Trip Reports

August 22-24, 1999

Anne's August Trip Report, Day 1 of 4

Saturday, August 21, 1999

Everybody knew it was all over for me. I had completely lost my mind and decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to WDW - in August, of all times. My first trip to WDW when I was a little kid was in August, and we all swore we'd never go in the summer again and deal with the heat and crowds. Well, it was July, and I needed a fix, so I started looking at airfares.

I originally wanted to go the weekend of August 20th, but I realized that the All Star Magic offer began on the 22nd, so I decided on the 22nd through 24th. I got the great $59 rate at the All Star Music, and found several possibilities for flights from San Francisco or Oakland in the $215 range. I finally settled on America West, leaving SFO on the evening of the 21st, arriving early the morning of the 22nd, and going back home the evening of the 24th. It would mean a dreadful 3-hour layover in Las Vegas on the way home, and I wouldn't get to my apartment till 2:30 AM, but it would maximize my time at Disney.

A week or two after everything was all set, I had a thought: would there be a good rate at the moderates with the All Star Magic offer too? I'm on a quest to stay at least one night in *all* of the Disney resorts, so this might be a good chance to go for one I hadn't tried yet. I'd stayed in all the moderates except the Caribbean Beach, so I called to ask about that, and got it for $84 plus tax! I also requested a room in either building 26 or 31, which are closest to the main building. When I called the room controller three days before my arrival, she had me all confirmed in building 31, in Trinidad North.

Eventually, the big day arrived, and I said goodbye to my dear spouse and took off at 8:45 PM for Orlando. I had an uneventful flight to Las Vegas - saw the Strip from the air, and the Bellagio, Luxor and Tropicana resorts from the runway - the Luxor pyramid is fantastic. I'd like to see Las Vegas sometime just for fun. It can be quite cheap to go there when you don't drink or gamble.

I waited in the very noisy airport for an hour or so before my Orlando flight took off. When I was standing on the jetway waiting to get on the plane, a man in front of me (wearing an extremely loud metallic polyester shirt) turned around and said "You 4'11"?"

I said "Excuse me?"

He said "Are you 4 feet 11?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes...why?"

"Oh, nothing. I just had an ex who was that height. She came up to here on me." He pointed to a spot near the bottom of his rib cage. "She was a real firecracker, though."

I just gave him a *look*. What on earth would possess anybody to think that was a polite topic of conversation with a total stranger?! As Ani DiFranco said, "Maybe there's some kind of local competition here to see who can be the rudest."

Luckily, the MCO flight was much more restful than the airport experience. The flight attendants were considerate enough to not show the movie, so we could sleep. There were two toddlers and three older kids sitting near me, and they were all quiet as mice for the whole trip.

Next installment: arrival at WDW, slight mishap at the Magic Kingdom, and the MSEP!

Anne's August Trip Report, Day 2 of 4

Sunday, August 22, 1999

We landed on time at MCO - 6:57 AM Eastern time, or 3:57 Pacific. I tried not to think about that. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt in the ladies' room, brushed my teeth, and headed for the Mears area. I was a little nervous that the shuttles wouldn't be running that early in the morning, but it turns out they run 24 hours a day - only the ticket window has limited hours. So I just paid the driver in cash, and we were on our way around 7:30.

We stopped at one of the non-Disney resorts near Downtown Disney first (the Hilton, I think), and then headed for CBR. As we turned into the driveway, one of the families in the van said "Caribbean Beach Resort...is there a beach here?"

"No," said the driver. "The only Disney resort that has a beach is the Grand Floridian. Even the Beach Club doesn't have a beach."

I thought that was a little peculiar! Of *course* CBR and the Beach Club have beaches, not to mention about a half-dozen other WDW resorts. But I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all, so I kept quiet.

Anyway, the driver dropped me off at the Custom House a little after 8. I waited a few minutes to check in, and had a nice chat with the lady behind me, who was from Discovery Bay, CA, about an hour out of San Francisco. She was taking the Disney Cruise with her 16-year-old son, a senior in high school. He sounded like a really sweet guy - she told me that he'd always volunteered her to be a chaperone on school trips, and even sat with her on the bus. Now he was voluntarily taking a vacation with only his mom. I was impressed.

I checked in with no problem, and the CM gave me a mini-bar key, but said that they're gradually being phased out, so I shouldn't be surprised if my room didn't have one. The room (3139) wasn't ready yet, but I didn't expect that it would be. So I dropped off my suitcase with Bell Services and hopped on the first bus to Old Port Royale.

