Trip Reports

March 6 through March 18, 1999

WARNING: This is my first trip report and it's very long. I wrote the report for my family and it will most likely include details that will bore others to tears. In fact it may bore my family to tears. So, having been forewarned, proceed at your own risk.

The family:

Lance, I'm in my mid 30's and work as a commercial underwriter for an insurance company. I'm the trip report writer, husband of Jenny, and Dad to Megan and Bryce. I've been a lifelong Disney fanatic thanks to my parents who took us there frequently and my grandparents who lived in California. I truly believe Disneyland is the happiest place on earth and Walt Disney was the greatest person of the 20th century. My mom (the greatest mom in the world) tells me that we sat next to Walt at a breakfast on Main Street when I was 9 months old and they chatted briefly with him. Except for 2 or 3 years I've been to Disneyland at least once every year of my life (probably more than 50 trips in all). This is my fourth trip to WDW.
Jenny, my beautiful wife of almost 9 years and mom to Megan and Bryce. Works part time as a customer service rep for the same insurance company. The most organized person I have ever met. She married me knowing about my Disney addiction. Thankfully she acquired one too. She's been to Disneyland many times and this was her fourth WDW trip.
Megan, our beloved first born. She's almost 6 and is in kindergarten. Thankfully she got her mom's looks and smarts. She loves to draw and wants to be an artist when she grows up. She's very tall for her age and meets all attraction height requirements. She was born into loving all things Disney. She first went to Disneyland at 6 months old and has logged 10 trips there so far. This was her second WDW trip.
Bryce – Our beloved second born. He's almost 2 and goes to a daycare 3 days a week at the same school Megan attends. He's generally a pretty happy guy. He's also tall for his age and like his dad he loves to eat. He loves Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Minnie, Barney and the Teletubbies. He's been to Disneyland 3 times starting at age 6 months. This was his first WDW trip.
Previous trips - This was my fourth trip to Walt Disney World. The first was approximately 1978 with my parents and sister. I believe we spent one day at the Magic Kingdom and one day at EPCOT before leaving on a cruise. Jenny had gone as a senior in high school as part of a FBLA trip. Our first trip together was in May of 1990 for our honeymoon. We spent a week offsite in the Orlando Stouffer before going on a cruise. We liked the hotel but looking back on it now I really regret not staying on site. Our next trip was in 1995 with then two year old Megan and my mother and stepfather. Jenny and I were in a bit of commando mode on that trip. I was a lifelong Disneyland kind of guy but for the prior few years I had started accumulating every WDW guidebook available. I began realizing how vast WDW was and how much of it we had missed on our honeymoon. We were determined to see it all in 1995 on a 10-day trip. With the help of my mom and stepfather staying back with Megan sometimes we were able to do most of what we had planned. We saw all three (at that time) Disney parks, all three water parks as well as Universal, Pleasure Island, the Disney Village Marketplace, a very fun pontoon boat rental and lot's of visiting the various resorts. We stayed at a condo off of HWY 192 about 10 miles from the middle of WDW. It was a clean, nice three-bedroom condo with full kitchen and sleeping for 8. We liked the unit itself and the spaciousness (about 1200 square feet) but you got absolutely none of the magic of staying on site. The complex was fairly empty for the most part and there just seemed to be no activity at the place at all. There was a pool but no clubhouse. It was fine for a comfortable place to stay especially at the $100 a night price but we swore that next time we would stay on site.

Pre-trip planning – In early 1998 Jenny and I were discussing what to do for our 10 year anniversary in Y2K. We were definitely taking the kids. Both of us traveled extensively with our respective parents when we were children and I can't imagine vacationing without the kids. We settled on Disneyworld fairly quickly as our destination. Jenny had been crunching the vacation budget numbers, which were looking very good, and she came up with the idea of going a year early in 1999. I didn't need any further convincing so in about March of 1998 the planning started.

I have about every guidebook ever written about Disneyland and Disneyworld but I stocked up on the latest annual updates on all of them and got to work. I enjoy every guide but for us I found the following the most helpful.

Kim Wiley's Walt Disney World with Kids. It is packed with great information on travelling to WDW with children.
Birnbaum's Official Guide to Walt Disney World. This one has some information you just can't get anywhere else and some fun little details. There are a couple of really good maps as well. This isn't the best guide in my opinion but it does come in handy.
Sehlinger's Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. This one is packed with a lot of good information. I like this guide for all of the little details it provides. I imagine this book would totally overwhelm most casual WDW tourists by the commando approach it takes. The downsides are that I find the guide too critical and it seems like Sehlinger and company are unable to appreciate the magic of WDW.
Rita Aero's Walt Disney World for Adults. I really like this guide. This book has a real enthusiasm for WDW that is so lacking in the Unofficial Guide. Some of the maps are very good and there are wonderful descriptions of the resorts and restaurants.
Perlmutter's Walt Disney World for Couples. I love this book. These folks really know how to do WDW right. This book has hands down the best descriptions of each of the WDW resorts. Great restaurant reviews also. It's a bit lacking on the attraction section but more than makes up for it with wonderful descriptions of romantic things to be found at WDW.
Around March 1998 I got hooked up to the Internet and quickly became obsessed with finding all things related to Disney and especially WDW. The guidebooks are all wonderful but there is nothing like the Internet for diversity of information and up to the minute details that the printed guides by their very nature can't provide. Here's a list of what I feel is the best WDW information on the Internet.

Brian Bennett's Trip Planning Resource. This is the first site I go to every day when I log on. I'm totally addicted to trip reports and have read every one of them on Brian's site. There's also loads of useful information about planning a WDW trip. I can't say enough about this site. In reading Brian's own trip reports I've really gained a respect for him as a father, husband and fellow Disney fanatic. His website is at: http://members.aol.com/DVClubber/dvchome.htm
Rec.Arts.Disney.Parks also known as RADP. This is a Usenet discussion group dedicated primarily to WDW. As with any unmoderated discussion group this one can go off the subject and there can be people who are less than civilized. However, this is one of the best places to go for questions that you can't find the answers to elsewhere. It also had the very latest news about WDW. The discussions among the regulars can be very entertaining. Most Internet service providers offer a newsreader for Usenet newsgroups. If yours doesn't you can visit: www.dejanews.com
Deb Will's Unofficial Walt Disney World Information Guide. This site like Brian's provides ton's of great planning information and lot's of little secrets to make your trip special. The menu section here is fantastic and a great way to scope out where you want to eat so you can make those priority seating times from home before you leave. Her site is at: http://www.wdn.com/dwills/contents.htm
Pete Werner's Disney Information Station. This site is another must see for anyone planning a WDW trip. There is a huge amount of information here. There are also message boards where you can ask questions or share tips with others. The folks that visit and moderate these boards are very nice and very helpful. Pete's site is at: http://www.disneyinfo.com/disintro.htm
With all this information at our fingertips we had to get down to decision making. The first decision was when to go. This was actually fairly easy. We live in Carnation, WA a small town east of Seattle. Jenny and I are both native Washingtonians and would never move out of the area but sometimes the long winter and the constant rain get to us. So, looking forward to getting out of the rain we decided to leave at the end of winter so when we came back spring would be starting. With the kids being so young it didn't really matter when we went as far as their school time. We wanted a balance of somewhat less crowded conditions in the parks yet decent weather so we could go to the water parks. We finally settled on early March, which appeared to be a pretty good mix of crowds and weather.

The next decision was how long to stay. Our last trip of 10 days just did not seem to be enough time to see what we wanted to see. The Animal Kingdom was also a new addition which would add another touring day so we settled on 12 days which is about as long as the budget would allow for anyway. The official dates would have us leaving on Saturday, March 6th and returning on Thursday March 18th.

With the dates decided the next step was to decide where to stay. I started looking into what we could afford (either the moderates or the value resorts) and checking their Magic Kingdom Club rates. The Caribbean Beach Resort really appealed to both of us. The architecture, activities and feel of the place just seemed like a good fit. I also considered Dixie Landings or Port Orleans as well as Coronado Springs. We kept coming back to the Caribbean Beach idea but the thought of staying in a standard size hotel room with a toddler and 5 year old was sounding less appealing. We began to think how nice it would be to have another bedroom to put the kids in, a kitchen for preparing breakfasts, a washer and dryer etc. As much as we really wanted to stay on site the reality of vacationing with two young children was setting in. I debated the onsite versus offsite idea for quite a while. My thoughts were:

The early entry privilege of staying on site is somewhat negated by how crowded the parks are on their early entry days.
The transportation issue wasn't really a selling point for us. I felt that we could stay offsite and travel as quickly to and from the parks via a rental van as we could by staying at an onsite moderate and taking the Disney busses. Plus we would be travelling to each of the parks with quite a bit of baggage. Bryce is still in diapers and has a bottle. That requires a lot of preparation and carrying a lot of supplies with us. Trying to load and unload the two kids, a stroller, 2 backpacks and a small cooler on and off the bus every day just didn't sound like the way to go in our situation. We would also be going Universal and some offsite dinners. We would probably get a rental van regardless of if we stayed onsite or off.
Priority seatings are no longer only an onsite guest privilege. I called the Magic Kingdom Club 1-800 phone number and made many of our priority seatings 120 days or 60 days in advance.
The only thing I felt that we would miss out on by not staying onsite was being in the middle of the magic 24 hours a day. This is a real consideration. All Disney resorts including the value and moderate resorts have that special Disney magic about them. With the price differential for a room offsite versus one on site though I was willing to forgo that. We had a fairly long vacation planned and we would be experiencing lots of that Disney magic in the parks. We would also be spending a lot of time exploring the resorts on our off days from the parks.
So, we started scouring the Internet and all the tourist publications for suites, homes and condos. I was amazed at some of the deals out there. What we settled on was the Hampton Oak Plantation resort in Kissimmee. It is located about 10 miles away from most of the Disney areas we would be visiting. We decided on a two-bedroom condo with 2 full baths, a full kitchen, washer and dryer, daily maid service, free continental breakfast, 2 swimming pools and a kiddie pool. We got the brochures and just loved the look and layout of the resort. At approximately 1,100 square feet our unit would be several times the size of a room at the Caribbean Beach and would be much more comfortable. There were several discounts available for the resort and the best one we found was on www.floridakiss.com. It offered a coupon that gave each third night free with the purchase of two nights. Our 12-night stay would cost a total of $1,107 or $92 per night including all taxes. It seemed like a deal that couldn't be beat so we made the reservations.

Next decision was a rental car. We have both a sport utility vehicle and a minivan at home and I'll take the minivan any day when it comes to transporting young children. It is much easier to load our youngest into the car seat and easier for our oldest to get in by herself. Plus if the kids are fighting it's possible to put them in separate rows of seats. I also didn't like the idea of getting a compact car that would be hot (vans have deep tinted windows and stay much cooler) and difficult to load the toddler into several times a day. So, even though the rental price of a minivan is approximately twice that of a compact car I decided to go for it. We would take our own car seat with us. We would just ship it as another piece of luggage to save the $60 rental charge for our stay. It later turned out our rental van had integrated child seats but it was still nice to have our own car seat. Bryce usually falls asleep in the car and it was much more comfortable for him to be in his own seat with lots of head support for sleeping.

