Trip Reports

October 7, 1999 to October 12, 1999

Cast:

Debbie - 30 something (but just barely...!)
Mom Shirley
Niece Alyssa - 9 (brother’s oldest daughter)
Day One - Thursday, October 7, 1999 Arrival, Magic Kingdom, Epcot

I made reservations for this trip in August of 1998. Got a MKC rate at the Grand Floridian (20% off) as soon as the MKC rates were out. We had talked for a long time about taking my niece Alyssa with us on a trip and asked her parents in March if she could go. They said they would think about it and then called back in 15 minutes and said OK! At first, she was nervous about flying but seemed to get over that as the trip grew closer. We made arrangements with her school for her to have 5 days off and she made up most of her work by working during recess before we left.

We had our first frost in Pittsburgh the morning we left. Alyssa seemed to be taking it all in stride and got on the plane with no problems. Fortunately, our flight was on time. Everything was going smooth until we got close to Florida. They were having a storm as we were coming down and the plane was jumping around. I looked over at Alyssa and she had a big smile on her face. She said “this is fun!”. I said “glad you think so!”. When we landed it was raining heavily. We found our driver from Tiffany Town Car in Baggage Claim, his name was Keith. That name sounded familiar and then I remembered he was the driver Donna (ILUVWDW) had 3 weeks before. I asked if he remembered Donna and her sisters and he did! I told him we work together and he thought I meant at the Disney Store. No, I meant her REAL job (although I’m not sure what she considers her real job - LOL). We came out of baggage claim and it was raining even harder. Keith pulled the town car up to the door and we were off! As we got closer to Disney the rain stopped and it brightened up. Disney magic!

We checked in at GF around 1:00 and unfortunately our room would not be ready until 3:00. The check-in CM wasn’t too friendly. Not rude, but not real friendly. She said our room was assigned already (but she couldn’t tell us where it was) and I asked if it was in a renovated building (they are currently doing renovations at GF) and she said that all the renovated rooms were taken by a large group. I asked about getting a park hopper for Alyssa and she referred me over to guest services (Mom & I have AP’s). We got Alyssa’s park hopper (5 day) and went over to MK. The sun was out, but I noticed a lot of people still had their yellow ponchos on. We did Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle Cruise. Alyssa got to drive the JC boat! When we got off there it was pouring again. Fortunately, I grabbed the ponchos out of the carry on bag before the bellman put them on the cart at GF and carried them with us. It was about 2:30 so we headed back over to GF. We walked up to the monorail entrance and there was a chain across it. The CM said the monorail was down due to a power loss and we had to go over for a bus. The bus stopped at WL and Poly, so it was about 3:00 when we got to GF. Our room was ready and the bellman took us on a cart to the room. We were in 7101 in Conch Key. We had a view of the edge of the lagoon by the marina and the monorail in the distance. We were in the corner of the building on the first floor across from the marina office. One of the first things I noticed was that the carpet was kind of dirty and the bedspreads were very faded. I think they waited to long to start renovations.... Just as we were putting our bags down a maid came in with new bedspreads! I also noticed a glass with coke and cigarette butts in it (yuck!) out on the patio. I went out and got it and handed it to the maid. This was a non-smoking room so I assume the previous guests went out on the patio to smoke. I don’t think that’s right - I think non-smoking should include the patio/balcony too. We hung up our clothes and grabbed our ponchos and headed for Epcot. The monorail was running again.

It was still drizzling slightly when we got to Epcot. We just had enough time to ride Spaceship Earth before dinner. Alyssa liked it. We headed over to The Land for our 5:00 PS at the Garden Grill Character Dinner. We sat down and ordered drinks and we saw Mickey making his way over. I remembered that I needed to buy her an autograph book and my mother said she saw them out at the check-in station. I ran out and bought one and got back before Mickey came. Dinner was family style and we had a great apple/ice cream dessert.