The food court there is very cute! It's made to look like a little town, complete with porches above the different "restaurants." I bought a refillable mug, a croissant and orange juice ($11), gobbled them up, and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. My tummy felt a little weird on the bus, but I was glad to be at the MK.

I went straight to the new Pooh ride at about 9:15, and had only a minute or so's wait. It was great! There were a few special effects that were pretty impressive, like when Pooh falls asleep while guarding his honey and has an out-of-body experience; and the Heffalumps and Woozles section reminded me a bit of the Roger Rabbit ride at Disneyland. I missed seeing the hidden Toad, so I had to ride it again, and I saw him the second time through.

After seeing all those Woozles, I felt a bit woozy myself and decided not to ignore my stomach any longer. I went to First Aid, lay down on a cot, took some ginger-root capsules and snoozed. (Ginger is really an amazing help with nausea of any kind.) Around 10:30, I asked a nurse named Pat if she'd call CBR to see if my room was ready. It wasn't, so I snoozed some more. I called them again myself at 12:15 - the room was still not ready, but the operator was very kind when she saw I was calling from First Aid, and she looked for any available room for me. There was nothing to be found, but she said to call back in half an hour and they'd send someone to pick me up if there was a room for me then. I called Drew and told him the situation - got much sympathy from my dear spouse! But by then, I felt well enough to try walking around in the park a bit, so I took it slow and headed toward Adventureland. There's really nothing like being forced to slow down to make you appreciate all the detail in the MK.

I did Pirates with no wait, then wandered over to Splash Mountain and picked up a Fastpass, which left me time to do the Haunted Mansion. There was a kid, about 11 years old, in line with his father for the HM - they obviously hadn't been on the ride before, and the boy was scared in an excited kind of way. Every time the dog howled, he would jump and move a little closer to his dad. He even asked a CM, "Is this ride scary?", and the CM raised his eyebrow and said in a creepy voice, "Yeeesss." It was a lot of fun being in line with someone who was really getting into it!

After the ride, I decided to grab some popcorn to settle my stomach. I chatted with the popcorn CM for a little bit about the Pooh ride, and he suggested going there around 9:45-9:50 AM and talking to a CM - apparently, the Pooh characters appear around then, and you can ride their ride with them! What a treat that would be for kids...or grown-ups, for that matter.

It was a pretty darn hot day, so I found a seat inside Pecos Bill's while I munched my popcorn. Then it was time for my "reservation" at Splash Mountain. I arrived there to find a *huge* crowd all packed together in front of the Fastpass entrance. Ugh - the wait looked like it would be longer than the standby line. But I ran into a guy who told me that since I had a ticket for 1:45 to 2:45 and it was 2:00, I could cut in ahead of people who had tickets with later times. I did just that, and although I had about a 15-minute wait, it was a heck of a lot better than an hour in the standby line.

(As an aside, I just don't understand why these folks with Fastpasses chose to spend their waiting time standing all crowded together like that! Isn't that worse than just going through the queue? Well, to each his own.)

The ride was as fun as ever, but I was really getting worn out by now, so I bought a frozen lemonade in Frontierland and made my way to City Hall to call CBR. Good news - room 3139 was ready! I had no wait for the bus and was on my way.

Taking it slow that day was *really nice*. There was no need to rush, and it would only have made me sweaty anyway. The temperature was about 90, and *very* humid, with occasional showers, so all the more reason not to run myself ragged. I'm not used to this heat - in San Francisco it rarely gets above 80, with no humidity. It wasn't unbearable, though. Arriving at the resort and taking a good look around, I decided that I liked CBR, but not as much as the other moderates. The buildings just weren't as pretty as those at, say, Dixie Landings, and the setting wasn't as elaborately crafted as Coronado Springs (where you could really swear you were in the old Southwest). But the beaches were pretty with their green striped hammocks; Parrot Cay was great fun, since I love birds; and my room was nice and roomy - definitely bigger than the rooms at the other moderates. It was a smoking room (Building 31 is smoking-optional), but it was hardly noticeable and didn't end up bothering me even though I'm allergic. I did get a minibar after all, but didn't buy anything from it. I just used it to keep my water bottle cold.

