Trip Reports

April 3, 1999

The eight inches of snow was unexpected.

Certainly, at 7000 feet at the western-most range of The Rockies, we had grown accustomed to Spring snowfalls. But the winter storm warnings had been lifted the day before, and at 9:00 PM there had been an inky black sky with twinkling stars and no evidence of clouds at all. So, finding the snow at 4:30 am, when we got up, was not entirely anticipated this Saturday, the day before Easter. A last minute change in plans was made. We packed the suitcases in the four-wheel drive Previa which had a set of tires barely a year old. This, instead of the front-wheel drive Sable which will require a new set of tires before its inspection in August, and had already demonstrated less than ideal traction in fresh snow. A light breakfast after getting washed and dressed, and we at 5:20 AM in 23-degree weather.

We arrived at Salt Lake City International at 6:10 am. A little longer than our usual time as driving on Interstate 80 in some areas was slowed to 45 MPH-not all sections had been snowplowed by this time in the morning. We parked in Long Term Lot A, Row N2, Shuttle Stop 2. Let's see if we'll remember this when we return in 8 days. The shuttle came in 5 minutes and took us quickly to the Delta check-in. It was very unusual at the check-in as there was absolutely no wait. On, the other hand, I guess we haven't usually taken the 7:00 am flight when heading east. We had chosen the 7:00 flight with a connection through Atlanta, instead of a later direct flight, back in December. As this was the heavily-traveled Easter weekend, doing so saved us $70 each, for the three of us, and after all taxes and facility fees, we were travelling for $215.00 each. The tickets had long been paid for by the time we departed, so there was the enjoyment of knowing there wouldn't be a future bill for these after the trip had been completed.

We left Salt Lake at 7:20 instead of 7:00. This was due to the de-icing required before take-off. Nevertheless, with favorable tailwinds, we got to Atlanta ontime at 12:40. The plane transfer was only 4 gates away in the same concourse, so no hassle for the switch. We left Atlanta only 5 minutes after the scheduled 1:50 PM departure, basically due to being 6th in line while taxiing. No make up during the flight; but no additional delay either. So we got into Orlando just 5 minutes late, at 3:15. On both the flights we were back in the mid-40's as far as seating goes. So we got to be some of the last ones out. That's never bothered us, as we figure it means less waiting for our luggage when we finally reach the Baggage Claim area.

The monorail from the Terminal to the central hub and Baggage Claim at the Orlando airport wasn't particularly busy, so we got the first one we saw when we finally got off. A walk down to Baggage Claim B, and there was our driver from Tiffany Town Car waiting for us with our name on a placard. This was our first use of Tiffany Town Car. But it was just as convenient as our prior experiences with Florida Town Car. Sure enough, by the time we arrived, our luggage showed up on the conveyor belt 3 minutes later. So we grabbed them, popped them in the Town Car, which was maybe 30 feet away, immediately out the door, and we were off. We took the Toll Road there, and arrived at Dixie Landings at 4:00 PM. Can't imagine what it would have taken us had we rented a car and gone through all the hassle of standing in line, picking up the car, getting our luggage in it by ourselves, et al. As this was our first use of Tiffany Town Car, I had the $5.00 off coupon from their Internet site. So the charge for the trip was $70.00. I gave a straight 15% tip (based on the pre-coupon charge of $75.00), without any additional baggage-handling gratuity as I reserve that for the return trip, just in case there's a different driver despite what all the Town Car services claim. A separate person whom you've never met before seems to invoke a need for an additional payment, whether the companies admit to that or not. So, $11.25 brought the total to $81.25. Although I had the cash, Tiffany Town Car accepts credit cards. Unless Florida Town Car has changed recently and not noted it on their web site, they still require cash or travelers' checks. So, in that aspect, I'd give Tiffany Town Car the edge. Anything that let's me add frequent flier miles to my account is preferred. Now, although I paid the $81.25 today, I had actually budgeted the cost about a month before, so I didn't count this on our daily expense sheet. I appreciate few of you have as strict a budget as we do; so you'll likely think that NOT counting this as an expense for the day is sort of cheating in the accounts. But the approach works for me.

We checked in at the Front Desk. Our room assignment was 9601, out at Parterre Place. This was even near the far end of Parterre Place, so it was nearly as far from the central location of the Food Court and main services as you can get. Again, this is not something that bothers us. There's just the three of us, so the 5-person rooms in the opposite direction at Alligator Bayou aren't justifiable. And, we have no problems walking as perhaps others do. So, there was never a question of seeking something closer. Again, for the psychological advantage of not having significant bills to pay AFTER a vacation is completed, I got into the habit probably twenty years ago of pre-paying whatever vacation charges are possible. So, the cancelled check for the entire seven night stay had long been in my possession before we even began the trip. Even though it was the busy Easter weekend in the middle of the two weeks on Spring Breaks in the United States, we were able to get Annual Passport room rates of $99.90 per night. This was about a $50 a night savings. After the 10% local room tax, it was $109.89 per night. Not bad for the Easter week! I had brought out my Annual Passport for the rate verification. The Cast Member at check-in didn't do more than just glance at it. So the fact that it hadn't even been activated yet never even came up. As we were going to go to the Parks that evening, we were planning on activating it and keeping everything honest anyway. But, technically, since it wasn't checked, I guess we could have gotten the reduced rate anyway, had we been so inclined. Although we had the room prepaid, I still used my American Express card for imprint for the charges and incidentals that would be made during the week. So, that qualified us for another of the American Express White Gloves fanny pack. I notice that this year the fanny pack comes by itself. Back during the 25th Anniversary, a cassette tape was included.

We ended up not using Bell Services, but just going to our room with our luggage ourselves. We unpacked and checked out the room. They now have a combination Shampoo/Body Soap dispenser on the wall of the bathtub/shower. There was also still a bottle of the Shampoo/Conditioner as has been the routine in the past. I thought having a towel rack at the far end of the tub/shower enclosure was not the ideal location, especially for the way I tend to take showers, with lots of splashing. As the week went on, though, I found to my surprise that it didn't end up being a problem after all. So I guess I can't fault that. That notation about conservation of not necessarily having to use a new towel every single day is still there. That's a concept we agree with, so we'd hang the towels up on the racks rather than leaving them draped over the tub or left out on the beds. We thought the maid was ignoring the signal and giving us new towels every day anyway, until we finally figured out she was just neatly refolding the used towels back on the racks. That was sort of a nice touch. The room had two double beds. Even though Pat and I are used to a King waterbed at home, this was fine. Although not soft, the bed was definitely not over-firm, so we had no trouble sleeping whatsoever. And, it was plenty long to accommodate my 6'2" length with plenty of room to spare. Jennifer already has a regular double bed in her room. And, without all the schoolbooks and other things occupying a good half of it, this bed actually represented a significant increase in sleeping area for her.

The first thing we did after unpacking was go spend our first money of the day. We walked over to the Sassagoula Food Court and bought our Refillable Mugs for this resort. At Dixie Landings and Port Orleans the mugs are $8.99. With 54 cents tax, that was $9.53 each for a total of $28.59. Refills at these two resorts are free. Because they are sister resorts, Dixie Landings mugs can be freely used at Port Orleans and vice versa. We discovered something neat at Dixie Landings-they have slushie machines which the mugs are also good for! This, in addition to the usual soda pop, hot chocolate, coffee, tea. I didn't see any other resorts this trip, including Port Orleans, that had slushie machines in their food courts. And, I don't recall others from previous trips. The slushies were Coke and a non-colored Cherry (the Cherry taste was there; but the slushie was just white, so we didn't know what to expect on first taste). Although we certainly got plenty of other drinks during the week, having slushies available was something of a highlight.

Took the mugs back to the room, picked up some other items and headed off for the bus depot. We found the trip to the South Depot somewhat shorter if we exited Parterre Place toward the road and crossed that bridge and the parking lot, rather than taking the resort sidewalks back toward the main building. At the Mason section of the South Depot we boarded the MGM Studios bus. First stop, Guest Relations to activate our Annual Passports. I had gotten the tickets last August, just a few weeks before the standard fall increase in AP prices. The tickets that we purchased had a date of 3/23/98 printed on their backs. I don't know if this was old stock; but it had made me a tiny bit nervous since that pre-dated the opening of Animal Kingdom. Just to be extra safe, I had brought along the receipt from the Disney Store to be able to show that we really HAD gotten them in August. But, the question never even arose-perhaps on the magnetic strip it has the purchase date or something. In any event, the vouchers were exchanged for identical appearing tickets with a handy little holder to keep them from getting too worn. So we went to Entrance and were showed how to put our index finger and middle finger (and nothing but!) into the little biometric readers and entered the Park itself.

We went straightway to the Prime Time Café. It was about 6:00 PM by now. They were fairly busy and rather than waiting right then, asked about Priority Seating. They had an opening at 8:45 PM. Since that was essentially 6:45 for our current body clocks still on Salt Lake time, that suited us just fine. We made the reservations, and headed over to the Tower of Terror. There was a 40-minute wait which struck us as reasonable for Easter Saturday evening. So, we had our first experience with the new special effects and the triple (at least) drops. That still may be our favorite thrill ride at all of Disney. And the triple drops were certainly different than what we had done before. As usual, some of the enjoyment comes from riding with others who have never been on the ride before and not knowing what to expect. I did notice that for whatever reason, I never felt we had as long a single, sustained drop as I had gotten used to previous years. I can't say that it was worse or better, just different. Then we went over to the Muppets-nearly at the other end of the Park. (As I noted earlier, walking around doesn't bother us.) For this, there was no line whatsoever and the sit-down theater itself ended up being only about 2/3 full. Leaving the Muppets, we wandered around Pizza Planet a little bit-not for food since that was coming; but just for the atmosphere. The last time we were here, the alien-grabber machine was simply a prop. Now it's an actual functioning machine. Not with Toy Story aliens, which MIGHT have tempted us to give it a try; but at least with green aliens that can be grabbed and retrieved if one is lucky. We noted this as one of the locations for the CD kiosks where you can make your own CD's. I was planning on at least doing one sometime during the week. As I'm doing this report, I see that I absolutely forgot about it. Ah, well, something to do this August, I suppose.

