Trip Reports

Nov. 7 - Nov. 17, 1999

Introduction

Who we are:

Roger - 45 Year old Network Operations Manager. Has been to WDW 5 times.
Heather - 41 year old with many responsibilities. She's a teacher (we homeschool), a farmer (135 acres sheep farm), dog trainer (we compete in Border Collie sheepdog trials, Office Manager (manages the money office at the local ski resort during ski season). Been to WDW 4 times.
Tanner - 12 year old football/karate nut. Been to WDW twice.
Logan - 10 year old sports/music/computer game nut. Been to WDW twice.
We will arrive on Sunday, Nov. 7th and leaving Wed. Nov. 17th. We will be staying at DL. This is the first time we have stayed on site. We will be getting a rent o' car from Avis and have LOS passes.

Planning -

We began planning this trip in February. We decided that we wanted to do a complete WDW trip (on site and 10 days) while the boys were not quite teenagers, but old enough to enjoy the magic. We picked November because we had to go before the ski season started and after football season. We didn't know when whether the big Pee Wee all-star game was going to be Friday or Saturday, Nov. 5th or 6th, so we picked Sunday the 7th as our departure date. We also plan these trips during the off season. The last two trips were during the first week or two of December. I've been to the parks other time of the year and it is well worth it to go during the off season.

Since we home school the boys, we don't worry about homework. WDW will be their homework.

LOS passes - We debated the Annual Pass vs. LOS pass issue for a few days. It really boils down to how much time do you want to spend doing things other than the parks. Our past trips were 3 and 4-day trips, so this time we wanted to check out the other things like Pleasure Island, water parks (only blizzard Beach will be open), and Disney Quest. LOS passes were still cheaper than the extra special AP with all the fixins'.

Passed on the flex feature and dinner package, I don't know who could possibly eat all that food that often and still be able to waddle around the parks.

Avis - Company deal. We've always used Alamo in the past. Two times it was fast except for the shuttle ride and once we stood in line for an hour and a half. As far a whether to get a rent o' car or not, I'm way too impatient to stand around waiting on a bus. I know, we're on vacation, so relax. Sorry, but just like Disney keeps you moving in a line whether your getting anywhere or not, I gotta move and won't risk getting caught in bus transfer Neverland.

DL - We choose DL because of a) cost b) lots of good reviews and c) we don't really need all the other amenities you pay for at the other resorts. Sunshine, a swimming pool, and a book keeps us happy for long periods of time. We've spent a little time checking out the other resorts on previous trips, but we were still undecided. After much reading and investigation, we decided it was either Dl or PO. I was in Orlando on business in March, so I spent an evening checking them both out. We thought that if we stayed at DL we would probably like the Alligator Bayou section. After walking through the resorts it was obvious that DL would be the right choice for us. The number of pools and the food had a lot to do with it. I like the atmosphere better also. I also figured that the Magnolia Bend area would be better. From the pictures on the web, their room looked more our style in the AB section, but the whole area seemed sort of cramped to me. So we made our reservation for MB.

Other stuff - We rented a limo for the ride back and forth to the airport. The cost to drive back and forth to the airport (50 miles each way) plus 10 days in the Syracuse parking lot was not that much less than the limo rental. Anyway, last time we came back, our car broke down on the interstate at 10:00 at night in Dec., but that's a whole 'nuther story.

Day One- Sunday - Nov. 7

We surprised the boys with a limo ride to the airport. We asked for a 6 passenger but they came with a Lincoln Towncar. After complaining some, the driver said he would take us to the limo company and he would take us to the airport in an eleven-seater stretch. We loved the ride and still got to the airport by 7:30.

Plane took off right on time at 8:15. I actually am typing this in on the plane. I just got this palm pilot V and a Landware keyboard setup. It also has a modem so I will be checking e-mail and writing this report on it. It takes a little getting used to, but it is very compact.

Plane landed early (Delta). We went to get the rent o' car. Through the line and in the car within 2 min. Drove to Dixie Landings. Did early check in and got all the stuff. Tanner and Logon have been wanting to go to the ESPN club, so we headed there for 1:00 football and lunch. Food was OK, not great, just OK ($60) The chicken wings were god though. We let at half time to see if our room was ready yet. It wasn't so we drove around the property a little to get our bearings. We went to Crossroads and to Goodings to get some groceries. By then it was 3:30 so we drove to DL. The room was ready. Room 8915 at Magnolia Terrace. We had called a couple days before and asked for a third floor room at MT overlooking the Sassogoula River and that's what we got.