When I arrived in my room, I called Bell Services to bring my suitcase up. It started to POUR, absolute buckets of rain, while I was waiting for them to arrive. But I wasn't planning to go anywhere, so it was good timing - for me, at least, if not for the poor sodden bellhop! After my bag arrived, I called Drew to let him know I was okay, and I settled down to take a nap at 6:00. I had a 7:30 priority seating at the California Grill, but thought it would be wise to skip eating such rich food on a day I wasn't feeling well.

I set the alarm on my PalmPilot to wake me at 7 so I'd have plenty of time to make the 9:00 Main Street Electrical Parade...but I forgot that the Pilot was still stuck on Pacific time, and I woke up at 8:20 instead! I jumped out of bed and grabbed the next bus to the MK, and I arrived on Main Street just as the MSEP began.

I cried like a baby through the whole thing! It reminded me of when I was a kid. I saw SpectroMagic last November, but it just didn't have the same sentimental value for me as the original, so it was wonderful to see the MSEP again. I was standing next to a nice family from the UK who kept saying "Fantastic...it's *fantastic*." They were right - it was totally amazing and magical - like none other.

When it was over, I followed the parade slowly down Main Street to Tomorrowland. I took a spin on the TTA to relax, then wandered back down Main Street and headed into the Exposition Center to send an electronic postcard to Drew. I liked it in there - "Flowers and Trees" was showing on the movie screen; there were cool displays of old cameras; and Pluto and Goofy were waiting for someone to come and play with them. I got into the queue to send my postcard, but there were only two stations, and one was occupied by a family who took *forever* - they must have sent ten or twelve different postcards. At the other station was a woman who kept fixing her hair to get it just right in the picture, and then tried to send the postcard to a URL instead of an e-mail address. Finally, I ducked in, did my one shot, and let someone else have a turn. I had a few minutes' wait for the CBR bus, and I got to watch the fireworks from the bus stop - there's nothing like fireworks behind a monorail to let you know you're really at Disney. I got back to CBR by 10:30 and fell asleep around midnight.

Anne's August Trip Report, Day 3 of 4

Monday, August 23, 1999

My wake-up call came at 7, and I picked it up and said "Hello" a few times, but there was no Mickey voice! He must have been extra-busy that day. I watched Toon Disney while I got ready to go...I love that channel, for some reason. We don't have cable at home, so I always make up for it when I'm at WDW. I grabbed my traditional breakfast of a croissant and orange juice ($3.09) at the food court and ate it while waiting at the bus stop. An MGM bus came quickly, and I was at the park by 8:45.

The first thing I saw when I headed toward the gates was a HUGE line of people. "Please tell me that's not the queue for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster!" I thought. So I asked a CM what all the fuss was about, and it turns out they were lined up to get tickets for the Britney Spears /Joey McIntyre concert that was happening that night. (Does that girl ever *leave* WDW? She seems to be on every Disney holiday special from Groundhog Day to Christmas.) Since I'm not 12 years old, I decided I could safely skip the concert, so I went on through the gates. I checked out Sid Cahuenga's shop for the first time. Boy, is that a dangerous place. I coveted a "Sgt. Pepper's" album cover signed by Ringo, but since I didn't have an extra $650 in my pocket, I had to leave it alone. No souvenirs that cost more than the entire trip. I hesitated over a prop immigration form from the Evita movie with Madonna ($15), but decided against that too.

I joined the throng on Sunset Boulevard waiting for rope drop, and when 9:00 hit, I went straight to the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I got a little nervous during the

5-minute wait, since I'd never been on a real upside-down roller coaster before (Cyberspace Mountain doesn't count). But I enjoyed the very clever queue and pre-show areas; I noticed that Steven Tyler called the recording-studio CM "Chris," so they could use either a male or female CM to play the part.

All too soon, I was in the alley and into the stretch limousine. We waited for what seemed like an eternity in the launch area - I couldn't tell you what the electronic sign was saying, I was so terrified. Then we were off!

Dang! It was *VERY*, *VERY* *FAST*, and that's all I can say about that ride. I was glad it was dark so I couldn't see what was coming next, or I would have been even more scared with the anticipation. My head was spinning when I got off. But it was fun! So what did I do? Went on to the Tower of Terror. There was a 30-minute posted wait, but it was really only 15, which gave me just enough time to gather my wits before being shaken about again. TOT remains my favorite of all.

Afterwards, I wandered through the shops a bit, then noticed that the Bear in the Big Blue House show was coming up in five minutes, so I checked it out. It was very cute - I'd like to see the TV show sometime. I figured I'd enjoy it since it was meant for preschoolers.