We then slowly wandered back to the Café. We've generally liked the food here and have gone back several times. For whatever reason, however, we just never ended up getting servers before that involved us in the banter. Maybe because Jennifer has always looked older than her age, now 15, or whatever, in the past it seems like we've been treated more as an adult party and left to our meal. Somewhat of a disappointment, to be honest. This time, though, we had a lot more participation; from being chided about elbows to getting involved in food fights with neighboring tables (instigated of course by the servers. We wouldn't start such things ourselves. Of course not...) I had the Turkey Dinner entrée. Pat had the roasted half-chicken. Jennifer, as is common, chose two Appetizers as her meal instead of an entrée-Clam Chowder and the Onion Rings. For Pat and me, our server gave us choices from the vegetables, so we were able to get the corn on the cob instead of the green beans. This came in very handy for us when we were expected to clean our plates, course. And, as usual for our family, there was some moderate sharing of food all around. The serving sizes were again more than generous. The plates did get cleaned; but the upshot was that dessert was not really an option. After tax and tip the total for the dinner for the three of us was $50.85. We finished right around 9:45 PM and waddled out of the Prime Time.

We wandered the Park some more and ended up at Tower of Terror. This time, though, we weren't interested in a 40-minute line and started back. On the way back, we were nearly accosted by a Cast Member letting us know that Fantasmic still had plenty of seats available five minutes before the 10:00 show. We hadn't planned on going on our first night, expecting crowds and noting the admonitions in the brochure and at the Events board to get in line 90 minutes before show time. But maybe everyone had gone to the 8:00 show tonight. Anyway, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to just walk in, so that's what we did. Plenty of seats available at both sides. The water screens are viewed much better there, anyway, compared to the center where most of the audience congregated. I did make the mistake by choosing the left of the theater. And although I did it on purpose, I probably won't bother sitting in the 2nd row from the front next time-got a little more damp than I had anticipated. The show itself was really fun and quite different than the Disneyland version we've seen many times. This is the first time for the DisneyWorld version for us. After the show, we had to slowly make it out the single exit on the right side. Next time, I need to remember that so I know where to sit.

We grabbed the bus back to Dixie Landings and were in bed by 11:00. My expense account for the day, $79.44, at least in context of the explanations above.

April 4, 1999 (Easter)

We only did one day that might be termed a semi-"commando" mode day. And Easter Sunday was not it. In addition to being Easter, it was also Pat's birthday. Although we had entertained the idea of early awakenings, we were still functioning on Park City time. So, we slept late and didn't get up until around 8:30. (This would be 5:30 compared to what we were used to-the two hour time difference and that fact that the clocks decided to "spring forward" at 2:00 AM in honor of Daylight Saving.) I went over to the Cotton Mill Food Court (which I inadvertently called the Sassagoula Food Court yesterday-the latter term is still not correct but would be slightly closer to being correct when applied to the food court at Port Orleans) armed with all three refillable mugs. Pat and Jenn stayed in the room while I filled the mugs with hot chocolate and returned.

I went over to the food court at 9:00 AM, and as it was Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny had been out and about at the resort. The Magnolia Bend section of Dixie Landings has the theme of a collection of large, elegant mansions. Along the Sassagoula River front, each has a substantial "front lawn" area; and it was here that the Bunny had stopped. Huge collections of candy were heaped on the ground. Apparently there was a different theme to each location. In front of Parterre Place we have a preponderance of candy essentially like the material in Circus Peanuts, but in the shape of tall Easter Rabbits. I overheard that there were M&M's at other locations. And by a few wrappers left here and there, I could tell a variety of other candies had appeared from the Alligator Bayou Lodges through the other mansions in the Magnolia Bend area. The whole concept felt like Halloween trick or treating, except not nearly as much work. Kids, with complimentary Disney plastic bags in hand, would merrily go racing from location to location, filling the bags to overflowing. With the large piles of candy on the ground and no checks or limits, I suspect the result during the day was a fair number of upset stomachs. Of course, the whole thing was repeated at all the resorts throughout Walt Disney World. I wonder what the candy budget for that single day was. Around 10:00, clean up had already begun. And by about 10:30, the grounds were Disney clean again. Very difficult to find any left over wrappers. Even with all the kids, though, there had been a significant amount of leftover candy. I'm sure the approach had been to guarantee no disappointed kids from running out of the sweets.

From the South Depot bus stop, we took the bus to Epcot and arrived about 11:00 AM. The Events Board revealed Test Track to be on Delay Mode. So we wandered back into Innoventions. There were enough new aspects that Jennifer decided to remain in that location while Pat and I went to World Showcase. In one of the shops at World Showcase, Pat discovered a pin collection that she liked. This was a collection of the flags of all the represented countries in the Showcase done in the form of a Mickey head-large central circle with two circle ears. There are actually 12 pins to the set; but the 12th pin is Mickey superimposed over a dark blue background on the three circles. It wasn't until several days later that we finally discovered the information that getting the Mickey pin is possible ONLY if you buy the entire collection in a glassed frame set-a major disappointment. For today, though, we viewed the lack of the Mickey pin as merely due to its popularity. Hence, finding it will be a challenge for us over the upcoming week.

We walked around World Showcase in a counterclockwise direction. We were just strolling, watching the people, looking at the scenery. Didn't have any specific stops in mind. At noon, we found ourselves in front of The American Experience. At the stage opposite, the International Songbook show was just beginning. There were plenty of shade trees, so we went in and sat down, to watch the show we had never seen. It was OK, and certainly a collection of a lot of different characters. They did the songs from several movies, in the language of the country from where the movie came. For instance, the characters from Pinocchio sang in Italian. Belle and the Beast sang their duet in French. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs sang in German. The show ended up in what seemed like a tribute to Gloria Estefan. The previous characters plus Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale formed a Conga line, giving them all the opportunity to sing in Spanish. Earlier, Goofy had sung, in English, a song designed to help remember all fifty states, set to the tune of Turkey in the Straw.

We turned around the way we had come and headed back to Innoventions. I picked up one of the Turkey Legs for $4.50 and Pat and I both filled up on a single one of these huge things. On the way, we stopped in Mexico to take the River Of Time trip as there was no waiting line. Back at Innoventions at 2:00, Jennifer joined us and we headed off to Test Track. We got in the PreShow Bypass line (a.k.a. the singles line) and made it about twenty feet from the entrance to the Briefing Room before another delay got imposed. Because it was estimated to be about an hour, and we were not rushed to see it right then, we didn't bother to wait around. We thought about leaving the Park; but instead decided to make use of one of the certificates we had received from sending in the coupon, as Magic Kingdom Club members, from the Disney Insider magazine for a "Disney Magic" package. This one entitled us all to what they called an Ice Cream Social character dessert. We went over to The Land Pavilion and checked in at the Garden Grill restaurant. There were not immediately any empty tables, so they gave us an electronic coaster which had a small receiver unit and some red LED's. We wandered around for about 10 minutes before we were paged. We then returned and were seated, gave the CM our certificate, and were treated to a really scrumptious ice cream collection. A medium size plate had a chocolate chip cookie affixed to it with chocolate sauce. In the center of the cookie, a waffle cone had been inserted. The cone was filled with ice cream topped with whipped topping, nuts and a maraschino cherry. There was also some strawberry sauce drizzled around the plate. We used the crayons on the table, and one of the paper towels that come on a roll as part of the table structure, to make a Happy Birthday Pat sign. With that, of course, about seven CM's came over to sign Happy Birthday. The usual announcement to the rest of the surrounding tables was made, so there would be more singers. This version of Happy Birthday was sung to the tune of Old McDonald Had a Farm-keeping with the them of The Land pavilion-complete with EIEIO's. Since we had used the certificate, the CM shooed us out without accepting any tips. She also mentioned something we didn't fully catch-something about being able to use the Magic Kingdom Club card there even without the certificate. Whether this meant we could get it free (which I seriously doubt) or just the regular Garden Grill MKC discount, was not entirely clear. Nevertheless, the ice cream social was again a large serving and quite good, so we'll probably go back in the future just for the dessert anyway. Pluto and Mickey and Chip had been the characters coming to the tables to greet folks at this function.

After this, we wandered back to Test Track. Taking the PreShow bypass got us into the Briefing Room in ten minutes. Even though we were in the singles line, Pat and I ended up riding in the same car, albeit one behind the other rather than side by side. That is certainly something we can live with if it means saving 40 to 60 minutes of waiting in line. Sometime in the future though, we'll probably make a early morning attempt at the attraction so we can actually see the PreShow at least once. We liked Test Track. Started out with the acceleration up a 27-degree incline. Then going down two sections of bumpy road representing German and Belgium cobblestone roadways. Two curved sections with pylons to demonstrate braking tests without and with the benefit of an Anti-Lock Breaking System. Through the heat lamps, the freezing room, and the "corrosion" room. Hairpin turns and then the crash test, though we never got close enough to the door to feel threatened before it opened and shot us outside for the acceleration test on the large curve. Getting up to 65 MPH + was probably the most enjoyable part of the ride. Then back in the building and to debarkation. Liked the thermal imaging view and waved at the camera. Looked at the pictures of the ride. Not sure where they are actually taken. Nobody was looking particularly excited or frightened. But at least everyone was smiling. Jennifer, about two cars behind us, reported that her test car had gone well without glitches, too. Actually, ours had had a glitch-the front panel display screen was not functioning. But since this was our first ride, we weren't aware of the deficiency. Some more shopping, then back on the bus to Dixie Landings for a clothes change.