We called housekeeping, nobody answered. I called the front desk and they said they would call for us. A little while later I called housekeeping again and asked for a refrigerator, coffeepot and early cleaning. We all went swimming. The pool water must have been 85 degrees or better. Very nice. We left the pool at about 5:10 and went back to the room. No Refrigerator. I called again, they apologized, and someone was there in about 10: min.

We had PS at rose and Crown for 6:30. The plan was to ask for a lakeside table and figured it would still take 45 min. before we got in. Then dawdle until Illuminations.

What happened was when I asked for the table, the girl asked if I intended to watch Illuminations. I said yes and she said we couldn't guarantee you and outside table. You need to make 7:30 Illuminations reservations for that. I had never heard of that. So we said whatever. The Tapestry parade was about to start so we took our vibrator and went to watch. Just as the parade started to go by, the vibrator went off. We watched for just a couple of min. and went over. We did get an outside table but it was only 6:50 and we knew we couldn't stall that long. So we just ate. I have the fish and chips, Heather had barley and lamb soup and a salad and the boys had, what else, hot dogs. Great food. ($40).

We went on Spaceship Earth. One of my favorites. then walked back to see Illuminations. We walked up to the sit down area in the middle front. The show was fantastic. In the past we have always tried to get a spot as described as the best areas in the books. We were always a little disappointed about the advice. At this spot it was better than any we have ever been at and we walked in 20 min. be for show time.

Home and straight to bed (After the boys checked the football scores.)

Day 2 - Monday - Nov. 8.

Mickey wakeup call at 6:30. First Mickey call ever. I'll get the boys to answer the phone tomorrow. Today we go to MGM.

Got to MGM at 8:30 and waited a few minutes before they let us in. We walked down Hollywood Blvd. and had to wait until the line was dropped before we could get to any rides. We wanted to go on The Great Movie Ride first. They dropped the rope and went to TGMR. It was having technical difficulties. Quick change of plans and headed for Star Tours. The boys love this one. Then to Muppet Vision 3-D. then went back to TGMR and it was running. We had 11:05 PS at Sci-Fi drive in. We made early PS because we had a 5:10 PS at brown Derby for Fantasmic.

On the past couple of trips we thought that the reviews of the SFDI were a littler harsh. But his time I must agree. I only ordered a cheeseburger and fries and the fries were barely cooked and the burger was mediocre at a premium price. Everyone else complained about the food also. The waiter was a riot though. Tanner had chicken fingers (the CM called them chicken toes and to watch out for the toenails). We also love the movie clips.

Then we headed for the Backlot Tour. Then the boys wanted to play on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. We sat at the restaurant outside and drank a beer. It was about 1:45 by the time the boys were done and we decided to go back to the resort and swim for a while.

We left our car at MGM and took the bus back to DL. This is the first time we used Disney transportation and the ride to the resort went OK.

We went to Old Man Island. The water wasn't heated like the pool by Magnolia Terrace, but the boys played anyway. I sat in the spa for a while. It was fairly crowded with an awful lot of kids for a spa. The capacity was supposed to be 7, but there were 15 or so of us in it. We took Disney transportation back. It wasn't real bad. But we could have got back :15 sooner by driving. Had just enough time to do Star Tours again and then to Brown Derby for 5:10 PS. The food there was great. Although the boys had a little trouble finding something to satisfy them and it was on the expensive side. ($90). Then over to Fantasmic.

The seats for the show are way on one end but we could see fine anyway. The sheet says you must be there by 6:30 or risk standing even with the reservation. The placed was packed by then, a half an hour early. There was entertainment, a guy going through the audience getting kids to tell jokes.

What has four legs and no ears?

Mike Tyson's dog.

That was the best one.

The show itself was OK. I thought that there was a lot of big screen TV effect with the water and was like watching TV The dragon was cool and the beginning, but I wasn't impressed enough to go see it again.

Back to DL and to bed.

Day 3 - Tuesday Nov 9.

Today we went to MK. We went to Boatwrights for breakfast, I had the basic breakfast, Heather French toast, (very large "mountains" of toast according to Heather, Tanner had the Cajun Banana French toast (the Tanner review is "that was great") and Logan had the Mickey pancake. All of it was pretty good.

We drove towards MK, missed the left turn at Seven Seas. As we were going past the Contemporary I remembered reading on RADP that you could park there and take the monorail in, so we did. Worked great. We never went to the contemporary before. Heather review is "it feels like an airport" and I agreed. We probably wouldn't stay there.