I checked the Internet, my credit cards, the Magic Kingdom Club, frequent flyer programs and newspaper ads for car rental discounts. I was scared off by the first initial quotes of $600 per week. I worked on this for several weeks until I found the very best deal from Dollar at $199 per week and $36 per day. This was using a TAG code on the Dollar website. I also had a $10 off per week coupon from Costco that I was able to use. The total with all taxes, fees and other gouges was $460.47 for the 12 days. I checked each of the rental companies weekly until the time our trip arrived and never found a better rate.

By now it was just after Thanksgiving and we decided to try to talk my sister Sonya and her husband Dom (mid 20's) to join us in Orlando. They currently live in Nashville where Dom is a medical school student at Vanderbilt and Sonya is a second grade teacher. They would be finding out where Dom would be doing his residency soon after the vacation ended. (It later turned out they got their first choice of Tucson.) This would be a stressful time for them thinking about where in the country they may end up so they really liked the idea of getting away from it all for a little while. We convinced them to fly down for a weekend. The minivan will come in handy here since it will easily seat all 6 of us.

Now it was time to start "the plan". This was to be my schedule for each day's activities. I didn't want to go overboard and plan out the bathroom breaks but by the same token I didn't want to be standing at the Tree of Life at noon staring at a map and trying to figure out what to do next. My goal with the plan was to have an outline of what to do each day but to keep it very flexible with alternate plans in case we wanted or needed to change things around. So, the following considerations went into making the plan. The first was obviously that we would not be staying on site and would not be eligible for early entry. I avoided the early opening days at each park like the plague. Another consideration was that we would be driving approximately 20 minutes each way and packing a lot of stuff. We don't want to push the kids or ourselves to the point of no one having fun but we probably won't be going back to the condo for a nap. Megan doesn't nap anyhow and Bryce can nap quite comfortably in his reclining stroller. We are hoping that mild temperatures and moderate crowds will allow us to stay at one park each day for the majority of the day. Park hopping sounds great when the kids get older but just would require too much time and effort at this point. Since we would be doing long days at the parks we would try to take every other day off. We will go to the waterparks, shopping, resorts or swimming pool on these days. Also, we are an early to bed and early to rise family. We plan to be at the opening of each park every day and come back to the condo to relax after dinner and turn in for the night.

The schedule I came up with after much refinement looked as follows:

Day Time Itinerary

SAT 3-6 11:15AM United flight from Seattle to Denver to MCO. Arrive at 8:45PM

Get rental minivan from Dollar. Promotion code TAG. $199 per week and $35.99 per day. Use coupon at check-in and give them the frequent flyer number.
Drive to Hampton Oak Plantation - 4100 Enchanted Oaks Circle - Kissimmee, FL 34741 1-800-578-0140 Check into 2 bedroom condo. Approx. $92 per night with Internet coupon.
SUN 3-7 9:00AM Go to Wal-Mart and pickup snacks, picnic items and beach toys for the day.

10:00AM River country open until 5:00PM. Follow the signs to Fort Wilderness and then to the day visitor parking area. Take the Gateway Depot bus. Stop at petting farm at Fort Wilderness either before or after River Country.
Purchase River Country/Discovery Island combo tickets. Use MKC card.
Stake out a spot at Kiddie Cove with umbrella and lounge chairs.
Rent life jackets for both kids.
Go on the Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow slides first.
Ride the White Water Rapids.
Play in the pool.
Afternoon Go to Publix or Wal-Mart and stock up on groceries.
Dinner at TGI Fridays at Crossroads.
Optional plans

Downtown Disney, tour the resorts, Belz Outlet Mall for Character Warehouse, Boardwalk, Winter Summerland or Fantasia mini golf.
MON 3-8 9:00AM EPCOT open until 9:00PM.

Leave condo by 8:00AM to arrive early and purchase 2 adult four-day hoppers and one child 5-day hopper. Use MKC card. Use the old tickets for entry this day.
Pick up map and schedule of live performances.
Spaceship Earth first if nothing else is open then Test Track as soon as it opens.
Go across to Honey I Shrunk the Audience the to the Land.
See Circle of Life, Living with the Land and Food Rocks (open the crates out front).
Stop at Ice Station Cool. Watch everyone try the Beverly!
Watch the Fountain of Nations behind Spaceship Earth across from the Fountainview Café. Shows every 15 minutes. See Cast in Bronze nearby.
Find the talking water fountain by the Centorium. Another one is near the kid's fountain. The third is by a restroom between Innoventions and Honey I Shrunk the Audience.
Find the talking trash can by the Electric Umbrella at Innoventions.
Go to World Showcase and start in Canada. Buy a passport. Try to see Off Kilter. Go to the gardens in Canada.
Stop at each country for Kidcot stations, passport stamp and candy.
Find the secret park by the water in the United Kingdom and find the maze.
Try the melon Kaki-Gori shave ice in Japan.
See Impressions de France in the France pavilion. Try to see the Living Statues and Bubble Nicolas.
See the American Adventure at America. Listen to the Voices of Liberty.
Look for the model train in Germany.
Try to see the Pu Yang Acrobats in China.
Ride Maelstrom in Norway. Skip the movie. Play on the Viking ship.
Ride El Rio de Tiempo in Mexico.
6:30PM Dinner PS at San Angel.
See the sidewalk lights after dark on the way out.
Go to the Living Seas for a quick tour.
Stop by the IBM exhibit in the Innoventions building and send electronic postcard e-mail to relatives.
Stop by Universe of Energy to see the show.
Optional plans

Disney-MGM Studios, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom
TUE 3-9 9:00AM Magic Kingdom open until 8:00PM. Leave the condo by 8:00AM

Alien Encounter then Space Mountain. Follow the path alongside the Tomorrowland Power building to the small park with a view of the trains. Continue the path to Toontown.
Toontown for Barnstormer and the Judges Tent to see Mickey; Fair Hall for the other characters. Take a walk through Mickey and Minnie's houses
Fantasyland for Peter Pan, Legend of the Lion King and Small World.
Go to Liberty Square to see the Haunted Mansion. Get a turkey leg & churro.
See the Hall of Presidents, Country Bear Jamboree then Pirates.
Look at the spitting Tiki statues in Adventureland next to Bwana Bob's.
Get a Dole Pineapple whip. Rest in the area behind the Christmas shop.
See the Tropical Serenade and ask a CM where to sit to catch the feather.
3:00PM Magic moments parade. Stake out spot early and look for CM's handing out stickers.
4:00PM Early dinner PS at Tony's. Ask for a table on the patio. Use the MKC card.
See the flag retreat ceremony in Town Square at 5:00PM
After the Parade check the wait times for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder.
If lines are too long there then ride the skyway from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland.
Do Buzz Lightyear then Carousel of Progress. Ride the Train.
Ride the Liberty Belle Riverboat. Ask to go up to the wheelhouse with the captain. Get a certificate.
Go to the Kodak Camera Center on Main Street and send e-mail postcards.
Optional plans

Disney-MGM Studios, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom
WED 3-10 10:00AM Blizzard Beach open until 5:00PM. Leave condo by 9:30AM. Take a picnic lunch.

Stake out spot at Tike's Peak with umbrella and lounge chairs. Rent life vests for both kids.
Take the chair lift up to the top and go on Teamboat Springs.
Take Bryce back to the kids area. Let Meg & Jenny go on Runoff Rapids.
Trade off and let Lance do Summit Plummet.
Float in the tubes around Cross Country Creek.
Take Meg over to the Ski Patrol Training Camp.
Have picnic lunch.
5:45PM Character dinner PS at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary.
7:30PM Magic Kingdom fireworks. Watch from the balcony of the California Grill after dinner.
Optional plans

Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon
THU 3-11 9:00AM Disney-MGM Studios open until 7:00PM

First stop is Tower of Terror. Ask to sit in the seatbelt seat. Then go to Beauty & the Beast at the Theater of the Stars.
Voyage of the little Mermaid followed by the Great Movie Ride.
See the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (pull the rope in the well outside) at 11:45AM then go to Star Tours and Muppetvision 4D.
Go to the Backlot Theater for the Hunchback of Notre Dame show (look for the Singing in the Rain umbrella on a streetlight outside the theater) at 1:45PM.
Then on to Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. Climb the stairs between the garden hose and the slide coming out of the roll of film. Have Meg put her hands in the dog's nose.
Explore the New York Street Backlot.
3:00PM Mulan Parade. Find a spot along the parade route near Star Tours.
4:30PM Dinner PS at 50's Prime Time Café. Have a shake and try the s'mores for dessert. Use the MKC card.
See the Doug Live and ABC Sound Studio shows if there is time before the parade.
Optional plans

Epcot, Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon.
FRI 3-12 10:00AM Discovery Island open until 5:00PM. Bring a picnic lunch. Park at the Contemporary and take the ferry.

Take the Monorail to the Polynesian for a look around then the Grand Floridian. Ask to sit up front in the monorail and see if they have a co-pilots license for Meg.
Rent a pontoon boat from the marina and explore.
8:50PM Dom and Sonya arrive from Nashville. Take Megan to the airport to greet them.
Optional plans

Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Studios, Disney-MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom
SAT 3-13 7:00AM Animal Kingdom open until 6:00PM. Leave by 6:15AM. Use MKC card to buy Sonya & Dom's tickets.

Go through the Oasis, into Harambe and onto the Kilimanjaro Safari.
Walk through the Pangani Forest Trail.
Go to Camp Minnie-Mickey. See the first showing of Festival of the Lion King.
See Pocahontas at Grandmother Willows Grove.
Go to the character greeting area for hugs, pictures and autographs.
Return to the Tree of Life and see It's Tough To Be A Bug. Examine the carvings in the Tree of Life while waiting in line.
Go to Dinoland U.S.A. for Countdown to Extinction.
See the Journey into the Jungle Book show at the Theater in the Wild.
Lunch at Restaurantosaurus or go back to Safari Village for the Flame Tree Barbecue or Pizzafari. Sit along river by the Flame Tree. Use MKC card. Be sure to check out the inside of Pizzafari.
Let the kids play at the Boneyard.
Walk through the Maharaja Jungle Trek.
Go on the Kali River Run. Squirt water at people with the elephants.
Explore the Oasis on the way out.
3:00PM March of the Artimals parade.
Afternoon: Leave the Animal Kingdom and drive over to Downtown Disney Marketplace.
Rent a pontoon boat at the marina for a cruise
Go up the river past the Treehouse Villas then check out Port Orleans and Dixie Landings. Cruise back by Old Key West.
Stop at the Boardwalk after that if everyone is up to it.
Rent a 6 passenger surrey bike.
Check out the Luna Park pool area and the Rose Courtyard at the Boardwalk Inn.
Play the midway games and win Meg a stuffed animal.
Pick up a pizza at Spoodles take out window.
Optional plans

Universal Studios, Epcot, Blizzard Beach, River Country
SUN 3-14 10:00AM Typhoon Lagoon open until 5:00PM. Leave by 9:15AM. Use MKC card to buy Sonya & Dom's tickets.