Because it was Pat's birthday, she had chosen the location for dinner. We had made Priority Seatings for O'hana's over at the Polynesian a couple weeks before. We headed over there and had a great dinner. Before tax, the meal was $20.95, a dollar cheaper than we were expecting from the menu listings over on WDWIG. We all spent the extra $1.50 each for the drinks with unlimited refills. And, as an all-you-can-eat situation, the price of the meal was a good value. The Hawaiian singer with his ukulele provided entertainment. More entertainment was provided by the keiki's (little kids) trying their hand (or rather, torso) at the hula hoop; and the sacrifice to the lava gods (i.e., the chefs) of the unfortunate diners who made the faux pas of inquiring about condiments for some of their meats. The pua'a in the form of pork sausages (although at least not the plain variety as you find in grocery stores) was not our preferred method of encountering that dish. But the chicken, steak and prawns/large shrimp were all great. The rice and veggies for filler was fine. And the included dessert (other options available for an additional charge) was excellent. So, a second night of waddling away from dinner. After all taxes and tips, cost for the three of us was $82.40.

After dinner, we rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. We walked over to say hello to our brick in the Walk-Around-The-World pathway. Ours is near the boat launch that goes to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, but just a little further. It's out in the small section where you can stand and look over the Lagoon toward the Floridian. There's not much else out that way, though, so traffic tends to be a little lighter and the bricks hold up well. We entered the Magic Kingdom and broke up, with Pat wanting to do a bit of shopping while Jennifer and I headed into the Park for a ride or two. We ended up doing Timekeeper since there was no wait. Then, Peoplemover was empty, so we tooled around on that. Then we decided to go see the new Tiki Room show, so hiked to the opposite side of the Park in Adventureland. That was fun, but a good knowledge of the previous version certainly made for much more enjoyment.

After that, we were pretty much starting to crash, so Jenn and I headed back to Dixie Landings. We got back to the room at 11:20. Pat must have caught the next, or nearly the next, bus because she got in at 11:40. My expense account for the day was $86.90, primarily the dinner at O'hana's, plus that Turkey Leg. I didn't keep track of when we ate what, but we did have several boxes of Girl Scout cookies along on the trip. And, if we had leftovers from the previous night's meals (like french fries, rolls and the like), they might very well have become breakfast snacks. Also, we remember that we didn't have to pay for the Ice Cream Social today, as well as the hot chocolate and any other drinks we had at the Dixie Landings' Food Court.

April 5, 1999

The animals were calling to us on Monday. We got up at 7:30 AM and left around 8:15 AM to Animal Kingdom. We were aware that this was not particularly early for a visit there. Indeed, because of Easter week crowds, the park was opening at 7:00 AM instead of the 8:00 AM posting-the usual situation throughout most of the summer or during other heavy visitation periods. While waiting at the South Depot, there was a somewhat longer delay than usual. In fact, we began to notice repeats of buses to Epcot and Magic Kingdom before an Animal Kingdom bus appeared. Finally, a bus with the "Special" designation came and picked up the crowd of us which had congregated by this time. We encountered the "Special" bus several more times this week. Even with those, though, I don't recall waiting for more than 20 minutes.

Heading to Countdown to Extinction upon arrival, we reached the location about 8:45-9:00. It was still early enough that there was absolutely no waiting line, even on this Monday of Easter week. We enjoyed the ride and very likely will do it again sometime. However, the technology and hardware concepts of the ride are basically the same as the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland. And, compared to Indiana Jones, Countdown pales in comparison, at least for our family. We'll willingly stand in line for Indiana Jones. I don't see us tolerating much wait to repeat Countdown again.

After Countdown, we headed over to our first experience of Tough To Be a Bug. Still not much wait-maybe 7 minutes. The downside of that was not examining the Tree of Life in any detail. But with this being the first visit to the Animal Kingdom, we thought we'd get the rides and attractions out of the way before relaxing. Loved Tough To Be a Bug! We like Honey I Shrunk the Audience, too, and have lost track of the times we've seen it. So perhaps it's the newness and unexpected effects. But this was one really great show. The 3-D effects, except for the subtle standard background, were not as good for us as Shrunk and Muppets. For example, I don't think I ever got the little blue butterfly as flying out close to us. He always appeared as two images. Pat and Jenn noticed the same thing. But Flik, and all the other characters that stayed "on-screen," so to speak, were all just fine. I remember a few effects in Captain EO which gave us the same problem. But the "acid," the spiders dropping down from the ceiling, the "sting" in the back, the bugs crawling under your butt... all these were a real hoot! I can understand easily how it could be extremely frightening to younger kids, especially those with a blurred line between reality and make believe. But as a theatrical attraction, I believe Tough To Be A Bug has now captured our family's number one spot.

After Tough, we thought we'd head off to Kilimanjaro Safaris. But a CM near the Exit of Tough was telling people that the Kali River Rapids had no wait, so we went there. And, in fact, there was no wait. Didn't get too wet, the people manning the extra water bombs were not very aggressive right at that time. And I did not rotate under the waterfall. Other riders in our raft were not so fortunate and got drenched. My personal observation on the water bombs is that they ought to charge a quarter for a timed use rather than let them be free. I appreciate that if they instituted that policy, there would be a significant negative reaction, as in, "Geez! There goes Disney, squeezing every little bit of money they can get out of you!" But, in my experience with this technology at other locations, charging for the privilege of spraying water on others has the potential for cutting down on "hogging" the controls. It seemed like at Kali, that a couple people essentially staked out the territory and they would be there for the duration. No one else appeared to be getting an opportunity.

After Kali, we walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We liked this a lot, too. The tigers especially were enjoyable at the time we took the path. The heat and humidity were starting to get to us. So we spent $7.00 on frozen bananas and an ice cream sandwich while waiting for a very short time to see Flights of Wonder. After the show, a CM asked which part was most enjoyable; and immediately right then I couldn't single out a specific part. In retrospect, I probably thought the extremely low, head-brushing flight of one of the hawks was the neatest effect.

From Flights of Wonder, we finally headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. A 45 minute wait was posted. It was actually a little bit less-38 minutes. We saw lots of animals and even though it was midday, we saw a male lion. The impression of being out on an African savanna instead of central Florida was quite striking. The poacher storyline was OK for the first trip. And it was not bothersome on the subsequent trip. But I can easily see myself taking this trip over and over, at different times of day, just to see the animals again. After the Safaris, the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail beckoned, with it mole rats and gorillas. Following that, it was time for lunch, so we headed back to the Flame Tree Bar BQ. The bread bowls ended up attracting all 3 of us. They were very good; but it sure seemed like there was a lot more chicken in the fake example outside than ended up being in the real thing. Nevertheless, it was an acceptable lunch to which we added drinks. After taxes it cost $24.71 for the three of us. This, however, included the 10% discount for the Magic Kingdom Club card.

After lunch, we started getting a lot more serious about Jenn's pressed penny collection. She's done Disneyland and Walt Disney World extensively over the years. But our last visit here was for the 25th Anniversary a year and a half ago. So the 1999 pressed coins (mostly quarters) and nearly all the pressed pennies in Animal Kingdom would be new to her collection. Although at first glance it might appear to be a cheap souvenir, if your goal is complete acquisition, the costs easily approach $200, especially with the new quarter presses being $1.25 a pop. Luckily, Jenn wasn't starting from scratch since there were many presses over the Walt Disney World area that were the same as previous years. She still ended up doing more than $40 worth this trip. It's her business and doesn't affect MY expense account, so I don't care. While gathering coins, we also spent $8.70 for a variety of ice cream treats to help us in the hot sun.

At 5:00 PM we saw the Festival Of The Lion King show, another excellent presentation and the Tumble Monkeys were flawless. Following that, we started circling the Park again. There was only a 15 minute wait at the Safaris; but we were getting in the mood for swimming, so we bypassed it. There was no wait at all at Tough To Be A Bug, so we did do that again. We found the Pluto pressed penny at the Outpost, outside the actual park itself. It had been listed as being at a location inside, too; but Jenn never could locate it. So this was a small triumph. Going back to Dixie Landings involved a slightly longer wait again, the build-up of a good sized crowd, and the appearance finally of another "Special" bus which got packed to capacity and standing room only. We had dinner at the food court for $19.40 total for the three of us. One of the things I learned quickly was to always check what the chalked-in Special of The Day was over at the section that sold burgers. Tonight, I had the excellent Patty Melt. As we discovered, the Special would indeed change daily and nearly always be something removed from the other types of food offered. French fries and some good cole slaw would generally be part of the special plate. With our mugs, of course, we didn't need separate drinks.

After supper we went swimming in the "quiet pool" next to Parterre Place. Whatever they use for disinfecting, it doesn't seem to be the standard high level of chlorine. We were able to keep our eyes open under water without the burning so common at other public swimming areas. The heated pool was even warmer after the hot day and felt wonderful. "Quiet Pool" is relative. It's not adult-restricted, so certainly there were plenty of kids. But it wasn't nearly as loud and boisterous as Ol' Man Island always seems to be. The major improvement in the noise we noted, however, was not that the kids were screaming less-it was the lack of lifeguards constantly yelling and using bullhorns to keep kids from running and to keep order at the slide. A necessary bother for safety's sake, I realize. I just found it interesting that the lifeguards contributed far more noise to the fracas at Ol' Man Island than the swimmers seemed to. Anyway, this large calmer pool was certainly more to our tastes this evening.

Expense account for the day--$59.81 total. Any pins for Pat or pressed coins for Jenn are their responsibility and not counted toward the "family" expense.

April 6, 1999

Pressed coins would dictate much of our wanderings today, Tuesday the 6th of April. We got up at 8:00 AM, and without more specific plans, decided that we'd use Jenn's quest for completion or update of her pressed coin collection as the driving force behind our travels. After getting washed and dressed, we found we were going to be skipping breakfast today. This was to permit the combination of snarfing down some Girl Scout cookies and having the opportunity to use the leftovers from last evening's supper. No sense in putting up with day old food, right? This way it was more like half-day old food.