Arrived a little late, about 9:10. I was worried that there would already be lines. We headed for Adventureland and did Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean with almost no lines. The last times we came in Dec., after getting to the rides with the crowd there was at least a 10 min. wait. My theory is that the initial crowd went through and we arrived right afterwards. Maybe not.

Then over to the mountains for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. Then over to Country Bear Jamboree. We've only seen the Christmas version. That's the problem with Dec. touring. Christmas music for days and everything is Christmas themed. This trip was a nice change. Off to Haunted Mansion. The boys were scared of this three years ago, but thought "it wasn't even scary" this time. Tanner wants to go to Tom Sawyer Island so we headed there. The boys have always loved shooting the guns in the tower. Tanner always tried to hit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad trains as they passed by because he didn't like the ride. This time he said that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was his favorite though. Heather and I played a game of checkers at the second raft ramp (only one was running). (I won). We also tried the radios we had brought. Finally figured them out (Heather was pressing the wrong button). You have to get used to a few other people using the same frequency, but it's a handy thing.

We had 2:00 PS at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We got back to the car at the Contemporary and drove over to Wilderness Lodge.

The food there is good and the lager beer was great. We decided to try E-ride night that night so I asked at WL if I could buy the tickets there even though I was staying at DL. They said no problem and we got our tickets. We headed back to DL and went swimming for a while then back to MK at about 5:00.

Had time to fit in a ride. The boys wanted to go to the Grand Prix Raceway. As we were passing the Tea Cups, we saw there was no line so we went ahead and jumped on. You'd be surprised how fast you can get one of those things spinning. Everyone was pretty dizzy after that. We headed to Grand Prix Raceway. I thought the line was too long and wanted to make sure that we saw the fireworks. Heather and Logan went anyway and Tanner and I headed to Main Street to see the fire works.

After the fireworks, we called on the radios and decided to meet at Space Mountain. We all went on Space Mountain (Tanner didn't like it much) then to Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin. I though this was fun but the rest of them had a little trouble getting the laser gun lined up. We went on this a couple of times and then watched the Timekeeper.

We headed towards the mountains and hit Haunted Mansion again on the way. Then had a burger at Pecos Bills. (Yech) Heather and Logan did Splash Mountain then we all did BTMR again. Logan just had to do Space Mountain again so we headed back there. Heather and Logan did Space Mountain and Tanner and I rode Buzz a couple of more times. 333,300 points for me - space cadet. Then home and to bed at 11:30.

Day 4 - Wednesday - Nov. 10

We were pretty tired from e-ride night so we got going a little late. The schedule was for Animal Kingdom today which opened at 8:00 but we didn't make it until about 9:30. We zigged when we should have zagged, so it took a few minutes longer. The signs for the Downtown Disney area resorts are really bad. We went way out of the way last night coming back from MK because the signs say Epcot area resorts and Downtown Disney, but not Downtown Disney area resorts. Coming from the other direction they say Downtown Disney area resorts. When you are coming from within Disney, you need to follow the Downtown Disney signs and will get directed to the resorts later.

Weather was 80+ degrees again. All the days so far have been sunny and about that temperature.

We had bagels in our room this morning. We brought our toaster with us. Worked out great. Just going to breakfast at Boatwrights will cost $30 - $40, so saving that money works out great.

Anyway, AK is certainly a different experience than the other parks. First, the paths are so small that it always seems crowded. Usually, if you have some of the snail people in front of you, you can zip around them. In this park you get stuck behind them a lot.

We looked at the attraction board, which said everything was wide open except for Kilimanjaro Safaris was 20 min. so we headed there. The wait was only about 10 min. This is a great attraction. Tanner has been an animal person since he was very small was just thrilled at this.

From here we did the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. OK exhibit, but again, the trails were small and every thing seemed way to crowded. Had a hard time enjoying it.

By then it was 11:15. We had tried to make PS for the Rainforest cafe in advance but couldn't. They told us originally that you had to do this 7 days in advance. When we tried that they said they had nothing from 11 to 3. So, we waited until this morning and called from the resort and they said that you should have called the day before. So, we tried just walking up at 11:30 and the seated us in 20 minutes. Go figure. We said something to the CM and she said they were taking PS from people that walked up all morning. There is certainly a lot of confusion and misinformation about getting to eat at RC. My advice - go early and walk in. The food here is great. Don't bother with appetizers or salad. It's impossible to eat just a sandwich with fries. They really pile it on. I had Maui chicken sandwich with waffle fries and couldn't do it. I'm 6 foot tall and weigh well a lot. Nobody finished their meal.

