Trip Reports

Brian-I really enjoy your web site and have spent countless hours reading the trip reports it contains. I've taken a stab at reporting our latest WDW vacation, and include it for addition to your web site.

With sincere appreciation...

Cast of Characters:

Mike-Trip Planner, Web Browser, Trip Report Reader and Primary Author of this Report. 3rd visit to WDW in the last 3 years, and 4th in the last 10. Jeanette and I went to WDW in August of 1989, and for the last 3 years, we've been there the first week of June
Jeanette-Spouse, Trip Packer, Maker of Reservations and Priority Seating Arrangements. Also her 4th trip to WDW.
Jenna- 9 years old; has a total fascination for any and all things Disney...Will ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Countdown to Extinction but refuses to ride Splash Mountain no matter how much I beg her!! Says she's afraid of the drop. Fell in love with the Kali Rapids Ride, though. She has been with us on the last 3 trips.
The Dates:

May 27 through June 6
Accommodations:

Dixie Landings-Magnolia Terrace Mansion of Magnolia Bend- 1st Floor, Standard View-2 nights
Polynesian Beach Resort-Maori Longhouse-3rd Floor, Garden View-6 nights
Method of Travel:

Personal Mini-van-Driving from Austin, TX to Orlando
Introduction:

This trip started out much differently than the way it finally ended up. I guess that's probably true for most other families, but we have never needed to make as many changes to our trip planning as we did to this one. We had initially planned on driving Friday and Saturday, May 28 and 29, with me taking off work on the Thursday before to make final trip arrangements, pack the van, do yard work, take care of plants, make sure our expectant cat was taken care of, etc.

We had stayed on-site last year, and had done a combination on / off-site the previous year. Obviously, we fell in love with the added perks that go along with staying on-site, and made plans to do so this year as well. We made reservations in early January to stay at Dixie Landings from Saturday the 29th through the following Friday, June 4th. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that the additional day off on the Thursday before leaving was essentially a wasted day of vacation, and could be put to much better use at WDW than it could be taking care of the above mentioned chores.

After discussing the additional costs involved, we decided to leave a day earlier, and changed our reservations in late February to include the additional day at Dixie

Landings, with the same departure date as before. We had stayed there the last two trips and really liked the atmosphere, as well as the accessibility to Downtown Disney via the Sassagoula Riverboats. This boat ride is almost an attraction in and of itself. We began to fill in our trip itinerary to maximize our time at WDW.

We planned on 5 days in the Theme Parks using Park Hopper Passes, 21/2 days of Rest and Recreation with activities outside the parks, 11/2 days travel to WDW and 2 days return travel back to Austin. We would stay at La Quinta in either Tallahassee or Pensacola on the way to WDW, depending on how far we could drive that day, and at Slidell, LA on the way back home.

Sandwiched in between travel times, we would enjoy 8 fun-filled days and nights at WDW. We didn't plan any time at the Water Parks, because we knew Jenna probably wouldn't ride the water slides anyway, and neither Jeanette nor I had any desire to do so either. We would take advantage of the pool and the slide at Old Man Island at Dixie Landings for our water slide entertainment. We would, however, spend time at Downtown Disney, and the Boardwalk, had a round of Fantasia Miniature golf scheduled for one afternoon, and the Campfire Program at Ft. Wilderness scheduled for one evening.

Things were falling pretty much into place, when Disney threw another kink into our vacation planning. Jeanette called one day at work to tell me about "SUMMER MAGIC" information we had gotten in the mail. The $174.00 per night being offered at the Polynesian turned out to be only $44.00 per night more than we would be spending to stay at Dixie Landings. Needless to say, we were very interested. I immediately put together a spread sheet outlining the various options for our stay, and couldn't wait to get home to discuss them with Jeanette.

That evening, we discussed our options. I was in favor of staying the entire time at the Poly, but Jeanette was leaning more towards spending some time at both the Poly and Dixie Landings, in part to take advantage of the boat ride from Dixie Landings down the Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney.

In the end, we decided that we would change our plans to include 6 nights at the Polynesian, and 2 nights at Dixie Landings. This would afford us easy access to Downtown Disney for the time we stayed at Dixie Landings, and access to the Monorail system for the times we would go to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. It seemed like a good plan, and actually worked out very well. The only downside would be having to transfer from on hotel to the other.

We would offset a portion of the additional costs by canceling reservations for the Hoop-De-Doo Review for this year. While we really liked the show when we saw it last year, and were looking forward to seeing it again, it seemed a small sacrifice to pay to enable us to stay at the Poly, with its Tropical atmosphere and easy access to the Monorails.

We called CRO that night and changed our reservations for the last time. We were really excited at the prospect of staying at the Poly, since we had toured the resort on past visits. Knowing the cost per night at the time, however, we could only dream of what it would be like to actually be able to stay there. Thanks to Disney's Summer Magic rates, our dreams would become a reality!!

We then proceeded to find out all we could about the Polynesian, and to finalize our trip itinerary. Jeanette and I spent countless hours on the Internet, studying Deb Wills', Brian Bennett's and Pete Werner's Web sites, just to name a few, to come up with our version of a productive trip plan. I read as many trip reports from this site as I had time for, and picked up some pretty good ideas to incorporate into our trip plan, in addition to the things we already wanted to do. Jenna had me read them to her when she went to bed at night, and wouldn't let me skip over anything.

As the end of May drew closer, we spent more and more time on trip planning, watching Disney vacation planning videos from this year and the previous two years (it's amazing how much the video from each year resembles the other). We also watched our home videos of past trips, all in an effort to get into the Spirit of Disney for this vacation (not that we needed much encouragement!!).

What follows is an outline of our planned activities:

THURSDAY, MAY 27

DEPART FOR FLORIDA

• DEPART AUSTIN 2:30 AM FOR PENSACOLA/TALLAHASSEE VIA I-10.

• ARRIVE FRIDAY EVENING. SPEND THE NIGHT AT LA QUINTA.

• CALL WHEREVER WE ARE NOT STAYING AND CANCEL BY 6:00 PM TONIGHT

• DINNER AT RED LOBSTER OR STEAK AND ALE-TALLAHASSEE.

FRIDAY, MAY 28

CONTINUE TRAVEL TO ORLANDO

• CONTINUE ON TO ORLANDO... ARRIVE WDW!!

• CHECK INTO DIXIE LANDINGS RESORT

• PURCHASE E-NIGHT TICKETS FOR TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

• MAKE RESERVATIONS AT RAINFOREST CAFE-ANIMAL KINGDOM FOR NEXT FRIDAY LUNCH.

• TAKE BOAT FROM DIXIE LANDINGS TO DOWNTOWN DISNEY FOR SHOPPING AND SIGHTSEEING

• DINNER AT RAINFOREST CAFE OR PLANET HOLLYWOOD.

• FIREWORKS AT DOWNTOWN DISNEY.

SATURDAY, MAY 29

REST AND RECREATION

• BRUNCH AT SPOODLES AT THE BOARDWALK 10:30 AM

BREAKFAST BUFFET SERVED 7:30-11:00 $10.95-Adults $6.95-Children

• TIME AT THE POOL AT DIXIE LANDINGS

• MONORAIL TOUR OF RESORT HOTELS & MONORAIL TO EPCOT.

