Trip Reports

July 17- July 23 1999

Cast:

me (Tami)-(20's) several WDW trips
Britt-(20's) my husband , several WDW trips
Chris-(20's) my sister, 2nd trip to WDW
Ben-(11) nephew, 2nd trip to WDW
Kim-(30's) husband's sister, 1st trip to WDW
Day 1 of 7 (arrival at Ft. Wilderness) July 17th

We left north Georgia early and arrived at WDW just after lunch right as a major storm was also arriving at WDW. Our cabin at Ft. Wilderness was ready. We waited a while for the rain to stop before unloading. I love the cabins. Much nicer than I expected and great for the 5 of us. I let Ben pick out some movies for us to bring on vacation with us since I knew we had a VCR. We also brought Playstation. We all brought bikes and used them many times during the week to get around the campground. Our cabin was about 1 mile from the marina. When we went to Mk, we usually parked the bikes at the marina and rode the boat over. We drove everywhere else. I didn't ride the buses any, but the one time my sister did she said it took her 1 1/2 hrs. to get from I think Animal Kingdom to the cabin. Uck! I was hoping to make it to the MK for Jeff Spencer's RAPD meet, but my husband and I are the only ones with AP's. The rest were using 6 day all in one hoppers (we bought them before they changed to the current flex tickets) and didn't want to start using their tickets till the next day. I didn't feel right leaving them in the cabin while I took off for the MK, so I didn't go. I never did get to meet the Spencer's even though they were at Ft. Wilderness the same week as me. I did ride my bike through the loops looking for a pop-up camper and a car from Alabama to try to find them. Never did

Anyway, instead we got directions to Publix and went shopping. We saved a lot of money by doing this. We planned our menus and ended up eating all but 2 meals in the cabin. Groceries must be cheaper here than at my neighborhood Kroger also. Food for the 5 of us was just a little more than when I shop for the 2 of us at Kroger. We thought the cashier had made a mistake. After dinner, we went to watch the fireworks from the top of the contemporary and the electrical boat parade. Ben also had to stop at the arcade in the contemporary for a few games.

Day 2 of 7 (Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon) Sun. July 18th

We brought a waffle iron with us, so after making waffles for everyone, we were off and at Animal Kingdom for the 8 opening. Everything we went to at AK was a walk on (even the safari mid-morning). The first ride we did was CTX. I had to buy me one of those miniature CTX cars and the cute little dino figure like the one in the ride at the gift shop. The dino is now attacking the CTX car on top of my computer with my test track matchbox car sitting next to them. After CTX, we went on Kali twice without getting off. We could have gone on it some more, but everyone else didn't want to get any wetter than they already were. Jungle trek was next. I was disappointed that we only saw 1 tiger and he was sleeping. I'm used to going to jungle trek in the evenings. I usually see 4 or 5 tigers at that time. We went to the first Lion King show and the first show was not crowded at all. They never did fill the 4th section. The safari was next. We saw a baby hippo that the guide said was a little over a week old. We were going to go to Tarzan Rocks next, but it was standing room only. Instead we went to the dinoland playground and the tent with all the dino bones in it. Then, back to the cabin for lunch.

After resting in the cabin a while, we went bike riding around the campground. There are bike racks everywhere. We went to the petting zoo to see the Minnie Moo cow. Ben was impressed that the horses we were petting had the weights posted (most were over 1,800 pounds).

We decided to spend the evening at Typhoon Lagoon. I love the lazy river thing there. I could float around in that creek all day. Especially when you go though the part where the misters are. I stayed in that part for a good 30min. without moving, just watching the other people go by me. Britt and the others went and played in the waves while I stayed in the creek. I finally got out of there and did each of the three body slides with them and the tube slides. I watched the snorkeling. I've done the snorkeling twice and felt I was going to drown both times, so I don't do it anymore. The last two summers they have had 3 people doing a beach party thing every evening with games, music, and dancing. They didn't have that this time. After another time around the creek, we left and went back to the cabin to watch a movie before bed.