From here we went to it's Tough to be a Bug. Be careful with your kids. They turn the lights out and makes noises like wasps are coming - that's what they tell you - then drop spiders from the ceiling. Little kids were screaming all over the place. They lighten it up quickly after that. We especially like the stinkbug.

We got fast passes for Kali River Rapids. And then walked through the Maharaja Jungle Trek. Same as the other. Interesting, but crowded. In the bird section of the jungle trek, watch the ground for areas with a large quantity of bird droppings. A man was standing on one of these spots when down it came from a pretty large bird. Splat on his shoulder. He wasn't very happy, but everyone else thought it was funny.

We were starting to feel the effects of the last three days by now and sat down to wait until our Kali River Rapids fastpass time. We talked about going back to DL after that and coming back later. Tanner was a little skeptical about KRR because he heard about a drop. He gathered his courage and went anyway. This ride was neat. We were totally rejuvenated, and very wet. Everyone wanted to try it again so we got another fast pass and then went over to Countdown to Extinction. We waited in line. I heard you cold only get one fastpass at a time. I'm going to test this later this week. CTE was fun. Rather jerky, but not bad.

We left here and did KRR again. There are a couple more things we wanted to do, but it will wait until a visit a little later. We wanted to take it easy today because we are going to Universal Studios on Thursday and need to save our strength because we need to do it all in one day.

We went back to DL to relax for an hour or so. We had PS at Calif. Grill at 6:50 for the fireworks. The time for the fireworks changed from 7:00 to 6:30 so we planned to show up early so we can watch the fireworks from there.

We made it to Calif. Grill by 6:20 and were seated immediately. Heather and I got a glass of wine and we stepped out on the observation deck for the fireworks. It's a great view from there. The fireworks were pretty short. 8min. 50 sec. according to Logan. The 25th anniversary fireworks were much longer.

I had the vegetable egg rolls and the roast pork veal something something and Heather had a salad and the salmon something something. The boys had hotdogs. What else. The food was very good albeit expensive. The boys had dessert, brownies and ice cream. The brownies were very hard, so Logan sez' "these must be homemade" Heather sez' "watch it"

Got back to Dl around 8:15. We wanted to get some sleep because we knew that tomorrow would be a long day, so we read for a while and went to sleep.

Day 5 - Thursday - Nov. 11

Up at 6:30. Universal Studios day. Ate breakfast (bagels and pop tarts) in the room. Everyone seems ready and willing. Checked e-mail and caught up on this report.

We made it to Universal by 8:30. We already had our tickets purchased before we left. There's a line that only allows Universal Studios hotels to get in early. Its not marked so many people were just being told to get in the other line. Kind of lame. They told us we had to wait until nine, but they started letting us in at 8:45. We headed straight for ET and walked right on and then to Back to the Future and walked right on again. We sat up front this time. I've been on this ride twice and always sat in the back. I like the front much more than the back seat. You get to see the controls, flux capacitor and time line. You can also see the other cars if you lean out a little. I never new they do all the cars at once.

From there we started to head to Jaws but they wouldn't let you cross the bridge into the other side of the lagoon. It didn't open until 10:00. Huh? So we started looking at our map and noticed many things didn't happen until 10:00 or noon and most shows didn't start until afternoon times. OK whatever. So we headed back towards the front and went into Terminator 23D. The first year we were here the boys didn't want to go on this one but the CM (is that what they call them there?) talked them into going on. It was a little much for them at that age (7 and 9 at the time) but they liked it this time, other than it is way to loud and I agree on that one. It's a great show in my opinion though.

Then to Hanna-Barbara. This is kind of a kiddie version of Back to the Future with cartoons. You are attempting to save Elroy from Dick Dastardly through all the HB cartoons. The kids liked it, but I could have passed.

Then to Twister. The boys weren't sure if they wanted to go on this. They watched the opening movie and decided to make an escape through the side exit doors. Heather and I went onward. Heather's never been much on the natural disaster attractions. Too close to reality I guess. The show itself was OK. Not really scary. Just a lot of noise and wind and getting wet. You stand on some platforms and the show is in front. Fake lightning and tornadoes with some stuff flying through the air including the infamous cow. Some fire from gas tanks etc.

From there we went to Kongfrontation. This is pretty funny. By now it was 11:30 and time to get some lunch. We went to Finnigans. Very good food and service. Heather and I had the corned beef sandwiches and Tanner had a cheeseburger and Logan a chicken sandwich.

From there it was time for the Beetlejuice show. OK, but I won't need to see it again. Then a quick jaunt to the Wild West Stunt shows at 2:00. This is pretty funny. We sat in the splash zone. The Felix character is the best. He points at a big fellow and says, "there's Barney". We also got splashed pretty good.