• CHECK OUT POLYNESIAN FOR BEST CHOICE AT CHECK-IN TOMORROW

• BOARDWALK TOUR, BIKE RIDING; DINNER AT ESPN CLUB

SUNDAY, MAY 30

• CHECK OUT OF DIXIE LANDINGS.

• TRANSFER TO DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

• RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LONG-HOUSES-OAHU, TONGA, MAORI.

• ASK FOR EARLY HOUSE-KEEPING.

• MASS AT 8:00 AM-DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT.

• EPCOT WORLD SHOWCASE (PARK HOURS-11:00 AM-9:00 PM)

• FOOD AMONG THE FLOWERS BRUNCH AT EPCOT 11:00 AM

• TOUR WORLD SHOWCASE TODAY

• LATE AFTERNOON BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT.

• RETURN TO MAGIC KINGDOM. ENJOY ATTRACTIONS DURING MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE.

• CHECK OUT MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

MONDAY, MAY 31 (MEMORIAL DAY)

• REST AND RECREATION

• SLEEP LATE TODAY-ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST

• FANTASIA GOLF - BOARDWALK AREA

• BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

• CAMPFIRE PROGRAM AT FT. WILDERNESS 7:00 PM

TUESDAY, JUNE 1

• DISNEY ANIMAL KINGDOM-(PARK HOURS-8:00 AM-7:00 PM)

• AFTERNOON BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

• MAGIC KINGDOM-(PARK HOURS-9:00 AM-10:00 PM)

• MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE-9:00 PM

• FANTASY IN THE SKY FIREWORKS-10:00 PM

• E-NIGHT TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! (10:00 -1:00 am)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2

• MGM STUDIOS-(PARK HOURS-9:00 AM-10:30 PM)

• EARLY ENTRY-7:30 AM

• LUNCH 12:00...PRIORITY SEATING-"SCI-FI DINE IN THEATER"

• MULAN PARADE 3:00 PM

• AFTERNOON BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

• FANTASMIC @ 9:30 PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 3

• MAGIC KINGDOM-(PARK HOURS-9:00 AM-10:00 PM)

• EARLY ENTRY-7:30 AM

• CHARACTER LUNCH- CRYSTAL PALACE-1:00 PM

• MAGICAL MOMENTS PARADE-3:00 PM

• AFTERNOON BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

FRIDAY, JUNE 4

• EPCOT FUTURE WORLD (PARK HOURS-9:00 AM-9:00 PM)

• DISNEY ANIMAL KINGDOM-(PARK HOURS-8:00 AM-7:00 PM)

• LUNCH AT RAINFOREST CAFE -ANIMAL KINGDOM-CALL FOR RESERVATION 7 DAYS BEFORE TODAY

• AFTERNOON BREAK AT THE POOL AT DISNEY POLYNESIAN RESORT

• RETURN TO EPCOT FOR ILLUMINATIONS-9:00 PM.

SATURDAY, JUNE 5

DEPART FOR HOME

• DEPART ORLANDO FLORIDA, SATURDAY AM (TO BE DETERMINED).

• DRIVE TO SLIDELL LA. AND SPEND THE NIGHT AT LA QUINTA

• CALL AND CANCEL RESERVATIONS BY 6:00 PM TODAY IF UNABLE TO MAKE SLIDELL TONIGHT.



SUNDAY, JUNE 6

ARRIVE HOME

• DEPART SLIDELL, LA. FOR AUSTIN, TX.

• ARRIVE HOME LATE SUNDAY.

This is what actually happened:

Day 1 THURSDAY, MAY 27 DEPART FOR FLORIDA

Jeanette and I had spent a lot of time deciding on what time we wanted to leave this morning. It's been hard for us to get much quality sleep the night before we've left on a trip to WDW, so we discussed two options for this trip.

We had talked about leaving at midnight to arrive in Tallahassee early to spend some time at the pool at the motel, and to get rested up for our final approach to WDW. We had also thought about getting whatever sleep we could, even if for a short period of time, and then leaving at 3:00 am. Whatever we finally decided on, I knew I wanted to be through Houston before rush hour traffic got too heavy there. I hate driving there during rush hour and although I've done it on several occasions, if I can avoid it, I will. There are just too many people, trying to get to the same place (or so it seems), driving way too fast to be safe.

We finally settled on trying to get 4-5 hours of sleep before getting up at 2:00 am. We were on the road by 2:30. We had packed the car the night before, and all the other preparations I mentioned earlier had been taken care of the weekend before and in the days leading up to our departure.

One of the things we pack every year is a television and VCR for Jenna (and Jeanette and I for that matter) to watch TV on the way. It really helps keep her occupied, we all like listening to the music from the tapes she packs, primarily Disney Classics. In fact, it has become sort of a tradition to watch the Hunchback of Notre Dame en route to WDW

in preparation to see the show at Disney Studios and we really enjoy it.

We don't have a TV / VCR combination that will run off a car battery, but two years ago, we bought a device called a Power Inverter that takes DC current from the car battery and converts it to AC power for the TV and VCR to operate off of. It simply plugs into the cigarette lighter and has paid for itself through numerous hours of keeping Jenna entertained on our trips

Anyway, after a GROUP HUG for luck and a safe journey, we left at 2:30 am and were through Houston by 5:30. Early enough to avoid rush hour traffic there. We drove all day; the only stops we made were for gas and restroom breaks. We even ate lunch in the car to save time and to get to Tallahassee as quickly as possible.

We drove for 14 hours and 880 miles, the second longest one-day trip we had made so far. The longest still remains 1000 miles in 1997, when we drove straight through from Jeanette's sister's house in Houston, to Orlando.

We had reservations at La Quinta in Tallahassee, so check-in was no problem. After stretching out in the room for a while, we found a Red Lobster for dinner. Major mistake!! This was the absolute worst meal we had during our entire trip. The place was very busy, and staffing was nowhere near what was needed to take care of the customers. The service was of poor quality, as was the food that we finally got. We were very disappointed, as we usually look forward to eating in these restaurants.

Some TV back at the hotel after dinner, and we were in bed by 10:00, with visions of Mickey and Minnie dancing in our heads.

Day 2 FRIDAY, MAY 28 CONTINUE TRAVEL TO ORLANDO

Just try and sleep late on the way to Walt Disney World!!! It just doesn't happen that way when you're on vacation does it?? We were up by 6:30 (5:30 back-home time) and ready to hit the road again. A quick breakfast in the hotel lobby, and were on our way.

As we approached Ocala, a mini-van from Louisiana was passing us and noticed all of the Disney stuffed animals Jenna had arranged in the rear windows of the van. As it passed on by , the passenger flashed her Burnbaum's Disney Guide at us and pointed excitedly to it as she nodded her head up and down. All the other people in the van were smiling and waving at it us as well, and there was no doubt in our minds as to where they were headed. We all smiled and waved back enthusiastically, knowing the fun that lay ahead for both our families.

The time and the miles seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we were in Orlando. It was 12:00 noon. Just a few more miles to WDW!!! As we approached the entrance via I-4, Jeanette and Jenna took in all the scenery and became more and more excited about finally being there. I tried as hard as I could to concentrate on driving, as traffic was pretty heavy. I didn't want a repeat of our trip two years ago, when I tried to drive and look at all the surroundings at the same time and ended up having an accident.