Day 3 of 7 (MGM, Epcot, MK) Mon. July 19th

We got to MGM a little after opening this morning. Tower of Terror had about a 20min. wait. This is the first time I've been on it with the new drop sequence. I didn't like the lightening effect. Like someone else said, I too missed the stucco wall. Still fun though. We were going to go on Rock and Roller Coaster, but it was broke down. I guess that is why TOT line was 20min even though it was first thing in the morning. Great Movie ride was a walk on. I waited while everyone else did Star Tours (get sick on simulators). We then barely made the Doug show. There was a different Patty, but the rest of the cast looked the same as when I saw it in March. We were then off to the 3-d muppet movie. I love this show (just saw muppets in space yesterday, it was pretty good also, should have been in 3-d though.) We always get ice cream by the honey I shrunk the kid playground, so we did that next. We then played in the playground for a while. This was the first time I've actually played in it. I had so much fun climbing up and down the spider web. Chris fell half way up and just sat in the spiderweb a while and let lots of people by her. She finally made it out. We then played in the cave part a while. After that, we did the tram and 101 Dalmatians tours. We then went back to the cabin and watched 101 Dalmatians so we could see everything we just saw on the tour.

Chris was meeting one of her friends at Epcot at 6, so we headed over there. Her friend is the room assignor at I think Grand Floridian. So, if I ever stay there, I better get a good room The rest of us went to Lord of the Dance. Somehow (other than Britt and I), the others have never heard of the show, or even Riverdance. I even went through the aturday Night Live sketch for them. I don't think they wanted to watch it, but they ended up liking it (even Ben). Ben's favorite ride is Spaceship Earth, so since he sat through Lord of the Dance, I figured we would do his favorite ride next. It was a walk on. After that, I tricked Britt, Kim, and Ben into trying Beverly by telling them all the people on the internet said it was the best drink there. I wish I would have took pictures of their faces as they tried it. However, the rest of the trip I don't think they trusted me when I told them they just had to try something. We then walked back to world showcase to see British Invasion and Off Kilter. This was the best Off Kilter show I've ever been too. They had a lot of friends in the audience and I think they played twice as long as they usually do. At one point in the show, they turned to talk to someone and told them they were going to keep going for a while. They played right up until about 3min. before Illuminations started. They did my favorite song that run, run away song. I really wish that was on their CD. Sometime during Illuminations, Kim turned to us and said, :Now I see why you guys always vacation here, or something to that effect. We met my sister at the Boardwalk, and headed back to the cabin.

Kim and Ben were tired, so they stayed at the cabin. Britt, Chris, and I took off to the MK to catch the 11 MSEP. This was as good as I remembered from all the times I used to watch it growing up by Disneyland. Some floats were missing though. I seem to remember a Snow White float, a Pinochioo float, and some float or push carts that had It's a Small World characters on it. Anyone know what happened to them??

After the parade, we ate a snack at the Contemporary food court place, played video games, and headed up to the roof to watch the space shuttle. There were some really annoying people up there on the roof who screamed the countdown at the top of their lungs about 3 different times making everyone on the roof think it was going off each time. The shuttle never did make it off, so we headed back to the cabin.

Day 4 of 7 (Disney Endurance, DisneyQuest, MK e-night) Tues. July 20th

This morning I learned not everyone has the Disney Endurance that Britt and I do. By Disney Endurance, I mean how physically fit you are to walk around Disney without totally giving out. Perhaps there should be a Disney Endurance physical fitness test. To pass, you have to park way out in one of the parking lots, walk (no tram) to the front entrance, sprint to the opposite side of the park. Then, do a couple of laps around the park and walk back to your car. All this with it being really hot out. I think I would do rather well. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, everyone was really tired this morning and their feet hurt. I was told that their blisters had blisters. I'm not sure how Chris spent her day. I don't think Kim left the cabin at all today (she didn't even do e-night with us.)

