Trip Reports

Sunday Dec12, 1999- Sat. Dec.18, 1999

Cast:

Tami-author who has been to WDW and Disneyland several times
Britt-husband who has been to WDW several times
Mom- My mom, 2nd trip to WDW. Never seen Animal Kingdom. Several Disneyland Visits
Dad- My dad. Several Disneyland visits. Has been to Epcot once and Magic Kingdom once a long time ago.
Sunday Dec. 12, 1999

My parents were originally supposed to go down on Sunday with us, but with my mom's work schedule, they couldn't come down till Monday. Britt and I left north Georgia at 6:30 on Sunday morning. It was a great drive with no traffic, rain, or construction. We again decided to boycott I-4 and went to Osceola Parkway instead. You end up paying and extra $2.50 in tolls this way, but we think it's worth it after all the times we've been stuck in traffic on I-4 in the past. We arrived at 3:30 and got 1st floor surf's up just like I had requested.

We decided to go to Epcot on our first night to see all the millennium stuff. The first thing we saw was the Tapestry of Nations. I liked the puppets, but Britt was more impressed with the drummers floats. We both really liked the 2000 logo over Spaceship Earth. Unlike the pink castle cake, I kind of hope Epcot will let the logo stay even after the official millennium celebration (after all, we still will be in the 2000's).

Next stop was the Millennium Village. After reading everyone else's trip reports now, I really hate it that I never had to go to the bathroom while in Millennium Village. Next time, I'll be sure to stop there and at least wash my hands or something. We both ate in the Millennium Village food court. I had a pineapple shrimp dish I liked. We didn't really do any of the activities, just walked through and looked at everything. Not quite what I was expecting, but still fun.

We left World Showcase and went to watch the fountain dance to Christmas Music before heading off to see Journey Into Your Imagination. I only saw Figment one time during the ride in the connect the dots room. I'll have to go on it again because I know others have said he can be spotted more than once. Other than the upside down room, I want the old ride back. We had a good time playing in the imagination playground conducting music and sending e-mail postcards. Had to walk through Mousegear afterward so I could look for the Dreamfinder vehicle. I think everyone must have been in World Showcase, because this half of the park was empty.

Next stop: Margarita Bar in Mexico. As crowded as World Showcase was, there was no line for the boat ride, so we rode it while we were there. It reminded me of It's a Small World, but without the song. We then stopped in China to watch some kid acrobats who were wonderful (I bet they would rather be riding test track though, they looked bored to death watching each other while waiting for their turn to perform). We continued around the lake to get some bass and watch Illuminations 2000 from the United Kingdom, which they roped off for the big bang at the beginning. I like this version a lot better than the old one, but did kind of miss Holiday Illuminations. Britt spotted some famous race car driver in the crowd as we were leaving. I can't remember who he told me it was now.

Monday December 13th, 1999

Slept late and had breakfast at the foodcourt. Then we headed to Winter Summerland and played the summer side (we tied). Blizzard Beach was the least crowded I've ever seen it. The whole week we were there was chilly which I liked a lot better than sweating to death in the summer. There wasn't even a line for Summit Plummet the whole week like I'm used to seeing stretching all the way down the Summit Plummet staircase. After mini golf, we got our Coronado Springs mugs and headed over there to the Pepper Market for lunch. I love eating outside there looking across the lake at the pyramid, plus you don't have to pay the automatic gratuity if you get your food to go and eat outside.

We decided to spend the evening at Pleasure Island, so after a nap at the hotel, we grabbed our comedy warehouse refillable squeeze things and decided to take a bus over. We went to a couple of shows at the Comedy Warehouse (I've still yet to see the much talked about Layden) and then spent the rest of the evening at the Adventures Club. We saw most of the shows and Britt got singled out of the crowd a lot by the different adventurers. He liked that.

While we were riding the bus back to the hotel and were stopped at the studios red light, we saw my parents pulling out of the studios parking lot. Somehow despite the wonderful directions I gave, they ended up at the studios instead of All Star Sports. So, when we got back to the hotel, we helped them get checked in and moved into their room (same building as ours, but 4 doors down).

Tuesday, Dec 14th 1999

Britt and I get to be tour guides today. We decide to take my parents to Animal Kingdom first since neither one of them have been there. The first place we went was It's Tough to be a Bug. Dad enjoyed it, but mom was wishing she had sat that one out. Next was Asia where we saw the sleeping tigers. We skipped Kali River Rapids due to the cold weather and instead went to watch Tarzan Rocks. Then we went to the Safari where we had about a 20min. wait. The gorilla trail was next and we spent quite a while watching the gorilla family. We then caught Festival of the Lion King. After that, it was off on the Conservation Express to pet the goats at Conservation Station.

For a late lunch, we decided on 50's primetime cafe at MGM studios. Dad and Britt guessed the wrong color of the soap, so were immediately sent to the bathroom to check it out. Dad kept drawing targets on his placemat to try to tell Cousin Dan where to put his food. He was the only one who didn't eat everything on his plate and tried to hide his green beans in a napkin. Cousin Dan caught on to that one real fast. The lady at the next table was laughing so hard and after dinner gave dad her clean plate sticker and a hug. The tree lighting ceremony was starting right as we finished eating, so we watched it before heading off to see Fantasmic!. The Osborn Lights were still on after Fantasmic!, so we went to see them with virtually no crowds.