On that trip, we had stopped at a red light on HWY 192, after having had dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill, and got hit from behind by an oncoming car that was driving too fast for the crowded traffic conditions. The impact shoved us into the vehicle sitting in front of us. Fortunately, the guy that hit us from behind had perfect aim and only managed to permanently seal the rear door of the mini-van. No damage to the lights, tires or anything else. The front damage was also minimal, and we were still able to drive our vehicle. The same could not be said for the car that hit us, as he wound up having to be towed. The car ahead of us was undamaged.

From that time on, whenever I drive in this area, I make it a point to stay focused on driving, and let Jeanette and Jenna describe what's going on around us to me, rather than trying to see it for myself.

As we pulled into the entrance of Dixie Landings, I looked at Jeanette, and commented, "It's almost as though we never left.", despite the fact that it had been almost a year ago since we had been there. The entrance was as beautiful as ever, having been landscaped with Marigolds that were now in full bloom. They created a carpet of gold that was just gorgeous.

We went on to Check-in. The area wasn't at all crowded, as it was still fairly early in the day, and that's what made the conduct of the CM checking us in more difficult to accept. It wasn't that he was being rushed or hurried because of some long line waiting to check in. The fact of the matter is that he was just downright unfriendly. He not only didn't smile at all, but at times literally snapped at Jeanette and me as we went through the check-in process--checking on room availability, checking to see if our room requests had been met, asking about E-night tickets, etc. Not the type or treatment we had grown to expect, or felt like we were paying for at WDW.

Obviously, some of the luster of WDW was worn off by this one incident. And, needless to say, a room was not yet ready for us.

We decided to take this opportunity to make our traditional tour of the monorail resorts, and the monorail circuit to EPCOT. We also wanted to check on the possibility of an early check-in-i.e., today or Saturday-for our move to the Poly on Sunday. We drove to the Poly and asked abut doing so, but, unfortunately, no dice. We did discover, contrary to what we had been told by the CRO when we asked the same question, that we could check in at any time that morning, no matter how early. The CRO had said that we had to wait until 8:00. The earlier opportunity for check-in would help move things along on Sunday morning, as we had a busy schedule that day.

As we explored the grounds of the Poly, both Jeanette and I were somewhat regretful that we were not already staying there, and admitted that we should have arranged to just stay here for the entire trip. Oh, well...live and learn.

We made the monorail trip from the Poly around to the TTC and switched off for the trip to EPCOT. There is a lot of construction going on at the entrance to EPCOT, I'm told in preparation for the Millennium Celebration. From the monorail, we managed to get a preview of the Flower and Garden Festival we would see on Sunday, and were even more pleased that we had changed our plans to include this event. We continued back to the TTC.

It was almost 4:00, so we decided to head back to Dixie Landings and check on our room. It was still not ready, and Jeanette was told by yet another unfriendly CM that it might be as late as 5:00 before it was done. We were not happy campers, and were very disappointed in the attitude of the CMs we had encountered so far.

By this time, we were all pretty hungry, so we decided to head on down to Downtown Disney for a early dinner at the Rainforest Café. We enjoy the atmosphere, and the food is very good at the Rainforest. Going at an off-time like today really reduces the waiting time for a table. In fact, we were seated immediately in the Gorilla Room. Jenna and I ordered hamburgers, and Jeanette had a salad that she didn't quite finish, but which was very good in the sandwiches we had in the room the next day. Jeanette had a Margarita and I had a beer. By the time we finished dinner, the earlier run-ins with the CM's at Dixie Landings were just a memory.

We called Dixie Landings from the Rainforest, and this time, the room was ready, and was actually the first room number we had requested when we had first talked to the CRO for reservations back in January. After the boat cruise back up the river, we located the room--#8505 in the Magnolia Terrace Mansion of Magnolia Bend-and proceeded to unload the van. GROUP HUG to celebrate our safe arrival, and the fact that we were actually here!!!

As we were getting settled in, the weather started getting really nasty. The NOAA station on TV was broadcasting warnings of severe thunderstorms with large hail and possible tornadoes in the area, supposedly taking dead aim on the Disney property.

We stayed glued to the TV, with an occasional trip outside to check local conditions. As it turns out, there was no really bad weather where we were-just lots of rain, but I did

overhear a CM walkie-talkie broadcast a message that a tornado had indeed touched down some place in the area.

We had planned on going back to Downtown Disney for the evening, but the weather had delayed our return, and by the time it had cleared out, we made the decision to stay at Dixie Landings. The three of us went walking on the grounds, exploring areas in the Alligator Bayou area which we had not yet visited on our previous trips.

After a quick trip to the Food Court to refill Jenna's mug, and some shopping at Fulton's General Store, we returned to the room to call it a day.

Day 3 SATURDAY, MAY 29 REST AND RECREATION-Boardwalk & Downtown Disney

We had 11:00 Priority Seating arrangements made for brunch at Spoodles, so we had no call from Mickey today. After coffee in the room (we had packed a coffee pot as well as a toaster for bagels and Pop Tarts) and a light breakfast to hold us until brunch, we struck out for the Boardwalk.

Our day started out with a tour of the Boardwalk hotels-Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk Inn and Villas and the Yacht and Beach Club. We had never taken any time to explore these resorts, and had a good time checking out the lobby and main entrance, as well as the beautiful landscaping and overall atmosphere of each.

It was around 10:00 and we were getting hungry already. There were not many people at the Boardwalk this early in the day, so I thought we might see about getting into Spoodles earlier than out PS called for. There was no wait, and plenty of empty tables, so we were seated immediately.

The food here is great, even if the service is somewhat unspectacular. We ate our fill, and then, because it's a buffet, we ate some more.

After Spoodles, we needed to burn off some calories, so we rented a Surrey Bike and made a couple of trips around Crescent Lake. The Surrey Bikes are rented by the half-hour ($16.00 for the two-seater), which is just about the right amount of time for 2 trips around the lake. Jenna calls the Surreys "Ding-ding's" because of her enthusiastic use of the warning bell on a previous trip. There were not many people in our way today, but that didn't stop her from ringing the bell anyway. We took some pictures, and got some video of our journey around the lake.

Afterwards, we walked toward the International Gateway entrance to EPCOT, and got a glimpse of the gardens and topiaries in France. We took the Friendship boat from EPCOT over to the Dolphin / Swan landing, did some shopping in the shops on the Boardwalk, and then made our way back to the van.

Back to Dixie Landings for some pool time and laundry. Jenna and I swam in the Quiet Pool, while Jeanette got started on the laundry. It was pretty hot today, and we all spent quite a bit of time in the water. We then went back to the room to freshen up for our journey down the mighty Sassagoula to Downtown Disney.

We spent several hours in the shops there. Jeanette always buys a charm for Jenna's charm bracelet, and found a nice one at the World of Disney. She didn't pick it up today, however, thinking that she could easily find it later in one of the parks. We spent some time each day for the rest of the trip, looking for the identical charm in the parks. We never did find one, and didn't get back to Downtown Disney, so I guess we'll have to save it for our next trip.

Jenna had worn her bathing suit under her clothes so that she could spend some time playing in the fountains. Jeanette and I sat and had ice cream while we watched her play.

Then it was back to Dixie Landings for a light dinner in the room. We enjoyed some more pool time, packed up for our move to the Poly tomorrow, and then it was off to bed to get some rest for our first day in the parks tomorrow.