Coming out of there we beat the crowd to Jaws. The sign said 30 min. wait but it only took us 12 to get on the boat. This is another one the boys wouldn't do 3 years earlier. It's kind of fun. Earthquake was a long wait so went up to Nickelodeon Studios and saw the Mummy stuff on the way. We changed our minds about going into Nickelodeon and Logan wanted to go the Fifil's playground and the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster. Tanner and I sat outside by ET and had a slushie and a beer. Tanner went in after a while to play in the playground for a little.

Then we went to do ET again. And then to Back to the Future again. Coming off the ride we noticed we were missing a backpack. It was left on the bench by ET. Tanner and I jogged over to find it still sitting there.

Then over to try Earthquake again. I volunteered to be one of the grips. (Grip #3) and moved a little handle back and forth that made the walls move during the movie scene.

By the time we left EQ it was 6:35 and time to find a spot for the nighttime stunt spectacular. Logan and I mad a quick run to Jaws so we could see it at nighttime. Then back to the show. This show is not worth the wait. If you want to leave this park, go ahead and don't waste your time waiting for this. You can't see much, the story line is lame, and it lasts about 5 minutes.

We left the park intending to go to one of the City Walk restaurants, but so did everyone else so we just left and went to Unos at Crossroads.

All in all, Universal Studios is a pretty good time. We didn't go to the IOA because we (other than Logan) are not that much into huge thrill rides. Since then we have been told that there is a lot of other things to do and it's still worth a trip. Maybe next time.

We went home and straight to bed. We also planned to sleep in in the morning and take it easy Friday.

Day six - Friday Nov. 12.

Slept until 8:00. We planned to do some relaxing at Blizzard Beach and to MK later in the day. Heather did the laundry and we sort of reorganized. Heather made a bunch of calls trying to locate our lost hat (Logan left his hat at Rainforest Cafe) and film (I left the canister on the bench after changing rolls). Found the hat, but no film. We are supposed to pick it up at MK tonight. It's easy to leave things behind while at WDW.

We are also out of breakfast stuff, so we'll have to make a stop at the store today. The weather is holding and is supposed to continue that way for a few more days. So far, so good.

We've never been to one of the water parks before so we don't know quite what to expect. The other two water parks would have been first choices, but they are both closed, so Blizzard Beach it is.

Well, we had a blast at Blizzard Beach. I didn't think we would. I figured I'd sit and read and float around a little. But no, we zigged around on all the rides in the place (almost).

First we walked around the place so we could get our bearings. Then we wanted to get a locker. We pegged our spot right in front of Melt Away Bay. I walked up front and stood in line for a locker key. $8 for a big one because that is all they had over by our area.

We started trying to find Teamboat Springs and walked up the Summit Trail. We zipped down. It was really fun. Then, losing much trepidation, we went over to Runoff Rapids and went down two or three times, then floated around Cross Country Creek for a while. I asked one of the Lifeguards where the best place to get off for Teamboat Springs was. He told us at the next exit, go up to where it says exit only, ignore it and go through there. This was actually at the top of Runoff Rapids so we had to do it a couple of more times. One in the open and one enclosed.

Then we went over to Lattwatta Lodge and had lunch. The usual burgers and dogs.

Then we went up and did the Snow Stormer and Toboggan Racers. Heather lost her glasses on Snow Stormer. They had a diver come over to look for them. By the time we were back down Toboggan Racers they had them for her. Logan wanted to do the Slush Gusher, so he and I went up. Holy cow. When I hit the second hill, I flew for what seemed like a couple of seconds before landing back in the trough. Yow!!

After that, we floated around on Cross Country Creek for a while. Logan and Heather went on the Downhill Double Dipper and then we gathered our things. We turned in our key and they give you the option of $2 back or a Blizzard Beach mug. We got the mug.

We headed back to the room to get changed and head to MK for the Main Street Electrical Parade. We got there for the parade and then headed back to the room. It was an awful lot of running, and it was crowded for the parade, but Friday was the only day it was running on our trip other than Saturday. We wanted to make sure we saw it.

We got back to DL. Tanner was feeling sick and had a sore throat. We left him in the room and went over to the food court. Jeez! What a mad house. I got the spaghetti and meatballs and lost Logan and Heather in the crowd. I looked for them to no avail. I sat down and started eating; figuring that they would met me back at the room. They finally showed up with taco salads a few minutes later. We picked up some grapes and cheese for Tanner and went back to the room where he was feeling a little better.

Plans for Sat. are flexible. We'll see how we feel; we still have an awful lot we want to see.