We rode the Land ride and when we came out the sun was out. Yeah! We went over to Innoventions and sent computerized postcards to family and friends. We also did the Living Seas and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Alyssa was kind of scared of the mice in HISTA! She spent the rest of the show with her feet on the chair! It was about 7:50 so we headed over to Test Track to check out the wait time. It was 40 minutes. That would give us just enough time to do it and then see Illuminations. The wait was almost exactly 40 minutes. We both loved it! Mom passed on riding it and waited by the entrance. It was about 8:50 and we walked over to the WS and found a spot in the front of the lagoon for Illuminations. There were trees above us, but we knew it was too late to find a good spot. Luckily, a nice lady let Alyssa stand in front of her along the rail. I liked the new show, but I missed calling out all the countries. We made our way to the monorail and back to GF. They had turned down our beds, but not the daybed. The bellman said he would put in a request to housekeeping to turn it down, but I guess he didn’t. I got the blanket and pillow out of the closet and pulled off the covers and got it ready. With the back cushions off, it was actually a twin size bed. Plenty of room for Alyssa. They had also left chocolates and a note on one of the beds and ice in the ice bucket. Alyssa called her parents and then off to sleep...

Day Two - Friday, October 8, 1999 Magic Kingdom

We were up early, we had a PS at Cinderella’s Royal Table at 8:50 and didn’t want to be late. I had called at exactly 7:00AM 60 days before to get the PS. I had to stop by guest services to get Alyssa a 1 day ticket. We didn’t plan any waterparks, so it was cheaper to buy her a 5 day PH and a 1 day pass rather than a 6 day PH Plus or an Unlimited Magic Pass (save about $10). I knew we were just doing MK today, so I decided to buy the 1 day for today. The sun was out and they said only a slight chance of passing shower today, so we did not bring our ponchos. The monorail came quick and we were at MK by 8:20! I was surprised the gates were already open. We stopped by City Hall to get the Magic Delivery Pin Certificate stamped and also to make a reservation for the special Fantasy in the Sky seating for tonight. They said to meet back at City Hall at 8:15 and we would be escorted to the seating area. 8:15? I thought the fireworks were at 9:00? No, they were changed to 8:30 and MSEP was at 7:30 instead of 8:00. Last minute change of times, which has happened on our last 3 trips at MK. We stopped and got our picture taken on Main Street and made it to the castle by 8:35. I checked if we could get in early and they said no problem. We were seated on the second level, all the window tables were taken. Breakfast was delicious! They have the seating set up so that the characters get to your table around the time you are almost finished eating. Alyssa liked meeting the characters and getting their autographs. Alyssa was wearing an illusion necklace with a diamond (cz) on it that is her favorite. Cinderella made a comment on it and she was thrilled!

We came out and I noticed it was starting to cloud up (only a slight chance of passing shower, right...). We rode Peter Pan (no wait), Alyssa liked that. We then did Small World, which she didn’t like. Then Haunted Mansion, which scared her a little. We walked over to Splash Mountain and it said a 20 minute wait. It was only about a 5 minute wait. As we got on, it started to rain. When we got to the outside part, it was pouring. By the time we got off it had stopped, so we went over to Big Thunder. When we got off that, it was pouring again. So we ran over to Country Bears. After that, it was still raining, so we headed over to Hall of Presidents. When we came out, the sun was out again. Ok, so maybe that was the passing shower (wrong...). We stopped and had some ice cream at Sleepy Hollow and headed over to Tomorrowland. Space Mountain was a 45 minute wait and the fast pass time was 6:00 (it was now about 1:00). We decided to skip it until Tuesday. We did the People Mover and then walked over to Buzz. Buzz was a 40 minute wait, so we decided to skip that too. Alyssa did not want to do Alien Encounter. It was starting to get dark again so we headed into Carousel of Progress. We came out and it was pouring. We waited by the exit for a while until it slowed down. We then headed into Timekeeper. Alyssa wanted to do Pirates again, so we did that and then found a spot in Frontierland for the Magical Memories Parade. They did not stop for Magical Moments since the weather was threatening. After that, we decided to head back to the hotel to get our ponchos and rest before our 5:15 PS at Crystal Palace.

We left the hotel about 4:45 and even though the sun was out again, something told me to bring the ponchos. Dinner at PS was great and Alyssa had her picture taken with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and got autographs. When we came out, it didn’t look too good again. We decided to go down to Exposition Hall to check on the picture we had taken on Main Street. It was only about 6:30 but the crowds were really getting deep for MSEP. We found a spot on a wall in front of Exposition Hall and decided to stay there for the parade (starts at 7:30). At about 7:15, it started to rain very hard. We put our ponchos on, but it was not letting up. We decided we couldn’t stay there and get totally soaked, so we ran up on the porch of Exposition Hall. It started to lightning. By 8:00, it still did not let up any and they canceled it. We went in and bought our picture (1 for us and 1 for Alyssa). The crowds were really bottling up at the exits, so we decided to wait until they cleared out. People were just abandoning rented strollers by the train station, which didn’t help things. About 8:25, the rain slowed down and we walked over to the end of main street for the fireworks. Just as they started, it started to pour again. We ran under the train station to see the rest. Got back to the hotel around 9:00.