I went over to the Drew Carey "Sounds Dangerous" show, but a show had just started and there was a 12-minute wait, so I did Star Tours instead. I've been on it several times at Disneyland, but the last time I rode it at MGM was when it first opened in 1990. I liked it a bit better now because I watched the whole _Star Wars_ trilogy for the first time a few weeks ago.

By the time I got back to the Drew Carey show, there was only a three-minute wait. I honestly only wanted to see it to kill time and because I hadn't done it before, but I really enjoyed it! It was remarkably funny in a kitschy kind of way. I'm going to try to get the dear spouse to see it with me on our next trip, since he's also a chubby fellow with glasses named Drew C.

When the show let out, it was just about time for the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I got a great seat in about the fifth row and took some good pictures. I *love* that show.

Afterwards, I was hungry, but there's a sad shortage of counter-service vegetarian food at MGM. The only thing I really like there is baked potatoes from the stand on Sunset Boulevard, but it was too darn hot to sit in the sun and eat a baked potato. I decided to just go back to CBR, and it was a good idea, 'cause the bus came right away.

I went to my room to pick up my refillable mug and decided to change into my bathing suit for a swim after lunch, so I did just that and put my clothes on over it. At the food court, I went to the deli counter and ordered their combination deli sandwich minus the meat. The CM looked at me a little funny, but put the order through and only charged me for a grilled cheese ($

4). Continuing the day's tradition of preschool entertainment, I sat down by a TV that was showing "Sesame Street." The sandwich was just *eh* - provolone cheese, pink tomatoes, iceberg lettuce and Italian salad dressing on a slightly stale roll. But the good news was that it didn't make me sick! I was glad yesterday's ill spell hadn't continued.

I took a quick look around in the CBR gift shop and bought a little sunflower bracelet for my niece and a dragonfly necklace for my best friend. Then it was off to the pool for a quick swim. I was a little nervous - I hadn't swum in years because I tend to get hives when I'm cold and wet (don't ask - it's a strange allergy)...but I take Allegra now, and it really did the trick. The water was wonderfully warm and the water slide was fun, though not quite as cool as the dragon one at Port Orleans.

I went back to the room again to change, but realized I'd forgotten my mug at the pool. It was still where I left it, fortunately, so I filled it at the food court and bought another bracelet for my nephew. While I was waiting to pay, I noticed a talking trash can between food court and the gift shop! Someone dropped in a paper plate and it said "Hey, thanks, mon! *slurp* *gulp*" and played a little steel-drum melody. I got the bus to Animal Kingdom at 2:10 and arrived there at 2:25. I thought about making a run for the 2:30 Lion King show, but then realized that (a) it was hot, (b) the theatre was really far away, and (c) I was on vacation! So I slowed down, wandered through the Oasis for a while, watched a cockatoo build its nest and two hyacinth macaws pose for the camera, and then made the 3:15 Tarzan show.

The amphitheatre was much larger than I'd expected (I never saw the Jungle Book show there) - a CM said it holds about 1500 people. The show was pretty cool, but I would have liked to see more of the characters, especially during the beginning - there's a very long period when we only see the rock band, and it seems like that's all we're going to see. I also wished that there were other gorillas in the show besides Terk (I like her, but I also love Kala and Kerchak). But the rollerbladers were *very* impressive! I can't even roller skate, so I was amazed at what they could do.

After the show, I tried to head toward Countdown to Extinction, but somehow ended up in Asia. Okay - Animal Kingdom is about discovery, right? It was *hot* (big surprise), so I checked out the wait time for Kali River Rapids - with a Fastpass, I would have had to come back in an hour, but the standby line said 20 minutes. I waited in the shady and very entertaining queue and was on the ride in 15 minutes. The mom of the family in front of me in line was worried that her hair would get wet, so she kept tucking it into her baseball cap, at which point her kids would promptly yank it off! We all ended up on the same raft, and she had as good a time as the rest of us, even though she got completely soaked. I got pleasantly wet, and it helped cool me off for the rest of the day.

I took a quick detour to Africa to pick up a Fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safaris, then went off to the 5:00 Lion King show. While we were waiting, a couple came into the theater wearing bride and groom Mickey ears, and the CMs brought them into the middle of the stage and had us all cheer for them. The show was excellent as ever! Just like with the Hunchback show, I got a good seat and took some pictures.