Stake out a spot with shade and chairs in Ketchakiddie Creek.
Rent life jackets for both kids.
Head up to the family raft ride.
Dom & Lance do Humunga Kowabunga.
Go on all the water slides.
Play in the wave pool and see shark reef later.
Float around Castaway Creek.
Have picnic lunch.
6:00PM Rainforest Café for dinner.
Look around Downtown Disney before dinner and afterwards. Use the MKC card for any purchases. Leave by 7:30PM. Take Jenny and Bryce back to the condo. Meg and Lance will drop off Sonya and Dom at the airport.
9:30PM Dom and Sonya's flight leaves.
Optional plans

Animal Kingdom, River Country, Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom, Epcot
MON 3-15 9:00AM Universal open until 7:00PM. Leave at 8:00AM. Use the $2.50 off coupon for ticket purchase.

First stop is the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. Meg and Jenny go to the motion simulator seats. Bryce and Lance watch from the stationary seats.
If the wait is not too long see Terminator 2: 3D
Go on the E.T. Adventure
Back to the Future
Go back to A Day In the Park With Barney.
Let the kids run wild in Fievel's Playland.
See Jaws next.
Earthquake.
Kongfrontation.
Twister.
Nickolodeon Studios Walking Tour.
late lunch At Hard Rock Café. Use coupon for free appetizer.
Back to the condo for a swim.
Optional plans

Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, River Country
TUE 3-16 See the Resorts day.

Drive to the Caribbean Beach Resort. Go to Old Port Royale. Check out the pool. Walk over to Parrot Cay and find the playground.
Go see Coronado Springs next. Walk to the Dig Site. Explore the pool and find the playground. If it's time for lunch stop at the Pepper Market.
Drive to the Yacht & Beach Clubs. Look at the lobbies and Stormalong bay. If it's time for lunch stop at Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club.
Walk over to the Boardwalk. Stop at Seashore Sweets. See the Boardwalk Inn if we didn't already see it Saturday. If it's time to eat stop at the ESPN Sportsclub.
Go to Dixie Landings and see Ol' Man Island.
Walk over to Port Orleans for a look at Doubloon Lagoon.
Go to the Wilderness Lodge if we are up to it. Get a list of hidden Mickeys to look for in the lobby.
Optional plans

Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom
WED 3-17 9:00AM Magic Kingdom open until 9:00PM

Go first to Splash Mountain then Big Thunder.
Visit whatever was missed on the first day or whatever we want to repeat.
Go to Tom Sawyer's Island. Have lunch or snack at Aunt Polly's.
Afternoon Take the monorail (ask to sit in front) to Epcot. See whatever was missed on the first day or whatever we want to repeat. Return by monorail (ask to sit in front) to the Magic Kingdom. Leave Epcot by 6:30PM.
8:00PM Spectromagic. Watch the parade from the tables at the Sleepy Hollow restaurant.
Optional plans

Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon
THU 3-18 10:30AM Leave for airport, return car.

12:15PM United departure. Layover in Denver. Arrive at SeaTac 4:24PM
So, if the pre-trip planning hasn't already bored you to tears it's on to the actual trip report that unfortunately will go into even more detail.

Day –1, Friday, 3-6-99. The day before we leave (but almost don't).

Busy day. I drop Meg off at school and I go to work to try to clean up as much of the ugly stuff as I can before we leave. Jenny had scheduled a follow up doctor appointment for Bryce who was recovering from one of his many ear infections. He seemed better but we didn't want to take any chances before leaving. The first surprise came when Bryce woke up with his eye nearly swollen shut. Not a good sign. Jenny took him in for his already scheduled appointment and the doctor was concerned about his eye. The doctor looked him over and said that it probably was not serious but Bryce would need two antibiotic shots to help clear it up "and if you go on the plane tomorrow"….. I think Jenny kind of blanked out after that phrase. She was naturally concerned about Bryce and the prospect of not going on the trip also brought her close to tears. The doctor must have realized how upset she was because she then softened up a bit and told Jenny everything would be fine with his eye but they needed to make sure it was better before we left. She assured Jenny that if the eye cleared up Bryce would be fine to fly. They scheduled another appointment for 9AM the next morning for another shot if the eye did not clear up. Thankfully his eye starting looking better that evening. We were pretty concerned and didn't sleep too well but we all finally drifted off.

Day 1, Saturday 3-6-99. Departure day.

Woohoo! Bryce wakes up and his eye looks fine. The doctor said we were fine to go. What a relief! The skies are blue today for the first time in a very long while (we are getting close to 100 straight days of measurable rainfall). We leave a little early at 8:30 and arrive at my mom's house near Sea-tac at 9:30AM. We visit for a little while and then it's time for mom to drop us off at the airport. We pull right up to the United skycap and check-in there which turns about to be a great decision. The lines inside are really long. Well worth the $3 tip for our 3 bags. We get to go straight to the gate. The skycap says our plane has been delayed from Hong Kong and United has moved us to another flight leaving within a few minutes of the original time. He says it will be a full flight but our seats are confirmed and to be thankful we aren't going to Chicago which is having lots of delays. He gives us the tickets and gate number and off we go. We arrive at the gate at the end of a long line of people and a very surly gate agent. He's yelling out that the flight is full and if you haven't already checked in at the gate then you are too late and not getting on the plane. I was starting to get concerned when I saw that the flight was to Chicago instead of our destination of Denver. The skycap had just put down the wrong gate number. Thankfully we left that madhouse and went to the correct gate.

It turns out our flight is also overbooked and they are offering free round trip tickets in the continental U.S. if you agreed to be bumped. Great deal but there is no way are we missing this flight with the kids in tow and 3,000 miles of travelling in front of us. Our kids are experienced travelers but they are still kids. Bryce would be on my lap for both flights and that's a lot of confinement for a toddler. But we have made similar length flights before to Hawaii and we were just hoping for the best. The idea of the bulkhead seats really appeal to me because I'm tall (6'2") and there would be no seats in front of us for the kids to kick or bump. Unfortunately, with the bulkhead seats there is no space in front of you to store your carry on baggage. We had two backpacks full of kid essentials so we needed to have them with us. So, the bulkhead was out. Our seats turned out to be in the very last row. At first I thought this was great. There would be fewer people for the kids to bother if they misbehaved. We sat down and scored again. Kids under 5 and their dad occupy the seats in front of us! I'm beginning to wish that we could fly all the way to Orlando like this. I've flown in the last row before and forgot that it does have a few drawbacks. You are the last to be served beverages and meals. You also get to spend a good deal of the flight with people's backsides crowding your space while they wait for the restroom.

Bryce fell asleep just before lunch. I held him while Jenny and Megan ate. Jenny had ordered special meals in advance. This is a great way to go and doesn't cost anything extra. She had ordered a kid meal for Megan. It was a McDonald's happy meal with a cheeseburger; cookies, applesauce and raisins along with a little toy United truck with Ronald McDonald driving it. Meg has had these before but she loved it just as much this time. It's quite a bit of food and a real treat for kids. Jenny had ordered a low fat meal for herself. She doesn't have any dietary restrictions but has found that the special meals are often times of higher quality than the regular meal. It was a BBQ chicken breast on rice with mushrooms and red peppers and was fairly tasty. I had the regular lunch of penne pasta which was your ordinary airline quality food.

The flight went well with Bryce taking a good nap. We landed in Denver and made the long trek over to the gate for our next flight to Orlando. I sure do like the moving sidewalks they have at the airport here. We basically walked up to the gate and boarded the plane. We did hear an announcement that this flight was also overbooked. They were offering a $200 travel credit on a future flight if you took the bump. The next flight to Orlando was 2 hours later so it seemed like a pretty good deal but once again nothing was going to stop us from continuing on. We left Denver about 20 minutes late. We sat right in the middle of the plane with three middle-aged men in front of us. None of them looked too pleased to have kids seated by them. Can't say as I blame them.

It was already starting to be a long day and another 3 hours on my lap is not what Bryce had in mind. Overall though both kids were about as good as could be expected. It wasn't a comfortable flight by any means but considering no one had a melt down I would consider it a successful one. We landed on time in Orlando.

I took Bryce to the car rental desk while the girls waited for the luggage. There was no line at Dollar but every rental agent was busy with customers. I had about a 5-minute wait. During that time I overheard a few of the rental agents really putting on the hard sell for upgrading the car, insurance, etc. It took just a couple of minutes to complete the paperwork after I politely but forcefully declined the insurance. I'm glad I'm knowledgeable about insurance and not timid because they really do try to push you into buying the extras.

Bryce and I went back upstairs and Jenny was just loading the last piece of luggage on to the luggage cart. We went back downstairs and across the street to where the Dollar cars were located. It was a pretty short walk. We got a forest green Dodge Caravan. We would later find out that Florida state law requires every 3rd vehicle on the road to be a forest green Dodge Caravan. They were everywhere. The van was OK but I really missed the power sliding door on our Chevy Venture.

We exited the airport via the toll road ($1.50 total in tolls) and then took the John Young Parkway. Our condo was about 30 minutes from the airport. We arrived at the Hampton Oak Plantation Resort at 10PM. Check in was quick and easy and the staff was very courteous. I was impressed that they had quite a few employees at a somewhat late hour and they were all very cheerful.

We immediately knew we were really going to like this place. It's located just a few blocks from HWY 192 but on a quiet side street in a pretty forest setting. The entrance is gated with your room key card activating the gates. It really felt secure without giving you the feeling that there were security concerns in the area. It was very well lit all night long and there were always employees around.

We drove to our building and found our room. We had requested and received a ground floor unit (all of the buildings are 2 stories). We didn't want to be lugging our backpacks, strollers and children up and down the stairs everyday. Also, I felt that we wouldn't worry so much about the noise the kids made if we were on the ground floor. We loved our room location. Most of the buildings are situated around a large pond that has two fountains in it. Our unit had a very nice view of one of the fountains from the bay windows of our breakfast nook. Across the pond were tennis courts and a full basketball court. Nearby at the end of pond was a very nice gazebo with tables and chairs with a vending machine for duck food. The pond has several resident ducks and geese as well as a few interloping egrets and cranes. Also, nearby were a small game room, a very nice playground and an area to wash and vacuum your car. The pond is set about 15 feet below the level of the grounds. The grassy banks of the pond slope rather sharply (I'm guessing to discourage anyone from getting the idea of wading). Surrounding the pond is a very nice walking path that is lit well all night long. Along the way there are those speakers disguised as rocks that pipe in soft music. There are lots of trees and quite an army of squirrels.

The pool area is at the other end of the pond less than 100 yards away. There are two nice sized swimming pools and an "interactive kiddie pool". The kiddie pool is great. It's about 1 foot deep and in the middle of it there are four large, brightly colored pipes. The pipes shower down water in different ways. One of them sprinkles down like rain, another like a waterfall, a third shoots out a stream of water and the last requires a pull of a rope to start a shower like flow. Megan says it looks like a Nickelodeon fountain and I agree.

As we unloaded the luggage in the room I looked at the activity schedule the front desk gave us at check in. Each day has about 5 activities. They are all pretty low-key but something fun for the kids to do if you happen to be around during the day. A few of them involved a small charge of $2-$6. Some of the activities were aqua aerobics, kids games and balloon toss, bead bracelet making, root beer floats, air hockey tournament, flower pot candles, ice cream social, tye-dye t-shirts, water volleyball, penny dives, balloon art and face painting. We had a very full itinerary so we didn't really get to any of these. Also, on Thursdays they have the "little gator club" from 5-9PM. It costs $15 for the first child and $10 for the second. They do group games, arts and crafts and have a pizza and ice cream feed. It looks like it would be a nice option for parents who want to have some time alone or a dinner without the kids.