At 9:30, we were at the South Depot, the main one at Dixie Landings and the first one which the buses stopped at. From there, the buses went to the West Depot, the North Depot, and finally the East Depot as they circled the resort. At our location at Parterre Place, the South Depot was most convenient. But, although many times it would not have been a problem, it was often also the most logical stop. This, because, at very heavy times of day, getting on at the East Depot, or sometimes even the North, meant you'd be standing on your way to wherever. If you wanted to sit, the South Depot was your best chance of boarding the bus while seats were still available. As we had no particular agenda, we boarded the first bus that showed up-in this case it took us over to MGM Studios. We merely got the coins this time, no rides or attractions. It only took a short time as it was mainly the brand new 1999 quarter machines that Jenn needed. There may have also been a pressed penny or two; but if so, they were in the main stores near the entrance. As mentioned previously, the vast majority of coins scattered all through the park she had already obtained during previous visits.

We returned to the MGM bus stop. The next bus coming in was headed to the Magic Kingdom, so we boarded. As Jenn collected her coins, we found ourselves over by the Tiki room. Pat hadn't seen the new show yet, so we all went in and watched. Iago continues to make a number of humorous parting comments at the show's conclusion, as the audience is filing out. As in the norm for Disney attractions, all seats are fine for viewing the show. So, if you want to be around for most of Iago's zingers, my advice would be to try to be one of the last ones in the theater to get the seats near the entrance. That way, you'll be furthest from the exit and be able to take the longest time getting out. This will afford the opportunity to get the full script.

There were several areas to get pressed coins, as there were even some new pennies. We ended up in this side of the Park at the Frontierland Railroad Station. After climbing the stairs to the boarding platform, we discovered the pressed penny machine is below the station, in the walk through returning from Splash Mountain, the 100-acre Woods and the stores. After getting the coins, back up the stairs and board the Railroad. We took it over to the next stop at Toon Town Fair. Back during the 25th Anniversary, I had discovered a make-it-yourself strawberry shortcake bar in the Farmer's Market construction. This was one of my personal goals for this trip-to return for some of the shortcake. To my dismay, I discovered that was not to be. The shortcake bar is no more-the square footage replaced by the opportunity for more souvenirs. I retain a somewhat forlorn hope that it might be a seasonal change and perhaps will be there when we return in August; but I suspect this will not be the case.

So, we headed out of Toon Town Fair and over to Tomorrowland. We had walked far enough into the middle of the Fair that it made no sense to walk back to the Railroad Station and take the minimally traveled pathway that parallels the tracks from the station to Tomorrowland. We just proceeded close to the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland border and headed into the future. Some more coin acquisitions, and we were tired and warm enough to take a rest, especially as it was lunch time and we had been fueled with last night's leftovers so far. So, we headed over to Cosmic Ray's, where $23.59 after taxes got meals and drinks for the three of us. We mainly had variations of the grilled chicken sandwiches which they offered. Sides of fries and I think something else were included. The sandwiches themselves again were really large with the big half-breasts of chicken as I would choose myself at the local grocery store. Nearly right at the lunch hour, Cosmic Ray's was super crowded, of course. Nevertheless, we lucked out and got some seats just as another family was leaving, down in the performer's section. We were back a bit, though, and the crowd din for the most part drowned out Ray's humor between the musical numbers. Catching a few of his puns and one-liners at other times, I'll just observe that we couldn't hear them well. I won't give a judgement as to whether that was a bad or a good thing. As soon as we left, another grateful family descended on our table.

Leaving Cosmic Ray's, we went on Buzz Lightyear for our first experience with this ride. I scored the highest of the three of us at 91,500. Not much in the grand scheme of things; but flush of success in this case was all relative. So to speak. We walked out and went to the monorail. For the coins and shops, we made stops at the Contemporary, The Polynesian, and The Grand Floridian. In that order, of course, as that's the order for the Resort Monorail stops. These were primarily 1999 pressed quarter stops. Jenn noted that the older pressed quarter machines cost $1.00-the quarter you put in to get squashed, accompanied by three other quarters for payment. (The pressed penny machines are 51 cents-two quarters in payment along with your choice of a penny destined for the elongation process.) The new 1999 pressed quarter machines have upped the ante to $1.25. Now there are five slots to be filled with quarters before you press the lever in and the machine does its thing.

Returning to the Magic Kingdom on the monorail, we then took the launch for Fort Wilderness and River Country both for coins and to check on pins. On previous trips, Pat had gotten pins at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. But we had never made it to River Country for the pins. This time, with our Annual Passports, it was a simple matter to walk in and walk out. While there, we also ran into Goofy who was all dressed up for his day at the beach. Back at the Fort Wilderness bus depot, we boarded the Crockett Route bus to Wilderness Lodge. Jenn located her coin and we used the restrooms down by the Roaring Forks. Then, back out to the bus stop and on the Boone Route bus to the Meadows Trading Post area for some pressed pennies which we had been able to find nowhere else. While there, we also spent $4.15 for some cold snacks like ice cream and pink grapefruit juice. Then, we took the Dale Route bus back to the boat launch area. When we got there, it ended up being quicker for us to take the boat to the Contemporary and hop the Monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. Out front we said hello to our brick again, then got on the bus back to Dixie Landings. We rested and Jenn took a shower after the heat and humidity involved in nearly completing her pressed coin collection for the trip. By now it was 6:30 PM, and while Jenn was showering, I grabbed the mugs and went over to the Colonel's Cotton Mill Food Court to get cold drinks for all of us. After that we all returned to the Food Court for supper, $21.17 for the three of us.

Pat had developed a sore throat and was a bit tired with the onset of a cold, so she elected to stay at the room and maybe get an early bedtime. Jennifer and I headed out to Pleasure Island, a location Jenn had become enamored of as a pre-teen. We got off the bus at the Marketplace stop and checked out a few shops on the way in, including World of Disney and the Lego store which had been under construction during our previous visit. Didn't purchase anything, but had a good time browsing. We used our Annual Passports (the Premium variety which also allows admission to the water parks and Pleasure Island) at the entrance. Although they did ask about Jennifer's age ("And the young lady is 19?" Not hardly. 15, although admittedly looking more mature.), there were no biometrics at Pleasure Island; and they asked for no other form of ID. (I of course, am quite obviously over 21-no need for an adult ID check in my case.) So anyone could have used our Annual Passports and entered. I'm sure there are situations where they're more careful about the checks; but no evidence of that was seen that evening. We first lounged about the Adventurers' Club. There was quite a large contingent of visitors, so we passed on the first invitation to the Library. It was only after that it occurred to us they may have done the Slug song, one of our favorites, so we were sad at possibly missing that. We participated in the banter of the sitting room (I think we pretty much have the club creed and club song down pat (thanks, Colonel!). And watched the new maid (where did Gabby go?) explain the artifacts with the help of Basil, one of the best illusions around. ("Oh, I ain't got no body...) The Balderdash award ceremony is frankly not one of our family's highlights, although it's the high point of the evening for many other visitors. So when that started we wandered out to the 10:40 performance at the Comedy Warehouse. Afterwards, we returned to the Adventurers' Club for a bit. Then we went out at 11:45 for the New Year's Eve Party. Something we'd never done before. I perhaps liked the music and atmosphere better than Jenn did, but that may change in another couple years. After the fireworks and the confetti, we noticed the line for the 12:05 AM show at Comedy Warehouse was not maxed out, so we went for our second showing. Certainly the routines become somewhat more bawdy and have a higher level of sexual innuendo as the evening progresses. We've been to the early shows which I'd pretty much deem appropriate for everyone. Even the 10:30 show was fairly mild and not objectionable in the "adult topic" sense. The 12:05 show had more adult content. It should be stressed though that this is not primarily on the part of the performers. It could be argued, I guess, that they're free to ignore the suggestions of the audience. But, as an improvisational group, the skits ARE based on suggestions, themes, and terms that come from the audience. And, as you might expect, as the night gets later, the audience gets a bit more rowdy. I don't know if this was unique to this evening; and I guess I'm showing my sexist prejudices here; but I was amused/surprised to note that all of the sexual content suggestions came from women in the audience this evening. Even with all that, though, the comedy was far more funny than racy. At 15, Jennifer was far from the youngest of many of the kids in attendance, even at 12:05 AM.

After the show, we walked to the Pleasure Island bus stop, which is bus stop No. 2 on the Downtown Disney route-Marketplace, Pleasure Island, Disney West Side. We got the Port Orleans/Dixie Landings bus back and got to the room about 1:30 AM. Went to bed. Expense account for the day: $48.91.

April 7, 1999

Getting in at 1:30 AM doesn't lend itself to early morning awakenings, at least in our family. I got up at 9:15 and went to the quiet pool for about 20 minutes of refreshment. Pat got up about 9:45 and took a shower. She definitely has developed a cold; but it's a tolerable one. After dressing and straightening up around the room a bit, we left Dixie Landings around 11:00 AM. We first headed over to Epcot, where Jennifer had a single pressed coin still to obtain. While there, Pat went over to the Centorium to see about the final Mickey pin for the set. A day or two before, we'd been told that if the item simply couldn't be found, we could call Disney Merchandising with the skew number, the number beneath the bar code. That way, at the very least, we could get any item sent to us. After a couple days of being unable to locate the item anywhere, Pat decided to follow through on this approach. She used a phone proffered by a CM at one of the desks at the Centorium and called a central number. Unfortunately, what she found out was disheartening. The specific Mickey pin is ONLY available as part of a complete framed set of the entire collection of pins. It's not available as an entity by itself. There's a good chance Pat would have taken that approach had she known that from the get-go. But, now, after spending $66.00 plus tax for all the other pins in the collection individually, spending another $100 or so to obtain a single pin, even if it was sort of the central theme to the whole thing, just did not make any sense, either economically or on principle. So, a major disappoint which, when coupled with her cold, did not make for a happy camper. But, at least now we had another life lesson, and it was time to move on.