Day Three - Saturday, October 9 Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom (Fireworks & MSEP)

Got up early and checked the weather forecast. Sunny with a chance of a passing shower (heard this before!). We decided to the take the ponchos anyway since we planned on riding the Kali River Rapids. Got to the bus stop just as the AK bus was pulling up. Hardly anyone on it. Had breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe. The restaurant was only about ½ full and we were seated with no wait. We all had the Breakfast of Bandits and the service was pretty quick. Got a 10% DVC discount (I bought at Boardwalk about a month ago). After breakfast, we headed back to the Safari. It was about 9:20 and the fastpass time was 9:55-10:55. Not bad. So we got our fastpasses and did the walking trail. It was about 10:00, so we headed directly onto the safari, passing the standby line of about 40 minutes! The fastpass time was still only about a ½ hour away, so why were these people standing in this line? I don’t think they understand fastpass. We saw a lot of animals and the lion was sitting up on the rock! Alyssa liked this. We took the train to Conservation Station and walked around there. We then headed over to Kali River Rapids. The fastpass again was about a ½ hour away, so we got our tickets and headed to the walking trail. We saw a lot of bats. It was getting very warm and the tigers were just laying in the shade. My Mother’s knee was starting to bother her, so she decided to skip the rapids. Alyssa and I rode it and luckily we wore our ponchos because our side got soaked! We then headed over to It’s Tough to be a Bug. It was about a 20 minute wait. Alyssa was nervous about this, remembered what happened in Honey I Shrunk the Audience. When she sat down, she pulled her legs up on the seat. I kept telling her there were no mice on this one! By the end she had her knees up, so she missed the bugs exiting! She did not like this! We then headed over to the 1:30 Lion King Show. I really like this show, the production is great. Alyssa saw Countdown to Extinction on the Disney TV channel in the room and didn’t want to ride it so we left after the Lion King (about 2:30 when we caught the bus). It was getting very hot, no sign of rain. We went back to the room and rested until about 4:00.

We waited about 30 minutes for the bus to Downtown Disney. I picked the Wildhorse Saloon to have dinner at since there was a 10% DVC discount. We got to the restaurant and there was hardly anyone there. Mom and I split a steak and Alyssa had a cheeseburger. Food was OK. We then headed over to World of Disney. Alyssa picked out some gifts for her parents and sister (6 years old) and her friend. She also got a necklace with her name on it. I was trying to find the WDW 2000 CD with no luck, they just had the cassette. I got a WDW 2000 pin. We spent just over $50, so I was able to get the 15% American Express discount. Alyssa had her eye out for Pokemon stuff, her age group’s latest obsession. They have had to ban the cards from her school because the kids are so into them and not their schoolwork. A CM told her they had some stuff over at the toy store. She had spotted Pokemon at the Warner Brothers store at the airport when we arrived and wanted to save her money (the $50 I was giving her to spend on herself) for that. I told her no way. She also saw some on a cart in Tomorrowland on Friday. She kept talking about it, so finally I said she could have 1 thing. So we went over to the toy store and she found some little Pokemon toy for $8. At the cash register they had packs of the cards and she begged me to let her buy 1 pack for her ($2.50) and then 1 for her sister. Ok, well at least I could use my MKC card for 10% off. Afterwards she told me the cards are $1.50 per pack at home! Why spend your Disney money on something you can get at home for a lower price and is not even Disney related? We went over to the Christmas Store and I bought a 1999 Christmas ball for us and one for Alyssa. We started a tradition on our first trip in 1994 that we would buy a Christmas ball on every trip (actually this was Donna’s suggestion). We didn’t go to Disney in 1995 or 1997, so I bought a dated one at the Disney Store. We now have quite a collection!