Our condo unit was great. Upon entering you were in the living room, dining room, and kitchen areas. Each area was open to the others so it was basically one very large room. The living room had a large sofa that turned into a queen-sized sleeper. There was a coffee table in front of it and end tables with lamps on either side. There were two comfortable chairs. On the wall across the room was a large dresser that housed the 25" TV and VCR with four drawers for storage. The breakfast nook had an average sized dining table with four chairs. I noticed some of the other units had six chairs. Bay windows let in lots of light and provided a beautiful view of the fountain. The kitchen had a small pantry, double sink with garbage disposal, full sized refrigerator with ice maker (came in very handy), dishwasher, blender, toaster, range with self cleaning oven, full sized microwave over the oven, a complete setting for 8 of dishes, silverware, cups, coffee mugs, glasses, bowls etc. They also had a nice supply of knives, kitchen gadgets, pots, pans and the like. It was pretty much what most people have at home. The full sized washer and dryer were in a walk-in closet next to the kitchen.

On either side of this area were the bedrooms. Each was large and had a full bathroom, 19" television, phone, overhead lights, lamps, dressers and a closet. The master bedroom had a larger walk in closet and contained a king-sized bed. The other bedroom had two twin beds. There was the standard assortment of soaps, shampoo, lotions etc. in each bathroom and towels and washcloths for 4 people. There was daily maid service that came each day at approximately 3:30PM. It worked out well because we generally were not in the condo at that time. As part of the maid service they even did all of your dishes in the dishwasher and put them away again. Wow, I could live like this. The interior colors were kind of Key West themed with pale yellow and pale pink walls. Everything was very clean and fresh looking. There were no signs of wear and tear.

It was about 10:30PM and we were still settling in. Jenny was unpacking while the kids and I were checking out the place. I had planned to go to Wal-Mart the next morning for a few picnic supplies and sand toys for our day at River Country. We were still on Seattle time of 7:30PM though and everyone was wide-awake. I decided to do the shopping tonight and take Bryce with me. The Super Wal-Mart on HWY 192 was less than a mile away from our condo. What a huge store! That's not to say it was in any way attractive or a particularly pleasant place to shop but you had to give it credit for it's sheer immensity. I picked up bottled water, milk, beer, wine, soda, chips and beach toys. I took my time and wandered about the store to tire Bryce out. We made it back to the condo at 11:30PM. Jenny and I each took one child into separate bedrooms in the hopes of getting them to calm down and get some sleep. They both crashed about midnight. The girls were in the master bedroom and the boys in the other room.

Day 2, Sunday 3-7-99. River Country. Weather report – Cloudy with just a few sprinkles. Cool in the morning and evening. High temp in the upper 60's.

On our prior trip 4 years ago we started at River Country and we wanted to do the same again this time. We woke up around 6:30. Meg, Bryce and I went to the resorts "plantation pantry" for the complimentary continental breakfast. This was another very pleasant surprise. It was a great benefit of staying here. It was self-service with plenty of tables and chairs. There were lots of windows overlooking a pretty park like area. There was also a big screen TV usually tuned to morning news. The buffet consisted of about 6 different kinds of donuts, several kinds of mini muffins, bagels, bananas, apples, corn flakes, raisin bran, english muffins, waffles, coffee, milk, orange juice, apple juice, passion-guava juice, orange-peach juice. They also had free USA Today newspapers. There were packets of butter, syrup, cream cheese, cream for the coffee and toasters for heating everything up. I thought it was a very nice spread and the kids enjoyed it also. It was so convenient because you could take as much as you liked and take it back to your room. Most people arrived with one of the large pots from their unit and filled it up and went back to their room. We normally went back and toasted the english muffins, waffles and bagels in the room and sat at the table in our breakfast nook overlooking the fountain. It was also nice to have a couple of extra bagels and fruit to take with us to eat later in the day. This place was turning out to be a fantastic value.

We left for River Country a little before 9 to allow plenty of time before the 10AM opening. It was a neat feeling going up World Drive and seeing everything along the way. It took about ½ hour to reach the Fort Wilderness parking lot. We could tell right away that River Country wouldn't be too busy today. We waited about 5 minutes for the bus then loaded up the kids and all the gear (stroller, collapsible cooler, sand toys, backpack with baby supplies, sunscreen, towels, sunglasses, snacks, extra clothes etc.). We arrived at the River Country entrance at 9:40 and there were two other people waiting. We looked around the beach area for a few minutes and the ticket window opened at 9:50 so we bought our River Country/Discovery Island Combo tickets. The total using the MKC card for 2 adults and one child was $57.82.

It was still a bit chilly and it rained a couple of drops while we waited for entry. About 6 other brave souls were on hand for opening. We made our way over to Kiddie Cove and staked our claim on some chairs next to an umbrella. We borrowed life jackets for the kids. No ID was required to do so. At the other water parks you need to leave your drivers license or other ID as a deposit. We brought out the bucket of sand toys and let the kids get busy digging. After a half-hour or so we finally braved the water. It was chilly but tolerable, at least for us northwesterners. It seemed like summer to us. We got some strange looks from the cast members, most of who were wearing sweatshirts. Meg and I decided to go on the white water rapids tube ride. It took a lot of convincing her as we got to the top and she saw that the first thing you go through is a waterfall. The CM working the rapids was wearing hip waders, a sweatshirt and a coat. She still looked cold. We took the plunge and got drenched. Poor Meg was shivering on the way down. She enjoyed the ride but not the cold water. The water here was much colder than the shallow waters of Kiddie Cove. She was in no hurry to go on this one again.

The kids played in Kiddie Cove while Jenny and I chatted with the CM's. They didn't have too much to do since it was only our kids and two other families in the area. One CM had been on the new Fear Every Drop sequence of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. She said she really enjoyed it and the drops seemed unpredictable. Another CM said that Test Track was not worth much of a wait in line. His opinion was that it is no big deal to go 60 MPH in a car because he does that every day on the way to work. I had not yet been on Test Track so I just smiled and nodded but I kind of thought that was like saying the Tower of Terror was no big deal because you ride an elevator every day at your office building. All of the River Country CM's were very friendly and we really enjoyed talking to them.

Bay Cove was still cold so we went to the heated swimming pool. I went down the upstream plunge, which is a fun slide with a 7-foot drop into the pool. Meg said I made the biggest splash of anyone on the slide. I don't doubt it. It wasn't a pretty landing nor a painless one but fun nevertheless. We broke into the snacks and drinks we had brought with us in our collapsible cooler. The cooler came in very handy. It fits in the basket underneath the stroller and has plenty of room for drinks and sandwiches. Later we bought a hot dog kid's meal from Pop's place for $3.99. It included potato chips, a drink and a plastic pail and shovel. We also got an order of cheese fries that were not very good. The fries were OK but the cheese part was a little cup of that bland, gooey cheese from a big can. It didn't stop us from plowing through the fries mind you.

While waiting for our food Jenny said that the Pop's Place CM's had an order of fried chicken and they couldn't figure out whom it belonged too. She thought it was funny because there were only a few people in line. So, as they were yelling out "who ordered the chicken?" Jenny said "I think he did" and pointed to a rooster walking in front of the restaurant. She said everyone got a pretty good laugh out of it.

After that I decided to go on the larger of the two body flume rides. Yeeow, the water was still cold! It was a fun ride but nothing too memorable as far as water slides go. After this we washed the 40 pounds of sand off Bryce and changed his clothes so we could put him in his stroller for a nap. Jenny walked him around the Cypress Point nature trail until he fell asleep. She came back and convinced Meg to go on the tube ride again. Meg was thrilled that the CM held Jenny's tube under the waterfall and got her soaked. Bryce was fast asleep so I took a turn pushing the stroller along the Cypress Point boardwalk. This is one of those little, overlooked, out of the way things that makes Disneyworld so special. It was a beautiful walk. I think the cypress trees with the Spanish moss are just so romantic. Perhaps more so because they are so different from anything in the Northwest. The trail continues out and into Bay Lake and it offers some of the most spectacular scenery in WDW. The views of Discovery Island, the Contemporary and especially the Wilderness Lodge are stunning. There are some telescopes along the way that provide great close-ups of the flamingos, shipwreck and hammocks on Discovery Island. They also allow for a closer look at the imposing and stately Wilderness Lodge.

I went back to check on the girls and they were having a good time. It was still a little cool but Jenny decided she had to do at least one waterslide today so she went while I stayed with the kids. Bryce woke up soon after Jenny returned. I didn't want to change him back into his swimsuit and then clean him up again later so I took him on another stroll along Cypress Point. We both got to enjoy it since he was awake this time. He liked pointing out the lizards and ducks. It was fun to see all of the different watercraft on the lake and Bryce waved to every single one of them.

On the way back I picked up some of the Arctic Dots I had read about on RADP. They are tiny little ice cream BB's. My sister later told me they have them in the malls in Nashville. I really wish I could find them back home. They were a big hit with everybody. We got half chocolate and half chocolate mint, yum.

We decided to pack it up and call it a day about 2:30PM. On the way out we walked by the petting farm and saw Minnie Moo (the cow with Mickey markings on her side). As we were walking and looking at Minnie, Jenny stopped suddenly and got a strange look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she motioned to what we were all snacking on. Beef jerky!!! None of us felt like anymore jerky after that. Sorry Minnie!

We waited a couple of minutes for the bus. We were the only people getting on. While folding up the stroller, grabbing the cooler, backpacks and kids we didn't notice the signs saying to not enter by the rear of the bus. The driver came back and pointed out the signs we missed and the reasons for them. He was very nice about it but he did go on for quite a while. We deserved every minute of it but we were tired and just wanted to get back to our van. We sat sheepishly in the back of the bus for the ride to the parking lot.

Here is my first rant of what will probably be several through the course of this report. I thought I had a good feel for all of the roads by studying the property maps before I left and taking along the official WDW guidebook which has a good property map. I quickly realized that Disney has very specific ways of how they want you to get from place to place. These routes were not always the quickest or the ones I wanted to take. What is really frustrating is that the road names or numbers are rarely shown on Disney property. The signs tell you how to get to an area but not which road you are on. The signs leading to HWY 192 were few and far between and in some cases the signs that were there were misleading.

It's probably no surprise by my gripe above that I got lost. We were all tired and wet and just wanted to get back to the condo to clean up. It took 25 minutes to get back so I suppose it could have been worse by I was angry with myself for not knowing the routes better. This didn't put any of us in very good moods and I was rethinking the wisdom of staying offsite. Still, 25 minutes back to the room is not too bad and I know that the busses can take that long to get to the Disney resorts so I got over it.

We got back to the condo and cleaned up. The kids were coloring at the dining table and watching a Barney video. I went into the bedroom to read some of the hundreds of Disney brochures I had picked up and watch the weather channel. We all had our space to relax and my faith in staying offsite was quickly restored.