Day 7 - Saturday - Nov 13.

Tanner was feeling better. We slept in a little late. We thought we better take it easy just in case. We had a bad case of the flu last trip and didn't want that to happen this time. We got flu shots three weeks before we left this time to make sure.

We decided to go to finish a few things at Animal Kingdom and do a couple of things again. Then come back, swim a little and go to Epcot. We made PS for the Biergarten at 7:30. We found out they were having one of their shows at 7:35 so that should work our well.

Seven days and we still are having a blast. Maybe we'll take a break and relax one day. NOT!

We made it to the Animal Kingdom after having breakfast in the DL food court. As we were walking towards the entrance I opened my wallet and went to pull out the passes. OH NO! Mine was missing. All I can figure is I left it on the tray at the food court and dumped in the garbage. It was already late. 11:00 or so. We found a courtesy phone and called DL guest relations to find out what we do. They said they would replace it and ask the Animal Kingdom folks to let us in. We went to the ticket window and they made me buy a daily ticket and said they would reimburse me for it. So I did.

Into AK and we went toward Countdown to Extinction. We were passing Tarzan Rocks, which started at 11:45. We went into that and we left early. We're not much into that sort of pop music thing. We figured it should have been called Tarzan pops instead of rocks.

We wanted to test the multiple Fast Pass system so went with the boys to the bone yard while Heather went on a Fast Pass run. She got back with fast passes to Countdown to Extinction and Kali River Rapids. She said the machine wouldn't give her on for Kilimajaro Safaris but the was a line at the Kali River Rapids machines and someone was passing them out by looking at the ticket. So we have two. We went on Countdown to Extinction then went over and got fast passes for Kilimajaro Safaris went over and rode Kali River Rapids and then over to Kilimajaro Safaris. Not bad time. We finished everything by 2:30. Tanner was starting to feel sick again, so we headed back to DL. We let Tanner sleep while we went to the pool. We were going to leave for Epcot by 5:00 but Tanner was still pretty sick, so we canceled our Biergarten PS. We wanted to make sure we saw the Tapestry of Nations parade and Illuminations again so we made new PS for Sunday.

Tanner slept some more. Logan, Heather and I went to see if we could rent a surrey bike and check out the resort and Port Orleans, but they had already closed. I suggested we take to boat to Pleasure Island and go to Adventurer's Club. They had no idea what it was and my explanation wasn't that good, so they were pretty leery but said OK anyway.

We shopped on the way around the lagoon. Logan was fascinated by the Lego place. The dragon in the water is amazing. We go to Adventurer's Club about 7:30 and were about the only ones there. The bartender told us the schedule for the evening. Logan was still not thrilled. Then his seat started sinking. He though that was neat. A few more people came in and things started happening. We learned the Kungalush cheer for the Adventurer's Club handshake, whatever. Then for the two shows. This place is a riot. Junkies - we love em' Logan thought it was a blast. We'll try to bring Tanner back later.

Took the boat back to DL and went to bed

Day 8 - Sunday - Nov. 14.

We had PS at Garden Grill at the land in Epcot for 9:30. We have eaten there for lunch in the past and always have fun so we thought we would try breakfast. We got there early so we rode the Living with the Land ride first. This place will really make you want to work in your garden. Then we went to breakfast. Great food and we ate too much as usual. Tanner was feeling better but still didn't eat too much. Mickey and Dale came by and joked with the boys. As we were leaving Chip and Logan had a little scuffle with Logan's squeezebreeze (a fan on a water squirter thing we bought at AK) and I think Chip won. Logan was pretty wet.

From there we went to the new Imagination ride. It was Ok but we all thought the old one was better. I heard Eisner rode it a couple of weeks before and hated it, as did a lot of others. I heard he put 5 million into making it better. Probably a good idea. Then we watched Honey I Shrunk The Audience. We like the short film before the show about using you imagination, etc. The boys have never liked this show, but Heather and I think it is cool so we make them go anyway. They're not scared or anything, they just don't like it for some reason. Maybe the rats or the snake thing.

From here we went to the Living Seas. I like the film here also about the earth forming and Tanner likes watching the fish. Logan gets a little impatient at this stuff. By now it was time to get back to DL to watch the Buffalo/Miami football game. We were originally going to go to the All-Star cafe, but we were still stuffed from breakfast so we took the bus to DL and headed back after the game.

Buffalo won!