Day 4 SUNDAY, MAY 30 EPCOT

Up at 6:00, and ready to move over to the Poly. We packed and were checked out of DIXIE LANDINGS by 7:00, using the Express Checkout service--even though we had to search the grounds to track down the CM delivering the check-out packets. Everything just seemed slower at Dixie Landings on this trip.

Check in at the Poly was a breeze. Joseph, the CM, was a day and night difference from his counterpart at Dixie Landings. At first, he said that our room would not have a balcony, but sensing our disappointment at this news, he went to check with someone behind closed doors and came back to announce that we would be on the 3rd floor of the Maori. WAY TO GO, JOSEPH!!! Just what we had asked for. Room 3804 was on the 3rd floor with a Garden view of the quiet pool and was very close to everything--less than a 5-minute walk away from Captain Cook's, the Great Ceremonial House, TTC, and the monorail station at the Poly.

We finished check-in in plenty of time to make it to the 8:00 Mass at Luau Cove. After Mass, we headed to the TTC and boarded the monorail to EPCOT.

"Please stand clear of the doors.. Por favor mantenganse alajedo de las puertas"

Just had to include that in this trip report. I love hearing that announcement. When I hear it I know I'm really at WDW. Jenna and Jeanette know I love hearing it, too, because I mimic the announcement every time it's run and they get a big kick out of seeing/ hearing me do it.

On to EPCOT and the International Flower and Garden Festival. We had reservations at the Food Among the Flowers Brunch at the Odyssey Restaurant at 11:00. There was time, after spending time for pictures and videos of the main entrance to EPCOT, for a couple of attractions. We rode Ellen's Energy Adventure and Spaceship Earth, then headed over for brunch.

Great Food!! There were 5 stations serving everything from Breakfast fare to Roast Beef with all the trimmings, and a fantastic dessert station. I had expected the place to be packed, since it is only offered on weekends. It was not very busy, however, and I recalled that we hadn't seen much information posted about the Brunch anywhere. Perhaps it would be better attended if it were better publicized.

After the brunch, we began our tour of the World Showcase, starting in Canada. Jenna and I went to see "O, Canada" while Jeanette shopped. She's not particularly fond of the Cirlcevision Movies, and in fact, got seasick the first time we went to see Titantic. Jenna and I enjoyed the movie, however. It was her first time to see the it, although she knew the finishing song by heart, having heard it numerous times on the Disney cassette we purchased on our last trip. In fact, when the song started playing during the movie, I turned to look at her and she was singing along in the theater. We just looked at each other and smiled.

The Bambi, Thumper and Flower dried flower topiaries in Canada were beautiful, as were the Gardens of Canada, and the waterfall areas. Canada is Jeanette's favorite country, as she loves of all the beautiful landscaping and gardens.

We hooked back up with Jeanette, and continued our journey to the UK. It was really nice to spend some quality time on this end of the World Showcase circuit. In our previous trips, we had always started in Mexico, and it was usually pretty hot, and we've been pretty worn out by the time we got to France, the UK and Canada. There were numerous things we had passed over on this end, and we took additional time exploring these countries today. We spent some time in the Garden areas of the UK-Tigger's Maze, Piglet's Friendship Garden and Rabbit's Vegetable Garden--and saw the topiaries of Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit, stopping to pose for pictures in front of most of them.

On to France and "Impressions of France". This is a beautiful movie, and I really enjoyed the accompanying music. We took pictures of all the Beauty and the Beast topiaries in France-Chip, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth and Lumiere (sp ??). Jenna spotted a souvenir cart that was selling replicas of the Eiffel Tower and she spent several minutes deciding on whether so spend her daily Disney allowance here, or to save it for something later in the day. I helped her make up her mind when I told her it would be my treat this time, which made her very happy. As we were leaving France, Bubble Nicholas, the French mime in the big plastic bubble, was giving a performance, and we took time to watch him as well.

We made a brief tour of the American Adventure site without seeing the show, and went on to Germany. Jeanette and I had a Beck's and she and Jenna went shopping while I listened to the Ocktoberfest Musikanten, a group of German musicians who attracted quite a large crowd in the courtyard with their music and a yodeling contest among a group of spectators chosen from the crowd. The topiaries in both of these countries were gorgeous, especially Mickey and Minnie at the AA and Snow White in Germany.

We caught the Friendship boat at the landing at Germany and headed back to the Poly for a break, and to get into our room. We went to Bell Services and got our official greeting-I got a Lei from the CM, then gave one each to Jenna and Jeanette--, then Jenna and Jeanette went on up to the room and I went with the CM to get the luggage. We unpacked and got settled in, rested in the room for a bit, and went down to the pool for a swim before heading back to EPCOT.

We took the Friendship boat back across the World Showcase Lagoon, then walked over to France to see the Living Statues have some fun with their victims. Belle was signing autographs in a side courtyard and Jenna got her autograph and a picture. Beast was nowhere to be found; probably too hot to stay out for very long.

We then continued our journey "Around the World". We caught the Spirit of America Fife & Drum Corps giving a performance at the American Adventure and stopped in at Italy to take pictures of Pinocchio signing autographs. We also visited Germany again, with all of us making a tour of the shops there this time.

On to China, where we passed on the movie, but did take time out to watch the Pu Yang acrobats. They put on quite a show, and attracted quite a large crowd. We also spotted Mulan and Mushu signing autographs in the courtyard and Jenna got autographs and pictures with them.

Jenna stopped at the African Outpost and beat on the drums for a while, while Jeanette and I got some more topiary pictures there, these of the characters from then Lion King.

I cannot say enough about the beauty of the gardens of both the World Showcase, and Future World as well as the numerous topiaries we saw throughout the entire park. The topiaries were beautiful, and, sadly, will be gone tomorrow, as today is the last day of the International Flower and Garden Festival. We had seen the Special Presentation of the Festival on HGTV before leaving home, and while we were fascinated with what we saw on the show, the TV didn't really do justice to the true beauty that the Festival had to offer. I hope we will be able to schedule our next trip while the Festival is being held.

The poinsettia Christmas trees in Norway were starting to show some wear and tear from the heat and other elements but were still very pretty. We wanted to see stop and see Maelstrom, but the line was out the door, so we passed and went on to Mexico.

For dinner at Cantina de San Angel in Mexico, we shared an order of nachos and a fajita plate, and I had a Dos Equis, Jeanette had a Margarita, and Jenna had flan. We then headed back to Norway to ride Maelstrom.

It was almost time for Illuminations to begin, but Jeanette and I had a simultaneous brainstorm that this might be a good time to check out the line at Test Track. Not a good idea, as the wait was still 11/2 hours, even at 8:45. By this time, Illuminations had already started, and we already near the park exit, so we just decided to call it a day, and headed back to the Poly. We could catch Illuminations on Friday night as our final event for the week. After watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony-we didn't have a Lagoon View, but still had a good view of the fireworks from our room-and some late-night TV and we were in bed by 11:00.

Day 5 MONDAY, MAY 31 REST AND RECREATION

Today was a leisure day, so we slept in and had Room Service breakfast from the Kona Café. Jeanette and I tried the Tonga Toast we had read so much about (it was great--try it at least once), and shared an Egg-White Omelet. Jenna had Mickey Waffles.