Jenny left for the Wal-Mart to stock up on some groceries. She was back fairly quickly. It turned out she had waited through 3 or 4 traffic lights to turn into Wal-Mart and every spot in the parking lot was full. She wanted no part of that so she came back to the room to regroup and find another grocery store. She eventually found a nearby Cash N' Carry. She tried charging the groceries because the traveler's checks were in my name. The cashier told her she needed her PIN. Jenny told her that there was no PIN because she was using a credit card and not a debit card. The lady waiting in line behind her got all snotty (and probably spotted Jenny's Washington driver's license) and said, "well in this state you have to have a PIN to use your card!" Jenny politely thanked her for her input. After a few more unsuccessful attempts a manager that understood the difference between a credit and debit card finally came over and the groceries were quickly paid for.

It was around 5:30 and we were all hungry so we decided to head out to the nearby TGI Friday's we had spotted on our earlier trip to River Country. Somehow, we must have passed right by it because we kept going and going with no signs of it and we were nearly back to I-4. We kept looking along HWY 192 for restaurants that were not packed. The Macaroni Grill and Chilis both had lines out the door. I then got the brilliant idea to go to the Friday's at the Crossroads Mall. Jenny said it would probably be busy and was she ever right. It was packed, as was every other restaurant in the area.

Our foul moods from getting lost earlier returned. I started back toward the condo and got lost again. Neither Jenny nor I were very patient with each other at this point and it's times like these when I really wish I could be a better person when things don't go well. We finally got back on track and spotted a Taco Bell. Jenny suggested we just go through the drive-through and pick up something to take back to the condo. $10 and 10 minutes later we are all in much better moods and eating at our dining room table from our great big bag of Taco Bell. We kind of laughed at our misadventure and our cheap dinner. We all agree that any meal with all of us happy can't be too bad. We got to sleep around 10PM tonight.

Day 3, Monday 3-8-99. Epcot day. Weather report – Some cloudiness. No rain. Cool in the morning and evening. High temp in the low 70's.

I woke up around 6:30AM and went over to the breakfast buffet to load up. I brought back food for everyone. Jenny had bought some deli sliced turkey breast so we put a few slices on the bagels and cream cheese. We packed this into our cooler with a few sodas, juice boxes and bottles of water. In the backpack we had fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, beef jerky (hopefully there will be no bovine sightings today), pretzels, Pringles and granola bars. I know it's against the rules to bring this into the theme parks but kids our age need to eat frequently. It's not always possible to find something they like plus it's a hassle and expense to wait in line each time they want a snack. We are discreet with it and try to be courteous of others.

We left the condo at 8 and arrived at the ticket window at 8:25. We bought two 4-day park hopper tickets for Jenny & I. We planned a total of 5 days at the Disney parks and we each had one day left on passes from the last trip. Meg got a 5-day park hopper. The total came to $483.80 with the MKC discount.

We entered the park and asked a CM if Test Track would be open today. She said that it would be closed so we went right to Spaceship Earth. It was open early at 8:40. We all enjoyed the ride. I liked Jeremy Irons narration but I had a difficult time hearing him. Unlike most attractions that have ear-piercing volumes, the narration on this one was strangely quiet. It may have been because the speakers are set fairly low and my head was quite a bit higher than they were. This sure would be a much more relaxing ride if the darn seats weren't so uncomfortable.

After that we walked towards Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We caught a few minutes of the Jammitors on the way. They are very entertaining and basically the same idea as the Trash Can Trio that we have enjoyed at Disneyland.

We had just a short wait for the next showing of HISTA. The theater was mostly full. We have seen the show several times at Disneyland. I liked it a lot the very first time I saw it. The next few times, however, I thought it didn't hold up too well for repeated viewing because you know what to expect. I started to miss Captain EO which I had always liked. Somewhere around the 4th show though I finally caught on that the real fun of the attraction was watching the people around you react to it. I got lucky this time. Seated next to me were a nice couple in their 50's who had never seen the show. They knew that it involved 3-D but they didn't know what to expect. The wife's glasses broke and Bryce generally doesn't wear his anyhow so I traded his for hers. It turned out to be a good move. The couple both did a major flinch when the sign explodes and the wife ended up kind of hitting me as she tried to get out of the way of the debris. They both got the giggles after that. When the mice came out she let out a huge shriek and then neither of them could stop laughing. Each effect got her going again and both of them just had a blast. So, now I really love this attraction. It's so much fun to see other people having so much fun. There was an effect, the part with the lion where they get you with the air jets, that we have never noticed before at Disneyland. We all got a nice surprise and a laugh out of that part. Well, actually Bryce didn't. The lion is too much for him and he usually will turn around and nuzzle his head into my chest so he doesn't see it.

We walked to the Land pavilion next and saw the Circle of Life movie for the first time. There was no line and no wait until the next show. The theater was only about 1/3 full. I thought it was a good show with a good message. I suppose the message may have been a little heavy handed but I still liked it. Bryce chanted "Timon" about 30 times in a row when he saw Simba's meerkat buddy on the screen.

We then went downstairs and took the Living with the Land boat ride. We hadn't been on this since it was Listen to the Land. I really preferred the new version. My sister still has bad memories of being bored out of her skull at EPCOT when she was a kid. The part she hated the most was the Listen to the Land song, which is no longer there. So, being a typical older brother I really missed something that would cause my sibling grief (even though she's not yet here with us).

We headed to Food Rocks which was a first for us. I remember on our last visit that I was in such a commando mode that we skipped it because the next show didn't start for 7 minutes. We had about a 10-minute wait so we had a friendly CM take our picture by the fountain at the Sunshine Season Food Fair. We also played around with the boxes where you open the lid and guess the smell. We all liked Food Rocks. Jenny and I got a kick out of trying to guess which of the songs may have been done by the original artists.

We made a stop at Innoventions. This place has just never appealed to me. I know there are lots of fun things here but Epcot just has so much to see and do that I would feel I was wasting my time cooped up in a huge video arcade. I went in though to look for the IBM exhibit and to send some electronic postcards. I was so happy I had read about this on RADP. The postcard stations are tucked away inconspicuously near a large screen computer display where a CM puts on a presentation. I'm sure most people miss them. There was no one else here so we took the opportunity to send half a dozen cards to friends and family. We had to make sure to send one to my sister because today was her birthday and we wanted to say hi. After we got home everyone told us how much they enjoyed the postcards. What a fun thing to do. It's little things like this that really make the trip magical. I sent a copy of the postcard to my own e-mail and saved it as wallpaper on my computer at work. It's a fun reminder of the trip.

We stopped by Ice Station Cool next. We probably would have gone in here and looked around briefly before walking out if I had not read about the place beforehand. Fortunately, I had read plenty of discussions on RADP about the Italian soda Beverly. I had warned the others to avoid it so we drank the Lilt pineapple soda from the UK as well as the ginger ale. We would walk around with our cups and discuss amongst each other how delicious the Beverly was. We had plenty of eavesdroppers because sure enough others would fill up their cups with that vile brew and take a big ol' chug of it. We would be standing nearby trying to contain our laughter but the victims generally found us out. Some of them then would get their loved ones to try it. If the kids would have let us I think we could have spent the rest of the day playing our mischievous game. Coke should sell one of those "Bloopers" type of tapes with shots of people trying the Beverly.

We walked out and caught of part of the Cast in Bronze performance. The music was great. It was definitely something different. Looking back now I'm just amazed at quality and quantity of live entertainment at Epcot. There were so many things we enjoyed yet so many that we missed. It's definitely a park that you can visit repeatedly and never get tired of.

We went to the Electric Umbrella and found the talking trash can. Meg got a kick out of that. Outside was a cart selling passports for World Showcase. I had been excited to get one of these for Meg and we really had fun with it. It was $8.95. We also bought Bryce a Pooh bear hat that came with sunglasses. It was on clearance for $4.99 which was a great bargain.

It was getting close to the World Showcase 11AM opening but Jenny discovered that the camera battery was finally dead and the replacement battery she purchased yesterday did not fit our camera. So, off we went to the camera center near the front gate. I tried not to worry about the backtracking and lost time but I made some comments about getting the right battery next time. I regretted saying them. It was another moment I'm not particularly proud of. Thankfully she shrugged it off pretty well. We were still on vacation though so I got back in a good mood in a hurry, determined to make up for my grumpiness.

New battery in hand, we set off for Canada and arrived at 11:20. I was a little disappointed to see that the Kidcot stations did not open until 1PM. I was really looking forward to Meg participating in these at each country. I knew we would get to plenty of them eventually though. We leisurely strolled through Canada and saw all of the sights we had been too busy to visit during our previous commando trips. Meg loved going into the English style phone booths. Her favorite movie is the new version of "The Parent Trap" so she reenacted a scene from the movie involving the phone booth for us. She also picked up an Anne of Green Gables paper doll book for $12. Seemed overpriced to me but it was her money from Grandma to spend how she pleased. (Thanks Grandma!) Off Kilter was playing later in the day. I really wanted to see them but I knew that we would probably not make it back here. That's OK though, it's fun to have something on the must do list for the next trip.

The United Kingdom was our next stop. It was so fun to see so many things that we missed here on previous trips where the Rose & Crown was about as far as we got. In the park area with the small hedge maze, Tigger came quietly out of a door and snuck up on Megan with a big hug. Bryce got a high five and bouncing time with Tigger also before people realized he was even there. What a special moment! Bryce loves all things Pooh related so this was really fun for him. There really seemed to be a lot of "spontaneous" character greetings like this in Epcot. I wish the other parks could do more of this. The waiting in line to see a character takes away from the experience a little. Having said that though I certainly understand the need for crowd control. Nothing gets me angrier than to see Megan patiently wait for a character and then have a parent walk right in front of those who were there first and push their child right up to the character. This happened once at Disneyland and when the half dozen or so pushy people left, Tigger came over and was really playful with Megan. He wrote, "I didn't forget about you. Love Tigger" in her autograph book. She still talks about it.

I wanted to see the park area next to the Rose & Crown so we walked over there. What a nice view but the seagulls were swarming the area so we didn't stay long. Meg got her passport signed in a shop by CM Stuart from Scotland. We all loved to hear him speak. He was very charming.

It was off to France next. We stopped in the perfume store for Meg's passport stamp. There were no other guests in the store. The CM's were friendly and I think they were looking for someone to talk with. The girls tried a few perfume samples. Jenny pronounced one of them too "foofy". The CM's in the store did not have a strong grasp of English to begin and they were very puzzled by that word. She had an interesting time trying to explain what she meant. We all had a good laugh out of it.

We briefly toyed with the idea of seeing "Impressions de France" which Jenny and I loved the previous trip. The kids weren't in the mood though so we moved towards Morocco after a brief meeting with Perla, one of the mice from Cinderella.

I really like the feel of Morocco and it was fun to just stroll around. While waiting for Meg to get her passport stamped we listened to a CM explaining to a guest that there were currently 20 CM's from Morocco. Most of the countries had far more. The CM said she likes WDW but that she was homesick. She was very sweet with Meg and spent quite a lot of time writing a long message in her passport and showing her how to write her name in Arabic. Outside the pavilion we had a quick meeting with Aladdin.

We made it over to Japan and the Kidcot stations had opened up so Meg got her passport stamped and colored a bookmark there. We picked up a rainbow Kaki-gori and we all enjoyed it. I liked the melon flavor the best but I couldn't tell any difference between the Kaki-gori and the shave ice we have enjoyed many times in Hawaii. I did miss the option of a scoop of ice cream at the bottom of the cup that you can get with shave ice. We stopped to watch the Matsuriza drumming group that we had been hearing all around the World Showcase. They were very impressive.