Moving on also in a literal sense, we boarded the bus to All Star Movies for our first chance to look at the resort. We've really enjoyed the All Stars, especially Music, in the past. Sports was also fine and probably preferable to those who have the interest. But the large screen TV in the Food Court seemed to always be showing golf tournaments. Although some people's cup of tea, it is not ours. And the theming at Music was more enjoyable to us. Additionally, it may have been just our imagination; but when we stayed several days at both in the middle of the high tourist season in July, Music just felt a little calmer to us than the Sports. All Star Movies looks enjoyable and we'll likely aim for that for at least three nights if possible on our next trip in August. Now, we certainly enjoy our stays at places like the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge and other more up-scale resorts, too. But we can be perfectly content at the "Value" resorts, too. And sometimes, staying three nights at one place for that same price that a single night would cost elsewhere is hard to resist. Besides, we've always been big on resort hopping. For our two-week stay back during the 25th Anniversary, we stayed at 5 different locations and enjoyed then all. Maybe next trip we'll try to mix Movies and Coronado Springs, another resort we haven't sampled yet.

As an aside, Jenn discovered there are no elongated coin machines yet at All Star Movies, though I'm sure they'll get some. Because everything thing was reasonably close together, All Star Movies to All Star Music to All Star Sports was done in a walk. From each location we sampled the sights of the main hall/food court area as well as at least one of the major pools. We did discover that All Star Movies has Fresca and Barq's Root Beer at their soft drink servers-additions we noted nowhere else. Another reason to book a stay there, especially as we already have our All Star Music refillable mugs which can be used at any of the All Star resorts.

From All Star Sports, we hopped the bus to Downtown Disney. This time we stayed on till the third, or furthest, stop at Disney West Side. We went to Wolfgang Puck's Café for lunch-it was around 2:00 by now. With her cold, Pat kept it sort of simple by ordering the French Onion Soup, part of the appetizer section, as her main course. Jenn's favorite at Puck's is the 4-Cheese Pizza, and she saw no reason to change her selection at this time. I have to admit that I'm partial to that pizza, too. So, I ordered it also; but in the "mini" form where the pizza itself was only about half the size, but it was accompanied by a rather generous Caesar Salad. Pat had one of my small segments of pizza, and I got one of Jennifer's larger segments as it was too much for her. And, although my Caesar Salad was the pretty basic variety, the dressing and sprinkles made it tasty enough for me to finish. When we were done, we had left a little bit of room for dessert purposely, as they had a larger selection of tempting choices than we could possibly do at one visit. However, we reasoned that there wouldn't be any way to do 3 desserts without a significant portion going to waste. So, we just ordered two-the Ice Cream Sundae, and the Sorbet Monday-with three spoons. The sorbet was a combination of raspberry, mango and lemon sorbets. Turned out we didn't really need the two; with the sizes involved, one would have been sufficient for the three of us. Nevertheless, with some effort we managed to mostly make both of them disappear. After tip and taxes, the total for the three of us came to $43.89. However, we had accumulated $20.00 in Puck's Perks certificates over the last couple years. So the expense for us was just $23.89, a real bargain for the amount of food we got.

We walked back to the Pleasure Island bus stop and got on bus No. 1, the one that goes to the Disney Institute. (Disney Institute always gets the first bus location at the major hubs.) Pat had a pin to get there, as well as checking on the existence of any special edition pins that the Institute has had on occasion. None of the latter this time, and no new pressed coins for Jenn to get; but the original pin in question was located and purchased. For the Disney Institute, we took the bus to Magic Kingdom for use as a hub, and immediately hopped on the Caribbean Beach bus to get one of the few new pressed quarters remaining on Jenn's list. From the Caribbean Beach, we headed out to Animal Kingdom so we could take one of the later afternoon safaris.

This time on the Kilimanjaro Safaris, we discovered a practical point we'll keep in mind for future trips. At the area that the line split into left and right sides, we decided to go on the left side. The left side was markedly slower than the right side in its progression; and when we reached the boarding area, we discovered why. The left queue ends in a boarding area where there is the opportunity to board one of the vehicles from a single location on the dock. In the area reached by the right queue, however, there are two accessible boarding areas. When the attendance is busy, all three boarding sites are used for the most throughput. If everything is working ideally, the CM will alternate taking a vehicle load of passengers from both the right and left queues. And in fact, that's exactly what finally started happening after a long time in line. But, coming from the left queue means crossing over in front of those in the right queue; and nothing goes ideally all the time. So the upshot was that there was at least a fifteen to twenty minute period of time when the right queue was essentially moving twice as fast as the left queue. The take home point here is to always choose the right queue when going on the Kilimanjaro Safaris. When everything is working just as it should, you won't save any time. But, you won't have anything to lose, and you might have the potential of getting through the line significantly faster depending on other factors at the time you're there.

On the Safari itself, this trip didn't reveal any elephants at all. But we saw a good number of cheetahs which we had not seen on the first run through, and more lions than the previous trip-some of the females. Also, our vehicle was held up for a short period of time because giraffes have the right-of-way after all. There were a lot more of the ungulates (wildebeests, et al) this late in the afternoon, too. After the Safaris we, naturally, did It's Tough To Be A Bug again. (I sense a pattern here.) It was nearing closing time for the Park, so we then wandered out. We did stop in the Rainforest Café shop, though; and Jennifer bought herself a green soft hat which she can use on camping trips as well as keeping the sun off her head at places like DisneyWorld.

We took the bus back to Dixie Landings. Because Puck's had been so filling, we only got a cold plate of cheese and fruit along with some potato salad at the food court. (In addition to our free drinks, of course.) Cost after tax was $7.93. The potato salad we ate that evening. And about half the cheese and fruit. But it was already fairly obvious what our breakfast was going to be the next morning. We all went swimming then in the nearby quiet pool. Swam for about a half hour, including a brief set of Marco Polo with some of the other available kids. Back to the room, and we were in bed by 10:00. Our goal was to set the alarm and actually try for the Surprise Morning entry the next day.

Expenses for the day were $31.82. Of course, that was $20.00 low thanks to the certificates we redeemed at Puck's.

April 8, 1999

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM. I took my shower, followed by Pat. Jenn had taken a quick shower after swimming last night, so she just got dressed. At 7:30 we got on the Bus for the Magic Kingdom. I didn't notice any checks for resort ID that morning at entry. Perhaps the Annual Passports give us that option; but I don't really thinks so. We first headed over to Space Mountain and rode the left track, that is the track you get when you take the left queue. Two tracks are intertwined at Walt Disney World, as opposed to the single track at Disneyland. I know there are aficionados that have specific preferences at WDW Space Mountain-right versus left. Although we've ridden a lot over the years, I guess we've never ridden THAT much to have developed a preference. Usually our goal is to get both sides in. However, this trip we didn't accomplish that. We became aware that we were much more laissez-faire on this trip regarding the rides. Certainly that comes from the realization that we'll be returning at least two or three more times over the next 365 (well, actually 359 now) days. More goals this trip including updating the penny and pin collections and seeing the new rides and attractions and Park. The next trip, we anticipate, will be more commando oriented. We'll likely get the most recent revision available in town of Sehlinger's book, and follow that Touring Plans closely. That has generally been our best experience in the past. I'll probably get a copy of Aero's book, too, for the $50 coupon at the Swan and Dolphin restaurants. The current revisions in our local bookstores all are the ones where the coupons expired 12/31/98. So I'm waiting for an updated one.

Buzz Lightyear was next on the agenda. I did a little better this time-873,630 points! OK, OK, I have to be honest. (Hmm... I don't HAVE to be; but I will be anyway.) We had a stall on the ride for about two minutes. I merrily keep shooting and adding 10,000 points a pop. Jennifer did pretty well, too. Pat, on the other hand, made some initial attempts for a few seconds. She got the misleading impression that the scoring wasn't working while the ride was stalled. So she stopped trying. (This particular trip, Jenn and I had gone in one car while Pat was by herself. Usually it's Jenn who likes to ride solo; but it just worked out this way. So Pat didn't see Jenn and me happily shooting while we sat.) Pat still ended up better than her first run-thorough (and got the more honestly comparable score). But Jenn and I both lorded our prowess over her. She'll definitely want a rematch on a future trip.

From there we did Alien Encounter. Our favorite part of that tends to be the section with Skippy. Even when the attraction was new, the special effects of the main section were never that big a deal to me. Never scary, and certainly more noisy than anything else. Not much subtlety involved in my opinion. Also, the recorded comments like, "It looks like my mother-in-law!" struck me as humorous only the first go-round. After that, they were tolerable for several more visits. Unfortunately for me, now they have crossed over the line and are an annoyance. A good example, I guess, of the advantage of all the variety at DisneyWorld. Others, I'm well aware, think Alien Encounter is one of the best attractions around. I won't avoid it on future visits; but I won't go out of my way to see it, either. At least that final aspect was a positive one this trip. We were never in Tomorrowland during this visit that we ever saw any waiting line at all for Alien Encounter. It probably was just coincidental timings for us-today's Surprise Morning, other day's late-in-the-day timing. And the pre-show with Skippy is still a good illusion.

By now it was about 8:50, ten minutes before the supposed "official" opening time. Even though the western mountains don't open with Surprise Morning as does Space Mountain, they nevertheless get opened about 10 to 15 minutes before the rest of that section of the park does. So, it's still a good time to grab them, if one has taken advantage of Surprise Morning and entered early. So we went over to Splash Mountain (22 minute wait) and Big Thunder Mountains (35 minutes). That met our goal for getting in the rides early and we started heading back out toward Main Street. When we got off Big Thunder Mountain, the line for Splash had already ballooned up to a 90 minute wait. This brings up my philosophy on Surprise Mornings. Many times in the newsgroup it's asked whether these are worthwhile. Although I see others who take the same approach I do, I mostly see two camps-those who recommend it for getting in the rides early; and those who say to avoid the park involved on a Surprise Morning day because the park gets so crowded. If one is in the minority and has a ticket that permits only a single park on a given day, the I agree with those that say avoid the park involved in Surprise Morning IF that park is Epcot or Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom doesn't have Surprise Mornings in that sense. And I think I'd still lean toward taking advantage of Surprise Mornings at MGM Studios. My reasoning there is that everything at the Studios can be done is a day, especially if you're in commando mode. Even if you are aggressive, however, both Epcot and Magic Kingdom require two days if your goal is to see everything.