After breakfast, we set off to explore the grounds of the Polynesian. Jenna had wanted us to rent a Water Mouse, but since there would only be room for 2 of us, I decided to rent a Canopy Boat instead, so there was room for all of us to go. We had a really good time, cruising the waters of Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, taking in the views of the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary from Seven Seas Lagoon, and Wilderness Lodge, Ft. Wilderness, and River Country from Bay Lake. We took lots of pictures and video of everything. We even saw Goofy cruise by on a Lake Patrol Boat.

As we were ending our one-hour rental time, I decided to let Jenna drive for a while. She was cruising along quite nicely, when we were approached by a CM in a Lake Patrol Boat. He pointed out that while Jenna was doing a nice job handling her craft, she was still too young to be driving the boat alone. BUSTED!!! I didn't see the harm in letting her continue, but obeyed his directions nonetheless. The rest of our cruise was uneventful, and we returned the boat after our hour was up.

On to the pool. Jenna proceeded to see if she could wear out the slide at the pool, while Jeanette and I just sat at a table and soaked up the sun and the atmosphere of the Poly.

After enough swimming, we went back up to the room for a bite to eat, then made our way over to walk the links at Fantasia Mini-Golf. This was a lot of fun, and the course is made all the more interesting with the different character themes portrayed at each hole. Jeanette and I had a good time competing for low score; Jenna just had a good time. She really likes miniature golf, even when it's not Disneyfied, and she was in heaven on this course. We wrapped up our round, fed some of the ducks on a nearby pond, then set off for Fort Wilderness and the Campfire Program there.

On our last trip, we had discovered Davy Crockett's Tavern at Ft. Wilderness while on the way to a Hoop-De-Doo Show. We liked the place then, and were heading in that direction anyway, so we made plans for a light dinner there for this trip. We shared an order of Buffalo wings and the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and Jeanette and I each had a beer. We stopped off at the General store to pick up some Bagels for tomorrow's breakfast before catching the next Dale bus to the Campfire Program.

No campfire is complete without a few marshmallows and Graham crackers to make S'mores, so our first stop was at the Chuckwagon. We bought the S'mores kit-comes with marshmallows, graham crackers, and 2 sticks for roasting-- and Jenna started roasting marshmallows for us. As we were filling up on sugar, Chip and Dale came out to sign autographs and pose for pictures, while the CM (and I'm sorry, but I've forgotten her name), started the Campfire sing along. We ate as many S'more's as was humanly possible and stayed for the first part of tonight's movie-Snow White-before catching the Chip bus back to the entrance of Ft. Wilderness.

We were back at the Poly by 10:00 to catch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom, and in bed by 10:30. Tomorrow would be a long day in the Kingdoms.

Day 6 TUESDAY, JUNE 1 ANIMAL KINGDOM / MAGIC KINGDOM

Mickey woke us up at 6:00 this morning. We wanted to get to Animal Kingdom early in order to catch the Safari Ride early in the day before the lines got too long. Breakfast in the room, then down to the bus stop in front of the Poly.

We were at Animal Kingdom by 7:15, and the second family in line at our turnstile. The Oasis area opened at 7:30, and we made our way to the rope drop on the way to the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride. As the rope dropped at 8:00, we power walked to the ride, and made our way to the Safari vehicle. No wait...Much better than last year, when we had made the mistake of not getting to the park until later in the morning, and were faced with a 1 hour wait here.

The Safari itself was also a great improvement over last year's effort. We saw so many different animals, including the Lions and Cheetahs, that we had not seen the year

before. Also this year, the video camera didn't lock up from excessive moisture like it did last year, so we got some great shots of the animals.

Onward to Countdown to Extinction. I was a little worried that Jenna might still want to back out of this one, but she had promised to ride it, and remained a trooper. I had ridden it last year with my Mother, while Jeanette and Jenna waited for us. I remembered it being much more jerky last year, but it may have just seemed that way, because I didn't know what to expect at the time. We all enjoyed the ride and would be back later in the morning for another trip back in time.

The Kali Rapids ride was our next destination, and the most fun we had all day. There was no wait at all-in fact, empty rafts were being sent down the river-and we were the only ones in the raft on our first trip. We all got soaked at the fountain portion of the ride, and again at the drop portion. By the time we got to the spraying elephants, they couldn't do any further damage to us, although the spectators on the bridge gave it their best effort. We were thoroughly drenched.

As we exited the ride, we saw there was still no line, so we made a U-turn just before exiting, and got back in line again. Same results, although we weren't the only ones in the raft this time.

After the second time down the rapids, Jeanette decided she had had enough fun on this ride, but Jenna and I rode it two more times, with no waiting, before we shared her sentiment. Jeanette got some video of our last two trips from her vantage point of the bridge at the elephant spray area. What fun!!!...Jenna's favorite ride, now, and we would be back to ride again on Friday.

We took some time to regroup and dry off, then headed down to the Maharaja Jungle Trek. We saw Komodo Dragons, Tigers, Bats, Birds, etc.--all very active, particularly one tiger who paced back and forth past a set of viewing windows. I could almost imagine his mind at work-"How can I get to all this fresh food just walking by me??" All in all, a nice attraction, and not at all crowded.

Back to Countdown to Extinction for another trip, this time with a 15 minute wait-still not too bad. We checked out the pictures after riding this time, but didn't buy them. Then we tried to get over to the 11:00 show of Legend of the Lion King, but just missed it by a few minutes. Jenna had been wanting a Frozen Banana, and by this time, they looked pretty good to all of us, so we all had one at Camp Minnie-Mickey. They WERE good.

We spent some time checking out the character greeting areas, and got some video and pictures of Flik from "A Bugs Life"-what a great costume!!--although the line to get an autograph from him (it??) was way too long for us to wait in. We finished off our Bananas, then made our way out of the park as it was getting more crowded and it was getting pretty hot by this time. We had already done a lot this morning, and could leave the remaining attractions for our second visit here on Friday.

We waited for a bus back to the Poly, but, in hindsight, should have gone with our first instinct and taken the one to the TTC and then walked to the room. We ended up waiting almost 20 minutes for a Poly bus, and then, it still had to make a stop at Blizzard Beach and Wilderness Lodge before dropping us off. We got back to the room around 1:00, had lunch in the room from our supply of goodies, then all took a nap. We still had Magic Kingdom this afternoon, and E-night tonight. I hoped we would all last for everything.

Around 4:00, we started stirring around again, and got ready for the Magic Kingdom. It was kind of nice to arrive there at 5:00, rested up, freshly showered and ready for the evening's activities.

After a stop at City Hall to trade our tickets for wristbands, we headed on into the park.

We started off in Tomorrowland with Carousel of Progress, did a little exploring there, then rode the Skyway to Fantasyland. This was our longest wait of the trip, about 30

minutes. Yes, I know we could have walked there much faster, but we all like the views from the gondolas, as they pass over the heart of Magic Kingdom, and we weren't in any real hurry this afternoon.

From there, we did Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square and had dinner of Fish and Chips at Columbia Harbour House, then did Pirates of the Caribbean, Enchanted Tiki Room, and the Swiss Family Treehouse in Adventureland. We then took an evening ride on the Jungle Cruise. We had only ridden this ride during the day on past trips, and cruising the river in the evening gave the ride an entirely different look.