We took the bus back to Epcot. The bus was just showing up at the depot as we were walking towards it. Still, the place where they drop people off was further away than our car would have been. We went straight to World Showcase and stood in line for Maelstrom in Norway. Then grabbed a spot to watch the Tapestry Of Nations parade. We were not impressed with this parade. The first three minutes is kind of cool, then it just repeats itself over four or five time. The song is very repetitive also. The other bad thing about this parade is that they let people walk past you while the parade is running. Its is real annoying that you pick your self out a spot 30 min. before this parade and then can't see because of all the people passing you by.

We had 7:30 PS at Biergarten so we headed there. Were seated in 10 minutes. I thought the food here was pretty good and a lot of it, including the beer.

We got out in time to find a spot for Illuminations. We tried the same spot as last time but it was pretty full, so we ended up standing in back to the sit down people. Illuminations was good once again. Then the mad dash for the car and home to bed.

Day 9 - Monday - Nov. 15.

We got back to Epcot early. We wanted to ride Test Track before the crowd. Yesterday the line was over an hour long. Fastpass for this ride was supposed to start on Thursday and we leave Wed.

We went straight to the ride and rode right away. It's fun, not too scary, just fast. Then to the Wonders of Life pavilion. Did Body Wars, ate at the breakfast stand, (bagel and egg sandwiches and an egg wrap) and then Cranium command. This is pretty funny since we have a 12 year old boy with one of those unstable, unpredictable brains. We played around on the things there and then went over to do the Universe of Energy.

We lost our squeezebreeze and went back to look for it, but no luck. Then off to World Showcase. We went to Canada and watched the O' Canada movie. Then to the new Millennium showcase. I thought this was OK but slow. We went on the Jerusalem ride. They shouldn't have bothered with the ride part. I guess it got people in to see their movie, but it wasn't much of a ride and the movie wasn't all that great either.

On around the word, we stopped at America to eat and watched the American Adventure. Now that's a show. Played around in the other countries a while and headed back to DL to do a little swimming.

We bought one of those balloon balls for the boys to play with in the pool. The sun was already going down so there wasn't much sun. We were at the quite pool by Magnolia Terrace, then decided to go sit in the hot tub on Old Man Island. This is always crowed with kids. I had to wait 5 minutes before I could get in. I sure did like it one I got in. I grabbed a Pina' Colada and headed back to our room reminding Heather we had to get to the Hoop-Dee-Do-Review by 7:00.

We drove over to Fort Wilderness and took the bus to the show. Make sure you get to this early. They check tickets, take pictures, and it all takes some time. Then into the show. Salad and bread is waiting for you. The butter is real sweet. They start some singing and dancing then bring out he rest of the food. The chicken is good, but the ribs are a bit tough. Beans and Corn. And more beer of course.

The show itself is funny but aimed for the smaller children. They try to sell you the picture for $20. Ours wasn't that great so we didn't take it. The boys did like the show and the food.

Left there and home to bed again.

Day 10 - Tuesday - Nov. 16.

Today the plan is to fill in the gaps for things we missed. We will go to MK first and to MGM later.

We arrived at MK about 9:45 and had PS at the 50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM for 12:30. We took the train around to Frontierland and headed for Thunder Mountain Railroad and then over to Splash Mountain. Then we made the trek over to Tomorrowland. We got our Fast Passes for Space Mountain and went over to watch Carousel of Progress. I happen to really like this show, "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, waiting at the end of every day".

We went over to Space Mountain. Tanner didn't want to ride so he stayed in the arcade and played games while the rest of us rode.

It was getting late so we headed to the car and over to MGM. We made it to 50' s Prime Time Cafe at about 1:00. Mom Sez' "Your a little late!" We apologized to Ma and sat down to wait for our table. We were seated and watched the 50's sitcoms and looked at the viewmaster menu of desserts. Formica tables and the chairs all are very 50's. We thought that that is what our parents house looked like in the 60s to 70's but we just figure that's what they still had then. I had meatloaf and Heather had soup and a ham sandwich. Heather was getting a sore throat and figured mom's chicken noodle soup would fix her up. We headed over to Tower Of Terror and Rock N' Roll Roller Coaster. Heather and Logan went on these while Tanner and I took a stroll around. I can do without a drop like that and going upside down at 60 miles and hour. We headed back to DL so we could change and get to Downtown Disney.

A quick change and off to the Sassagoula River Co. boat ride. This is a nice ride that goes past Port Orleans and the Tree house villas. $350 - $450 a night. We then jumped onto the other boat at Downtown Disney over to Disney West Side. The boys had wanted to go back to Innoventions at Epcot and play games the next morning before we left so we wanted to show then that Disney Quest would suffice. We went in and they quickly decided that this place would be just fine. We had some fun also. Fought off the virtual comic villains and played some games.