Britt, Ben, and I decided to head to Disneyquest. Cyberspace mountain had no line. Ben and I made a coaster and we watched while Britt rode it. Everything else had a line. I went on Virtual Jungle Cruise for the first time. I usually skip this, but I loved it. The only virtual thing we didn't do was Ride the Comix. We did the pinball thing twice. I won the second time. Did I mention how crowded it was. The only way to play even a regular video game was to wait in line a couple people deep. The only thing that didn't have a line was the old games, so I played Burgertime a while. I was disappointed to see you can no longer make as many picture stickers as you want for free. Although I understand it, it sure was fun in December. I must have spent forever making stickers with almost every background (I was not hogging the machine, there were no lines or crowds when I was there in Dec.)

We took Ben to Planet Hollywood for lunch. 3 different workers ask him if he wanted a kiddie menu. He said no and ended up ordering a big burger off the regular menu. He was so happy for finishing it all. The waitress even commented to him about eating the whole thing. He was so proud of himself. After lunch, we walked over to the lego store, went in some other stores, and played a few more games at Disneyquest before heading back to the cabin.

A little before 9, Chris, Ben, Britt, and I headed over to the MK for e-night. We arrived right as a major lightening storm was hitting. The 9 MSEP was canceled. We hung out in the train station for an hour waiting for the lightening to stop. I couldn't believe how many people were walking down main street with the major lightening going on. As the storm felt it was right on top of us, every time there was a lightening strike, all the kids in the train station starting crying. I think 14 year olds were even crying. It was pretty scary. By this point, Britt and I were mad at each other, so he and Ben took off to Tomorrowland for their wristbands. By now, it was only raining. I passed out the ponchos in my purse ($.89 at Wal-Mart) and gave Ben and Britt a radio so we could find them later. They still had the 10 fireworks even in the pouring rain. Chris went to Cityhall for her wristband. I thought she was just going to the bathroom or I would have gone with her. She came back 20min later and we headed to tomorrowland so I could get my wristband. There is not usually a line for wristbands in tomorrowland, so I like getting them there better. Sure enough, no line. We found Britt and Ben (didn't even need the radio, literally walked right into them.) and headed off to ride the peoplemover. We then went to ride Winnie the Pooh. The line was 30min, but since none of us had ever been on it we waited. I think it was worth the wait, but I wouldn't want to wait that long again for it.

By now, e-night had started and the rain had stopped. We went on Haunted Mansion first. Ben was a little scared, so I told him if he rode with me I would narrate the whole ride for him. We had just got in the buggy and I was telling him that no one will jump out at him when all of a sudden one of those loader workers jumps right out and practically into the buggy with us. He didn't even scare us. We were to busy cracking up because I just said no one will jump out at us. The worker even cracked up, so I don't know if he had been listening to me or not. Ben made it through the ride pretty good. The last part where all the monsters are jumping up, I had Ben busy helping me find the "puppets" before they jumped up. He liked this. Splash Mountain was next. I never let Ben see the drop before we were on the ride. The MSEP was going on and so we walked the way that doesn't go directly in front on the big drop. By the time he saw the drop for the first time, we were already on the ride. When you see the drop after the first turn when you just loaded the ride, you aren't really seeing the whole drop, so Ben said it didn't look that bad. He did great and declared this his new favorite ride. We all went on it again, and then Ben and I did it a 3rd time while Britt and Chris did BTMR. We then walked to tomorrowland and took turns doing Space mountain and Buzz lightyear with Ben since Ben didn't want to go on Space. By the time I rode Buzz with Ben, he had been on it 7 times in a row. He looked at me finally and said, I like this ride, but is there another ride going on right now you think I might like. It was so funny. We decided we didn't have time to trek back to Splash again, and were going to do Timekeeper's last show of the night, but decided we were too hungry, so we headed to casey's for a snack and drinks. Ben and Chris got those cute baseball mug things.