By now, people were starting to line up for the Main Street Electrical Parade, so we found a spot and waited for the parade to start. We weren't sure what exactly to expect, and I was a little sad that Spectromagic no longer ran at the MK, because I just love the music that goes with it. We were all very impressed with the MSEP, though. IT WAS AWESOME. I videotaped the entire parade, and I know we'll enjoy watching it at home. Since we were staying for E-Night, we followed the parade up to the point where it ended in Adventureland, then took up position on the bridge at the foot of Splash Mountain to take in Tinker Belle's Flight and the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks show.

Then, the fun really started. Let the E-Night Games Begin!!!

The park had really thinned out by now, and we made our way over to the entrance for Splash Mountain. Jenna still didn't want to ride, so Jeanette and I rode it while she waited for us. I wanted to ride again, but Jeanette had gotten wet enough on the first Splash-down, and I didn't want to go alone, so we moved on.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was next; another ride we had not yet done at night. Jenna came along this time, and screamed during the entire ride. She LOVED it!!

We then made our way over to Pirates of the Caribbean, and were the only ones on the boat. It does seem a little spookier when you're all alone on the ride.

We took our time walking over to Main Street for a snack at the Bakery. The park is very pretty at night, and we took time to enjoy just being there. We shared a brownie, and Jeanette went next door to the Ice Cream Parlor for some ice cream to make the brownie "a la mode".

Next stop, Astro Orbiter; another first for Jeanette. Jenna and I rode it on our first trip.

Then came some unexpected fun-Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We had all read about this ride on various web sites, but weren't 100% sure about the nature of the ride. It took the first trip through to master the "spinning" of the craft and the use of the Laser gun and our scores got progressively higher on each successive trip through. By the 4th trip (all with no wait, of course!!), we were all professionals. We would have ridden another time, but it was getting close to 1:00, and we knew we had another early morning tomorrow. The three hours went by too fast, and we'd only done about half of the attractions that were open tonight.

We cannot say enough about E-night except-DO IT!! If you're fortunate enough to be at WDW while E-night is being offered, you'll really be doing yourself a big favor if you take advantage of it. In fact, we didn't finalize our final trip agenda until 10 days or so before we left, due to the fact that E-nights for June were not announced until then. We had been counting on a Monday night E-night--Mondays and Thursdays had been the trend for E-nights during the spring-- and had to scramble to change our schedule when they were announced for Tuesdays and Fridays for this month. But it was worth the effort. No morning races to your favorite Mountains...No long lines on any of the most popular attractions...No hot temperatures to deal with. The park is absolutely beautiful at night and there are times when you actually feel like you're the only people there. Rearrange your trip plan if you need to, in order to be able to go, but by all means, GO!!

Back to the Poly, to try and get some sleep before The Mouse calls at 6:00 am again.

Day 7 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 DISNEY STUDIOS

Mickey's call came way too quickly, but was right on time. Jeanette and I got up at 6:00, and we let Jenna sleep as long as we possibly could before waking her. Coffee and breakfast in the room, then it was off to Early Entry at Disney Studios.

We were among the first ones through the turnstiles, and made our way down to where the rope was being held. We struck up a conversation with the CM manning the rope, and discovered that she had once lived in Round Rock, which is just north of Austin. All her children still lived in the Central Texas area, and she and her husband, who was manning the other end of the rope, had moved to Florida several years ago and gone to work for Disney. Jeanette and I teased Jenna with the notion that we would be doing the same when it came time for us to retire. She was all in favor if the idea, and wanted to know how long it would be before that happened.

When the rope dropped we walked over to Guest Services and made our Fantasmic Priority Seating reservations for 6:20 this evening at Mama Melrose's. We tried to get later seating, but 6:20 was the latest seating available for the Fantasmic package.

We're not Tower of Terror people, so we headed over to Star Tours and rode twice with no waiting. After Star Tours, it was over to the Great Movie Ride, and then to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The first show started at 8:50, which was a surprise, because this starting time was not listed in this week's park guide, or anywhere else, for that matter. The only place it was listed was on the Message Board in the park. I was glad Jeanette had noticed it because we make it a point to see this show every time we're here, and have always had a long wait. We were glad to see this early show, and took advantage of it. We walked right in with no waiting.

After the Little Mermaid, it was off to the Magic of Disney Animation Tour. This was another attraction we had not made time for on past trips, and after seeing it this time, I was sorry we had missed it before. Robin Williams is just hilarious in this show!! Then it was over to Muppet-Vision 3-D, followed by The Hunchback of Notre Dame Stage Show. Both of these are family favorites and we really enjoyed them.

We had PS arrangements at the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for 12:00, so that was our next stop. Jenna had a Grilled Cheese sandwich, and Jeanette and I shared a hamburger and a Chicken Flatbread appetizer, with lots of iced tea to wash it all down with. We ended up getting the appetizer at no charge, because the waiter said they had somehow screwed up the order. If he hadn't said anything, though, we wouldn't have known the difference, so I'm not sure what they did to screw it up. Whatever the case, we were happy with the free appetizer. We sat in the air-conditioned outdoors and relaxed while we watched monsters terrorize humanity on the big screen.

Back to the Poly for some sleep-repeat, sleep...not swim...not shop...not anything else, but sleep. We were dead tired, after having had only 5 hours of sleep last night, and nobody had any desire to do anything else but sleep.

Which we did, for a couple of hours, anyway. Then it was back to Disney Studios in time for the Mulan parade, which began at 4:00. We watched from in front of the Brown Derby, and after the parade ended, quickly scooted up Sunset Boulevard to catch the Beauty and the Beast Show at 5:00. Jeanette and I both thought that Belle was played by the same actress that had been Ariel at Voyage of the Little Mermaid this morning. Wonder if anyone else has noticed this before??



Afterwards, we made our way over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, where Jenna played for a while, and Jeanette and I relaxed over a cold beer. We had some time to kill before our reservations at Mama Melrose's, and this seemed like a good way to do it.

Dinner at Mama Melrose's was excellent, although a little pricey, and I'm not sure we would have eaten there if it weren't for the guarantee of seats for Fantasmic. At any rate, the food was great, and we liked the atmosphere. It sort of reminded me of Romano's Macaroni Grill, which is a place we eat quite frequently, only it was brighter and not as noisy. Jeanette and I shared a pizza (which counts as an entree towards receiving the pass for seating at Fantasmic) and a creamy pasta entree, whose real name escapes me; Jenna had Macaroni and Cheese, one of her favorites.

After dinner, we slowly made our way towards the Fantasmic arena. As we browsed the shops on Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. Jeanette was still looking for the charm that she had seen at Downtown Disney last weekend. There were many that were similar, but still none that were the exact match.

We took our seats about 45 minutes before the show started. The PS reserved seats are on the far right side as you enter the arena, and as the show takes place, one of the water screens is displayed directly in front of it. I had read a lot of bad reviews on the pre-show entertainment, but we all thought the Bellhops from the Tower of Terror were hilarious, and their skits were followed by music by the quartet that used to do ( and for all I know, still do) the pre-show for Beauty and the Beast- 4 For a Dollar. Jenna loved the Bellhops' act, and spent the rest of the trip making references to "...the boss is coming..." in her best Jerry Lewis impersonation.

Fantasmic started promptly at 9:15 and was a tremendous show, but I don't think I would have waited for more than the time we did today to see it again.

We expected the exodus after Fantasmic to be a madhouse, but it actually went pretty smoothly, and before we knew it, we were on a bus headed back to the Poly. We were in bed by 11:00.