I was back at Kilimanjaro Safaris by 6:00 and discovered that I didn't need the Fastpass after all - there was about a 5-minute wait. I think it was my best safari ever. Giraffes and flamingos wandered right into the road with us; the hippopotami were all out of the water and visible, including a baby hippo; there were a great many white and black rhinos; and the male lion was doing his best Simba pose. When we got to the poacher scene, I noticed Little Red inside the truck - was he always in there? Maybe I just never noticed before.

I had to go down the Pangani trail and check up on my friends the gorillas, of course. The big old silverback was visible from the glass area, along with his 3-year-old, and then the dad got up and moved out into the open so I could see him from the bridge. Two bachelor males were on the other side of the bridge, and they had a little stare-off. At one point, I was about to take a picture of the silverback when he turned and stared me straight in the eye - it was amazing but a little frightening! I took a picture anyway, but it didn't come out. It makes me wonder if he didn't have something to do with that, somehow.

After that little shiver down my spine, it was time for dinner. I love the roasted vegetable sandwich at Pizzafari, so I made a beeline there just as it started to sprinkle rain. There were only five other people in line, but they were in front of me and kept changing their minds about their order - I think they ended up ordering at least one of everything and making special modifications to every part of the order. I waited about a century for my sandwich, but it was very tasty, and my tummy remained content.

It had started to *pour* while I was eating, so I hauled out my umbrella and made it to the CBR bus stop only a little bit wet. Once again, I had no wait for the bus.

I was back in the room by 7:20. I relaxed, packed my bag (already?!) and decided to completely change my original plan for tomorrow. The original plan was to sleep late, leave the room at 11 and go to the Magic Kingdom until it was time for my flight, but instead, I called the front desk to ask for late check-out. They had no problem extending check-out time till 1:00. So in light of my good swimming experience earlier in the day, I planned to spend the morning at Typhoon Lagoon, come back to the room for a bit, and *then* do the Magic Kingdom and visit the Wilderness Lodge. I drifted off happily to sleep.

Anne's August Trip Report, Day 4 of 4

Tuesday, August 24, 1999

I woke up at 8:00 - this time, the Mouse was not too busy to greet me personally. I didn't take a shower because I was heading to Typhoon Lagoon - just threw on my bathing suit, a tank top and shorts and went out for my usual breakfast (croissant and OJ, $3.09). On the way through the gift shop, I stopped and bought a disposable waterproof camera. I got to the bus stop at about 8:35 and was all set for TL, but when a Blizzard Beach bus happened to arrive first, I said what the heck? I got to the park a few minutes before 9. I had to buy a ticket ($27 with MKC discount) because I just have the regular Annual Pass, but that was okay. There was a Hidden Mickey in the water droplets printed on the ticket.

I rented a locker at Snowless Joe's and quickly took off my shorts and t-shirt. I saw an extremely weird thing while I was changing: a CM with a tattoo! There was a guy in short sleeves with a big old tribal design on his forearm. I have no problem with tattoos myself, but I know they're so _verboten_ at Disney that I was completely shocked.

I found myself a beach chair near the wave pool, put down my towels, sunscreen and camera, and was all set to go on a slide when I realized I'd have to take my glasses off first! Duh.

So, Mr. Magoo-like, I staggered toward Mt. Gushmore. Downhill Double Dipper sounded appealing because it was a tube slide, so after about a dozen wrong turns, I stumbled upon its entrance. I got all the way to the top before I realized I should have taken a tube at the bottom. Duh again.

The ride itself was fun, but very short. I didn't really understand it till I stood at the bottom later on and watched folks come down - you really do go *fast* down that thing. I think it's faster for people heavier than me, though.

The next attraction I quite literally stumbled upon was Cross Country Creek. I narrowly escaped being squirted by the Ice Gator's leaky hut as I took about a quarter-trip around the park. Then I wandered up to the slalom mat slide. That was great fun! I was glad there were handles to hang on to the mat, or I know I would have lost it. After one trip down, I turned around and did the Toboggan Racers. I came in dead last, but had fun anyway.

Next, it was time to take some pictures. I got a good vantage point overlooking the Ski Patrol Training Camp, and liked the looks of it so much that I went down to check it out. The T-bar ride and the iceberg obstacle course looked like fun. I even went down one of the small water slides. At the bottom, you end up in only six inches of water! I scraped my rear end on the bottom, much to my surprise.

