he would probably be waiting for us when we walked outside but he wasn’t. No big deal we figured, we still had 15 minutes before our scheduled pickup. 10:00 came and went and our driver still was not here. At 10:15 I called TTC and the woman who answered the phone told me that the driver was already there. 5 minutes later our driver finally pulled up to the resort, 20 minutes late, leaving us only 70 minutes before our plane was to take off. It was not our original driver Darcy. I would tell you his name but he conveniently forgot to mention it. The only explanation he gave for his tardiness was that our original driver couldn’t make it so he had to take us to the airport. Our driver was quiet the whole 20 minute ride back to the airport. I couldn’t help but think that if our driver hadn’t stopped to buy the coffee that he was sipping the whole ride to the airport that he may not have been as late as he was.

We made it to the airport on time and strangely our driver took off without saying good bye to us. We checked in to a full plane and were boarded shortly after. When we went to take our seats a 3-year-old was sitting in Becca’s seat. The mother explained to us that her daughter actually had a ticket for the seat in front of her, the third seat in Becca’s parent’s row. She asked if Becca could sit with her parents and let her daughter have her seat. As much as we didn’t want to we agreed, but thought it was very inconsiderate and rude to expect someone to do this for her. She didn’t even appreciate it; in fact she was a little snippy when she asked us. Who buys non-connecting seats for yourself and your 3-year-old daughter? Becca, who HATES flying made it through O.K. and after a long flight we were back in Buffalo on our way back to our dog. Safe and sound.

Michael Banks

banks37@localnet.com

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