We hurried over toe the American Gardens Theater because Jenny had noticed Disney's International Songbook Show was about to start. This was a good show for kids. There were lots of characters and singing (in the characters native languages). It was well done for young kids but I probably would have skipped it for older children or adults.

Jenny left the show a few minutes early and met us outside the theater with a smoked turkey leg. What a gal! Meg and I love these. I think Jenny likes them but the sight of us gnawing on them like cavepeople kind of grosses her out. She picked off a few dainty bites but Bryce, Megan and I tore into the turkey leg like a pack of weasels. Ahh! Carnivore heaven.

Bryce was clamoring for milk so I went with Meg to the Liberty Inn for that and a Rice Krispie Mickey treat for Meg. It was around 2:30 and I thought there wouldn't be any people there. Boy, was I wrong. The place was packed. I thought it was kind of strange that with all the fun places to eat at Epcot that there would be so many people eating basic hot dogs and hamburgers. But, then again, not everyone makes priority seating and without it you can often times be out of luck finding a place to eat.

Meg loved her krispie treat (with chocolate coating on the ears) as Bryce did his bottle. He fell asleep in my arms listening to the Voices of Liberty. It didn't take long into the American Adventure before Meg joined Bryce in catching a few winks. Jenny also nodded off for a brief moment. I really enjoyed the show. The Golden Dreams segment with the photos of the Challenger Crew, Michael Landon, Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney got me choked up. Bryce woke up near the end of the show.

Meg got her passport stamped and made an American flag windsock. She spent about 20 minutes coloring and decorating it. It was quite a work of art by the time she finished. The CM at the Kidcot station was especially nice. While we were there Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto came out so we had a brief visit with a few of them.

We went to Italy and Meg got another passport stamp and made a Pinocchio "animation". Basically it was two drawings that she colored and then attached to a pipe cleaner. When you spun it between you hands it appeared that Pinocchio was dancing. Jenny found Rondo Masquerade and fell in love with them. The music is beautiful. I asked a CM if they had a CD available and she said that the group had many but Epcot was currently not selling them. She said the group was formerly Rondo Veneziano. They went on vacation for the month of February and when they returned they were known as Rondo Masquerade. She said that there was a problem with their record label, BMG, and until it got resolved they wouldn't have their CD's. She said that some record stores would still have them though. I made a mental note to check the record stores back home and Steve Soares wonderful web page about WDW entertainment.

In Germany, Jenny got a large cup of Beck's ($7.50). I was holding out for my favorite beer, Red Stripe from Jamaica, which I heard they had at the Outpost next door. No such luck though when I went over there. We all liked looking at the model railroad in Germany. Meg got her passport stamped and made a paper hat at the Kidcot station. The kids spent a few minutes playing with all the drums at the outpost.

China was next and I was a bit disappointed that our timing was not going to work out to see the Pu Yang acrobats. It will be something to add to the must do list for the next trip. The Kidcot station here was closed so we went into the Yong Feng Shangdian store looking for a passport stamp. We asked the first CM we saw and she told me where to get the passport stamped but I didn't understand her very well. I went the way she pointed though and asked another CM. Again, I couldn't really understand what he said but I followed the direction he was pointing to. Apparently I went too far because my third and fourth attempts led back in the other direction. Wow, this is a very big store especially when you see every corner of it! The CM's were all friendly but I just couldn't understand what they were saying. Eventually though we found the correct counter.

We made it over to Norway and lined up for Maelstorm. This was our only real wait of the entire day. It was close to half an hour by the time we got on the boat. Jenny really dislikes the "cattle lines" they have here and at some other attractions. They are the types of lines where you go back and forth between metal railings in the same area. It was warm in the building especially with Bryce on my shoulders but we eventually got there. We all enjoyed the trolls putting the curse on us. We exited the boat and I primed the family to go right through the theater to escape the movie. We've seen the movie before and I enjoy it but I didn't feel like corralling the kids into sitting still for it. They didn't seem to be in a travelogue frame of mind. Just as we got out of the boat the doors for the theater closed so we had to wait in the landing area for another 5 minutes before we could skip past the movie. On the way out I admired the "fantastic" ½ price sale on the sweaters. Originally $220 marked down to $110. They are high quality sweaters but I can't imagine spending that kind of money on one, even at half price.

Meg stopped at the Kidcot station and made a cutout Viking ship that she colored and pasted lots of things to. I wanted to hurry over to see the Pu-Yang acrobat's last show but our little artist was really getting into the Kidcot activity so after she was done we went to the Viking ship play area and let the kids burn off a little energy. I was ready for a beer so I decided to try the Ringnes that I had read was very good and indeed it was. Jenny's Norwegian dad will be proud when I tell him.

It was a few minutes before 6PM and we made our way into Mexico for the El Rio del Tiempo boat ride. This was a fun little diversion. We had 6:30 priority seating at the San Angel so I thought I would go put in our name early. The place was packed and I heard the wait was 1-½ hours for walkups. I checked in with the very friendly hostess, Ale, and asked if it would be possible to wait for a table by the windows. She laughed and said "which windows would that be sir?" I laughed at my brain freeze and told her I meant to say a table by the water. Still laughing she said the wait was running two hours for those tables but she would see what she could do. I told her we would just take whatever table was available. She said it would be a 15-minute wait and gave me a beeper. I met up with the family and we strolled around the Mexican marketplace. Jenny went outside to retrieve something from the stroller. Not 2 minutes later the beeper went off so I went with the kids into the restaurant. Jenny came back just as we were entering. We were led to a table right along the water! Woohoo! Thanks Ale, you really made this a special occasion for us.

We loved this meal. I would probably even wait an hour for a table by the water as we often have for the Blue Bayou at Disneyland. They brought out the high chair I had requested when making priority seating along with crayons and kids menus for the children. Jenny and I both ordered Corona's and just marveled at what an awesome atmosphere the restaurant has. The feel of it is very to the Blue Bayou, which is quite a compliment from me. I have loved that restaurant since I was a little boy and have lots of special memories there.

We were not overly hungry, as we had been snacking all day long so we each decided to get an appetizer. I picked the Queso Fundido ($9.25) and Jenny had the Nachos ($9.25). Meg had the kid's meal with two burritos ($3.99) that she shared with Bryce. We proceeded to tear through the basket of chips and salsa as if we had not eaten in days. So, much for not being too hungry. The chips and salsa were very good. The waiter came out and made the queso at our tableside. That was kind of fun. We both shared the appetizers. Jenny loved her nachos and I loved the queso but Jenny thought it was too greasy. While enjoying our meal we had our only glimpse of a Brazilian tour group. They were on El Rio del Tiempo chanting and singing. I got a laugh out of it but was glad this was our only encounter. What a great meal this was. I really scored points with the family for making all those priority seatings 120 and 60 days out. I figured we could always cancel them if we didn't feel like eating at a particular time but this one just worked out beautifully.

It was around 7:30 when we left the restaurant and we talked about what to do next. I suggested the Universe of Energy since we had never seen it before and I really like local guy Bill Nye. We were pretty tired after finishing dinner and a long day of touring. We all really liked Ellen's Energy Adventure but I had forgot it was a 45-minute show. We were pretty well wiped out after this and we had no desire to be near the Illuminations crowds. So we took the relatively short walk back to the van and made our way out.

Well, I did it again. On the way home I saw a sign for HWY 192 and I followed it. The road then split and the only signs were for I-4 either east or west. I knew our condo was to the east so for some stupid reason I went east which unfortunately goes north and away from 192. I knew better but I had been expecting another sign for 192 and there never was one. So, we started making our way up and past Seaworld. Arghh! There was no place to turn around. We eventually got headed east after going many miles out of our way to the north. This was starting to get frustrating and we were all tired and grumpy again. I was kicking myself for not bringing the more detailed maps from the condo. We finally got back to the condo. It had been 25 minutes since we got in the van at the Epcot parking lot so I suppose the drive time could have been worse. Back at the condo we watched some TV and I wrote in my notepad about the days events. It was lights out fairly early for the rest of the family but I ended up writing for about 2 hours.



Day 4, Tuesday 3-9-99. Magic Kingdom day. Weather report – Mostly sunny with no rain. Cool in the morning and evening. High temp in the mid 70's.

We left the condo at 7:45AM today to allow plenty of time for the Magic Kingdom's 9AM opening. It took 20 minutes for the drive to the Ticket and Transportation Center. We parked way down at the end of a row but it wasn't too bad of a walk to the tram. We loaded everything up and arrived at the ferry and monorail landing about 8:20. They didn't start running the transportation to the park until 8:30 so we waited for 10 minutes. Upon arrival at the Magic Kingdom we were able to enter Main Street but had to wait until 9 for the rope drop. We waited at the Plaza Restaurant entrance where we were going to cut through on our way to Tomorrowland. This was a much less congested spot to wait. There was quite a crowd at the bridge for the main Tomorrowland entrance.

We made the dash for Alien Encounter since we had never been on it before. I had been warning Megan for months that it was a very scary attraction in the dark. I had read the WDW for Kids by Kids book to her and she had checked out the attraction on the WDW Explorer CD-ROM. Every time I read another report on RADP about a scared child on the attraction I reminded her that it was really scary. She kept assuring me that it would not be too scary for her. Well, we got in line and she said she didn't want to go. That was a relief. She's been on every ride at Disneyland but I was worried about this one. So, Jenny went on first while I waited with the kids in an area that the CM directed us to for the baby trade (AKA the kid switch). While we were waiting a nice CM said we could go over and ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and still make it back before Alien Encounter was over.

The kids and I loaded up onto the Buzz ride and off we went. We all really liked this one. Bryce sat in the middle and had control of the spin lever. He made good use of it. We felt like we were on the teacups for part of the ride! I was busy trying to hold onto Bryce and our backpack while I was figuring out how to fire the lasers. Meg had the other laser and was busily firing away. It is much more difficult to aim the laser and score on a target than it first appears. When you shoot you just see a dot where the laser strikes. Often there are several people shooting at the same target so it is difficult to tell which laser dot is yours. Also, you need to shoot a very small area where the Z is in the center of the target in order for it to score points. After a minute or two learning process though I quickly got the hang of it. I ended up with a final score of 773,300 that I was very proud of for my first ride. Megan had 0 though and she wasn't too happy about it. I told her that she helped to scare the bad guys away to my side where I shot them so we made a good team. That seemed to appease her. We went back to the waiting area after our ride.

About 5 minutes later Jenny came back out of Alien Encounter and I immediately went in. I knew most of what would happen so there were no great surprises here. Jenny knew little about it beforehand but even so we were both disappointed in this one. Jenny felt it was not really scary at all. She expected much more movement in the theater. I guess the shoulder harness led her to believe there would be a need for it and the actual theater would be moving. I can't really put my finger on it but I just didn't think the execution of this attraction was done well. The tone was certainly dark for the Magic Kingdom and there were many people screaming. It just didn't do much for me. I'm glad we did it but I have no real desire to see it again. While I went on this Jenny took the kids on Buzz again.