Tikes' Peak was next, and it was even cuter than the Training Camp, largely because of the many adorable kids. I was surprised by how much there was for the little ones to do - I expected a glorified kiddie pool, but there were squirting fountains, snowmen perched on igloos, and several great little water slides.

I checked my map and decided to try the three Runoff Rapids slides, but I got hopelessly lost trying to find my way to the top. (This time, I didn't even have the excuse of no glasses - I had them on!) In my wanderings, I came across a signpost with a map of the park that clearly spelled out the paths you would take to get to the entrances of each slide. I don't know why they don't make that more clear on the paper map - I found it very hard to decipher.

Anyway, I eventually made it to Runoff Rapids and grabbed a tube before climbing the many many stairs to the top. I went down the open slide on the right...then the enclosed one in the center...then the open one on the left. I loved them all because they were so nice and long! But I do agree with those who say that the enclosed slides give the sensation of being flushed down a toilet...not something I'd really care to repeat.

After all that stair-climbing, I was about ready to leave the park. I was all set to jump in a tube and ride Cross Country Creek to the front of the park, but I realized I had my glasses, camera, towels and sunscreen with me, so I walked. (I was very glad for my water shoes throughout the morning. I've always had sensitive feet, so walking barefoot on those hot paths would have been unbearable. I got my shoes in the boys' department at Target for $6.)

My walking took me to the wave pool, and it was too inviting not to give it a try. ("How pleasant, bobbing along...bobbing along...on the bottom of the beautiful chlorine sea...") I took the waterproof camera in with me and got one very amusing shot of some kid's legs under the water! True to form, when I got out, I managed to become disoriented yet *again*, and it took me a few panicky minutes to find my stuff among the 16,000 beach chairs on the shore. But finally I found it and made my way back to the entrance, checking out the shops and taking pictures along the way. I changed my clothes and got a Blizzard Beach mug for the return of my locker key.

The bus to CBR came in about ten minutes, but we took a little detour to the Dolphin along the way. Apparently, some folks there had been waiting for an Animal Kingdom bus for 45 minutes, so we rescued them from the bus stop. That's the great thing about the WDW transit system...in San Francisco, if there's a delay on Muni, you're pretty much left to fend for yourself.

I started to exit the bus at the Trinidad North stop at CBR, but the driver didn't see me going toward the back door, and he drove off. I should have asked him to stop again, but I figured I'd just get off at Trinidad South - how far could it possibly be? The answer is: really far! CBR is *huge*, and it took me about 10 minutes to get to building 31 from the Trinidad South stop. But I made it to the room around 11:30, took a shower, and had Bell Services come to pick up my bag.

I filled my mug at the food court and headed out to the bus stop one last time. I was planning to go to the Magic Kingdom and have a veggie burger at Cosmic Ray's, but the Epcot bus came first, so I did my second spontaneous thing of the day and got on that one instead. Boy, were there a lot of construction walls at the front of the park. I went straight to Pasta Piazza and got a kids' pasta meal - it came with a breadstick and Coke for $3.25. You can't beat that! And it was Mickey-shaped pasta, to boot.

I can't go to Epcot without doing Spaceship Earth, so I headed there after lunch. On the way, I saw a kid about 12 years old, wearing a red sports jersey that said Giacomo, #11. His family had identical shirts, except theirs said Giacomo's Dad, Giacomo's Mom and Giacomo's Sister. I felt like I'd spotted a celebrity.

On Spaceship Earth, I noticed some writing on the wall near the Greek scene. Since my dear spouse has been studying ancient Greek lately, I'll have to see if he can translate it when we're there in October. After the wonderful ride, I checked out the "Leave a Legacy" monoliths near the entrance - they're very cool-looking - and took the monorail over to the TTC to transfer for the MK.

It was *hot* and *crowded* at the MK - no big surprise, since it was August, after all. I looked at the horrendous numbers on the ride wait board and headed for the Lion King show 'cause it was indoors and cool. A family next to me were saying to each other "Do you know what this show is?" "No, do you?" "It's sponsored by Kodak...it must be a movie." Guess they were just taking refuge from the heat too! I told them what it was about. It's a good show, but pales in comparison to the one at AK.

It's a Small World had a 2-minute wait, so I did that - it's such a classic. Then I went to wait for the boat to the Wilderness Lodge so I could check it out and take some pictures. The Fort Wilderness boat came first, then the one for the WL. It was a nice ride, with Disney music playing and a good view of the Contemporary. The Lodge itself was beautiful! I wasn't sure if it would be my style, but I can definitely see us staying there sometime. It's so amazingly far removed from the rest of WDW.