The vast majority of people, however, now tend to get Park Hoppers or Length of Stay passes-admission material that permits you to get a hand stamp and go to more than one park in a given day. For all of us that do it that way, I've another recommendation which bows in acknowledgement to both camps. Definitely take advantage of Surprise Mornings. You really can get a lot of the big ticket items done and off your list before the park becomes inundated with the less-compulsive throngs. However, it is absolutely true that the Park with the Surprise Morning seems to be the most congested as the day wears on. So, keep on your plan to try to do the rides and attractions you want. But, when you reach a point where the wait for the next attraction is unreasonable (everyone's definition is going to vary on that point), leave the park and go to one of the other parks. You can generally count on the waits being shorter in the other parks-at the very least, shorter than on days when THAT park is hosting Surprise Morning. On caveat, which really shouldn't need saying, is that if you plan on taking advantage of Surprise Morning, you have to really take advantage of it and not do it half way. If scheduled opening is 8:00 AM, such that Surprise Morning gives you a 7:00 AM entry, you absolutely MUST be ready to walk through whatever admission port is open by 6:30 AM. This is so important as to necessitate an early bedtime the preceding night, or a two-hour rest and nap in the middle of the day (when lines are at their longest), or an early bedtime (from exhaustion) at the end of this day, if required. If you're not going to be AT the gates when they first open, you're not really taking advantage of Surprise Morning, and it won't be but an hour or two before you're getting exasperated at the long lines. So, go as an informed tourist and enjoy.

We spent $14.79 for "breakfast" pastries at the bakery. Breakfast has to be used rather loosely as a term there. We got a total of five items, including a couple of the deep/tall dish apple pie-type things. We munched on them as we headed over to the launch to take us to Discovery Island on this, it's last official, day. We were aware of its closing from the newsgroup. And that it was nearly 25 years to the day from when it opened. (On the information sheet, April 7th, rather than the 8th, was printed as the opening day back in 1974.) We had nearly always taken about 3 to 4 hours out of each trip to stroll around Discovery Island and see some of the shows. So we knew it would be a bit bittersweet coming to say goodbye to an old friend.

The first thing we did upon arrival was to end up spending what would be our last expense for the day $6.21 for three slushies at the Thirsty Perch. It was now lunch time, and we were invited to participate in the free lunch that Disney was providing that day. It was for the local CM's and their families, for any other Disney CM's and their families, and for any visitors who happened to show up on the Island that day. It was nothing that was posted or formally announced anywhere-which makes sense-I'm sure they would have been inundated if it were known that Disney was providing something absolutely gratis. It was quite a lot of fun actually. We got to sign a guest book and leave some comments. There was some mimeographed information available to pick up, which went through the history and development of Discovery Island. And the food was very good. Cans of cold soda pop, big fat hot dogs with nearly all the accoutrements you might imagine, chicken legs and thighs, cheeses of several variety, multiple fruits and multiple vegetables, several types of cookies, some brownies, pretzels and potato chips. We ended up sitting with some Disney employees who had never been to Discovery Island before and had a nice conversation with them. There's still a lot of work to do on the Island-arranging for placements of all the animals (Animal Kingdom for some of them if they fit the appropriate theme, otherwise being farmed out to other zoos throughout North America) and doing what will be necessary for whatever development will make use of the Island next (lots of rumors-just see the newsgroup-but nothing decided so far). So, even though it will be closed to the general public, it wasn't as if it was the last day for the CM's working there. Hence, although plenty of group photos were taken and lots of camaraderie was to be had, it was still more in the happy phase than the sad-because-everyone-is-leaving phase.

After the meal we got to meet and pet Scooter the Ferret before we started out on the Island explore. We went to see the Feathered Friends show. It seemed like that show had more birds which had been trained to specific tasks like unrolling an opening banner, interacting with certain toys-than did the similar show at Animal Kingdom. But they also had some of the low-flying hawks brushing over the audience's heads (and right next to my ear over my shoulder). So, another entertaining show. We did the complete walkways on the Island, including having to backtrack a section to complete everything. This was the first time in several visits that the beachside Wildlife path was open all the way around-the section from where you can view Wilderness Lodge and River Country. The times of years we had previously been there had coincided with some nesting restrictions which had closed a segment of that beachside walk. It was nice to get in the whole Island this time. We spent about three hours on the walking, so we stopped off at the picnic area for another meal. This ended up being a perfectly satisfactory early supper for the day.

We were headed to Cirque Du Soleil that evening; but we had a little bit of time to kill before we were supposed to be there at 8:00 PM. So, we took the launch back to the Magic Kingdom and hopped the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. (It happened to be much quicker than waiting for the boat which would have taken us to TTC more directly.) From there we took a bus to MGM which is one of the few spots that has a bus connection to the Disney World of Sports. There were just a few more pressed coins for Jennifer to get at that location. The machines were in the store outside the admission gates; but with our Annual Passports we also took the opportunity to look around the grounds a bit. There was a high-school basketball tournament taking place on one of the basketball courts. Otherwise the whole area was very quiet. Took the bus back to MGM and just happened to hit the right time for the Mulan Parade. So, we breezed in, watched the parade, went back out to the buses and got back to Dixie Landings by 5:15. We went swimming in the quiet pool for about an hour. Back in the room we changed to dry clothes around 6:45 and slowly walked around the grounds on our way to the central area of Dixie Landings.

We were thinking about taking the Sassagoula River boat cruise down to Marketplace. We got there around 7:10 PM. At that time of day, the line was fairly long. Boats were leaving every 10 minutes. At other times we found 24 minute departures and 30 minute departures, all pretty much dependent on the amount of people waiting to board. Each boat has a maximum limit of 24 people due to safety regulations. The time to the Marketplace is given as 30 minutes. And I forgot that with a full boat, they wouldn't be stopping at Port Orleans, so it would be less. But seeing the number of people in line, counting up to which boat we'd finally make, and spending thirty minutes on the cruise, made me a little nervous about the time involved since we'd then need to walk the distance from the east end of Downtown Disney at Marketplace to as far as possible on the west end of West Side to get to Cirque. So, we walked over to the bus depot instead. The buses themselves were a little slower than usual. Nevertheless, we found ourselves standing on the steps at the entrance of Cirque Du Soleil at 8:00 PM. The doors opened at 8:10. (The tickets again had been purchased and paid for long before the trip.)

Some of the clowns started doing audience-interactive humor about 8:15 or 8:20, while everyone was filing in and the place was filling up. The show got into full swing right on time of the 8:30 PM start. It was a ninety-minute show, so when it finished, it was a little too late to expect to make it over to the Magic Kingdom in time for the 10:30 Spectromagic show. Instead, we returned to Dixie Landings are were in bed by 11:00 PM. Is Cirque worth the $60.00 per person? I think in our case, to see it once and to be able to say we say it, the answer would be yes. It was dazzling and everybody performed flawlessly as far as we could determine. The lighting and music and sets were astounding and far more theatrical than circus-like in their presentation. But, would I spend another $60 each to go see it again? No, I don't think so. There's always something going on at Disney. In August, we plan to see The Lord of the Dance at the new theater. And I'm sure those tickets will also be around $60. A lot of decisions will be based on family finances and size. If it's just a couple, or parents with a single child or possibly two, I think the expense can be justified. For a total family size of 5 or more, though, it seems to me that $300 or more might find better value in some other direction. But, certainly, if you can afford it, go for it.

Speaking of expenses, our total for the day was merely $21.00. This, of course, is thanks in great part to the discovery of the free buffet on Discovery Island.

April 9, 1999

At 7:30 AM, the alarm went off, having been set for a later time than yesterday. Showers and straightening the room for the three of us lasted until 9:00 AM. Today we decided to have breakfast at Boatwrights. This was one of the few disappoints of the trip. We had collected a number of menus from the Internet sites before we left. So we had looked at places we might be interested in for meals other than our basics. We are not big proponents of eating out usually. Restaurant eating is usually a sign of a vacation for us. Even eating out at a fast food chain such as McDonald's is a rarity for us when at home. All three of us are competent cooks, and Pat and I both can do gourmet cooking and are able to prepare main dishes and desserts "from scratch," as most people would define it. And except for the occasional Sunday after church, I can't recall going to restaurants when I was growing up. So, I guess it's important to keep that background in context when taking our opinions about eating out.

We had entertained the idea of either Fulton's or 'Ohana's for Pat's birthday dinner last Sunday. We had settled on 'Ohana's, and had not been disappointed in the least. On Wednesday we had planned on the visit to Wolfgang Puck's Café, as we wished to make use of the discount coupons we had accumulated. Again, no disappointments. As we were staying at Dixie Landings for an extended period, we felt that we'd like to eat at Boatwrights at least once, something we had not done the previous time when we had spent only 3 nights there. None of the dinner entrée descriptions had really "grabbed" us as a must-do, so we thought we'd settle for the cheaper breakfast or lunch menus. Lunch was generally inconvenient for returning to the resort, and we've enjoyed the fruit-stuffed French Toast at other locations in the past, most notably the Coral Café over at The Polynesian. Hence, we settled on breakfast. Unfortunately, after we had finished, the prevailing thought in my mind was that the total cost with tip for the three of us, $30.71, was more than twice the price of what we would have spent for a good breakfast in the Food Court. Pat and I both ordered the Banana French Toast. The taste was adequate, though perhaps our expectations had been for significantly more. The serving sizes were very large, so much so as to probably be somewhat of a negative this morning. Jennifer decided to order the Acadian, basically seasoned hash browns and some eggs. She elected to get the eggs "over easy," though in retrospect perhaps scrambled would have been a better idea. Again, serving size (of the hash browns essentially) was very large. She ended up not even eating the eggs at all. I think if we had just order one serving of each, the portions would have still been more than adequate for the three of us to share. And it would have knocked nearly $9.00 off the total. Maybe we just weren't in the right mood that morning. Or maybe that's something we just need to learn and keep in mind on future trips-when it doubt, under-order at the restaurants. If, when the servings come, two meals aren't enough to satisfy the three of us sharing, we could always add a little something extra. I don't remember this idea settling in on us with previous visits. But I think it's something we plan to keep in mind next August.