We headed over to the bus stop and there was a TTC bus ready to pull out, so we jumped on that, figuring we could take the monorail from there. The bus then stopped at Pleasure Island, West Side, Typhoon Lagoon (no one at TL at 7:30, why stop there?). We wanted to make it back to MK for the 9:00 fireworks since we didn’t see them too well in the rain last night and then the 10:00 MSEP. The bus seemed to take forever. We got off at TTC and caught the monorail. Made it back to GF by 8:15 and dropped our packages off and made it to MK by about 8:40. The first run of MSEP had just finished and it was jammed. We walked through the stores on the left side of Main Street to make it down to the hub. MSEP had just passed through the hub and someone got up from the curb and we grabbed their spots about ½ way from the turn from Main Street to the Tomorrowland Bridge. I wanted Alyssa to be able to see Tinkerbell fly. We were kind of behind the trees, but there were no spots over farther. And the Tomorrowland Bridge looked jammed. So I figured we could just stay there for MSEP. My Mother couldn’t sit on the curb, so she found a spot on a bench by the fence. So the fireworks started and we had a great view of Tinkerbell. I love the new beginning (the second star to the right...). People started pouring out of the hub area after the fireworks and we had a hard time not getting stepped on while sitting on the curb. Finally it was time for MSEP. I always loved Spectromagic and didn’t think MSEP would be as good. I never really like the MSEP music. But I was surprised! I loved the floats and the music grew on me! I was glad Alyssa could see them up close. It was jammed getting out, but we made our way through and onto the monorail. End of Day 3!

Day Four - Sunday, October 10 Epcot

We attended the Protestant church service at the Polynesian at 9:00. There was only about 20 people there. The minister was very nice, he has been doing services at WDW since it opened. He previously worked for NASA before becoming a minister. After that, we went to ‘Ohanas for breakfast. Our PS was at 10:30, but we got there before 10:00. We only waited about 10 minutes. The food is served family style here, which I’m not crazy about. I’d rather pick from the buffet. It took a while for the characters to get to us, but finally they did (Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale). We walked over to the TTC to get the Epcot monorail. The Polynesian grounds are very beautiful, but I wasn’t crazy about the rooms when we stayed there 3 years ago (kind of dark). There was a long line to get into Epcot when we got there around 11:15. We walked back to the World Showcase. I bought Alyssa an Epcot Passport, which you take to each country to get stamped. Considered it her “educational activity”. The boat rides at Mexico & Epcot weren’t too crowded. She liked the Norway ride. We then stopped at China & Germany. I saw a crystal ball in Italy with a Mickey head in it which I bought for my mother’s birthday next month. We then did the American Adventure. We got her passport stamped at Morocco and Japan before heading over to The Land for the 3:00 Ice Cream Social. I had the Magic Delivery Coupon for this. I planned to take the boat from France to the front of the WS, but it was down for rehab so we had to walk. We arrived at the Land at almost exactly 3:00, but waited until about 3:20 to be seated. We ordered soft drinks and it took a while for the ice cream to come. Mickey and Chip & Dale were there. Since it took so long to get the ice cream, they didn’t charge us for the drinks. I just left her a tip. We then walked back to Canada to get her passport stamped. We walked through Millennium Village, it was very crowded. We got her passport stamped at United Kingdom and sat down and listened to the British Invasion. We then went back to France to get her passport stamped and since we had time Alyssa started making a mask. They had a table in each country to make a mask for Tapestry of Nations. Each country added a different item. Esmerelda was in France and Alyssa was shocked that she knew her name when she signed her autograph book. She forgot she had the necklace with her name on it! Jafar was also nearby, looking very creepy! Got her picture taken with him. We stopped in Morocco to watch the acrobats. While we were there Alyssa was holding the mask and ended up getting the marker colors all over her hands. We had to run her to the Ladies room to clean up, but she managed to get it on her white top. I really don’t understand this mask thing, having kids walking around with 18 inch sticks and masks with colors that come off on them! We then headed to Japan for our 6:00 PS at Teppenyaki. I thought Alyssa would like seeing them make the food on the grill at the table. Turned out the food wasn’t that great. The local Bennehani’s is better. During the dinner I noticed that my mother didn’t look well and I asked her what was wrong. Her knee was starting to really bother her. She had taken some Tylenol at the Ice Cream Social, but it didn’t help. We had planned to see the 8:10 Tapestry of Nations, but we decided to go back to the hotel. We stopped at the hotel shop and got some Aleve. We rested in the room for a while and then went out to the dock for the 9:15 Electrical Water Pageant. End of Day 4.