I stayed only about 15 minutes, and then got the boat back to the MK. I happened to arrive on Main Street just as the flag retreat ceremony began. It was nice! I'm not very patriotic, but the music was good. When it was done, I walked up to the tip board to check the queues - still interminable, so I went back to Town Square, bought some popcorn, and jumped on the WDW Railroad.

It was a nice breezy ride around, and I got off at Main Street and said goodbye to the castle. It was pretty easy this time, since we're coming back in 6 weeks. I had a few minutes' wait for the bus to CBR, got off at the Barbados stop around 6:20, and claimed my bag at the Custom House.

(I have a new rolling suitcase from L.L. Bean - a great bargain at $55. It's kid-size, but that's only a couple of inches smaller than a standard carry-on. Best of all, it doesn't look like a kid's suitcase - it's a nice teal and plum color combination. I bought it after my last harrowing trip home from WDW, involving a 68-mile trek through the Miami airport while carrying all my worldly goods.)

I got a bit nervous while waiting for Mears - the 6:35 pickup time came and went with no bus, and I was afraid that it had come early and I had missed it. Finally, a shuttle appeared at 6:42 with only one other passenger. His flight was at 7:50, and he was worried he wouldn't make it, but we got there in record time - arrived at the airport at 7:05. My flight was supposed to be at 8:20, but the monitor said it was delayed till 8:40. I checked in and was assigned a seat in the middle of a row - ugh! I asked to be reassigned to a window seat, and that was no problem. I also found out that there was no meal on the 5-hour flight to Las Vegas (hooray for discount airlines) so I got a chicken sandwich from Burger Thing (oy) and bought bottled water to make the meal slightly less unhealthy. When I was done eating, I tucked the water in my backpack and it promptly leaked all over my sweatshirt.

On the plane, in my damp sweatshirt, I discovered I was sitting behind two drunken men who claimed to have an X-rated movie on their laptop which they were going to watch en route; and in front of a toddler who commenced screaming before we left and didn't stop till shortly before landing in Las Vegas.

Then I had a lovely 3-1/2-hour layover! No comment. And then the computers went down and we sat on the plane at the gate for over an hour. And my seat wouldn't recline. I'd been up and about for 17 hours at this point. We finally took off from Las Vegas at 2:15 AM, when we were supposed to have landed in San Francisco at 2:10.

But at last we did land, and I jumped in the first cab that came my way. I got home about 3:45 AM on Wednesday morning. Fortunately, I'd arranged to have a vacation day on Wednesday, so at least I got a good night's (and day's) sleep before going back to work.

Final thoughts on the trip:

The flight schedule was a mistake! I shouldn't have allowed myself to come home in the middle of the night just for the sake of having a couple more hours at WDW. Next time, I'll leave in the afternoon as I have in the past, and come home in the late evening.
August was *hot*. But it wasn't unbearable, to tell you the truth. I deal pretty well with the heat, so I was able to do fine as long as I drank lots of fluids and didn't rush from place to place; and if I found myself overheating while walking around a park, I just walked into the nearest shop. There's always a shop nearby at WDW, that's for sure, and it's amazing the difference a little air conditioning can make.
August was not quite as crowded as I thought it would be. Getting to the parks early in the morning on the day after their early entry day is a really good plan; and Animal Kingdom really clears out in the afternoon. It's also nice and cool at AK in the evenings, both for people and for animals, so it's much more pleasant for both parties.
CBR was nice and up to Disney standards, but definitely my least favorite of the moderates. It was way too big for my taste and starting to show its age a bit. But there were some nice and unique touches there, like the beaches, Parrot Cay, and all the birds and turtles. The pool was fun, too, and I had great luck with the bus service.
A three-day trip is just a tad too short! It tided me over, but I think from now on I'll stick to a schedule of about one trip every six months, spending close to a week each time. That way, too, it'll preserve the fun anticipation - it's weird, but I'm almost not so excited about the trip that's coming up in less than six weeks. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, of course, so next time I'll just stick out the wait.
Next trip: October 10-16, staying at the All Star Music with my dear spouse. October 10th is our first anniversary - what better way to celebrate than a second honeymoon?

Anne Campbell

waxwing@sirius.com

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