We headed over to the Sassagoula Boat cruise launch area. As we had ended up not doing this yesterday, we wanted to take the opportunity to get it in, as we recalled it as a very enjoyable activity. We caught the 10:24 boat. At this time of day, it was departing every 24 minutes. We got on and headed to Downtown Disney, specifically the far end at the Marketplace is where the boat goes. As we were a full boat, and none of the passengers was using the boat as a transport to Port Orleans, we bypassed the Port Orleans dock. So we ended up with an 18 minute trip to The Marketplace, instead of the potential 30. Take home point there is that if you can time your boarding so you don't have to wait, and the boat is full and doesn't stop at Port Orleans, taking the Sassagoula route can actually be less time than waiting in line for the bus, especially if traffic is heavy. And, it really is a lovely cruise, even this time of day in broad daylight. If there is no particular rush, taking the cruise in the early evening on your way to one of the restaurants at Downtown Disney might be one of the top relaxation experiences at DisneyWorld, in our opinion.

Disembarking at Marketplace, we walked along the shoreline, through Pleasure Island, and make our way to DisneyQuest over at Disney West Side. Both the American Express Card and the Annual Passports give discounts on the admission media at DisneyQuest. American Express covers the whole party (immediate family members only). The Annual Passport discount is only good for the individual who has the AP. No difference in our situation, obviously. At differing web sites, I have seen a difference reported, where one gives you a 15% discount and the other gives you a 20% discount. At the window, we found that in reality there is currently no difference in the discount granted, so it made no difference with method we chose. After taxes, we paid $63.60 for the three of us. (Base price before discount is $25.00-so that would seem to indicate we got the 20% discount.) We got in right at 11:00 AM, about a half hour after it's posted opening time. DisneyQuest is a really fun site. I can see where I might appreciate it even more outside or DisneyWorld. Chicago, say, or some other location otherwise distant from providing immersion into a Disney environment. I don't see us spending a lot of time at DisneyQuest during future visits to DisneyWorld-so many other things to do. But the virtual Jungle Cruise, Aladdin's Magic Carpet (I saved the genie), Mighty Ducks Pinball, Buzz Lightyear's ride and many other attractions were all a gas. A highlight is probably the virtual Space Mountain. Although you can ride tracks designed "by professionals," I think most people do the two-part approach. First, you go to a computer terminal and design a ride you like, complete with loops, twists and jumps if so desired. Then, you take your designed ride with you to a 2-person motion simulator where you can ride it. These simulators are like the NASA simulators, giving the possibility of 360-degree motion over all 3 axes. So, if you designed the ride to do an upside-down loop, or two, or seven, upside-down you will go. Initially, some caution seems to be the norm. By your third or fourth ride though, depending on tolerance, you find yourself designing rides that would guarantee you toss your cookies out in the real world. In the simulator, things seem better tolerated, though I'm told there certainly are the occasional "accidents." Pat and Jenn reported the food at the Cheesecake factory was really good and the computer terminals at the dining booths were fun. (This was a location where we split up fairly early, only on occasion running into each other, so some of our experiences differed.) Aimed more at the teen-age crowd, Pat and I nonetheless found plenty to keep us occupied, too. Even though Pat and I might do other activities on future trips, however, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if Jennifer returns here for the better part of some day on her own.

Most lines for the rides and attractions were quite tolerable. That is, until 3:00 PM on the day we were there. Don't know what happened; but nearly exactly on the hour, all of a sudden the lines, and waits, just exploded. I took the opportunity to get my hand stamped and exit. I headed for the West Side bus depot on my goal of going over to Epcot. I decided I wasn't interested in going to the Ticket and Transportation Center, so I took the bus to the Boardwalk area. From there, it's a pleasant walk along the Boardwalk over to Epcot via the International Gateway entrance. My billfold had fortuitously chosen the previous day to self-destruct; and I knew exactly where I wanted to get my new one. The bazaar at Morocco had always attracted me with its various goods. But I had especially liked browsing through the various sheep-skin billfold styles, although I had never gotten one in the past. They're so inexpensive, and I found a $6.00 (plus 36 cents tax) one that suited me after 5 minutes of looking. I transferred the contents of my old wallet to my new one. On the way out, the contortionists had just begun their show, so I stopped to watch their amazing flexibility routines. After that, the Showcase Stage had Barrage, a Canadian celtic-style fiddler troupe which provided a great 20-minute show.

From the front of Epcot, I took the bus back to Dixie Landings. Pat, with her cold still a little bother, had already beaten me back. Jennifer showed up about a half hour later. We got our free slushies at the Food Court and rested a little until 6:00 PM. Then we all traipsed over to the Food Court and got supper, $16.94 total for the three of us. Again, Jenn and I had the special, which tonight was fish fingers and tartar sauce, along with the good cole slaw and French Fries. After that, Pat decided she'd have an early evening, to let the extra rest help her cold settle down. I wanted to get over to the Magic Kingdom to get a fairly complete video of Spectromagic as it would be leaving within a month. Jennifer wanted to return to DisneyQuest, so I agreed to meet her there around 10:30 that night. We all headed off in our respective directions. For me, that meant getting the 7:10 bus to the Magic Kingdom.

My bus ride to the Magic Kingdom afforded much more entertainment than we had experienced up to then. We started out by all singing the Mickey Mouse March theme song. There was a single person determined by the bus driver to not be singing. (He might or might not have been. But since he was one of the standees, and had his back to the driver, the driver decided he was not participating.) So, the unfortunate person was sentenced to the "shoveling" detail over at Animal Kingdom. And the whole bus "would have to make a detour to drop him off, before going to the Magic Kingdom." Unless, that is, we would have a trivia contest where if we got the correct answers, the rest of us could redeem the poor fellow and save him from his fate. The risk was, if we agreed to it, anybody else who answered the trivia incorrectly would join the first guy on the "shoveling brigade." Well, the driver started with questions like what was Donald Duck's middle name. (Fauntleroy, by the way.) And what is Donald's sister's name? (Dumbella.) What is Cinderella's last name? (Tremaine.) How many parking spaces are that in the lot at the Magic Kingdom? (I forget, but I remember the lot at Epcot has the same number, plus 1...) Anyway, of course, by the time we were approaching the fork between turning to Animal Kingdom and turning to the Magic Kingdom, all of us had managed to end up getting assigned to AK duty. The driver "decided to give us one last chance" by putting all the responsibility on one lady to answer a final trivia question by herself in sort of an "all or none" outcome. This question was to give the number of stones, exactly, used in the construction of Cinderella's castle. The lady got the correct answer of zero, so the bus headed off to the Magic Kingdom, full of laughing riders who had kept thoroughly amused for the entire trip.

Once at the Magic Kingdom, I went to say hello to our brick a final time, figuring there was a good chance we might not make it there tomorrow before we left. I entered the Magic Kingdom at 7:40 PM. There were already very few spots left on the curb in anticipation of the 8:30 Spectromagic, so I sat down to stake out my site. The people immediately on my left were French with a 2-year old son. Although certainly their English was far better than my current French, we nevertheless tried to stick to French for most of the evening. It's rare that I get the chance to brush up on my French which used to be quite good, albeit 25 years ago, so I had fun. Strictly speaking, I guess my French was at least better than the 2-year old's... Two marching bands preceded the parade, and the seatmates on my right included a parent in a group of another marching band from Ohio. We started talking after I mentioned my daughter's plan to bring up the idea to her director after noticing that band at Epcot from a relatively nearby school earlier in the week. This parent noted that his group's band had played that morning on the Tomorrowland stage. Even though everyone was standing around sweating profusely in the winter marching uniforms in the 85 degree heat and humidity from 9:40 until their 11:00 performance, no one was complaining because they were all having such a good time being there. He reported that they had another performance 10:30 the following morning over at Epcot. After that, they'd be getting on their two buses and heading back on their 22-hour non-stop trip back to Ohio since they had school the following Monday morning.