Day Five - Monday, October 11, 1999 MGM

Today started out with breakfast at Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary. Mickey and Minnie were there, along with Chip & Dale and Goofy. Dale went to sign her autograph book but noticed he (!) had already signed it. He had been at almost every character breakfast we were at. I said to him “you really get around!” and he nodded! We caught the bus to MGM from there. I checked the tip board and Tower of Terror was a 90 minute wait! I always save it for the afternoon, so we headed for the traditional first ride, The Great Movie Ride. There was a longer line there than I had ever seen, at least 20 minutes (the tip board said no wait). We got the cowboy side, but got stopped at least twice, once at the Bogart plane and once in the Wizard of Oz. Both times were at least 5 or 10 minutes. We then did Little Mermaid and the Animation Tour. We then headed over to Rock & Roll Roller Coaster, where I picked up a fastpass for 1:40 to 2:40 (it was now about 1:00). We saw Beauty & the Beast, my favorite show at MGM. Alyssa & I then did Tower of Terror, which she didn’t like. She swears it went upside down! We bought the picture. She didn’t want to do Rock & Roll, so I went myself. I love fast roller coasters and thought it was great! It was faster & more intense than I expected, so I was glad Alyssa didn’t try it. My Mother had taken the Aleve in the morning and said her knee was OK. So we headed over to the Backstage Tour (Catastrophe Canyon). It was about a 30 minute wait. We were in the front of the second car and got wet from the water coming off the roof in the front. Alyssa loved that! We were going to do Muppets next, but Alyssa refused! After HISTA and the Bug show at AK, she didn’t want any part of 3-D!

We headed over to the ABC Commissary for dinner, we got chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches. When we decided to stop there, I had thought it was more of a cafeteria. It was actually just fast food. While standing in line, an elderly lady in front of me said she was going to faint! It was very hot that day and I guess she waited too long to eat. I grabbed her while the cashier went to get help. Paramedics came to get her. Unfortunately, she was alone and said she was staying at a hotel on 192. I hope she was OK. We then headed over to Indiana Jones and Star Tours. Alyssa liked those. It was about 6:00, so we stopped at the shops on Hollywood Blvd to look for a shirt for my nephew. Found him one and then headed to Fantasmic around 6:30. The stadium was already more than half full, we got seats on the far left (second section). We sat up high to avoid the water spray. The warm-up comedian was pretty good and the show started at 7:30. As usual, it was a great show. One of my pet peeves - people start walking out before it’s over. They usually start as soon as the boat comes around the corner. The ending is the best part and people are standing up and you can’t see. It was a mob scene getting out. Luckily, we caught a bus right away and got back to GF. I was sitting on the porch for a while (our last night, boo hoo...) and heard the MK train whistle. That’s weird I thought, the park closed at 7:00! We were watching TV and around 10:30, we heard fireworks! I had my slippers on and said to Alyssa why don’t we go out and see! She didn’t want to and my mother was talking on the phone to my brother, so I ran out myself. There were fireworks at MK! I could see them perfect from the walkway by the marina (right outside our building)! A lot of people came running out wondering what was going on. I guess there was some kind of private party at MK. After that, we went to bed. End of day 5.