We shopped a little at Staribellas and then to Pleasure Island. We lined up for the Comedy Warehouse show at 7:10. The show was fine for kids. It was an improvisational group that sort of makes thing up as they go along. They made up some songs about the people there and picked on the pokemon.

Adventurer's Club wasn't opening until 9:00 so we went over to see if we could get seats at Planet Hollywood. We got in in about 25 minutes. I really have nothing good to say about this place. Its noisy, overpriced, bad service, and the food is nothing to write home about. It took us an hour and a half to get done with a few cheeseburgers and fries. Rant, rant, rant.......

No wonder they are going out of business.

From there went over to Adventurer's Club. I got a konguloosh and we went into the treasure room for the show. Gabby the maid this time. Remember the guy on the gold port-o'-potty. If you peel back the gold it's really chocolate and almonds. It used to be a bunny but someone ate the ears.

It was getting close to midnight so we headed for the bus and headed home.

Day 11 - Wednesday - Nov. 17.

Going home day. Tanner and I slept in awhile Heather and Logan ran over to MGM and rode Tower Of Terror and Rock N' Roll Roller Coaster again. I was catching up with this report when they returned. I called to see if we could check out a little latter and they said noon would be no problem.

We are planning to spend the day at Downtown Disney and West Side. The boys at Disney Quest. We are getting packed up now. Tanner's cold is back. Looks like its going to be a tight fit in the bags for the trip back.

Everything fit OK. We loaded up the car and drove over to Downtown Disney. It was about 11:15 by then. We walked around the marketplace for a while. Went to the Lego store again because Tanner hadn't seen it yet. Then we went to Fulton's Crab House for lunch. I had clam chowder and Fish & Chips and Heather had rock shrimp pasta. Logan, just a bowl of clam chowder (he's been looking for a bowl of CC that was as good as the one he had when we were in Boston a couple of years ago.) I think he may have found it. It was good stuff. Tanner had his usual, chicken strips.

From there we went over to Disney Quest. This is a fun place. Even though I could spend only a maybe three hours there, the boys could easily spend an entire day. We first played a few games and then played the Astro Orbiter. This is kind of like big bumper cars that have cannons on the front. One person drives and the other shoots. It picks up ball as you drive along and this is what you use for ammo. When you hit someone in the star, you spin around a few times. We did it twice. From there we went over to the Cyber Space Mountain. This is where you make your own roller coaster. Heather and Logan made a more dangerous one than Tanner and I. Then we did it again and went a little crazier.

We then went over to animation camp an all of us drew a Goofy. It comes out better than you would think at the start. We bought all of ours as a souvenir.

We let the boys lose while Heather and I prepared to go shopping. They took off and we started to head out. As we were heading out we saw the Virtual Jungle Cruise and decide to try it first. We had a bit of fun and then were passing the Magic Carpet Ride and decided to try that also. By then we decided to forget the shopping thing and have some fun. We went up to the Alien Fighter and decided to go find the boys because it would be better if we had four people for our fighter. We found them and went up to the Alien Fighter. We showed the boys the Jungle Cruise and did that with them.

By now it was time to start heading for the airport, so we headed out. We bought some fudge and chocolate covered marshmallows and a Sprite to share. Shopped for a little while and said goodbye to WDW.

Drove to the airport on Rt. 417. This is a very easy way to get in and out of the airport. Dropped off the Avis car. Really easy thing to do compared to Alamo. Found out our plane was leaving 20 min. later than we expected. We shopped at the stores at the airport and grabbed a couple of hot dogs while we waited.

Tips & Comments:

Heather and the boys kept themselves busy with crossword puzzle/wordsearch books just about anywhere. Lines, restaurants, car rides, whatever.
I don't think I would spend the money for a water view room at DL again. Your just not there enough for it to make any difference and the views from all the rooms are good.
11 days and we still did not see everything or get to all thing things we thought we might do. Incredible
The water parks are a lot more fun than I expected.
November was a good time to go. The crowds were slightly larger than our trips in December trips, but manageable. Up until 10:30, lines are almost nonexistent.
We never bothered with early entry. We thought getting the extra rest was more important, especially on a long trip.
Stay away from Planet Hollywood.
Definitely go to the Adventures club.
Take some clothes pins to hang up stuff on the clothes line in the room.
Take zip lock bags for wet stuff and to keep thing from getting wet on rides like Kali River Rapids...You will get plenty wet on Kali River Rapids.
Roger Millen

rpm1@sha.cornell.edu

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