Day 5 of 7 (River Country, Blizzard Beach, Campfire) Wed. July 21st

Even with not getting in bed till 3 am from e-night, Britt and I still woke up early. We decided to explore some on our own while everyone else slept. We put on our bathing suits, got the bikes, and headed to the Swamp Trail. At the beginning of the trail, there were a couple of people fishing in bay lake (Britt and Ben did bring fishing poles, but never did have time to fish.) The trail is strictly a walking trail, so we locked up our bikes on a fence post at the beginning of the trail. The trail was kinda spooky. We never saw another sole the whole time we were on the trail. The coolest part of the trail is that every once in a while there are these long deck like bridge things you walk on right over the swamp. I just knew an alligator was going to be waiting on one of the bridges for us. Never did see one though. It's a good thing because I know noone would have heard us call for help if we did. I wonder how often Disney Security goes down the swamp trail. Definitely would not want to go there after dark!

It was time for River Country to open, so we headed there next. Neither of us had ever been there. I've tried twice before, but it is always filled to capacity whenever I try to go there. If you go there expecting it to be like Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, you may be disappointed. There is not even a continuous lazy river ride I went there thinking of it as Ft. Wilderness's Hotel Swimming Pool. If you look at it this way, I liked it. We did the tube ride, then spent the rest of the time in the big pool. We pretty much had the pool to ourselves. We saw Goofy arrive at River Country from a boat on Bay Lake. He was in a swimsuit. We also saw Minnie in her Swimwear and Pluto. Pluto was actually wearing clothes (swim trunks with suspenders, not sure why he needed suspenders.) As we were leaving, Goofy was wearing western attire and riding through River Country on a horse. That Goofy sure gets around!

We got back to the cabin and made lunch for everyone (well, our lunch, their breakfast.) After that, we made another quick trip to Publix to pick up a few more things. It is a lot easier to just pay the $.50 and take Osceola Parkway to Publix than it is to go the 536 to 535 way where they are doing major road work.

We decided to spend the afternoon at Blizzard Beach. Of course, I spent a while in the creek. When I got out, I did the enclosed tube ride, and both of the mat rides with everyone. It looked like it was going to storm again, so we headed back to the cabin.

We decided to split up and do our own thing that evening. Figured it would be good on everyone to get away from each other for a while I'm not sure what Britt, Kim, Ben, or Chris did with their time. I, however, went to Mgm. The first thing I did was Sounds Dangerous. The minute the lights went out, all these kids starting crying. When they finally stopped enough so I could hear what was going on, it was just ok, not great. I still like the Monster Sound Show Best. After that I did the little mermaid. Britt hates this show, but I love it. So, it was good I was by myself for it. I then headed back to the campground and went to the campfire for a while. They were playing Homeward Bound.

I get back to the cabin and there is a note from Chris saying for me to please pick her up at the studios after Fantasmik so she doesn't have to ride the bus. I'm thinking yeah right, like I'm going to find her in the mass of 10,000 people exiting the show all at once. So, I get Kim and we head to the studios to try to find her. Turns out she had been at epcot most of the evening and didn't even get to the studios till 10:55 for the 11:00 Fantasmik. Therefore she was in the back, and was one of the first ones out after the show. Still can't believe she was that easy to find. It was pouring rain by the time we got back to the cabin. Had planned on trying to watch the shuttle again, but it was rescheduled due to weather.

Day 6 of 7 (Epcot, MGM, Campfire, Shuttle) Thurs. July 22nd

Today I had two goals in mind. Ride Test Track and Rock n Rollercoaster. Britt and I woke up before everyone else, so we took off for Epcot. I love the singles line. The CM told us not to worry that we would still be married when we got off. LOL. In 25min., we had done the ride, shopped at the gift shop, and were on our way to the boardwalk. The posted wait was over an hour. Sometimes I get slightly motion sick. I felt slightly queasy after test track, but not that bad. I love that ride, but if it weren't for the singles line, I don't think I would wait in the regular line for it. I like it better in the daytime also. Last time I rode it was at night.