Wednesday Dec.15, 1999

After breakfast in the food court, we were off to MGM. We all did the Great Movie Ride then Britt and I went and rode Rock n Roller Coaster twice while mom and dad walked around and saw the Muppet 3-d show. We met back up and went on Catastrophe Canyon and walked through the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Then, we grabbed some snacks and went to watch the Hunchback Show. I still think I would like this better if I actually watched the movie sometime. After the show, we got some ice cream to eat and went to the Beauty and the Beast Show where four for a dollar did the pre-show entertainment. They were so good, I got their Christmas CD after the show. While I was off hunting their CD after the show, Mom and Dad were kept company on a bench by street performer Constance Payne who they really enjoyed.

After a rest at the hotel, we decided to go to Epcot for the evening. First we went to the Candlelight Processional which was great. Mom and Dad were almost ready to get back in line and see it again immediately, but we had other plans. We stopped in the United Kingdom to watch the Tapestry of Nations parade. After that, it was off to the Garden Grill at the Land for dinner. We were visited by Chip, Dale, and Mickey. Other than the nose, I learned from Chip and Dale some other ways to tell them apart. If I remember right, this is what I learned: Chip has 1 tooth and Dale 2 teeth, Chips eyes are open and Dales are half shut. We especially liked the way everything rotated while we ate. After dinner, we rode the land ride to see all that we had been looking at during dinner. Next, we went to JII just to play with the e-mail booths (skipped the ride). Then, Britt and I checked out the margarita bar and walked around the lake. We met mom and dad somewhere around Canada to watch Illuminations.

Thursday Dec. 16, 1999

We slept in late then headed to Winter/Summerland for some mini-golf. This is the first time mom and dad had played in years. I don't remember who won, but it was a lot of fun. After the game, they were giving away free Winter-Summer Land Christmas tree ornaments and cards, so we got two. After golf, we headed to downtown Disney for the afternoon. Britt spent a lot of time in Virgin Records. Mom and Dad spent most of their time in World of Disney. I went to Ghiardelli for a banana split. We went back to the hotel and rested a while before it was time for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

We rode the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once there, we split up for the evening. Mom and Dad took off to ride the monorail around to the resorts till the park opened, and Britt and I were 3rd in line at one of the turnstiles. It seems like they let us in around 7:25. The cast members at the turnstiles were entertaining everyone by singing Christmas Carols. Not sure what all mom and dad did, but here's what Britt and I did: got our picture made, rode Splash 2x without getting off, rode Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh. We then went to Town Square to watch the Christmas Parade. We ended up watching both parades that night.

During the first one, I was in town square right in front of the host. It was so funny because people kept going up to the rope to have a look at the host and no one knew who they were or what show they were on. I don't even think the people I was sitting by ever have heard of Dharma and Greg. During the second parade, I was halfway down main street. The host were only filmed during the first parade. Most of the bands were filmed first. They'd send them out about 5 min. apart. The parade floats seemed spaced a long way apart from each other also. I missed the snow on main street during the parade, but I guess with TV they couldn't have the snow everywhere. Also, during the first parade it seemed like the only sound was coming from the floats themselves and not the huge speakers everywhere. A lot of the crowd shots were done when nothing was even going on. You'd be amazed at how stupid some people were acting to try to get the camera people to come shoot them. One of the TV people was walking up and down main street telling people to cheer as loud as they can and move to the first half of main street if they want to be on TV. It was also freezing that night. The host had people helping them on and off with their coats during the pauses between each segment. It was fun to watch all the TV stuff, but next year I want to go when they are not taping for TV so I can see the snow on main street during the parade.

We watched the fireworks between the parades. Again this year, they had the 360 degree fireworks. The new thing this year we thought was really cool was that they had Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer flying from the castle where Tink usually flies. They also had Santa Goofy in the castle and spotlighted him while wished everyone a merry Christmas. Mom and Dad said they left right after the second parade. It was freezing, so Britt and I were stopping at every hot coco stand to get hot coco. I did like it being cold though. Last year it was so warm during the Christmas party that we were wearing shorts. The cold weather made it seem more like Christmas. After the 2nd parade, Britt and I went and watched the show in Tomorrowland which seemed exactly the same as last year, then we rode Buzz Lightyear before catching the bus back to the All Stars.

Friday December 17, 1999

We woke up Friday morning to a wet, rainy day. I think mom and dad spent most of their day at Downtown Disney because they didn't want to use all the days on their park hopper pass. Britt and I headed to the MK. We rode the Trolley, It's a Small World, Peoplemover, and went to the Country Bear Show. We may have saw Carousel of Progress, but I can't really remember. We did see The Golden Horseshoe Revue show for the first time which was so much fun. Britt even got picked to go up and play the triangle during the last part. We had a late lunch at the restaurant at the end of Main Street where some lady was freaking because her sandwich has mayo on it. You would have though she had seen a bug on her bun. The waitress was not very patient with her at first and stated very firmly to the lady that she did not request a sandwich without mayo. The whole group ended up having mayo on their sandwiches so all of them sent their orders back to the kitchen to be remade. When the waitress brought their new food out, she was in a much better mood and apologized to the group. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and spent the evening there before getting up bright and early to head back to North Georgia Sat morning.

This was a great trip. Mom and dad liked it so much, they want to do it every Dec.

Tami Farmer

Thekat8@aol.com

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

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