Day 8 THURSDAY, JUNE 3 MAGIC KINGDOM

Today was Early Entry at the Magic Kingdom, and we were up and at the Magic Kingdom by 7:00. First stop-Fantasyland for Dumbo's Wild Ride. Jeanette rode with Jenna first, and I got in line to be on the second flight of the day. Jenna then rode with me. Last year, when my Mother came with us, we used the same tactic and Jenna got to ride Dumbo 3 times in a row.

After Dumbo we hit the rest of the rides in Fantasyland, as well as Tomorrowland Motor Speedway and Buzz Lightyear. We got to do Buzz twice (making a total of 6 times for this trip), and also got to do Peter Pan's Flight twice without having to get out of our ship. We just LOVE Early Entry at MK!!!!!

Peter Pan's Flight is my favorite ride. I just love the music and the feeling that you're actually flying over London. Jenna's favorite is the Magic Teacups. We were very disappointed that Pooh's Adventure was not opening until Saturday, which, unfortunately, was the day we were leaving. Too bad...another reason to come back next year!!

Next stop was the Haunted Mansion, which Jenna and I rode alone, then it was off to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for one more thrill ride. I made the mistake of trying to videotape the entire ride, and didn't pay attention to the sunglasses in my pocket, which were conspicuously absent as I went to retrieve them after the ride. Oh well, my new pair have Mickey on them, and Jenna says they look really cool. Then we let Jenna do Shrunken Ned's Junior Jungle Boats.

For some reason, I had begun to feel ill while Jenna was spinning my head off on the Magic Teacups. I usually don't have a problem with this ride, but really did today. What started out as a queasy stomach had now turned into a queasy stomach and a royal headache. I let them know that I was not feeling very good and Jeanette suggested that we take an early break and get back to MK in time for our PS at Crystal Palace at 1:00. On the way out of the park, we spotted the Seven Dwarfs signing autographs, and Jenna managed to get pictures with two of them before they were whisked away.

We took the boat back to the Poly, and had a short rest in the room. I took a nap and Jenna and Jeanette took a brief swim at the pool. I felt much better after the nap, and we took the monorail back to MK. We all got to ride up front this time, and each got our monorail co-pilot's license-another first for all of us.

After about a 30 minute wait, we were seated at the Crystal Palace for lunch. Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet all came by the table, and Jenna got autographs and pictures with each. This is really a nice restaurant and the food was great. It is buffet style, but that doesn't detract from the quality of the food served here. We over-ate again, but figured we'd walk it off during the rest of the afternoon.

After spending some time exploring the shops and stores along Main Street-I bought my new sunglasses here--, it was time to find a place for the Magical Moments Parade at 3:00. We all just love this parade and the accompanying music, and, for the third year in a row, I videotaped the entire thing. Jenna got out for one of the "Magical Moments" crowd participation events as the floats stopped in front of us. After the parade and some browsing in the Emporium, we said our good-byes to the Magic Kingdom for this trip, and took the monorail back to the Poly.

We hadn't had any concrete plans for the rest of the day, and it turned out to be a good thing, because I just crashed when we got back to the room, and ended up sleeping until around 7:00. Jeanette and Jenna went to the Slide pool and swam and I just slept. I was absolutely bushed. I guess the short night on Tuesday after E-night just caught up with me.

Anyway, I slept; they swam. When I finally woke up, we had a light dinner from our supplies in the room and watched some TV, then went and walked the grounds of the Poly one more time. We were in bed by 10:30, after having watched the MK fireworks from our balcony again.

Day 9 FRIDAY, JUNE 4 EPCOT

Today was the day I really got upset with the Disney Monorail service. We had gotten up extra early to be at the TTC at 7:00 to catch the monorail to EPCOT. We wanted to be at Test Track before the lines got too long, and this would be our last chance to catch it on this trip. We were at the TTC 5 minutes before 7, and waited....and waited...and waited. By 7:15, I was getting pretty hot. The monorail was running (empty), and there were numerous employees standing around, both inside and outside the gates, but no one would "officially" open them.

A pretty large crowd had already assembled and a Disney "suit" walked by, casually sipping on his cup of coffee. When someone asked when the gates would open, his reply was--"5 or 10 minutes." It was actually closer to 7:30 when someone finally opened them. This person then began requesting resort ID's to have access to the monorail from all the people now in line. Jeanette started to panic, as we have never before run into this request before, and even though we both had our ID's/room keys, we had left Jenna's in the room. By this time, I would have dared anyone to keep my family and me off the monorail, and as it turns out, there were no further problems with boarding, other than we had missed out on the "true" Early Entry time at EPCOT.

We ended up waiting in line at Test Track for about 30 minutes once we made it to the park and got to the ride. The ride was OK, but I wouldn't wait any longer than we had to wait today to get in.

After Test Track, we went to The Land and did Living With the Land and Food Rocks. We spotted a planter in the gift shop there, and made plans to come back and pick it up on the way out.

The Living Seas was followed by Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which Jenna passed on. She's not particularly fond of the snake in the show, or the "mice" crawling all over her feet, so she waited at the exit of the theater for us to meet her.

Neither Jeanette nor Jenna cared to ride Body Wars, and we had ridden Ellen's Energy Adventure earlier in the week, so there was really no need for us to return to the other side of Future World. We made our way back to the World Showcase, as Jenna wanted to see the Miyuki, the candy maker, in Japan and I wanted to see the American Adventure. We took a Friendship boat over the other side and did both.

We were all amazed by Miyuki. We knew the time of her next demonstration, and had positioned ourselves to be the first ones there. Jenna requested a swan as her object to be created from the blob of candy, and we were fascinated by the transformation of the blob into a graceful swan. So much talent.

We then went to the American Adventure, which I still love to watch. Jenna still wasn't overly impressed with it, but at least she didn't fall asleep during the show this time.

We slowly made our way counter-clockwise around the remainder of the World Showcase after seeing AA. We went back by The Land and had lunch in the Food Court area, and then went and picked up the planter we had spotted earlier. We then headed back to the Poly, with the intention of going to the Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day, and then returning to EPCOT that evening to for our final viewing of Illuminations.

Mother Nature would intervene in our evening plans, however.

We spent some time resting in the room, then headed down for a swim. We had been there all of 30 minutes, when the clouds started stacking up, and it began to thunder and lightning. The Lifeguards instructed everyone to get out of the pool because of the lightning threat, so we reluctantly headed back to the room. The storms set in, and after that, we decided to blow off the rest of our plans for the afternoon and just stay at the Poly. Animal Kingdom in the evening would have to wait for the next trip, and we would have to be satisfied with our memories and videos of Illuminations..

We spent some time in the room getting things organized for our departure tomorrow, then headed downstairs for some shopping at the Poly and then to the Kona Kafe for a last night celebration. Jenna wanted a ring as a remembrance of this trip, and we found her a Mickey ring at the Polynesian Princess. The Kona Kafe was not at all busy, and we were seated immediately for dinner.

The restaurant had recently re-opened, and the server asked us to complete a survey, for which we would each receive a dessert on the house and a coupon good for 20% off the total bill on the next visit. Jenna ordered a Hot Dog and Virgin Pina Colada, Jeanette had the Grilled Salmon and I had the Crab Cakes. We both ordered what turned out to be a very potent Mai-Tai. The food was fantastic, and the desserts even better. Jenna ordered an ice cream cone, topped with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. It arrived standing upright, anchored firmly in place by a pool of hardened chocolate, surrounded by a nest of spun sugar. She was overwhelmed, and proceeded to dig in. Jeanette ordered Cream Puffs in some sort of a caramel sauce. I was pretty full after the crab cakes, and even though the dessert was free, I didn't order one, but shared a little of each of theirs. The desserts were delicious.