When we got to the Boardwalk, we went to ESPN for lunch. ESPN opens at 11:30. We thought it opened at 11, so we walked around the boardwalk shops a while. My favorite thing at ESPN is the steak fajita wrap. It comes with this great dipping sauce also. We left there and got back to the cabin. Chris, Ben, and Kim were all gone. I don't know where they got a sudden burst of energy from, but we never saw them until 11:45 that night. We hung out in the cabin and around 3:30 a major rain storm hit. I told Britt that Chris, Ben, and Kim should be OK wherever they are as long as they aren't at Animal Kingdom. The other 3 parks have plenty of stuff to do indoors during a storm, but not Animal Kingdom. Anyway, Britt and I made a big pot of spagetti for everyone to eat for dinner and then we took off for MGM at 5:30.

There was a 25min. wait posted for Rock and Rollercoaster. Well worth it, and the line moves really fast also. I love this ride. This is now my 2nd favorite ride at WDW (Splash Mtn. is my first.) Lots of chanting Brazilians in the line also. Britt asked me why they were chanting and clapping. I just looked at him and said because they are from Brazil, ok! Like other people have said, I could not believe how smooth the ride is. I didn't feel the slightest bit queasy after it either. Can't wait to ride this again. We were going to go on TOT, but the line was longer than I wanted to wait in, so we went back to the cabin.

Arriving back at the cabin was so funny. Remember, I had already said I hoped Ben, Chris, and Kim weren't at Animal Kingdom during the heavy rain. Well, I walk in the bathroom and see all 3 of them have hung soaked clothes over the shower rod. I found a plastic bag with a soaked receipt in it. The receipt was from Animal Kingdom and for a rain poncho. Apparently, they had only took 2 ponchos with them instead of three. In the time Britt and I had been at MGM, they had came back, ate the dinner, wrote us a note thanking us for dinner, and gone off again somewhere. I was hoping Ben would be there to go to the campfire with us, but he wasn't.

Britt and I got to the campfire right at 8. They had a sing a long with Chip and Dale until 8:45. We roasted marshmallows and made smores with the crackers and chocolate bars I got at Publix. By the time Ernest goes to camp starting, we weren't feeling very well. I think we ate way to many marshmallows. I know it's been over a week now, but Britt still won't even look at a marshmallow. We headed back to the cabin instead of staying for the movie. Around 11, we loaded up our backpack with adult beverages, got on the bikes, and headed to the marina to watch the shuttle launch at 12:20. We got ourselves some chairs in the sand and sat around watching people get off the boat while we finished our drinks. It was a beautiful night too, just sitting there in the sand looking up at the stars. The last boat came around just before midnight, and who should step off it but Kim, Chris, and Ben. They had been to Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and made it to the Magic Kingdom at 11 just to see the MSEP. Chris and Ben stayed with us to watch the shuttle, but Kim was dragging, so she chose to go back to the cabin and sleep instead of waiting 20 more min. for the shuttle. The shuttle went off on time right at 12:24 I think. A large crowd had gathered on the dock to watch it by this point. Everyone on the dock broke out in applause when we saw the bright light. About a minute or so later, you could hear the rumbling sound the shuttle had made. Very cool.

Day 7 of 7 (AK, Blizzard Beach Mini Golf, 2hr MK tour) Friday July 23rd

Since we leave tomorrow, my goal for today: See Tarzan Rocks. Britt and I woke up before everyone again, so we took off to AK. Ben, Chris, and Kim had already seen Tarzan Rocks and told us what to expect. I still haven't seen the movie Tarzan, but Chris won a Tarzan cd from Mcdonald's, and her and Ben had been playing it all week in the van (including the 8 1/2 hr. drive to WDW), so by this point, I pretty much knew every song by heart. Therefore, I loved the show because I knew all the songs. The lead singer for this show was my favorite singer from the Hoop De Doo, Billy. When we saw him at the Hoop De Doo in Dec., he said he had been at the Hoop De Doo like 20yrs, so I wonder if he is doing both now or maybe he was just filling in for someone?? The people behind me recognized him also because I heard the husband say to the wife, well it looks like he traded in that night job of his for a day job. After Tarzan, Britt and I did some shopping at Animal Kingdom. I got myself this really cool shirt with the tree of life and a bunch of animals on the front. It's my new favorite shirt now. I've already worn it 3 days this week. We got our moms these cute flower pots that have Mickey Mouse on them. Then, I bought myself and Ben each a CTX toy car and little dino. Yesterday, he got a Tarzan toy. He's racking up. Britt was waiting to get him an ESPN shirt, but we never did make it back there. Oh well, something to put on the list to do next time.