After the parade (which I did get in it's entirety on video) finished, I walked down Main Street now in it's nighttime mode. There was going to be a second Spectromagic at 10:30 as closing time had been extended to 11:00 to accommodate the amount of people. (Earlier, there had just been planned the single parade with a 10:30 closing.) But I knew I wouldn't be there for that, as I was going to meet Jennifer over at DisneyQuest. I walked toward the Tomorrowland area to check on the line at Buzz Lightyear. It was too long, however, so I headed back to the buses. I decided to take the Caribbean Beach bus just for a brief stop at CenterTowne. It was an interesting choice for me, as on the way back a poor youngster threw up near the front, lending an unfortunate odor to the packed bus. On top of that, we had the poor luck to end up at the intersection where MGM Studios empties out, just at closing time. I wasn't aware of this, but apparently, when the Studios' lot is emptying, they override the usual traffic signal pattern. So instead of the usual one minute wait, our poor bus was stopped at the red light for 6 minutes before we finally were able to proceed. The bus driver did what he could be opening the front door for some minimal ventilation. The boy who had the accident was right up in the front seat, so it actually was a little benefit to do so. Nonetheless, nobody on the bus objected to the bus driver's suggestion that they go directly to that family's stop first (and let anybody else off who wanted to walk) and then proceed around to the other Caribbean beach stops. I got off at CenterTowne, grabbed a quick drink, and reboarded another bus to take to Downtown Disney West Side. I found Jenn around 10:38 near the Aztec Treasure, where we had agreed to meet. We did the Jungle Cruise again together. Then we took a short course in Animation and drew Goofy. From there we did our most aggressive Space Mountain of the day. Although it only had one-upside down loop, we put in enough other designs to push our limit, somewhat. We returned to the Aztec Maze, and with me shouting directions as to which way to turn her vehicle, Jennifer was able to collect 8 of the goals in the 5-minute allotment. I think with less traffic, and less other people yelling directions to THEIR partners, 5 minutes is enough time to collect everything if the maze is examined beforehand and a plan is developed. We turned in the collected tickets for a bunch of candy and headed over to Pleasure Island since it was midnight. We checked the line for the 12:05 Comedy Warehouse show; but since it was Friday night, the crowd was larger and we weren't far enough forward in the Standby line to make it in. So, we took the bus back to Dixie Landings and got back to the room at 12:33 AM. Quite a full day for us.

Expenses for the day totaled $137.61. Nearly half of that was for the DisneyQuest tickets. One more day to go.

April 10, 1999

Saturday, our departure day. We got up at 9:00 AM. We had showers all around. (Using that as a segue for weather, we noted that we had no RAIN showers the entire trip. Every day we were there, the temperature was up in the 80's. There was not even any nighttime rain. There were two or three days that had some cloud overcast; but even that was not complete, and it never threatened precipitation. Instead, it merely functioned to keep the sun from relentlessly beating down all the time. I didn't check the papers; but I assume the humidity was also up in the 80's most of the time. High humidity for us is generally tolerable when we're on vacation, as it certainly was for this trip. Growing up in it several decades ago, however, it did serve as one of the reasons we fled the Midwest, moving to the high country of the western Rockies where it's not unusual to have summer humidities in the teens and twenties. But, as holidays go, the weather we experienced for this one was unbeatable.) We packed our suitcases. The Express Check-Out bill hung on the door entry was fine. The only charges on it were Pat's purchases of her pins and sundry other souvenirs and such. The room bill had been entirely prepaid, so there was nothing at all for me to contend with. I walked over to Port Orleans while all this was going on. (I forgot to bring my mug, though.) The 1999 quarter machine at that location had been out of order, and it was the only pressed coin the Jennifer is aware of missing. It was still out of order, so is the top of Jenn's "to do" list for our return. We brought the suitcases out to Luggage Service for storage, as we wouldn't be leaving until later in the day. We picked up the receipts for the five bags; but decided to carry around our refillable mugs for the day.

After a stop at the Food Court for morning drinks, we got on the bus headed to Epcot. Arriving at Epcot at 11:00 AM we noted the sign at Spaceship Earth said there was a 15 minute wait, so we joined the line. There was actually only about a 9 minute line from when we joined until we boarded our car. After Spaceship Earth, we checked the Activity Board and saw there was a 90 minute wait for Test Track (hey, at least it wasn't on delay mode!) and a 15 minute wait for Honey, I Shrunk The Audience. So, we went for the latter. There was no line outside and the preshow only had 7 minutes to go before we got to enter the auditorium. As mentioned in an earlier report, we're able to integrate the optical 3-D effects better in this one, than in It's Tough to Be A Bug. And, although the latter has supplanted Honey as our preferred attraction of this type, Honey is still an enjoyable outing which I anticipate we'll always do at least once on any WDW trip. After the show completed, we headed over to Test Track. A 90 minute wait in line was still posted. If anything, I suspect it could have been a bit longer. As it was our last day, though, we took the preshow bypass (a.k.a. "singles line") and made the entire wait just under 40 minutes. (The singles line is by no means a secret or undocumented feature any more. Which reminds me... if they were doing the bit where they assign times in long waiting lines, permitting you to do other things and return later, we never encountered it during the week that we were there. Perhaps the lines never got THAT long to justify the attempt. Certainly, we felt that the waits we had everywhere were quite tolerable. Given that it was the Easter week and Spring break for about half the country, we felt fortunate. Maybe the preceding week which was Spring Break for the other half was worse.) So, in the several times we did Test Track, we still have not seen the preshow area. We are interested in doing that at least once; but we'll probably save it for a time when the line is 30 minutes or less-probably early some morning, if the ride is functioning.

After Test Track, we spent the rest of our time in World Showcase. Most of the time was spent in the shops, especially for Jenn who, except for the elongated coins, had not gotten any souvenirs yet. We did a clockwise loop. I ended up far behind at times, taking a few "snapshots" with the video camera to use up the last 5 minutes or so left of tape, after the Spectromagic recording of the previous night. I find I do the "snapshot" approach fairly frequently with the video camera-specifically taking 10 to 15 second shots of essentially a still-type scene. When I turn them into photos for the web site, it saves having to watch really closely and trying to "click" at just the right time as a scene moves by. There were fairly long stops at the department stores at China and Japan, as Jennifer compared items and made decisions about what was desired. So, that gave me time to catch up. I ran out of tape just as we were approaching the International Gateway bridge, anyway. There was a shorter stop at Canada, where Jennifer purchased some solid maple balls. In the past, I've usually gotten a set of maple sugar there. But prices have climbed so much in the past, I've now found it cheaper to just get it locally. Or, on occasion, I contact the supplier for the Canada pavilion and do a direct order from them. After Canada, we continued the circle back to the China pavilion. Jennifer had decided they had the best collection of what she was interested in, at least that day. So, she tried on several items of clothing. Her personal big ticket item was a gorgeous light purple blouse/top. By chance, she's wearing that to school today. Combined with black pants, it really does give an oriental flare to her appearance.

At 3:30 PM, we changed directions and started walking back. We have some neighbors watching our dog for us while we're gone, so I stopped in the gift shop to get them some thank-you gifts (a video and a new overview book of Walt Disney World) and an updated video for myself. Total cost for that was $57.17. There was a bus for Dixie Landings waiting at the bus stop when we got there at 3:45, so we got back to Dixie Landings at 4:00 PM. We had one more round of soft drinks. (We had filled the mugs with nice cold water throughout the day, so they were worthwhile carrying, at least until we got more bags with other purchases.) I decided to get a piece of apple pie at the bakery in the Food Court-a good choice and a generous size-for $3.17. Pat got one more Praline to take home with her. We went over to Luggage Services and picked up our bags at 4:15 PM.

The Tiffany Town Car driver was waiting outside Luggage Service with our name on a placard again. Unfortunately, it was a different driver. I felt I had made the right decision in "tip-splitting" on the first ride to the resort. This left the remainder of the tip-basically a baggage-handling fee of $6.00 (which had long ago been budgeted before the trip began)-available to this driver. I know the towncar services claim that mostly all the time you get the same driver, so all payments can be done up front. And, I'm not claiming they purposely use different drivers; but, as I mentioned at the beginning, when a totally different driver appears, there will be the psychological obligation to have some type of reimbursement. The town car service is certainly nice and convenient; but it is merely a service after all and there's lots of competition. In the town car category alone there are at least three major players currently I'm aware of. I just can't justify ending up paying what could easily be the equivalent of a 25 to 40% tip for this. Also, on this particular experience we had more nuisances than just dealing with a second driver. This driver's perfume (OK, OK, it was a guy, so I guess I mean cologne. But it sure smelled like perfume...) was pretty overpowering. And, I guess he decided that some people don't like having the radio on during their drive. But, instead of turning it off, he turned it down low enough that you couldn't hear anything identifiable. But you could still hear this annoying swish, swish and high white noise pulsing in the background during any songs. That was as much of a bother as not being able to breath. Now, from reports in the newsgroup, it's pretty obvious that people have had 180 degree opposite experiences than what we had when you compare Tiffany Town Car with Florida Town Car. We've never experienced similar problems with FTC as we did this time with TTC. But, others experience have been entirely the opposite. My take on all this is that in the vast majority of cases, probably everything goes well with everybody. (If not, I'd expect the service not to last.) But on your, personal, individual trip, as with all else in life, there are no guarantees and anything can happen. Nonetheless, I suspect we'll stick with Florida Town Car in the future-until such a time as we have a negative experience with them, when we'll probably start the rotation again. We mainly took the non-toll road route to the airport. I guess one toll booth was pretty much unavoidable. But most of the time was spent on frontage roads and taking a slightly longer route. No problem for us on that aspect. On one of the frontage roads we saw a bunch of locals who had come to park and picnic under the runway approach lane. Looked like a fairly standard routine-maybe it's their answer to tailgate parties-and the planes were certainly low as their flight took them over that spot.

At check-in, our seats were changed from row 44 all the way up to row 18. Since it was a direct flight back to Salt Lake City, that would end up being nice on arrival. The flight itself was uneventful. You've Got Mail was the movie going this direction. The chicken dinner was acceptable, given the context of where we were and what we were doing. We got back to Salt Lake International at 9:00 PM local time (departure in Orlando had been just a few minutes after the 6:10 scheduled time). The weather outside was a balmy 34 degrees. Ouch! Especially after becoming used to 85. Only about 10 minute wait for our bags. And, yes, we remembered were we had left the car. Got back home and got to bed.

The last day's expenses them were $60.34, most of which were the thank-you gifts.

We already have each made a list of the 5 top things to accomplish on our August trip. Some overlap as expected. Mostly, we'll probably be a bit more aggressive in getting up early and doing the rides, a la Sehlinger's book. Got to get that final pressed coin for Jenn if possible. And, we'll try to get in at All Star Movies and Coronado Springs. Haven't done either of those yet, and as we enjoy resort hopping, we should be able to do both in a single trip.

Thanks for reading.

Dwight, Pat and Jennifer Klettke

dwightklettke@juno.com

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