We made our way over to Space Mountain. I love this ride. I remember seeing it being built and waiting so eagerly for it to open at Disneyland when I was a kid. I very clearly remember how special that first ride was with my dad. I hope Megan and eventually Bryce have similar memories. We had about a 20-minute wait. Megan and Jenny went on first while Bryce and I waited at the exit for them. Jenny rode in the front seat and came off the ride with a grin that went from ear to ear. This ride just seems so much more exciting when you are in the front. Megan was raring to go on it again so off we went back up the exit ramp since we were doing the baby trade. Meg was excitedly telling me about all of the differences between this and the Disneyland version. The track layout is significantly different. Jenny and I have the Disneyland version ingrained into our memory so it's as familiar as the route to work. It's mostly a series of very tight right turns with a small dip in the middle. The WDW version was that much more thrilling for us because it was so unpredictable. I still prefer the Disneyland version with the awesome soundtrack by Dick Dale, king of surf guitar music.

As an aside we disliked the baby trade setup here. We all had to wait in line together which is a hassle. Bryce was on my shoulders and pretty squirmy. The baby trade is still a great benefit for parents so I won't complain too much about it but I really prefer the way it is handled at Disneyland. At all of the "mountains" as well as Indiana Jones at Disneyland they give a pass to the parent who waits with the child. The pass allows that parent (plus one other guest) to go directly into the exit of the ride and get on with no wait. We prefer it because the parent waiting with the child is able to go shopping, buy a snack, visit the restroom etc. while waiting for the other parent to return.

After our Space Mountain ride we found the "hidden" path from Tomorrowland to Toontown. It is to the left as you face the Tomorrowland Arcade. It's a fantastic place to escape the crowds. There are lots of shade trees and benches with perfect views of the WDW Railroad trains passing by. I could be perfectly content to sit there for hours with a box of popcorn and just soak up the atmosphere. Jenny took some video showing the four of us alone on the path.

We arrived at Toontown right by Goofy's Barnstormer so Megan and Jenny went for a ride. When the came back they said there was no wait so Megan went back on with me this time. It's a fun ride but at only 30 seconds long it's not worth much of a wait. The ride itself is very similar to Gadget's Go Coaster at Disneyland.

We took a quick look at Donald's boat. For some unknown reason that I'm grateful for Megan does not like to get wet unless she's in her swimsuit. So, she stayed away from all the fountains and areas where you get sprayed. Bryce, on the other hand, had to be restrained in the stroller to avoid getting soaked. He would have been drenched from head to toe in less than a minute if we would have let him loose.

We quickly moved out of that area and into the Hall of Fame. We were discussing which group of characters to see when Megan suggested Winnie the Pooh because he is Bryce's favorite. She can really be a sweetheart sometimes. We had a 15-minute wait. I really like the character greetings here. We were let into the greeting area with 5 other families. We all rotated between meeting with Pooh, Tigger and a strangely colored Piglet. The limited number of people really allows quality interaction with the characters as well as photos and autographs.

We made our way over to Fantasyland and noticed that things were starting to get crowded. Fantasyland just didn't feel the same to me. I'm not sure exactly why but it didn't seem to hold the same charm for me as the original at Disneyland.

The Legend of the Lion King show was our first stop. We had a 10-minute wait before we entered. Everyone really liked it. The puppetry was very impressive and so different from most of the Disney stage shows we had seen. Bryce especially liked it although he did hold onto me tightly a few times during the dark parts with Scar.

All of the attractions in Fantasyland were getting busy so we made our way to Snow White's Scary Adventures. This one rarely has a line at Disneyland. I'm not sure if the same holds true at WDW or if we were lucky but we had under a 2-minute wait. This version is vastly superior to Disneyland's. The story line is much more cohesive and it's just happier and more fun.

Megan had her mind set on finding a Mickey ice cream bar so we found a vendor near the Character Festival (by the old loading area for the submarines). We also bought a Hercules bar. It turned out to be one of my favorite treats. It was a chocolate ice cream bar covered in caramel and then a chocolate coating. We polished these off quickly and made our way over to Liberty Square.

We sat at the picnic tables outside of Sleepy Hollow and had bagels, chips and soda. While we were there a man came over and asked Jenny if she happened to have sunscreen. Jenny set him up then a few minutes later someone came over and asked her if she knew where the restroom was. Soon thereafter another person asked for the same. She steered both of them in the right direction. Earlier in the day while waiting for the ferry someone asked her for a tissue. I guess she just has that aura about her as a very organized person. I've always thought so anyway. It sure is nice for me to know that wherever we go Jenny has planned in advance and will have everything we need with us.

After playing Good Samaritan we went to the Haunted Mansion. I really enjoy how different the exterior is from the Disneyland version and I think I prefer it overall. It was fun to see the ceiling rise in the stretch room here as opposed to the floor lowering. There were a lot of little details that we liked finding including the new face on the bride.

On the way to Adventureland we stopped and looked briefly at the little park area behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. There were only a couple of people there. It looked like a great place to escape what was starting to be the busy time of day. In Adventureland, Jenny and Megan went through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. After they returned we looked at the spitting (although they weren't spitting at the time) tiki statues next to Bwana Bob's. We then took a ride with the Pirates of the Caribbean. The queue here is more interesting than at Disneyland but the ride itself will never compare in my mind. It's just not the same without the Blue Bayou along the water. It was still lots of fun. I noticed that the political correctness updates were a bit different between the two versions. I was surprised to see that the portly pirate next to the barrel asking "Have you set your eyes on a bewitchin' maiden?" hadn't been changed as it was at Disneyland. I'm can't remember how the rest of his spiel goes but it seems like some people could be offended by it. Bryce loves the song and tried to his best to sing along as only an enthusiastic toddler with a limited vocabulary can.

We tried to see the new Tiki Room show but the holding area was already closed off for the next show following the one that was in progress. Since when does it routinely fill up? I guess Iago and Zazu injected some life into it. I hope that's the case because the last few times I visited it about half the audience walked out of it during the show which was really disappointing.

We went over to Frontierland and the line for Splash Mountain was an hour long so we decided to wait for another day. Big Thunder Mountain had a 25-minute wait so Jenny and Meg rode while Bryce and I watched the geysers at the exit and the boats on the river. They lucked out and rode in the very last car. We did the baby trade so Megan and I went through the exit and asked the CM for a seat in the back. We got it after waiting 2 trains. Just as Space Mountain is better in the front, Big Thunder Mountain seems to have a much better ride in the back. There is no real front car here since the "engine" is in front and blocks the view for the first couple of cars behind it. On longer coasters like this I've always thought that the back is best. I like this version better than the one at Disneyland. The one there takes you up a final lift where you are really expecting something big to happen and then nothing does. The final section after that is the slowest part of the ride and a real let down after what is otherwise a great ride. This one just seems better all the way around in terms of the ride and theme.

It was around 2:30PM so we quickly went back to the area with the picnic tables by Sleepy Hollow. I had read that this was often a good spot to watch the parade from. It worked out great. Most of the surrounding areas were completely filled along the curbs but we were able to get a spot right in front. I found a cast member handing out stickers and got a Snow White one for Megan. We patiently waited for the parade while trying not to have our space totally invaded by pushy people. I'm just amazed at how rude and/or ignorant some people are when it comes to the parades. Virtually every inch of curb space was filled up by people who had been waiting at least half an hour and invariably some yahoo would try to stand in front of them ahead of the taped off area. I'm glad the CM's were so patient yet diligent in their enforcement of staying behind the tape. I had to give a few pushy people my "I'm a pretty big guy and you don't want to mess with me" look but the CM's took care of most of the others. I got a laugh out of the harried father yelling at his kids to hurry up about 1 minute before the parade started. He then looked around at the crowds that were 3 people deep at that point and asked the CM "how do I get a spot in front?" I can't remember the exact tactful wording the CM used but it was something along the lines of "you can either stand in the back or get here early for the next parade like all these people did for this one". The parade was really cute. The interactive parts with the kids really made it special. The coach came out and Meg practiced a dance with all the other Snow White sticker kids. When Snow White arrived with the seven dwarfs (is this how Disney spells it as opposed to Dwarves?) all the kids went out and danced. Megan held hands with Dopey and Sleepy. It was so cute. We got lots of pictures and some good video. On her way back Grumpy followed right behind her with his hands on his hips. It was very cute.

We hung afterward for a few minutes waiting for the crowd to subside. We made our way through the shops on Main Street so we could avoid the sidewalk since the parade was still going on there. We arrived at Tony's at 3:45 but it had not yet opened for dinner and our 4PM-priority seating. I didn't realize that there are a couple of hours in the afternoon where they are not open. There were a few people finishing up lunch on the patio area though. We were seated right at 4 and I was going to ask for a patio table but they seated us right next to the Lady and the Tramp fountain. It was so pretty there that we decided to stay. The décor here was so much nicer than I had anticipated. I was expecting a casual family type Italian restaurant with the red and white checked tablecloths so this was a nice surprise. Jenny and I loved the bread and olive oil with basil. Our waiter, Jim, was just fantastic. He ran through the specials and discussed his favorites. He brought out crayons for the kids to color their menus while we decided what to eat. Megan settled on the Mickey shaped pepperoni pizza ($4.75), Jenny had the prawn fettuccini ($21.50) and I ordered the seafood special that I thought was mixed seafood pasta but when it arrived was a salmon filet ($20.25). That was fine though since it had been my second choice.

I was looking around for the wine list when it finally dawned on me that we were still in the Magic Kingdom and alcohol is not available. We had a very nice salad that came with the meal.

Bryce was starting to get cranky at this point. He had not had a nap and was not in the mood to sit in his high chair for a nice meal. Jim, the waiter, was great. He brought out more bread for the kids. Then he loaded up a salad plate full of olives and tomatoes and brought it over for Bryce. Unfortunately, that didn't keep him entertained for long so I put him in his stroller and we went and watched the Lady and the Tramp video playing in the waiting area. I gave him a bottle and his blanket hoping that he would nod off but no such luck. After a few minutes Jim came out to let me know our meals were ready. That was very nice of him. So, Bryce and I went back in the restaurant to give it another shot. Very few of the surrounding tables were occupied so I let Bryce stand by the fountain and that seemed to be what he wanted.

Megan thought her pizza was just OK but she really liked its Mickey shape. Jenny loved her fettuccini. I liked the salmon a lot although the strawberry glaze on it was something I had never had before. The salmon was from the Atlantic and had much less flavor than the salmon back home. The portions were very large. I guess they should be though considering the price. This was a very nice meal and just a great way to unwind a little (although Bryce didn't make that easy) when we were just starting to get tired and wanted to escape the crowds for a while.

We walked out of the restaurant just in time to see the flag retreat ceremony. I really enjoyed it. I'm fairly patriotic to begin with but even if you are not this is another one of those easily overlooked things that makes WDW so special. The color guard folded up the flag and presented it to an elderly gentleman. I was curious about who he was. I assumed he was a veteran but not a cast member. I later found out that you can go to City Hall to request to be in the ceremony. What a neat idea.

We went over to the Main Street Gallery and looked at all of the beautiful artwork that was way out of our price range. There was an artist drawing characters at the front of the store. Megan could have watched him for the rest of the day. He was very friendly and talked to her while he was drawing. Megan told him she wanted to be an artist when she grew up and his advice was to draw all the time. He said he would draw while he was on the phone, watching TV or whenever he had a free moment. The most important thing was to just keep at it.