We headed back to the cabin and had lunch with everyone. Kim was still tired and just wanted to lay out by the pool, so the rest of us headed to Blizzard Beach. Chris, Ben, and Britt went to the Winterland/Summerland golf while I went on to the lazy creek at Blizzard Beach. I looked at their score card later and saw each of them had made like 5 holes in one a piece. Must have been way too easy for them, but they said they had fun. I was supposed to meet them on the 1st bridge by the creek, but I never saw them there. I spotted Chris in a lounge chair and she said Britt and Ben had took off somewhere. So, I went and took the skilift to the top of the mountain thinking I might be able to spot them from up there. Never did, but I did get to ride the family raft ride with a strange family ( uh, I mean total strangers). Chris was still in the lounge chair, so I told her I was going to do the mat rides if she saw Britt and Ben again anytime soon. I get done with the mat rides and go back to the lounge chair where Chris is still camped out at, and she tells me Britt and Ben just took off for the mats. I finally find them there. Turns out they have been in the creek. They figured I would be in the creek, so they had stayed in there about 5 laps thinking eventually they would see me in the creek. Anyway, we all headed back to the cabin for dinner.

After dinner, Chris, Ben, and Britt each had their own plans on how to spend their last evening, which left Kim and I to decide what we wanted to do our last night. Kim realized she had been here all week and still hadn't done anything at the MK. She had only been there that 1 time this week with Chris, and they only went for the MSEP which they watched on Main Street. She had heard everything we did on e-night, and wanted to do some stuff at the MK. By time we get ready and get over there, it is 9:00. Park closes at 11. So, I had 2 hrs to give Kim a whirlwind tour of the Mk. I pretty much know by now what rides have lines when, so I figured we would hit all the rides that I know won't have a line at this time of night, and then make it to Splash Mountain by park closing and wait in whatever line they had there. We ended up going on 7 rides which had no line whatsoever. These included: Jungle Cruise, Peoplemover, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Snow White, Train, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a 15min. line for Splash Mountain. We hopped on the train right after Splash and made it to the MK entrance right at 11 as the MSEP was starting. Not bad for 2 hrs. Kim was very impressed. We rode the boat back to Ft. Wilderness where Britt and Ben were sitting in the sand at the marina. We all biked back to the cabin to get some sleep for the drive home tomorrow.

Conclusion: This was one of my favorite trips ever. Going with other people, especially newbies, allows you to see things a whole new way. I loved the cabin, but it would not make much since for just Britt and I to stay there when we go to WDW with just the 2 of us. With splitting the cabin bill and eating in all week, we really saved a lot of money. As we were leaving, Britt and I ask Ben if he had a good time. I thought this part was to sad. He looks up at us and says yes, but at least you know you get to come back again real soon. School starts back in 2 weeks. We're going to tell Ben if he does real good in school this year, we'll let him go with us again next summer. As for Britt and I, our next trip was going to be with my parents in December (Their 2nd time at WDW, very experienced Disneyland people), but now we're going back in August. Britt is always really busy Sept-November, so we can never go anywhere during those months. But, our anniversary is toward the end of Sept and I have a long weekend coming up at the end of August. Therefore, I have talked Britt into going back to WDW for 5 days at the end of August as a early anniversary celebration. Any RAPD people going to be there then?? I have yet to see anyone with a RAPD button anywhere at the parks

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.