Jeanette wanted to go for a walk on the beach after dinner, so we walked through the pool area and down to the beach. The beach area was lighted by the gas torches along the paths, the breeze off the lake was nice and cool and we had the beach all to ourselves. For a brief time, it seemed as though we were the only people at WDW. We found one of the oversized hammocks, and all crawled into it, ready to watch the Lighted Water Parade pass by the Poly.

We lingered in the hammock long after the parade had passed by, each of us wanting this trip and this moment to last forever. We just enjoyed the last few hours of our last night at WDW together, laughing, and giggling about all the fun we'd had on this trip, and dreaming out loud about the fun we'd have on trips still to come. It turned out to be the most special event of this trip, and is a memory that I will always treasure. None of us wanted to leave the security of that hammock, but we all knew we had to leave tomorrow, and needed to pack tonight, so we slowly walked back up to the room and packed, then went to bed around 10:30.

Day 10 SATURDAY, JUNE 5 DEPART FOR HOME

We slept in this morning, so no final-day wake-up call from Mickey. I made our last pot of coffee for this vacation--I'm gonna really miss making coffee in the bathroom!! We finished off the remaining bagels and breakfast bars for breakfast and started getting our stuff together. Packing went fairly quickly, as we had done most of it last night. I called Bell Services, and the luggage was picked up about 5 minutes later. Such great service!!! We had one more check of the room, another GROUP HUG before leaving, and we were out of there.

I went to load the luggage into the van, while Jeanette and Jenna went to the hotel lobby for one last round of shopping. I met them at the souvenir shop, where I bought a T-shirt, and they each got a cover-up to use around the pool at home. A final picture in the lobby, and we were on the road once more.

We had initially planned on spending Saturday night in Slidell LA, which is close to the Louisiana / Mississippi border, but we had gotten out of Orlando a little earlier than we had planned, and had made good time on the road, despite a strong hailstorm just east of Tallahassee that slowed us down. I called and canceled our reservation at Slidell, and moved it to Baton Rouge, so we would be a little further down the road for the final leg of the trip on Sunday. We drove for 700 miles, arriving in Baton Rouge around 7:00.

We had dinner at a great restaurant in Baton Rouge, The Lone Star Steak House and Saloon, directly across I-10 from the La Quinta. Back to the hotel after dinner, and we were in bed by 10:00.

Day 11 SUNDAY, JUNE 6 ARRIVE HOME

We woke up at 6:30 and had coffee in the room while we showered and got dressed. After breakfast in the hotel lobby, we were on the road for the final leg of the trip. Only 450 more miles to go. We called Jeanette's sister in Houston to decide on a restaurant where we could rendezvous for lunch, only to find out that we had been invited to join them for lunch at their house. No problem. We continued on, arriving at Cindy and Don's around noon. We visited over lunch, then cleared out around 1:30, as they had plans for the rest of the afternoon.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and we arrived home at 3:45, three tired puppies. The cat had not yet had her babies, thankfully, and the yard was overgrown, but everything was in good shape. A final GROUP HUG to celebrate our safe return, and our vacation was over. Time to start planning for next year!!!

Summary:

Things we really enjoyed (in no particular order):

Staying at the Polynesian-Probably the only time we'll be afforded this luxury (unless Disney intervenes again!). It was worth giving up several other activities in order to stay there, and still remain within our budget. In addition to the beautiful landscaping and overall atmosphere, we saved time as well as wear and tear on our feet by having close access to both the monorail at the Poly and the TTC in traveling to the parks and in returning to the resort..
Canopy Boat rental on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake-Great views of all the Monorail Hotels, as well as Wilderness Lodge and the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. Good Family fun; opportunities for lots of pictures and video and some time together.
International Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT-Beautiful Flowers, Topiaries, etc. If this time of year is an option for your trip, plan to go while the festival is going on. You'll be glad you did
Kali Rapids Ride at Animal Kingdom-We rode it 4 times straight with no waiting. This is now Jenna's favorite ride. Go early to avoid the crowd.
E-Night at Magic Kingdom-Cannot over-emphasize the fun you will have by taking advantage of E-nights if they are available during your stay. Lines were nonexistent, and at times it seemed as though we had the entire park to ourselves. Well worth the price for the fun we had.
Leaving the "Commando Mentality" at home-We took more time in all the parks to enjoy just being there, rather than rushing from one attraction to the next. Since this was our third trip in a row, we've learned to be a lot more discriminating in doing what we really wanted to do, and spent more time on those things, rather than trying to do every attraction just to get them done. This made for a much more enjoyable trip. We also spent more time at the hotels this trip.
Our Last Night in the Hammock at the Poly- After dinner on our last night, we all crawled into one of the oversized hammocks on the beach at the Poly and just laid there swaying back and forth, enjoying the beauty of Seven Seas Lagoon, the nighttime atmosphere of the Polynesian, and just being with each other. Jenna thought it was the best part of our trip. Take time away from the attractions to enjoy the amenities of your hotel...and the members of your family.
Disappointments:

Unresponsive Cast Members at Check-in at Dixie Landings-Not meaning to be picky, but we didn't get the same kind of treatment at DIXIE LANDINGS that we had gotten on previous stays, and nowhere near the type we received at the Poly.
Transferring from one Hotel to another-(Not really a disappointment, but something we might want to do differently next time.) I know it looks easy on paper, but after going through the process, we decided that we would stay at one hotel only on our next trip and avoid the hassle of having to transfer.
One glaring inconsistency in Monorail Service-Caused us to be late for Early Entry at EPCOT. Check ahead to make sure monorail service is available at TTC for Early Entry at EPCOT (see Friday activities).
Early Entry at MGM the morning after E-Night at Magic Kingdom-(Again, just something we might do differently) I suppose we could have done without the Early Entry aspect of MGM that day, but hey, it's an Early Entry, and we can't pass it up, right???...Famous last words. Seriously, though-to do it all over again I would take the extra sleep over early entry at MGM. The short night Tuesday night really took its toll, especially as the week wore on, and especially on yours truly.
Final Comments:

Another great trip to WDW has come and, too quickly, gone. What had started out as a once-in-a-lifetime trip in 1997 has now evolved into WDW trips for three years in a row for us, and shows no sign of letting up. We didn't do all we set out to accomplish, but that's OK...WDW isn't going anywhere any time soon We did manage to do a number of things we had not gotten around to on our previous trips, and we continue to learn lessons to use on trips yet to come. I hope I've not bored you too badly with all the minute details, but Jenna wouldn't let me leave anything out.

Writing this trip report has been much more difficult and time consuming than I thought it would be, but will forever serve as a reminder of the great time we had on this trip. In hindsight, I wish I had taken time to write one for each of our past trips. Oh, well...

I also have a newly-acquired respect for the authors of all the reports already posted on this site (and their powers of recall).

I hope someone who reads this report will find some of the ideas we use on our trips to WDW of some value as they plan trips of their own.

Until our next trip, and the next report....

Remember the Magic ! ! ! !

Michael Rozacky

rozacky@AdamsExtract.com

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