We were kind of winding down our day so we took a ride on the railroad for a complete circle of the park. I prefer the train here because you are so far removed from the outside world. At Disneyland you get an occasional glimpse of the surrounding area and it's not pretty.

It was about 6PM and we didn't want to quite call it a day quite yet so we went to Tomorrowland with the intention of riding Buzz Lightyear again. The line was very long so we skipped it and went on the wait free (as always) Tomorrowland Transit Authority. This made me miss the Peoplemover at Disneyland. Rocket Rods, which replaced it, is disappointing in my opinion. The ride is just not that thrilling unless you sit in the very front seat. The story line is also very weak. It's certainly not worth the lines it generates. So, this relaxing ride with no lines and comfortable seats was a welcome reminder of the past.

We kicked around the idea of seeing the Carousel of Progress but thought that we would all probably fall asleep. This was our second long day of touring so we decided to call it a day before any of us started getting cranky. Good decision.

We took the ferry back to the Transportation and Ticket Center and then the tram back to our van. I decided that the best route for us was to take the Osceola Parkway back to the condo. It's a toll road but it's much faster and less crowded than HWY192. The road construction on 192 was really starting to get old. The $.50 toll on Osceola is well worth it. We followed the signs that initially listed Osceola but as we went along there was never another sign for it. We ended up back on HWY192 and plodded along to the condo. It was about a 25-minute drive from the TTC.

We were all tired so we made an early night of it. The kids fell asleep quickly despite the children in the unit above. We could never hear any voices or noise other than it sounded like they were running laps above us.

Jenny and I stayed up to watch the weather on TV. They were predicting some nasty weather on Sunday, thundershowers with strong winds. Ironically we had planned that day at Typhoon Lagoon. We reversed our itinerary for the weekend. We would do Animal Kingdom on Sunday and Blizzard Beach on Saturday (since Typhoon Lagoon would be closed Saturday). We both drifted off during the 10:00 news.

Day 5, Wednesday 3-10-99. Typhoon Lagoon day. Weather report – Sunny and warm with no rain. High temp in the mid 80's.

We woke up to sunny skies for what would turn out to be our favorite day. I went to the breakfast buffet and brought back food and drink for everyone. We were able to take our time this morning since Typhoon Lagoon didn't open until 10. We packed everything up for the day, changed into our swimsuits and sunscreened our pasty white (does not apply to Jenny) Washington bodies from head to toe. We left the condo at 9:15 and caught the Osceola Parkway. It only took us 15 minutes to get there so had a bit of a wait but we got to park right in front. We purchased 2-day water park passes that turned out to be a great deal at $82.58 for two adults and one child. We were unable to use the MKC discount since the tickets were already discounted but I wasn't complaining. I was anticipating this one-day only to cost us over $70 so it was a real bargain to get the second day for just a few more dollars. The only catch was the second water park day had to be used within 7 days, which we would be doing anyhow.

There was a CM out front with a bullhorn entertaining the people who were waiting. Some busses started rolling in from the resorts but there was still just a small crowd on hand at opening. We made our way to Ketchakiddie Creek to set up base camp. We found a group of chairs with an umbrella and a great view of most of the areas the kids would be playing in. I made my way back to borrow life jackets for the kids.

Both Megan and Bryce fell in love with Ketchakiddie Creek. It's kind of like a kid size version of the rest of the park. There are a couple of little water slides, a tube ride, a shallow "river" and a bunch of water cannons to spray parents and siblings with. We played with the kids in the water for about half an hour and then decided to take turns on the slides. Jenny went first while I stayed with the kids. She went on the smaller of the tube rides and had a great time. It was already nice and warm by this time. When she came back I went on the larger of the two tube rides. There was just a minimal wait. For a tube ride you really zip down fairly quickly in these.

I went to Humunga Kowabunga next. I remember on our trip in 1990 Typhoon Lagoon was fairly new and this slide was the scariest thing going. It's funny now to see all of the 7-year-old kids lining up for it with no fear at all. It's a great view from up at the top. The ride was over very quickly. There was no real wait so I went again. I must be getting old though because I was starting to feel a bit beat up by it after the second ride. I went on one of the storm slides after that and enjoyed the smoother landing. On the way back to Ketchakiddie Creek I saw that the surfing waves were going so I swam out to the rope and then rode in on a couple of waves.

When I went back we had lunch from the picnic supplies we had brought in the cooler. After lunch we all went on Castaway Creek and had a blast. This is one of the things I was most looking forward to. I just love floating around on the lazy river on those tubes. It's so relaxing and the landscaping is gorgeous. We had a nice half-hour ride.

Back at Ketchakiddie Creek Meg discovered one of the kid's slides and that kept her entertained for about 45 minutes. I was tired just watching her. She must have done that slide dozens of times and I thought she would be totally worn out but she just kept going. For some reason she had not wanted to do the kid's tube ride earlier. I think she may have thought she would have to go under a waterfall like at River Country. So I went up with her and once she rode it she never went on anything else. It was her new favorite ride and it was a joy to watch her on it. She made a few friends and they were just giggling and continuously going over and over on the ride.

It started to get fairly busy after noon, as it was quite warm. My only complaint with the park is that it is packed with chairs and it's difficult to claim and defend even a small amount of space before people start crowding you. It was getting near Bryce's naptime so we changed him into dry clothes. Jenny put him in the stroller to go for a walk and he promptly nodded off. We parked him in the shade and just kicked back and watched Megan having the time of her life.

When Bryce woke up I didn't want to change him back into swimwear so I went for a walk and pushed him in the stroller. We had a good time sitting in the viewing area for Humunga Kowabunga and watching everyone come of the slide and deal with the atomic wedgie it had produced. We also went into the shipwreck that provides an underwater viewing area for Shark Reef. Bryce liked looking at all the fish. We walked around just enjoying the theme of this park. I love the landscaping and music. I'd be here every weekend if I lived nearby.

We made our way back and decided we better pack up for the day. It was around 2:30 and we wanted to go back to the condo to clean up for dinner at Chef Mickey's. I'm proud to report that I found the Osceola Parkway and it only took 15 minutes to get back to the condo. I finally felt like I was getting to know my way around the property despite the lack of road signs.

We left the condo at 5 to drive to the Contemporary. We arrived at Chef Mickey's about 5:30 and were seated right away. There was quite a line in front of the restaurant for people without priority seating. I was very glad I had made PS so far in advance. I had read so much about this restaurant that I was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed once I got there. None of us were disappointed. We loved this place and I'm pretty sure it will be a must do for each future trip. The buffet was very good. The selection was large and the quality above average. The kid's buffet was such a neat idea. Jenny and I took turns getting food. I tried one of the chicken tenders that I had got for the kids and was hooked. I think I came close to eating my body weight in chicken tenders that night. I knew Jenny would enjoy the Parmesan mashed potatoes I had read so much about so I made sure she found those. We both tried the prime rib and couple of different types of fish but the mashed potatoes and chicken tenders were our favorites. Megan liked the ham, cheese and olives from the salad area. She also had a mini hot dog, pizza and macaroni and cheese.

The characters were so fun here. It was such a welcome change to have the characters come up to you rather than you having to line up for them. They spent lots of time hugging the kids and posing for pictures and video. It was never more than a couple of minutes until the next character came around. Meg and Bryce got a kick out of the occasional songs where the characters would lead the kids in twirling their napkins. The food, atmosphere, characters and noise level made this probably the most kid friendly restaurant we have ever been to. We all were stuffed but tried to make room for the great desserts. Megan made a cupcake that was 7 parts frosting to 1 part cupcake. Jenny and I made ice cream sundaes.

We rolled ourselves out the restaurant about 10 minutes after 7PM. The fireworks were scheduled for 7:30 so I wanted to hang around and wait. Jenny suggested we take the monorail for a full circle to kill time. I was worried that we wouldn't make it back in time but went for it anyway. We were making small talk with the CM at the monorail loading area and we asked about riding up front. He said no problem so we were excited. It turned out that he was our pilot so we really enjoyed the ride and chatting with him. I had planned on watching the fireworks from the balcony off of the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary. The CM pointed out the stairwells on the upper floors were also a great place to see the fireworks and they would be less crowded. We arrived back to the Contemporary and he gave Megan and Bryce monorail co-pilots licenses. They are about the size of a business card and make a neat memento.

We got in the elevator and noticed that a room key was required to access the top 2 floors of rooms. So, we went back to the original plan and made our way to the California Grill at the very top. We had never been up here. Jenny and I were surprised at how nice the restaurant was and we both felt underdressed. I'm glad I had read about the route to the balcony because I would have felt awkward spending much time here looking around for it. We walked right out to the balcony and marveled at the view. It was just after 7:30 but the fireworks were late. That was OK though because we spent the time watching the castle changing colors. It was just so beautiful. Bravo to whomever came up with the idea. The fireworks started at 7:45PM. I had read they pipe in music to the balcony but we didn't hear it if it was there. It didn't matter though because the fireworks were so spectacular. This was a perfect ending to one of the most perfect days of my life.

We found our way to the Osceola Parkway and made our way home in 20 minutes. We went to bed full and happy. I wish every day could be like this one.

Day 6, Thursday 3-11-99. Disney-MGM Studios day. Weather report – Mostly sunny and warm with no rain. Highs in the high 70's.

We woke up around 6:30 and got ready for the day. I brought back breakfast from the buffet. Originally we had intended to go to the studios with my sister and brother in law when they arrived on the weekend. Before we left home I found out that there would be a cheerleading competition at that time so we changed studio visit to today. We packed up for the day ahead and left the condo a few minutes after 8. When we arrived, Hollywood Boulevard was open but the rest of the park was still closed until the official 9AM opening. We rented a locker to store one of the backpacks with extra clothes in it. The weather was pleasant so we probably wouldn't need sweatshirts. We patiently waited but the rest of the park didn't open until 9:10. A fairly large crowd had gathered by this time. We made our way to the Tower of Terror but with unloading Bryce and figuring out the baby trade we were not among the first wave of people to enter. The line was already long. It started right at the front gate of the fenced grounds for the hotel. This is another attraction where I did not like the baby trade setup. We had to take Bryce in line with us. He wanted to run around and burn off some energy but the line did not allow for that. It was about a 35-minute wait until we got to the service elevator but it seemed longer. We did get to enjoy all the wonderful details along the way though. This is one of the best lines to wait in.

Bryce and I were escorted to the "chicken exit" and rode the regular elevator down to the waiting area. I had told Jenny to ask for the seat belt seat and she got it. She loved the ride. Megan came out of it with her eyes wide saying "that was so much fun but I never want to do it again!" She said she liked it but not the part where she floated up off her seat. She didn't want to ride again and I don't blame her. I don't think I would have come anywhere near the place when I was her age. She had been determined to ride though and was pretty proud of herself. I went and rode the chicken elevator back to the service elevator and asked for the seatbelt seat. Wow, was that a good move. Without the lapbar to hold onto, this seat really seems to make the ride more intense. I apologized after the ride to the people next to me that I hit while I was flailing my arms. I think they were too busy screaming to notice. In our last trip in 1995 Jenny and I were a little disappointed in the Tower. I think it