Day Six - Tuesday, October 12, 1999 Magic Kingdom, Trip Home :-(

I had made a PS for 8:00AM for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare 60 days ago. I was originally thinking we would need to go back to finish Animal Kingdom today, so I made it early. I juggled the schedule around so that we had enough time on Saturday for AK, but left the breakfast the same time. I realized last night that we didn’t need to get up that early, so I went to guest services before we went back to the room to see if we could change it to 8:30 or 9:00. No can do, the only opening was 10:30. So we were up early. The food at this breakfast was the best out of our 4 character breakfasts. They had a large selection and cook-to-order omelets. The room wasn’t too crowded when we arrived, but was very crowded when we left. Mary Poppins was doing her greetings outside in a little garden. After breakfast, we went back to the room to finish our packing. I had brought an extra tote bag and put all of Alyssa’s souvenirs in there so that all her stuff would be together when we dropped her off at home. The bellman came to get our bags and we were off to MK by about 9:30. I checked the tip board at the end of Main Street and the lines didn’t look too bad. Space Mountain was only 15 minutes, so we headed there. They changed the line so that it stretches all the way out to the entrance instead of winding around in the loading area. I think this is so that the fastpass people feel like they are passing a big line. We got in the car, I had the front seat and Alyssa the second. Mom passed this up. We went around the corner to launch and stopped. And waited.... Then the lights all came on! The CM came around and said the ride had been stopped and to stay in our seats (how could we get out?). We stayed there 10 or 15 minutes and finally the lights went off and we were launched. I wasn’t sure if Alyssa would like it, this side (left) is rougher I think. We got off and she said she liked it. We went over to Buzz Lightyear next, it was about a 20 minute wait. I’ve rode this a couple of times before and never was able to get much of a score. We started out and both of us had zero for a while when the ride stopped right in front of a Z. We kept hitting it and ran up our scores. I had 75,000 and Alyssa had 90,000. I don’t think either of us hit another one after that! After that we walked towards Fantasyland and rode Winnie the Pooh. It’s cute for kids. We passed Cinderella’s Carousel and there was no line so Alyssa and I jumped on. This was my 6th trip to WDW and the first time I rode it. We headed over to Splash Mountain and it had about a 30 minute wait. Wouldn’t you know as soon as we got on, it started to rain, just like on Friday. Alyssa and I were in the front seat, my mother in the second. We hit the bottom of the big hill hard and the water really came over the front! My hair was totally wet! I had put hair spray on in the morning, so it was sticky too. What a mess! We went over to Big Thunder Mountain and it was closed temporarily. It was starting to rain a little again, so we decided to take a ride on the train since we hadn’t done that. We rode it all the way around back to Frontierland and went over to see if Big Thunder was open. It was, with only about a 5 minute wait. We went over and did Haunted Mansion again, I was surprised Alyssa wanted to do it again since she acted like she didn’t like it on Friday. We were getting hungry so we went over to Columbia Harbor House. After that we walked back to Peter Pan, the line was about 20 minutes. We walked back through the castle (stopped to touch the slipper) and the Magical Moments Parade was just making it through the hub. Alyssa wanted to stop at the crystal shop before we left to pick out some little figurines for her mother so we made our way through the departing parade crowd. Finally made it to the shop and she picked out a rose and a cat. She still had $7 to spend, so we went over to the Emporium. I was hoping she would find something so that she wouldn’t want to spend it on Pokemon at the airport. I found the Millennium Calendar I was looking for. She found a dragon beanie from Mulan. It was about 4:00 when we left MK, Tiffany TC was scheduled to pick us up at 5:00. We got back to GF quick and got our luggage out of storage. We stuffed the things we bought today into the suitcases and sat down to wait for our ride. Our driver Darcy arrived early at 4:45. He was very friendly and kept teasing Alyssa about how quiet she was. We got to the airport about 5:15 and curbside checked our luggage. Our flight was not until 7:13, so we stopped at TCBY for some ice cream (yogurt). Our flight was on time. Alyssa wanted to sit at the window this time, but about half way home decided she didn’t like it (it got dark a few minutes after we were in the air). We hit a little turbulence, but nothing major. We actually landed a few minutes early. Then there was a real miracle - our luggage was going around the carousel when we got to baggage claim! First time that ever happened. We got to Alyssa’s house about 10:30 and her parents ran out to great her. We went in and she showed them everything she bought. My brother had our Epcot Postcard up on his computer as wallpaper. We live about 2 blocks away, so we were home in a couple minutes. Our cat greeted us at the door all excited. She always rolls around and meows for about an hour after we return from a trip. Back to reality....

Summary:

Everything about this trip turned out great. Except for maybe the rain the first 2 days. We didn’t lose Alyssa, which was my mother’s biggest worry. She behaved better than we expected. I think she was a little overwhelmed by everything. We loved going to the Character Meals and seeing her interact with the characters. I took over 150 pictures, most of which were her with the characters (although at the end she was starting to roll her eyes about getting her picture taken). Her autograph book was almost full. I think this was a good age for her to go, another year or so she probably wouldn’t want to be with the characters like this. She is growing up fast, her fad at school is the “gothic” look. We get to go through it again with her sister Stephanie in about 3 years! She’ll be six next week. Can’t wait!

My Mom and I are planning a trip in December (9 to 14), we loved the Christmas activities when we were there last year. We’re staying at Dixie Landings. I just made reservations for our first DVC trip next May (OKW - May 13 to 19) and we are also planning BWV for December 2000.

Thanks for reading!

Debbie Brant

dab0111@aol.com

__________________
You just read a trip report that was originally published in our MousePlanet Trip Reports column.

Reader-submitted trip reports have always been an extremely popular feature here at MousePlanet. In order to improve the search functionality and shorten the time from when you submit a trip report and the report gets published, you can now post your trip reports directly to our Trip Report forums. The forums are moderated, but reports should become available for reading very quickly.